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When former Russian president Boris Yeltsin died this week, a near-universal chorus of obituarists declared his legacy mixed. He may have ushered in democracy and a free press, but he failed to build the institutions to sustain them.
House Democrats held hearings this week to investigate whether the Pentagon deliberately twisted the truth about the war exploits of Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman. Army Lieutenant Colonel Robert Bateman discusses the history of hero-making in war.
David Halberstam died this week. Halberstam became famous exposing lies during Vietnam, and his impact on other journalists is long-lasting. New Yorker editor David Remnick reflects on Halberstam's wide range of journalistic achievements.
Presidential campaign coffers are bigger than ever, but might the era of the Money Race be coming to a close? New York Times Magazine contributing writer Matt Bai says the ascendancy of the internet is ushering in a new and improved way of politicking.
From bomb scares to stolen radioactive material to rebel attacks, alarming things happen around the world, all day, every day. Morgan Clements, founder and publisher of the Global Incident Map, talks about why it’s important to map them.
To help people visualize the genocide in Darfur, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum partnered with Google Earth to create a detailed map of the genocide there. Google Maps' John Hanke discusses the mechanics of bringing Darfur closer to home.
From Aunt Jemima to the Frito Bandito, there’s a long tradition of racially-fraught spokescharacters in American food marketing. Reporter David Segal says that Uncle Ben is really an Uncle Tom, despite his recent promotion.
Nearly a century ago, Aimee Semple McPherson became the model of the modern, self-made media sensation. In a new biography, Matthew Avery Sutton argues that ‘Sister’ Aimee’s savvy brand of religion brought Christian evangelicalism into the mainstream.
Highlights from Past Shows
NBC News’s decision to broadcast Cho Seung-Hui’s final message earned the network major ratings, and a heap of criticism. But you had to look north of the border to find a major news outlet that didn’t follow NBC’s lead. CBC editor in chief Tony Burman explains why the CBC left the manifesto alone.
It had to be one heck of a slow news week for the media to be shocked by a show hiding in plain sight. Racist humor has been a staple of Imus in the Morning for decades, but somehow that never deterred journos and politicos from hawking their wares with the I-Man.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
