Episode 23: The Debate’s Low Bar
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Media pundits heaped praise on the moderators of the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Why? Because amid Trump’s onslaught of lies, they offered a few brief moments of fact checking. Today, Josh explains that this proves the incredibly low bar for “journalism” at these spectacles — which are, as he has said before, “arson for truth.” Also, he highlights a moment in which a host said something false in the process of asking Kamala Harris a question.
Meanwhile, listeners have sent in lots of questions about the media’s failure to accurately describe the slaughter of hostages in Gaza, including a U.S. citizen. Josh shares something surprising: for a brief period, the language that upset people was actually accurate. But the critics are right too.
Episode 22: ‘Masculinity’ in the Media
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When Tim Walz’s teenage son Gus teared up in pride over his father, right-wing talking heads bullied him. It brought a major issue into focus: battles over “masculinity.” The head of a top polling agency says it’s the only thing helping Trump keep the race close. Today, Josh shows that the media is caught between two superficial visions of masculinity, while ignoring reality. Through hard data, he shows that Trump is nothing like the overwhelming majority of today’s American men — and Tim Walz is.
Also, Josh shows that the media misuses the term “toxic masculinity,” and that people who support it are not only on the far right, but also the far left. He shares the sound of a Palestinian terrorist’s call to his father, who cries in pride over his son’s evil murder spree.
Episode 21: Hack-pocrisy
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The media should choose which stories to tell based on what’s most important and relevant. But often inside newsrooms, those decisions are instead based on how it will make the news agencies themselves look. That’s why in recent days, a huge story was, relatively speaking, buried. It involves both major parties, the presidential candidates, and a Trump move that should make the “hypocrisy meter” explode. In this episode, Josh explains why.
Also, why Julian Assange should never get away with calling himself a “journalist” — and why it involves the heartbreaking death of a young man.
Plus: media misses from the DNC. And a prominent journalist actually apologizes for getting something wrong!
Episode 20: Ending Open Mic Nights
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So much of the media has lost sight of what its role is in society: to provide truth. News organizations have even built operations around the opposite idea: letting anyone say anything. They’ve turned what should be journalism into open mic nights.
Recently, Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC called out the media, and his message spoke to this problem. Today, Josh shows sneakier ways the media keep this up, and the false dichotomy that they use to try to justify it. (Hear Anderson Cooper spout this nonsense.) And Josh presents a three-word oath that journalists should use as a guide in making any and all decisions.
Plus, as the show hits something of a milestone, Josh shares an emotional note from a listener.
Episode 19: When the Media Ignore Solutions
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When you look at many of the big problems in the world, you see that there are people working on solutions. That’s a major part of the positive side of the story of humanity. But in journalism, you generally wouldn’t know that. Most controversies are presented simply as two sides disagreeing. In fact there is now, pathetically, a term for the rare times that news organizations actually consider solutions as part of their coverage.
This issue plays out in all sorts of stories, including one in recent days involving gender in boxing and Olympic sports in general. Today, Josh shows how journalists miss the story when they ignore solutions.
Also, an entirely different way to look at the controversy surrounding the term “pregnant people.” Josh explains why, in certain contexts, he has been careful to use the term “Black” instead of “African-American,” and why the media need to think carefully about terms they use for any group.
Plus, employees inside one of the world’s leading news organizations come together to call out antisemitism. Josh shares the awful response from the head of the agency and what it says about any employer in any industry. There’s a basic rule that should be seen as part of Journalism 101 and Management 101.
And the host of a cable news show addresses exactly what Josh has been talking about, and even calls out his own network.
Episode 18: A Network’s Bonkers Lie About Militaries
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Perhaps the most frustrating kinds of lies in the media are the ones presented as part of a so-called “fact check.” In this episode, Josh digs into something that CNN got exactly wrong in discussing militaries in general, and Israel’s in particular. The network claimed that all military analysts except for one would agree on something false; Josh shows that even CNN’s own military analyst disputes that claim.
Plus, a whole different kind of reality check. Military expert Andrew Fox points out that some analysts often quoted in the news are examining the war in Gaza through the prism of the U.S.-led “war on terrorism,” which failed. He provides an understandable explanation of why he believes Israel is winning — and that its actions should be “taught in military colleges.”
Also, the actress and activist Debra Messing’s powerful message to the media, especially the Washington Post, following their biased coverage of the slaughter of a group of Israeli Druze children by Hezbollah.
Episode 17: The Weaponization of Polls
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From now until the election, expect an unprecedented onslaught of daily reports about political polls — many of them designed to manipulate you. Fear, dread, hopelessness, and anger get you to click and “doomscroll.”
Today, Josh explains why President Biden’s decision to drop out made sense, but the polls also don’t indicate what will happen in November. He shows how the Trump team wants to sow divisions among Democrats, and why polls could become a tool in that effort.
Also, a listener asks about polls showing Palestinians overwhelmingly support the October 7 terrorist massacres against Israelis.
Plus: If you’re trying to get the truth out during an interview with a news agency that frequently lies about you or an entity that you represent, what do you do? Josh interviews a woman who faces that challenge frequently: the Israeli consul general to the Southeast.
Episode 16: The Myth of Invincibility
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When conspiracy theories grow, there’s a crucial step that news organizations should take. They should run those theories past the myth of invincibility. Today, Josh explains how that applies to coverage of many of the biggest news stories of our time, from the current presidential race to terrorist attacks and more.
Plus, now that President Biden has dropped out of the presidential race, Josh explains what we should watch out for in the news, and the role that Americans desperately need the media to play. And he shows how news organizations allowed hypocrisy to go unchecked in coverage of the assassination attempt at a Trump rally, and left out crucial context.
Meanwhile, big news on another front has made early episodes of this show as timely and important as ever. Josh explains how an opinion from the International Court of Justice relates to media failures in coverage of Israel, particularly involving “occupation” and “international law.” And one of the nation’s best known newspapers actually pulled something because it was so blatantly offensive against Israel and the parents of a hostage.
Episode 15: Media & the Fight for Democracy
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When big news happens, media organizations clamor for your attention — even if they don’t have any new, concrete information to share with you. This breeds mistakes, hypocrisy, and more. In this episode, Josh explains what he’s watching out for in the coverage of the shooting at a Trump event, described by authorities as an attempted assassination.
Political violence operates against democracy. Inspired by his interview on a conservative radio show, Josh looked into the news media’s role in the fight for democracy, and discovered something: The media’s effect on anti-democratic forces is different in America from what it is in Europe.
In this episode, how TV news and apps are fueling anti-democratic efforts on both the right and the left. Also, how the media ignore the fact that Israel is one of the world’s oldest democracies, and that democracies are necessities for journalism. Plus, you’ll hear from Henry Kissinger and famed broadcaster Edward R. Murrow.
Episode 14: Editorial Boards and Crystal Balls
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It took only hours for the biggest political story to become a media story too, as news agencies rushed to cover the New York Times’ call for Biden to leave the race. In this episode, Josh explains that the media often treats the Times’ editorial board like the “great and powerful” Oz. In reality, it’s a group of 14 people with opinions. He explains that the media should contextualize this and show that another editorial board, from the biggest paper in an actual swing state, argued the opposite.
Also, welcome to new sponsor MIT45! In this episode, you’ll hear from CEO Ryan Niddel, who will discuss kratomresearchinstitute.org.
Episode 13: A Law to Ban Politicians Lying
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There’s an irony and media failure at the core of the national freakout over the recent presidential debate. The media’s fixation on President Biden’s demeanor is so much bigger than the focus on former President Trump’s long list of lies. It raises a question at the heart of American democracy this July 4th: Do we value truth?
In this episode, Josh dissects the media reactions and discusses a law being considered by another democratic government to ban lies by politicians. He explains that while the First Amendment protects all sorts of speech here, it actually is illegal for Americans to lie in numerous contexts — including to the federal government. Would it be such a stretch to say they can’t lie to us either?
Josh explains how this connects to U.S. war heroes, a guy being screamed at for what he was wearing in a store, and Superman.
Plus, a listener asks Josh why the media has rules requiring anti-Israel bias. He explains a devious tactic antisemites use to keep those rules in place.
Episode 12: Media Need a ‘Hypocrisy Meter’
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A listener asks Josh to fact check media coverage of Republicans’ attacks against Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan D.A. who successfully prosecuted Trump. It highlights a big issue: How the media’s lack of self-awareness severely damages our political scene. Today, how the media washes its hands of responsibility for creating a narrative.
Also, why the media needs a “hypocrisy meter” so that it points out when powerful people and entities are “engaging in a level of hypocrisy that is so obvious it can basically be seen from space.” Josh explores how allowing hypocrisy to go unchecked damages not only politics but also global conflicts. He shows how it applies to media coverage of the Middle East, including a “journalist” accused of having held Israeli hostages captive.