Courtesy of the artist Cecil Touchon and the Sears/Peyton Gallery in New York.

Space Odyssey

This week, a show entirely about space ... and media. From the newsroom to the bedroom, the way we produce and consume media is changing rapidly from just a few years ago. Chances are that advances in both technology and design have altered how and where you get information, so this week we decided to focus on the where. To begin, Virginia Heffernan, author of "The Medium" column in The New York Times Magazine, takes us from Japan's "immersion pods" to the American living room.

  • Transcript
  • Comments [2]
  • Save

  • "Notices" Build Buildings

The News Tower

In the past several years, two august institutions of journalism have built brand new headquarters with two very different philosophies. Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker, contrasts the shiny, glass-and-steel towers of The New York Times Co. and Bloomberg L.P.

  • Transcript
  • Comment
  • Save

  • "Illicostal" Build Buildings

Building Hype

Ever notice that sophisticated architectural renderings make construction projects look impossibly attractive. Exactly, says Dwell senior editor Geoff Manaugh, who blogs at bldgblog.blogspot.com. That's precisely the point.

  • Transcript
  • Comment
  • Save

  • "Let's Go" Build Buildings

Clearing The Air

In January 2007, South America’s largest city officially banned outdoor advertising. Billboards, neon signs, bus-stop ads, even the Goodyear blimp - all were suddenly illegal. Folha de Sao Paulo reporter Vinicius Galvao describes seeing his city as though for the first time.

  • Transcript
  • Comments [2]
  • Save

  • "Up + Down" Build Buildings

Sound Reasoning

The sound in the spaces around us has a history. Princeton University professor and author of The Soundscape of Modernity Emily Thompson studies that history. Thompson says that what we hear in the world and the way we listen result from architectural methods, technological innovations and even the culture at large.

  • Transcript
  • Comment
  • Save

  • "Elevators Escalators" Build Buildings

Moveable Type

The clanging noises of manual typewriters, teletype machines and rotary phones are long gone from the modern newsroom. But those sounds still exist in the New York Times' new building as part of a giant art installation called Moveable Type. Brooke talks with the artists and a big fan of the piece.

  • Transcript
  • Comment
  • Save

  • "Ishihara" Build Buildings

Head Room

As technologies improve, we are increasingly living (and working and training) in a space that is, more or less, unreal. Brooke counts the virtues of a virtual world.

* * * * * * * * *
All the music from this week's show was composed and performed by Build Buildings. Find out more about Build Buildings HERE.

  • Transcript
  • Comment
  • Save

highlights from past showsHighlights from Past Shows

Courtesy of the artist, Xiaoze Xie and the <a href="http://www.cowlesgallery.com/">Charles Cowles Gallery</a> in New York.

One For The Books

May 23, 2008

This week, On the Media is re-airing a show dedicated to one of our favorite topics – books. From Oprah's Book Club to the Google Library Project, the way we buy, search, read and even discuss books is changing. And so we begin with a look at some of the forces now tugging at the industry.


Taking Fire

May 16, 2008

In last week’s clashes in Beirut, Hezbollah targeted the headquarters of the Al Mustaqbal television station and newspaper. But this wasn’t a simple case of media suppression. Rami Khouri, editor at large at the Daily Star in Lebanon, explains the political significance of the attacks.


On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.

Supported in part by: