On The Media

Climate change is arguably the most urgent story in human history, but journalism has struggled to address the threat. This week, an exploration of new efforts by the press to understand and explain the science – and to get you involved. Plus: what the report on Rolling Stone’s retracted story means for the UVA campus, and the anatomy of another story that’s hard to check.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Today, the impact of cancer is not limited to patients and loved ones, not confined to hospital wards and research labs. It's a powerful symbol appropriated by Hollywood, the news media, and every realm of expression to signify what we most fear. In the second hour of "The Cancer Show," the stories we tell about cancer: on stage, on the big screen, and online. This week’s On The Media is part of WNYC’s Living Cancer Series, a radio companion to “Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, coming to PBS March 30th. Support for Living Cancer is provided by the Susan and Peter Solomon Family Foundation. Additional funding for WNYC’s medical science reporting is provided by the Iris and Junming Le Foundation. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

In his new book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed, Jon Ronson tackles the phenomenon of internet-fueled public shaming, which has ruined many a career and life in an era of the enormous, and un-erasable, digital footprint. Brooke talks with Ronson in this On the Media podcast extra.      On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Over the last 2,500 years, cancer has shifted from a disease in the shadows to one at the center of scientific research and public discussion. In the first of two special episodes, On the Media dives deep into the way we talk about cancer: in the news, in the hospital, and in our private lives. This week’s On The Media is part of WNYC’s Living Cancer Series, a radio companion to “Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, coming to PBS March 30th. Support for Living Cancer is provided by the Susan and Peter Solomon Family Foundation. Additional funding for WNYC’s medical science reporting is provided by the Iris and Junming Le Foundation. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Last week, suspected murderer Robert Durst was arrested the day before an HBO film aired his apparent confession. On the Media examines the line between making great documentary and staying on the right side of the law. Also, why you won't catch a Florida official using the term "climate change." Plus, Wikipedia takes on the NSA.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

What happens when you buy a magic spell on Etsy? Writer Jaya Saxena and her husband Matt Lubchansky recently tested one witch's wares, and they talk to TLDR about being careful what you wish for. Plus, TLDR hires our own spellcaster, a mystic named Melenia O'Breasal, to talk about how a person comes to cast spells, where all that incense comes from, and the difference between peddling magic online and off. To read Jaya's original Daily Dot piece, click here. To check out Melenia's Etsy store and personal website, click here and here, respectively. If you like our show, please subscribe and review us on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow Meredith and TLDR on Twitter. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

This week, two police officers were shot in Ferguson, MO, bringing in yet another wave of reporters. We examine whether the constant media presence has turned the town of Ferguson into a symbol and a brand. Plus: Brooke charts the history of nihilism. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

We’ve seen more horrific videos from ISIS, but this time the cruelty is directed at priceless artifacts. This week we examine the media's reaction to the videos after it turns out that most of the smashed antiquities were fakes. Also, Hillary Clinton’s email habits as secretary of state have reporters scrambling to understand the Federal Records Act.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

This week, after years of debate, the FCC voted to treat the internet like a public utility. On the Media examines what the decision means for the data flowing through our devices. Also, as the situation in Libya continues to deteriorate, a look back at the people who helped end Muammar Qaddafi's rule in 2011. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Why the language of terrorism is so divisive. Also, how Fifty Shades of Grey introduced America to the kink community. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

An exploration of the term “whistleblower”, from its origins as a sports reference to its current status as a moral mantle. Plus, reframing the legacy Jim Crow-era lynchings. And a farewell to venerable media satirist Jon Stewart.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

In the wake of a US measles outbreak, the media, politicians, and even celebrities have quarantined the country in a vortex of paranoia and fear. The combination of false science and government distrust has given a pedestal to the irrational, and the self-evident necessity of vaccines has come under attack. Bob inoculates with a little history and a lot of common sense on the anti-vaccination "controversy."   On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

The content of a new ISIS video shocks the world. Also, vaccinating children stokes faux controversy, again, and a new documentary has the Church of Scientology on the offensive.   On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Meet our friends from down the hall. The podcast New Tech City about technology and human behavior has kicked off a fascinating project that anyone can join in on. And, we want you to know about it. This episode of New Tech City kicks off the Bored and Brilliant Project. The goal is to get you rethinking your relationship with technology and to start thinking more creatively by testing your tech habits in a series of challenges. Since the spread of smartphones began, boredom has become an endangered species. Spare moments where daydreaming used to manifest have become extra email checks or candies crushed. That might be a problem, because, as you will hear in the audio, boredom can in fact beget creativity. You can join the Bored and Brilliant Project, take the challenges, and even track your phone usage as you go through the process here. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @on

Whether to name the perpetrators of mass shootings, the myth of defensive gun ownership, and the "Ebola Doctor" Craig Spencer. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

A video threat from ISIS to Japan, debunking conventional wisdom in Congress, and a newly published memoir from a Guantanamo Bay inmate. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

On the narratives we expect after a terrorist event, double standards for free speech in France, and the eerie technology of Black Mirror's not-so-distant future. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

After the massacre at the French weekly Charlie Hebdo, a look at the symbolic weight of French satire and true freedom of speech. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

A special hour on the enthralling genre of true crime.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

OTM looks at the great decline in beat reporting.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].