On the Media

• S2 THE DIVIDED DIAL EPISODE 2: You Must Form Your Militia Units

  Season Two of On the Media’s Peabody-winning series The Divided Dial is the untold story of shortwave radio: the way-less-listened to but way-farther-reaching cousin of AM and FM radio. The medium was once heralded as a utopian, international, and instantaneous mass communication tool — a sort of internet-before-the-internet. But like the internet, it also took a turn for the chaotic. And like AM and FM talk radio, it also went hard to the right, with extremists and cults still finding a home on the shortwaves.EPISODE 2Many governments eased off the shortwaves after the Cold War, and homegrown US-based rightwing extremists edged out shortwave peaceniks to fill the void. In the 1990s, US shortwave radio stations became a key organizing and recruiting ground for white supremacists and the burgeoning anti-government militia movement. On this instantaneous, international medium, they honed a strategy and a rhetoric that they would take to the early internet and beyond.The Divided Dial was supported in part by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.    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].

  --------  

  33:43
• Trump Is Losing A Lot In Court. Plus, the First Episode of The Divided Dial (S2).

  President Trump’s many executive orders, detentions, and deportations have triggered a host of lawsuits. On this week’s On the Media, how to understand the dozens of legal actions facing Trump. Plus, it’s the first episode of The Divided Dial, all about the battle for shortwave radio.[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger talks with Chris Geidner, who has covered the Supreme Court for most of his career and writes for Law Dork, about how he tracks the 100+ lawsuits challenging President Trump’s actions, the patterns emerging from the deluge of cases, and how the legal battles against the Trump administration have actually been more successful than the public may perceive.[14:25] Episode 1 of The Divided Dial, Season 2: Fishing in the Night. You know AM and FM radio. But did you know that there is a whole other world of radio surrounding us at all times? It’s called shortwave — and, thanks to a quirk of science that lets broadcasters bounce radio waves off of the ionosphere, it can reach thousands of miles, penetrating rough terrain and geopolitical boundaries. Reporter Katie Thornton on how this instantaneous, global, mass communication tool — a sort of internet-before-the-internet — transformed from a utopian experiment in international connection to a hardened tool of information warfare and propaganda.Further reading:The horrors are not aberrations. This is the Trump administration's plan, by Chris GeidnerThe pushback against Trump's lawlessness is real — and making a difference, by Chris Geidner 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].

  --------  

  50:26
• S2 THE DIVIDED DIAL EPISODE 1: Fishing In The Night

  Season Two of On the Media’s Peabody-winning series The Divided Dial is the untold story of shortwave radio: the way-less-listened to but way-farther-reaching cousin of AM and FM radio. The medium was once heralded as a utopian, international, and instantaneous mass communication tool — a sort of internet-before-the-internet. But like the internet, it also took a turn for the chaotic. And like AM and FM talk radio, it also went hard to the right, with extremists and cults still finding a home on the shortwavesEPISODE 1:You know AM and FM radio. But did you know that there is a whole other world of radio surrounding us at all times? It’s called shortwave — and, thanks to a quirk of science that lets broadcasters bounce radio waves off of the ionosphere, it can reach thousands of miles, penetrating rough terrain and geopolitical boundaries. How did this instantaneous, global, mass communication tool — a sort of internet-before-the-internet — go from a utopian experiment in international connection to a hardened tool of information warfare and propaganda?The Divided Dial was supported in part by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.    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].

  --------  

  34:05
• Trump’s Executive Order on Public Media Is Here. Plus, the Murdoch’s Real Succession Drama

  To mark his first hundred days in office, President Trump signed three executive orders related to immigration. On this week’s On the Media, the powerful database that can help I.C.E. track down and deport people. Plus, the dramatic fight for power over Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone talks with Jason Koebler, co-founder of 404 Media, about how a surveillance company is supplying ICE with a powerful database to identify and deport people with minor infractions or certain characteristics.[20:57] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Jason Leopold, a senior investigative reporter at Bloomberg and writer of the newsletter “FOIA Files,” about the Trump administration’s attacks on Freedom of Information Act offices at the CDC and FDA, and what they mean for the future of government transparency.[31:50] Brooke talks with McKay Coppins, a staff writer at The Atlantic, about the remarkable, extensive interviews he conducted with members of the Murdoch family — particularly James Murdoch and his wife Kathryn. (Rupert and his eldest son, Lachlan, declined to participate.) Plus, how the HBO show “Succession” influenced the family’s fight over the future of their own media empire.Further reading:Inside a Powerful Database ICE Uses to Identify and Deport People, by Jason KoeblerTrump Filed a FOIA Request. We FOIAed His FOIA, by Jason LeopoldGrowing Up Murdoch: James Murdoch on mind games, sibling rivalry, and the war for the family media empire, by McKay Coppins 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].

  --------  

  50:26
• Shari Redstone's Road to Power at Paramount Global

  The Redstone family is a controlling shareholder of Paramount Global — one of the biggest entertainment companies out there. (Think CBS Entertainment, MTV, Nickelodeon.) The family is also one of the inspirations for HBO's Succession, which makes sense the more you get to know them. Shari Redstone currently has the controlling stake in Paramount Global. Company leadership was carefully criticized in a recent on-air "rebuke" by 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, who said the show was receiving new kinds of oversight amid the Trump presidency. The drama has unfolded as Redstone seeks FCC approval for a lucrative merger, and the Trump administration is suing Paramount Global for billions of dollars. This week we revisit Redstone's backstory by re-airing a conversation with Rachel Abrams, a senior producer and reporter for The New York Times Presents, and the co-author with James B. Stewart of Unscripted:​​ The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy.  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].

  --------  

  14:49

More News podcasts

Trending News podcasts

About On the Media

On the Media: Podcasts in Family