The New York Times has sued the Pentagon for restricting access to journalists. On this week’s On the Media, meet the new cast of right wing influencers and conspiracy theorists replacing the press corps in the Pentagon. Plus, a new documentary examines the life and work of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.

[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with Dan Lamothe, who covers the US military and Pentagon for the Washington Post, to talk about the Trump administration’s shifting narrative around a second strike that killed two survivors on a boat in the Caribbean. Lamothe used to have a desk in the Pentagon as part of the press corps, but left alongside reporters from major news outlets after they refused to sign onto stringent new rules on how they could do their reporting.

[16:58] Micah talks with Anna Merlan, senior reporter at Mother Jones, about the cast of right wing influencers and conspiracists now staffing the Pentagon press corps. Plus, Micah interviews Cam Higby, a member of the new press corps, about why he agreed to the Pentagon’s restrictions on access.

[43:18] Micah speaks with Laura Poitras, a journalist and filmmaker whose past works include CitizenFour, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, and Risk, to discuss her newest documentary. Poitras shares the process of making Cover-Up, coming soon to Netflix, which chronicles the life of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. Poitras describes Hersh's ferocious drive to uncover government wrongdoing, and what today’s press corps can learn from him.

Further reading / watching:

• “Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all,” by Alex Horton and Ellen Nakashima
• “‘Signalgate’ report contradicts Hegseth’s claim of ‘total exoneration’,”by Dan Lamothe
• “Meet the New Pentagon Press Corps,” by Anna Merlan
• Cover-Up, directed and produced by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus

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 onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Late last month, Reuters reported that DOGE had “disbanded,” that the group was no longer a centralized government entity. But according to Wired Reporter Vittoria Elliott, while DOGE is no longer moving across the government "in a move-fast-and-break-things blitz,” it is far from dead and gone. One source, at the USDA, told Wired that DOGE operatives had “burrowed into the agencies like ticks.” Elliott tells Brooke about how DOGE is continuing to shape the government, and what she's learned from talking to federal workers.

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 onthemedia@wnyc.org.

A new feature on X, formerly known as Twitter, has revealed that some prominent MAGA accounts are based in South Asia and Eastern Europe. On this week’s On the Media, how foreign actors funnel political rage-bait into social media feeds. Plus, a school librarian in Louisiana shares how she’s been targeted by book-banning activists.

[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with Charlie Warzel, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of its newsletter Galaxy Brain, to discuss the recent X update that revealed many high profile, pro-MAGA accounts might be based in foreign countries.

[16:37] Host Brooke Gladstone talks with Amanda Jones, school librarian in Livingston Parish, Louisiana and former School Librarian of the Year, to discuss her experience as a target of book-banning activists. Plus, why protecting libraries is as crucial as ever.

[32:44] Brooke Gladstone talks to Elyse Graham, professor of sociology at Stony Brook University and author of Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II. They discuss the role that academics, archivists, and librarians played in WWII intelligence gathering activities, and why the CIA invested in storytelling as a result.

Further reading / watching:

• Elon Musk’s Worthless, Poisoned Hall of Mirrors, by Charlie Warzel
• The Librarians film
• That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America, by Amanda Jones
• Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II, by Elyse Graham

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 onthemedia@wnyc.org.

This month marks 25 years of Bullseye, a public radio show and podcast founded, hosted, and produced by Jesse Thorn. The show began as an offbeat college radio show at UC Santa Cruz, as a way for Thorn and his friends to hone their comedian sensibilities over the airwaves during their daily 7:30am slot. Today, it’s a show where artists open up about how and why they pursue their art. And it goes out on NPR. Earlier this month, host Brooke Gladstone called Jesse up to ask him how his show survived every new iteration of podcasting, and how it all began.

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 onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Progressive and centrist Democratic candidates had big wins in the 2025 elections. On this week’s On the Media, a data scientist fact-checks the claim that Democrats need moderate voters to win. Plus, an Arizona state senator shares how she’s reaching her constituents on TikTok and on the ground.

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with G. Elliot Morris, a journalist, statistician, and author of the data-driven news website Strength in Numbers, to hash out what the data says about whether becoming more moderate is really the key to Democratic candidates winning more elections.

[20:09] Brooke chats with Matt Bennett, co-founder of Third Way, a center-left think tank, about his view that Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York City poses a “serious political problem” for the Democrats.

[36:06] Finally, Brooke calls up Analise Ortiz, state senator for Arizona’s 24th district, to discuss how TikTok, old-fashioned door-knocking, and making tangible differences in peoples’ lives is the way for the Democrats to start winning again.

Further reading:

• Moderation is not a silver bullet, by G. Elliott Morris
• Seven data-driven lessons from the 2025 elections, by G. Elliott Morris
• Was It Something I Said? by Third Way
• Debunking Myths About the Democratic Party, by Third Way

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 onthemedia@wnyc.org.

If you’ve ever donated to a Democratic candidate, you’ve probably been rewarded with a never-ending stream of pleas for more money in your inbox. And we’re not talking about polite reminders. Demands are often in ALL CAPS. Attached to names of celebrities like GEORGE CLOONEY or TAYLOR SWIFT. And warnings that something awful is about to happen.

Adam Bonica is a political scientist at Stanford University who writes a Substack newsletter called On Data and Democracy. He reached his breaking point with Democratic Party spam last year, and decided to investigate why they landed on this strategy, and how effective it really is.

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 onthemedia@wnyc.org.

The Trump administration is asking universities to sign an agreement in exchange for preferential access to federal funding. On this week’s On the Media, how the arrangement would radically alter the relationship between the government and higher education. Plus, how university leaders are navigating the fight over academic freedom.

[00:00] Universities were not always so vulnerable to the whims of politics. The whole system of taxpayer-funded, university-led scientific research came about at the end of World War II, and was the brainchild of a man named Vannevar Bush. He felt the partnership of government and academics had to be equal in order to yield breakthroughs. Today, the Trump administration is proposing a new “compact” that would make the President the dominant partner. We speak with one of the authors of the Trump compact, May Mailman.

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 onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Back in October, Nick Fuentes, the Gen Z white nationalist influencer, was trending in the news after a leaked Young Republicans chat revealed how his ideas were taking hold in some conservative circles. Then, just a week or so later, Fuentes sat down for an interview with Tucker Carlson. That 2-hour interview triggered a crisis amongst the GOP’s top brass that pitted major conservative influencers against each other, and garnered headlines declaring the start of a Republican “civil war.” For this midweek podcast extra, host Micah Loewinger called up Zack Beauchamp, senior correspondent for Vox, to wade through the fallout around Fuentes and Carlson, and break down what this tells us about antisemitism in American politics.

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 onthemedia@wnyc.org.