Very much enjoyed digging into Anthropic's road to the top of the AI startup mountain with @micahloewinger.bsky.social and @onthemedia.bsky.social, and how it shrewdly exploited its reputation as the 'ethical' AI company to win over investors, the media—and the pope.

Had a great time speaking with @bcmerchant.bsky.social and @vauhinivara.bsky.social about the current state of AI –– how Anthropic convinced the media that it's the industry's "ethical" leader, and how AI writing is creeping into journalism and literature: www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

"All the voices and sounds you will hear are real. They are presented as they were spoken, in the heat and confusion of a world in crisis." This kind of caveat was common as US networks adopted the taped actuality. We probably will hear some version of it again soon. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGp0...

📻 Show’s up! Featuring @bcmerchant.bsky.social, @vauhinivara.bsky.social, and David Garrett on-the-media.visitlink.me/mMfPo1

NEW: @elisethomas.bsky.social reveals multiple links between Viory, a video news agency supplying national press agencies across Africa, Asia and the Middle East and Ruptly news agency - a branch of sanctioned Russian propaganda outlet Russia Today. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06...

A huge point in favor of @bfishbfish.bsky.social's theory that Trump just don't know that many people anymore

Now is a good time to remember that Meta has announced that it is laying off 10% of its workforce, including 2,000 people just today, while going in on a "AI will replace workers" strategy. www.404media.co/hackers-simp...

Today is the last for meddlesome late-night talk-show host Stephen Colbert on CBS. In a quieter but no less devastating development, tomorrow is the last day that @cbsnews.com Radio will be heard on nearly 700 commercial radio stations nationwide. 1/

Thanks to @maryharris.bsky.social for a great interview about our FEMA reporting: slate.com/podcasts/wha...

In the latest ep of American Emergency: how a library in Marshall, North Carolina came to the rescue of its community after Hurricane Helene. lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

OpenAI Announces Construction Of New Data Center On Top Of Sick Child

A new study finds AI companies, defense firms, and dating apps are among 38 data collectors allegedly using manipulative design to confuse users while collecting their data. www.wired.com/story/data-b...

Claude repeated false claims 15% of the time when asked about pro-Kremlin falsehoods, citing Russian state-affiliated media every time. This increase in citations suggests that, in recent months, Claude has become more vulnerable to disinfo campaigns. www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/claudes-fo...

This is really fun

For 10 months, I’ve been working on a 4-part @onthemedia.bsky.social investigation into FEMA, one of America’s least favorite agencies: why MAGA nearly killed it and how we got here. The first episode just dropped. We’re super proud of it. Hope you’ll listen: www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

ICYMI, I discussed this story (and shared some thoughts on how CBS is falling short of Edward R. Murrow’s example) this past week with @onthemedia.bsky.social 🗃️ www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

listen listen listen!

“I don’t think that that’s something that would have been said on TV so quickly in 2017,” @melmason.bsky.social said.

"The key to radio's future does not lie, as so many broadcasters seem to think, in doing more cheaply what television can do...Rather the key to radio's future lies in another direction: doing the things that television cannot do." File under: unheeded advice, 1952. www.nytimes.com/1952/06/01/a...

NEW: Emails obtained by @wired.com show how a small conservative group was instrumental in FCC chair Brendan Carr's actions against Jimmy Kimmel. @dell.bsky.social has the scoop. No paywall bc FOIA: www.wired.com/story/the-fc...

Excellent reporting from @dell.bsky.social on how CAR, a small conservative legal group, has a fast track for filing complaints at the FCC. Appreciate the couple quotes from our @onthemedia.bsky.social interview with the president of CAR. www.wired.com/story/the-fc...

Hungary's elections are this weekend, and longtime Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is at serious risk of losing. Listen to our midweek podcast with Ivan L. Nagy about what it will take to rebuild a robust independent press in Hungary, whether Orbán wins or loses: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth holds regular Pentagon prayer meetings, which infuse worship with the furor of Christian nationalism. "Hegseth is trying to evangelize the military leadership with his version of Christianity,” says @briankaylor.bsky.social of @wordandway.bsky.social.

Hall of fame FT correction

I found producing this series, and especially this episode, pretty cathartic in this regard! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

my 2018 read of Trump's "The Art of the Deal," a book that to this day explains everything about him!

6 News & Documentary Emmy nominations for Bellingcat this year, across 5 categories. Proud of the work, grateful to our partners at Frontline/PBS, Washington Post, Evident Media, Passion Pictures, Impact Partners, Channel 4, M4 Studios & CalMatters.

Congress still in recess, btw

"Trump’s Media-Bashing Is Coming Back to Bite Him in Court" Been meaning to write a story about this, and NYT's Erik Wemple beat me to it: "Judges have cited attacks on the press by the president and his appointees when ruling against the government in at least three court cases."

For context, check out latest episode (we cover Hegseth's monthly Pentagon prayer meetings and the ultraconservative Christian denomination he's a member of): lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

A devastating cascade of legal actions is stripping away trans rights. @brookegladstone.bsky.social speaks with @esqueer.net about why she's been looking toward a legal framework invented in the wake of Nazi Germany called "the dual state" to better understand this moment.

"A handful of journalists have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for allegedly seeking to use the Voice of America (VOA) to promote propaganda and censor news coming out of the White House. " thehill.com/homenews/med...

It's not quite true there is no law against it -- there's a statue from the 1860s -- but this is just one more thing we never thought we'd have to prevent because we couldn't imagine anybody wanting to do it.

Health officials with the Trump administration have backed away from an effort to more heavily regulate indoor tanning — despite protests from medical groups that warn of the dangers of skin cancer. n.pr/4bYwyoj

Highlight from my interview with @npr.org’s On the Media for an in-depth discussion on the Pentagon's slashing of its program to protect civilians in war, the retaliation I faced as a Pentagon whistleblower, and the dangerous consequences…

EXCLUSIVE: Surveillance video obtained by an activist shows Liam Conejo Ramos and his father being taken to a detention center in Texas via a Delta Airlines flight, the morning after ICE allegedly used the boy as bait. gillianbrockell.com/video-proves...

Really rude playoff re: that Golden win.

Former Pentagon senior advisor @wesjbryant.bsky.social was working on a mission to lessen harms to civilians in warfare. Then Secretary Hegseth scrapped the program. lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

NEW: War is pushing Iran deeper into a water crisis, compounding the effects of climate change and decades of mismanagement My latest on the intersection of war and climate with @eroston.bsky.social via @bloomberglp.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Really appreciated the opportunity to talk to @brookegladstone.bsky.social @onthemedia.bsky.social about the Anthropic-OpenAI-Pentagon mess. www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

This week on @onthemedia.bsky.social you can hear me discuss horrible things being horrible. Have a great weekend!

As the Ellison empire expands and corporate media consolidation accelerates, what’s going to be the next Minot?

Donald Trump’s FCC has been coming after the broadcast networks for their so-called political biases. @brookegladstone.bsky.social spoke with the conservative lawyer behind it all.

Take a listen to this one: it’s one you WON’T want to miss! 🔥🔥🔥 www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

I had nothing to do with the latest episode of @onthemedia.bsky.social so I can honestly say the team crushed it this week. Listen to Brooke heroically take on the right-wing lawyer helping the FCC target ABC, CBS, et al. His vision for the future of American media is quite frightening. Listen:

NEW: SSA has been told to tell ICE the "date and time" when certain people have appointments, likely subjecting those people to ICE enforcement actions when they come in. @zoeschiffer.bsky.social, @telliotter.bsky.social, & @leahfeiger.bsky.social w/ the scoop: www.wired.com/story/social...

Utah Continues To Ban More Books, Even As It Racks Up More Lawsuits Utah's budding theocracy continues unimpeded as we head into the new year. On top of its other unconstitutional laws (like the oft-challenged social media ban) and legislative proposals, there's its book ban law that has seen it…

Trump says he didn't know about Epstein’s crimes, but docs in the Epstein files show that in 2006 Trump told then-Palm Beach police chief: “Thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this.” From @jkbjournalist.bsky.social: www.miamiherald.com/news/politic...

In the last month ICE has bought warehouses in: - Hagerstown, MD: $102 million - Surprise, AZ: $70 million - Hamburg, PA: $87 million - Tremont, PA: $120 million - San Antonio, TX: $82 million - El Paso, TX: $123 million - Social Circle, GA: price unknown This is unprecedented.

In the past year, Trump administration appointees at the Department of Energy have canceled $815 million of a $1-billion fund meant to bolster the island’s grid against storms and outages. www.scientificamerican.com/article/bad-...