On this week’s @onthemedia.bsky.social I spoke with Stephen Witt about how AI tycoons have tied our economy up in knots and are demanding that we let them do significant harm to our planet:

FCC boss Brendan Carr is set to testify on Capitol Hill Wednesday—and fellow commissioner Anna Gomez, who will appear on Capitol Hill with him, is set to sharply criticize the agency under his watch. Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/brendan-ca...

"The newspaper industry served as a feeder for our entire news media ecosystem. So when we lose those newspapers, we've lost that journalism. In the early 2000s, we had 40 journalists per 100,000 people. We're now down to 8 journalists per 100,000 people," says @victorpickard.bsky.social.

The Harvard Plan is #4 on @nwquah.bsky.social's year end list of narrative podcasts!! The Harvard Plan is reported by @ilyamarritz.bsky.social as a collab between @onthemedia.bsky.social and @bostonglobe.com. If you haven't listened, do it. www.vulture.com/article/best...

“There are a lot of disturbing aspects. But this is one of the most disturbing.”

New from 404 Media: the creator of ICEBlock just sued the U.S. government over it pressuring Apple to remove the app earlier this year. Says it violated his First Amendment rights. www.404media.co/iceblock-cre...

love this

The show is up and it’s SPICY! Ft. @danlamothe.bsky.social on leaving the pentagon, @annamerlan.bsky.social on the new pentagon press corps and Laura Poitras on her new movie “Cover Up.” Oh and pod bonus @micahloewinger.bsky.social spoke with Cam Higby about his new role. pca.st/episode/f23f...

This week I called up Cam Higby, a member of the new media MAGA Pentagon press corps to ask him about his decision to sign away his ability to do investigative journalism in exchange for access to press briefings. He shouted and called me names…

I interviewed living legend Laura Poitras for this weekend's episode of @onthemedia.bsky.social. She's a hero of mine -- a true paragon of righteous brave thorough investigative journalism. Watching Citizenfour as a college student made me want to become a reporter. Excited for y'all to hear it

Kennedy's zombie ACIP panel just voted to restrict hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. Experts say it will harm children for no reason. www.ms.now/news/rfk-cdc... ACIP member Dr. Cody Meissner: "'Do no harm' is a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording. And I vote no."

What it's like to be Elon Musk's favorite X influencer, a digital remora feeding on likes and reposts www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/b...

The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored all previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge "Restoration of these grants is a massive win for libraries of all kinds in all states."

Today's Reliable Sources digest: cnn.it/3MfhCsB

NEW: Trump’s pardon of former Honduran President Hernández was the result of something extraordinary for a Central American leader & convicted cocaine trafficker—a web of powerful advocates stretching from Washington to Silicon Valley and Mar-a-Lago. Behind the scenes ⬇️ www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

"Public health officials warn that if Mr. Kennedy succeeds, measles and other infectious diseases will come roaring back, jeopardizing the health of all American children" www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...

Newspapers are closing at an emergency-level rate—over the past 20 years, America has lost more than 3,000. For the past six years, the photographer Ann Hermes has been documenting the lives lived in these dying places across the country. See more images: https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/059DXx

News media has to do better with headlines that present false and unverified public health claims.

📻 The show is up! @cwarzel.bsky.social on X’s recent update that revealed a swarm of overseas accounts posing as Americans; @librarianjones.com on fighting book-banning activists; @elysegraham.bsky.social on the scholars and librarians who helped win WWII. https://lnk.to/onthemedia/bluesky

I love it

Hi!! I'm working a special series for @onthemedia.bsky.social, a deep dive into FEMA. I'll be looking at the history of the agency and what's happening there now. If you work there or know someone who does, please hit me up by email or signal... Thanks!

Arizona state senator @senanaliseortiz.bsky.social on how TikTok, old-fashioned door-knocking, and actually making small differences in peoples’ lives is the way for the Democrats to start winning again: https://lnk.to/onthemedia/bluesky

I was one of the four people who got canned. In the interim, you can subscribe to my newsletter, Straight From The Hut. No paywall, but feel free to choose the pay to support model. I'm not going anywhere — the show goes on, and I'll be back on MSNBC Saturday night. straightfromthehut.substack.com

Our show this week is the first episode of The Harvard Plan Season 2, our collaboration with the @bostonglobe.com about the fight for the soul of America’s oldest and most prestigious university. Hosted by award-winning reporter @ilyamarritz.bsky.social:

this is terrifying

NEW: ICE is planning to build a shadow deportation network in Texas. A proposal outlines a 24/7 transport operation run by armed contractors—turning Texas into the logistical backbone of an industrialized deportation machine. My latest @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/ice-is...

I may never write a better lede

this story just keeps getting better

“The Times of London has accelerated its push for more, and largely hostile, coverage of Mamdani. That campaign has been driven internally by Margi Conklin, a New York Post veteran who was most recently managing editor at The Free Press” www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

over the past 9 months, the Trump admin has used just about every lever available to pressure universities to follow his vision for higher ed... how it's going, so far>> my lastest miniseries w/ @bostonglobe.com & @onthemedia.bsky.social pls listen & share! www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

👀 The right wing Harvard Salient published an article stating “Germany belongs to the Germans, France to the French, Britain to the British, America to the Americans” & calling 4 values based on “‘blood, soil, language, & love of one’s own.’” Their alumni board suspended them but they won’t obey 1/

The Trump admin is going after higher ed. Reporter @ilyamarritz.bsky.social documents how this fight is playing out inside the oldest and richest university in America: Harvard. The Harvard Plan season 2 is out now, listen listen listen!!! www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

We’re back with Season 2 of our award-winning series THE HARVARD PLAN. To quote @ilyamarritz.bsky.social in episode 1 “this struggle is not academic…it’s a bare knuckled fight for money, prestige and power” www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

I went deep on Nick Fuentes and the groyperification of the GOP with @benlorber8.bsky.social. Listen!

It’s true! We’re back with season 2 of The Harvard Plan hosted by OTM regular @ilyamarritz.bsky.social. Don’t miss next week’s OTM: it’s going to be a riveting listen 📻

⚡️ Ukraine war latest live: Trump finally sanctions Russia. The measures are the first new sanctions U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed against Moscow since taking office in January.

"The Defense Department’s policy blocks journalists from soliciting information the department has not authorized for release — even unclassified details, a major shift in press outreach from the organization." via @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

There was already a *lot* going on with Bluesky, and now it's under even more pressure. I wrote about how I think about moderation, affordances, expectations, human needs, and powerful trolls for @techpolicypress.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/trump-admini...

So a few months ago, we detailed how immigration agents were breaking car windows to grab the people inside. Well, it turns out one agent just did that *with his gun* and mistakenly shot the person inside and a U.S. marshal. www.cnn.com/2025/10/21/u...

If nothing else I guess we know that he never saw this skit www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToKc...

really did not expect to hearing about nazis all the time in 2025 was just not something i considered tbh

Inside the Trump administration’s pressure campaign to get tech companies to take down apps that document ICE abuses, with 404 Media’s Joseph Cox: https://lnk.to/onthemedia/bluesky

For the latest @onthemedia.bsky.social I spoke with @josephcox.bsky.social about the administration’s new-found love of content moderation as the DOJ has been pressuring Apple, Google, and Meta to remove apps and groups decided to helping people document ICE activity:

A conspiracy theorist labeled him a ‘domestic terror professor.’ Then the death threats began. https://lnk.to/onthemedia/bluesky

For the latest @onthemedia.bsky.social I spoke with @jakelahut.writes.news about the Ellisons, who are gobbling up media and tech power at an astounding clip. They’re also likely to play a much larger role in shaping post-war Gaza than most people realize. Listen:

Holy crap the @pemalevy.bsky.social interview is not to be missed. An eye-opening look at the Nazi-esque dual-state that SCOTUS is enabling

📻On this week’s show: @gregsargent.bsky.social on Stephen Miller’s plan to “sleepwalk” America into authoritarianism; @pemalevy.bsky.social on the highest court citing the "dual state;" & @jakelahut.writes.news on the rise of the Ellisons' tech-media dynasty. https://lnk.to/onthemedia/bluesky

New @onthemedia.bsky.social pod alert! Produced by @cwango.bsky.social : www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

Was such a pleasure producing this interview with @jamellebouie.net and @micahloewinger.bsky.social. The subject matter is heavy, but interspersed with some chuckles and some hope. It's a good one take a listen: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

Some excerpts from our latest episode, when @micahloewinger.bsky.social asked @jamellebouie.net about some of his mean posts on Bluesky: 1/4