On the Media

• The Coding Language Caught in DOGE's Crosshairs

  Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has been edged out of the headlines this past week, or so, by the administration’s current flirtation with a constitutional crisis. But the DOGE team is still busy. One project on the office's agenda, originally reported by WIRED late last month, is to rewrite the Social Security Administration's code base—in other words, the agency's computer programs, which handle millions of Americans’ personal and financial data. Brooke sits down with Clive Thompson, author of Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World, contributing writer to New York Times Magazine, and monthly columnist for Wired, to discuss the coding language under DOGE's microscope.    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 [email protected].

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• The Tariff Week From Hell. Plus, the Bluesky CEO Reimagines Social Media.

  The president’s on-again, off-again tariffs are wreaking havoc on the economy. On this week’s On the Media, how the press is struggling to keep up with covering the chaos. Plus, the CEO of Bluesky, an alternative to Twitter, shares her vision for a better internet.[00:00] Host Micah Loewinger breaks down a wild week in the economy–why the press can’t keep up, and what we can learn from the rollercoaster of tariffs the Trump administration has implemented.[00:00] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Jay Graber, the CEO of Bluesky, a competitor to Twitter/X that’s seen massive growth recently, about how Bluesky is structured in a fundamentally different way than other social media platforms, and why that might make it “billionaire-proof.” Plus, TechDirt founder and editor Mike Masnick documents the surprising role that his wonky paper played in the founding of Bluesky.[00:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Douglas Rushkoff, whose many books probe the practice and philosophy of digital technology, about whether the apocalypse survival fantasies of tech billionaires are actually viable.Further reading/listening:Protocols, Not Platforms: A Technological Approach to Free Speech, by Mike MasnickSurvival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, by Douglas Rushkoff 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 [email protected].

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• Sen. Chris Murphy on the Crisis Facing Our Democracy

  This week we’re bringing you an interview from our friends at the New Yorker Radio Hour. It's a conversation between host David Remnick and Democratic congressman Chris Murphy. Murphy is the junior senator from Connecticut and a vehement critic of leaders in his party who’ve taken a “business as usual” approach in dealing with the Trump administration. He opposed Chuck Schumer’s negotiation to pass the Republican budget and keep the government running and Murphy advocated for the democrats to skip the president’s joint address to congress en masse. He believes that his party has a winning formula if they stick to a populist anti-big-money agenda and he despairs that some in his party aren’t responding appropriately to what he sees as a crisis. 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 [email protected].

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• Harvard and the Battle Over Higher Ed

  The Trump administration has pulled funding for universities like Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, and is threatening to withhold federal dollars from public schools with diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Harvard is also fighting to retain its funding. On this week’s On the Media, hear how the distinctly American idea of “diversity” has fallen out of favor—from higher education to the Supreme Court.Reporter Ilya Marritz explains how the Trump administration is cracking down on universities by pulling funding. Plus. how the history of Harvard and the concept of “diversity” is the hidden subtext for the Trump administration’s education policies. In the past half-century, the academy (and the business world) embraced the idea of diversity as a social good–an idea developed at Harvard and endorsed by the Supreme Court, until the latter ended race-based affirmative action in 2023. You can find earlier installments of Ilya’s reporting for The Harvard Plan, a collaboration with The Boston Globe, here.Further reading/listening:The Harvard Plan: Part OneThe Harvard Plan: Part TwoUniversity presidents aren’t capitulating to Trump, they say. They’re ‘adapting.’ by Hilary BurnsTrump is threatening Harvard with funding cuts in the billions. But what does he want the university to do? by Hilary Burns 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 [email protected].

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• Sports Media’s Big Gamble on the Betting Industry

  According to the American Gaming Association, bets on March Madness basketball games could amount to as much as $3.1 billion. Almost every national sports outlet — ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, NBC, CBS, The Ringer — has partnered with a major sports betting company. Big money is changing hands. What does that mean for sports journalism? On the Media producer Rebecca Clark-Callender reports in a piece that first aired a year ago. 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 [email protected].

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