On the Media

The sports journalist Pablo Torre recently won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting for an investigation on his podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out.” Torre talks with the New Yorker Radio Hour's David Remnick about the challenge of investigative reporting in professional sports—where leagues, owners, players, and sometimes even fans don’t welcome hard questions. “As much as I am doing that and urging people to join me in the pool,” he says, “it kind of feels like I’m the guy who is the proverbial turd” in that pool. But as private equity invests massive sums in teams, he says, the work is even more necessary—and that fans do care when misdeeds are revealed.

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President Trump has some of the worst approval ratings of any president in modern history, second only to Richard Nixon the week before he resigned. On this week’s On the Media, what the polls say about Americans’ perceptions of Trump and his policies. Plus, a look at the polarized propaganda being beamed into Iran. 

[01:00] Brooke Gladstone interviews G. Elliott Morris, journalist, statistician, and author of the data-driven news website Strength In Numbers, about public perceptions of President Trump and his policies, and what Trump’s historic unpopularity could mean for the upcoming midterm elections. 

[19:14] Micah Loewinger speaks with Nancy Scola, a reporter covering tech, policy, and politics, about her recent profile of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, tracing his trajectory from “spectrum nerd,” to MAGA insider. 

[36:23]  Micah sits down with Nahid Siamdoust, an assistant professor of media and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Texas at Austin, to discuss the state of the Iranian media landscape, and how a newer anti-regime channel, Iran International, is contributing to intense polarization among Iranians around the world. 

Further reading / watching:

“What's behind Donald Trump's record-low approval rating?” By G. Elliott Morris

“How Brendan Carr Became MAGA’s Media Watchdog,” by Nancy Scola

“Spreading Static,” by Nahid Siamdoust

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, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

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Brooke speaks with Garrett M. Graff, journalist, historian, and author of the newsletter Doomsday Scenario, about Trump’s damage to the United States’ standing as a world power and his dismantling of core pillars of American policy. 

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, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

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The race to build the most advanced artificial intelligence continues to dominate the headlines. On this week’s On the Media, who does this new technology actually serve? Plus, how even critical media coverage can feed into the AI hype.

[01:00]  Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Cory Doctorow, journalist, activist, and author of Enshittification, on his new guide to seeing through the relentless, $16 trillion AI hype machine and understanding the technology for exactly what it is, rather than the outlandish stories told about it.

[16:47] Brooke continues her conversation with Cory, and they discuss how the hype itself is keeping the AI industry afloat. 

[28:47] Brooke asks Cory about his rejection of the notion that AI domination – of our jobs, our lives, our art, and more – is inevitable. Plus, they interrogate the role of the tech in a creative’s life, and why AI art leaves us cold.

Further reading / watching:

The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI by Cory Doctorow

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, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

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At the start of 2026, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was top of mind for many Americans. There were nationwide protests, congressional hearings, and plenty of headlines. But as the weeks went on, ICE faded some from the spotlight. This month, two fatal shootings involving ICE officers have reignited protests and renewed questions about tactics, training, and recruitment for the agency at the heart of Trump's anti-immigration efforts. Host Micah Loewinger sits down with Joseph Cox, investigative reporter and co-founder of 404 Media, to talk about the array of tactics and surveillance tech ICE had been using.  

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, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

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