Should reporters lie or misrepresent themselves in order to get an important story? Undercover reporting has long been an effective, exciting and, some would argue, necessary journalistic tool. But at a time when the public's trust in the press is waning, can journalists afford to lie? In a story that originally aired in 2008, Brooke talks with undercover reporters and their critics.

Clive Carroll and John Renbourn - Robert's Sermon

The magazine Runner's World sent over 20 staffers to cover the Boston Marathon. After the bombs exploded, a small team stayed in Boston, transforming from sports reporters to journalists in a breaking news environment. Brooke talks with the magazine's Editor-in-Chief, David Willey, about directing the magazine's coverage during a national tragedy.

William Tyler - We Can't Go Home Again

After the initial surge of news on Monday, we hit a news lull, so many outlets filled their air with recycled video, speculation, sorrow on the scene, pundits, consultants and blather. We asked the best call-in host we know, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, what you're supposed to say on-air when there isn't new information but people still want to tune in. 

Listeners,

After tragedy, if there's no news, why do you stay tuned? What do you WANT to see?

Tell us in the comments below and we'll use some of your answers on the show.

In this 2001 episode of On the Media, Brooke tries to sort out why some things are terrorism, or "merely" heinous criminality?

OTM producer Doug Anderson fires up Grindr and meets up with another guy for a casual, anonymous...interview.

Fred Astaire - I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket

As the Senate debates gun control for the first time in decades, we’re awash in stories we might never have heard but for Newtown. Brooke speaks with New York Times op-ed writer Joe Nocera, who's tracking gun violence daily on his blog The Gun Report. And Bob speaks with reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg about why we're stuck with anecdotes instead of data in the gun discussion.

Lúnasa - Killarney Boys Of Pleasure

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s escalating threats against the US earned him a prominent spot in this week’s news cycle. Charles Armstrong, Director of Columbia University’s Center for Korean Research, tells Brooke that North Korean threats are not only cyclical - they’re seasonal.

Two years ago OTM traveled to Cairo to report on the post-revolution Egyptian media. This week, in the aftermath of the Bassem Youssef arrest, Brooke looks back on her interview with Bassem in 2011 and speaks with New York Times Cairo Bureau David Kirkpatrick about the future of the media in Egypt. 

With his cool rhymes and even cooler clothes, Basketball Hall of Famer Walt "Clyde" Frazier sat down with Brooke Gladstone for a live event to discuss basketball, broadcasting and the art of being cool.

The rate of prosecution of government leakers has reached unprecedented heights under President Obama, twice that of every other president combined. It's been called a 'war on leakers'. But is it? Columbia Law professor David Pozen, author of The Leaky Leviathan: Why the Government Condemns and Condones Unlawful Disclosures of Information, tells Brooke that when you consider the total number of government leakers - less then 1% are punished.

Anthony Lewis passed away this week at 85 after a long and storied career covering the Supreme Court for The New York Times. In a segment originally aired in 2008, Brooke spoke with Lewis about his book Freedom for the Thought We Hate, an examination of the First Amendment. He explained that the amendment that governs free speech and the press might not be as familiar as we think.

Oddisee - Frostbite

Bradley Manning still faces the charge of 'aiding the enemy.' Though that charge can carry the death penalty, the government has said it won't seek it. Brooke spoke with Harvard Law Professor Yochai Benkler who says that a conviction on that charge would still set a chilling precedent for future whistleblowers. 

Modest Mouse - Gravity Rides Everything

In the wake of WikiLeaks' meteoric rise to the world stage in 2010, dozens of copycat leaking sites popped up all over the globe. Today, only a handful remain active. Brooke talks to Ars Technica Senior Business Editor Cyrus Farivar, about what happened to these sites and which leaking sites are still active and impactful.

Kronos Quartet - Tilliboyo (Sunset)

Before sending hundreds of thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks, Bradley Manning says he tried to give those same documents to the New York Times. The Times, he says, never returned his call. Brooke speaks with Bill Keller, New York Times Op-Ed columnist and former Executive Editor, who wondered this week how the Manning story would be different if the Times had worked with him directly.

In a story that originally ran in 2006, Brooke talks with three Iraqis who worked as fixers for American journalists during the war. 

Rahim Alhaj - Taqsim Maqam Ajam

Late last month, Bradley Manning pled guilty to 10 of the 22 charges against him for leaking a trove of information to WikiLeaks. He did not plead guilty to 'aiding the enemy,' a capital offense. Brooke talks to University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone about the validity of the 'aiding the enemy' charge.

What happened to the Iraqi fixers who spoke to On the Media almost seven years ago? Brooke speaks to Ayub Nuri, Zeyad Kasim and Ali Fadhil about where their lives have taken them since we spoke to them in 2006.

David Lowery of bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven thought the internet would become a vibrant new marketplace for creators. Instead, he says, the internet era is worse for artists than the infamously unfair record company system. Brooke talks to Lowery about what's wrong and how to fix it.

Artists often draw inspiration from other sources - from musicians sampling songs to painters recreating existing masterpieces. Kenneth Goldsmith believes writers should catch-up with other mediums and embrace plagiarism in their work. Brooke talks with Goldsmith, MoMA’s new Poet Laureate, about how he plagiarizes in his own poetry and asks if appropriation is something best left in the art world.