There aren't a lot of things I agree with Mark Carney about, but there's one area where he and I are in *total* accord: the old, US-dominated, "rules-based international order" was total bullshit: www.weforum.org/stories/2026... 1/

yiiiikes

With the help of the Sandy Hook families, The Onion has reached a long-awaited deal to take over InfoWars. We've enlisted the help of @timheidecker.bsky.social, who will be InfoWars' Creative Director. Please stand by for more.

SCOOP with Elizabeth Williamson: The Onion has a new plan to take over Infowars. It has entered into an agreement to license the Infowars brand and plans to operate it as a comedy site. A Texas judge must approve the deal. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/b...

.@melmason.bsky.social speaks with Brooke about how the whisper network surrounding Eric Swalwell caught up to him: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

Kash Patel's lawsuit against The Atlantic has been filed. All else aside, it confirms this: Kash Patel was locked out of the FBI system on Friday, April 10. The lockout set off a flurry of inquires to the FBI/DOJ/WH about whether Patel had been fired. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Articles about Jared Kushner's diplomatic role with Iran that mention Kushner has received billions from the Saudi government (2/28-4/19): NYT: 5 of 58 WashPost: 1 of 43 WSJ: 0 of 40 AP: 0 of 26 CNN Wire: 0 of 18 NY Post: 0 of 17 Chicago Tribune: 0 of 4 LA Times: 0 of 4 Boston Globe: 0 of 2

“i am chained to the desk reading insipid slop,” Nick Fuentes on the comments his own fans pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to read out Really great work here from @drewharwell.com and @jeremybmerrill.com www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

It’s estimated that Victor Orbán’s government and friends controlled almost 80% of the media in Hungary. Now that he’s out, what happens next? lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

Love how this story shows the power of social media influencers and large news orgs coming together to hold power to account. Both can play a key role when they embrace each other’s strengths.

Especially valuable @onthemedia.bsky.social, on both influencers as new Woodward-Bernstein spark & Hungary. Latter segments are on how badly media literacy is needed. Trust nothing you're seeing now... www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

The stunning story of how two social media content creators brought sexual harassment and assault allegations against Eric Swalwell to the press within a matter of weeks, with @melmason.bsky.social: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

@onthemedia.bsky.social is just killing it with this week's episode. They also give the clearest explanation of the Swalwell rape scandal I've heard, here: bsky.app/profile/onth...

Incoming Hungarian prime minister Peter Magyar has vowed to reform the country’s media landscape, but his relationship with the press is a little complicated w/ Ivan Nagy lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

"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...

Palantir put out a 22-point summary of their CEO's book The Technological Republic. It's pitched as a defence of the West, but if you read it through the VDA framework, verification, deliberation, accountability, what it's actually doing looks rather different. twitter-thread.com/t/2045574398...

There had long been rumors swirling around Eric Swalwell regarding sexual misconduct. But after he decided to run for governor, two content creators teamed up to make these allegations public. @melmason.bsky.social has the story: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

I know there’s so much media to share, but I think On the Media synthesizes the moment so well. highly recommend.

Victor Orbán’s 16-year reign in Hungary has ended–but what does that mean for the media? w/ Ivan Nagy lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

📻 Show’s up! Insight from Ivan Nagy & @melmason.bsky.social: lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

"They're deregulating how drugs are approved, these kinds of supplements are being sold," said @esqueer.net. "Meanwhile, they are cracking down on gender affirming care for trans youth and launching investigations against providers of gender affirming care."

There are many window & lawn signs stating that “Hate has no Home here.” For those that have wondered where does Hate have a home, it’s apparently on shortwave radio. Check out @onthemedia.bsky.social multi-episode podcast On the Divided Dial from journalist #KatieThornton #hatehasnohomehere

I've been reporting a multi-part @onthemedia.bsky.social series about FEMA for like 9 months. I interviewed Cam Hamilton last year after he was fired. I did not see this coming!!! www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/u...

A jury has found that concert giant Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues, dealing the company a loss in a lawsuit over claims brought by dozens of U.S. states. https://to.pbs.org/4tQdtMi

Kevin Klose, who was a Washington Post correspondent, the head of RFE/RL (twice) and NPR's president for a decade, has died at the age of 85. www.npr.org/2026/04/15/n...

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...

The NYTimes editorial board—"elite" by any definition—writes this drivel about "elite cultural progressivism" after a hand-picked Trump supporter flown in from Arkansas for a photo-op was asked by Trump about trans athletes and said "I really don’t have an opinion on that."

On the show this week

A mysterious shortwave radio broadcast went live in Iran shortly after American and Israeli strikes started. Last year, reporter Katie Thornton took a trip to the northern Maine town of Monticello to find one of shortwave’s farthest reaching broadcasters. on-the-media.visitlink.me/IyV46U

.@billscher.bsky.social on Trump’s adherence to a failed Nixon-era political strategy called “Madman Theory”: on-the-media.visitlink.me/1zFc0I

On Tuesday, Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran’s “whole civilization will die tonight.” @billscher.bsky.social on Trump’s attempt to use the Nixon-era political theory “Madman Theory”: on-the-media.visitlink.me/PZxDDe

In the internet era, shortwave radio has largely been left to the most extreme voices–like conspiratorial flat earth ministries or ultra-conservative cults. Hear how they get their messages out to the world on-the-media.visitlink.me/X2PYnd

BREAKING: the judges who dismissed high-profile cases in immigration court against two international students who have advocated for Palestinian causes, Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi, were fired yesterday, alongside four other judges. /w @haleaziz.bsky.social and @nicknehamas.bsky.social

Soon after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran, a mysterious shortwave broadcast went live–old tech in a landscape of modern warfare. Last year, reporter Katie Thornton went to see one of the most powerful radio antennas in the world–and what it’s broadcasting. on-the-media.visitlink.me/VBBcrV

I joined @wnyc.org @onthemedia.bsky.social to discuss Trump's embrace of Madman Theory and what it says about his own madness. Check out the podcast here: www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

.@billscher.bsky.social on Trump’s deep belief in the “Madman Theory,” and how history has shown us that it doesn’t work: on-the-media.visitlink.me/NPJtoK

📻 Show’s up! Insight from @billscher.bsky.social and Katie Thornton: on-the-media.visitlink.me/659M9k

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.

I remember hearing the term "news fatigue" for the first time in 2016-2017. That phrase feels a bit... quaint nowadays

This was a really interesting conversation between @jodyavirgan.com, @kcarterjackson.bsky.social, @pastpunditry.bsky.social, and Ken Burns about history, art, revolution, and, of course America 250 in the present moment. (You should subscribe!) thisdaypod.substack.com/p/ken-burns-...

SCOOP The Iranian group producing the Trump LEGO videos have a secret weapon.....Americans who send them tips and ideas to make their content better www.wired.com/story/inside...

What, exactly, is an "ICE shooting incident"? Just say an ICE agent shot someone. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

josh’s comments here get at the truth of the trump cuts: democrats can’t just turn funding streams back on when in power. the infrastructure has been badly damaged—we’ll need a wholesale reimagining and reinvestment in the reconstruction of public media (as well as all our other public institutions)

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

I'm so glad I got to talk with @onthemedia.bsky.social about what is being done to trans people by the law.

The reporting on OpenAI and Sam Altman I've been working on for the past year and a half, for @newyorker.com, with Andrew Marantz: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

CBS’ climate coverage was already shifting toward misleading framing before the network reportedly cut its last dedicated climate reporter.

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.

I know I say it a lot, but On the Media continues to be one of the most essential pieces of media I consume each week, especially when it comes to understanding the motivations of this regime. Everyone should listen to this one.