Shows / The Kicker
The Kicker
The Kicker is a podcast on the media and the world today. It comes out twice a month, hosted by Megan Greenwell and produced by Amanda Darrach for the Columbia Journalism Review. It is available wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
Episodes
- The Kicker
How Trump Won the Latino Vote: A Deep Dive with CJR Contributor Jack Herrera
Nearly half of all Latino voters put their support behind former president Donald Trump this week, according to exit polls—a 14 percent increase from 2020…
- The Kicker
Martin Baron on Jeff Bezos, the Post, and the role of presidential endorsements
Martin Baron was the executive editor of the Washington Post from 2013 until his retirement, in 2021—which meant he was there for the arrival of Amazon founder…
- The Kicker
How Trump’s team could craft ‘the narrative’ after the election: NBC’s Ryan Reilly on 2020, and the road ahead
The so-called Big Lie—that the 2020 election was stolen out from under Donald Trump—was more than just a series of individual false facts and misleading…
- The Kicker
Hell Gate's Chris Robbins on a manic news cycle in New York
New York City is the media capital of the world, but the number of people and outlets covering the city locally has taken a hit recently. Over the past few…
- The Kicker
The power of uncomfortable ideas: Jina Moore Ngarambe on her time at Guernica
In March, the digital literary magazine Guernica published a personal essay by a British Israeli writer and translator, about her experiences in the aftermath…
- The Kicker
‘That’s how you run a debate!’: 9News’s Kyle Clark on holding politicians accountable
In late May, Kyle Clark went viral after he moderated a debate featuring six Republican candidates for Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District, including Rep…
- The Kicker
The long, destructive path of fire: Talking to Source NM’s Patrick Lohmann about a never-ending wildfire season
In early 2023, Patrick Lohmann, a reporter for the nonprofit Source NM, moved to the small town of Las Vegas, New Mexico, to learn how residents were coping…
- The Kicker
1968 all over again? Heather Hendershot and Ted Koppel on a year for the media to remember.
The Democrats are gathering in Chicago next week, and the sitting president has dropped out of the race. But as the guests on today’s podcast remind us, that…
- The Kicker
Kamala Harris steps up: Politico’s Eugene Daniels on a wild month of news
Eugene Daniels is a White House reporter for Politico, with a special focus on Kamala Harris. That’s put him front and center for a month of news that few…
- The Kicker
Spanish-speaking journalism…in Iowa: A conversation with Lorena Lopez
Lorena Lopez came to the United States from her home country of Nicaragua, where she was an investigative reporter, in 1992. But it wasn’t until 2016 that she…
- The Kicker
What did we know and when? Alex Thompson on investigating Biden’s mental decline
Alex Thompson, a national political correspondent for Axios, first reported that President Biden had started wearing special sneakers, in part to reduce the…
- The Kicker
Not even a ‘no comment’: Paul Farhi on the media’s historic struggles with relevance
Paul Farhi was a media reporter for the Washington Post until the end of last year. But instead of retiring, he’s been busier than ever, chronicling the…
- The Kicker
Staying “scrupulously neutral”: Steve Herman on covering the White House in the age of Trump
Steve Herman was the White House correspondent for Voice of America during the Trump administration. He joins The Kicker to talk about his new book on what it…
- The Kicker
How Israeli Journalists Cover Their Own Country
Haaretz is one of Israel’s most respected newspapers. It’s also one of the few willing to openly criticize the government for its treatment of Palestinians…
The KickerCrisis at Columbia: A Conversation with Jelani Cobb
Jelani Cobb is the Dean of the Columbia Journalism School. He is also a staff writer at the New Yorker magazine. For much of the past few weeks, he has been…
The Kicker'Inside Wagner': Video journalism unmasks Russia’s secretive mercenary group
This week, host Josh Hersh dives into the world of documentary news. Amel Guettatfi and Julia Steers just won the Polk Award for Inside Wagner, their hourlong…
- The Kicker
Josh Fine: How to Revive Investigative Sports Reporting in the Age of the Athlete
In recent years, numerous beloved sports news institutions have been shut down, or dramatically reduced their operations, while digital shows hosted by…
The KickerAlissa Quart: on reimagining reporting on a recession
News of stubborn inflation, increasing unemployment, and the housing crisis dominate headlines of late. Alissa Quart is trying to improve that reportage, in…
The KickerSvitlana Oslavska: On Documenting a War on Her Home Front
Before Russia invaded her home country, Ukrainian journalist Svitlana Oslavska was reviewing books for Krytyka, a Ukrainian magazine, and writing nonfiction…
The KickerHow Authoritarians Erase the Past
The Columbia Journalism Review recently invited journalists, academics, and experts to convene at a conference called "FaultLines: Democracy." In this episode…
The KickerHearts and Minds Media
For decades, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have broadcast into countries all over, in dozens of languages. Yet in some places where the…
The KickerFeven Merid: On Jacaranda Nigeria Limited
In 1982, about twenty Black journalists quit their jobs at American networks, banded together under the name Jacaranda Nigeria Limited, and flew to Nigeria…
The KickerJeff Gerth on the press versus the president
Last week, the Columbia Journalism Review published a four-part investigation into the media’s fraught relationship with Donald Trump. In this episode of the…
The KickerFT's Rana Foroohar: What the Davos Crowd Doesn't See
After two decades of attending the World Economic Forum's annual gathering of business elites in Davos, Rana Foroohar, associate editor of the Financial Times…
The KickerJon Allsop Returns. Plus, What We’re Watching in 2023
At the start of January, Jon Allsop, chief writer of Columbia Journalism Review’s newsletter, The Media Today, tuned back into the news after a two-month…
The KickerThe Tow Center’s Emily Bell: Musk’s Twitter is “openly hostile” to journalists. What should we do?
Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter has inspired news headlines once unimaginable (see New York Magazine's "Elon Musk is Selling Off Twitter’s Cafeteria and…
The KickerIntroducing Red Pen: A Grammar Podcast
Welcome to the weird, wild, scintillatingly stylish, and syntactically sound world of RED PEN—the grammar podcast that won't put you to sleep. Brought to you…
The KickerThe Guardian’s David Smith: Covering a new chapter of Trump
Writing for The Guardian last week, Washington bureau chief David Smith recalled that Donald Trump, announcing his run for presidency at Mar-a-Lago, appeared…
The KickerRoss Barkan’s Notes on Election Coverage: Form, Function, and the Future
On today’s Kicker, what the media got right and wrong in the 2022 midterm election. Ross Barkan, a politics reporter for New York magazine, The Nation and more…
The KickerBill Keller: On covering the ‘freedom’ beat – prisons and Russia
Reporting from Moscow in the final years of the Cold War, Bill Keller witnessed the Soviet Union “fall apart like Humpty Dumpty.” On this week’s Kicker, Keller…
The KickerNic Haque on Climate Change: 'I became a journalist because of this.'
Just as Europeans prepare for winter amid rising gas prices – calling upon their old ties to gas-rich African countries – a colonial-era island off the coast…
- The Kicker
Nothing to It: How John Bennet went from East Texas kid to New Yorker editor
In 1975, at the age of twenty-nine, John Bennet got a job at The New Yorker, under the editorship of William Shawn. He was first placed on the copy desk…
The KickerRebecca Traister: Abortion, a case study in media disinterest
On this week’s Kicker, Rebecca Traister, a writer-at-large for New York Magazine and the Cut, and the author of “Good and Mad,” a book about the history and…
The KickerJustin Worland: Raising diverse voices on the climate crisis beat
Should climate crisis coverage focus on the danger at hand, or on optimism and solutions at work? On what individuals can do, or industrial changes? As…
The KickerNina Totenberg: ‘They don’t have to follow Supreme Court precedent anymore’
Nina Totenberg has covered the Supreme Court for five decades. On this week’s Kicker, the NPR reporter sits down with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR…
The KickerColumbia’s Jelani Cobb: ‘Everything is on the table’
The Columbia Graduate School of Journalism announced today that Jelani Cobb will be its new dean. Cobb is a professor at the school, a staff writer at The New…
The KickerElena Kostyuchenko: 'The Russian secret services somehow knew'
Elena Kostyuchenko reported atrocities as they unfolded inside Ukraine until Russian censors forced Novaya Gazeta—her employer and Russia’s oldest independent…
The KickerDean Baquet & Joe Kahn: What’s next for the New York Times?
Last week, after years of public speculation on the matter, the New York Times named Joe Kahn as Dean Baquet’s successor to the position of executive editor…
The KickerAl Roker: The weather paradigm shift
Al Roker, weathercaster for the Today Show, is one of the best-known and trusted names in media. He has also led efforts to educate the American public on the…
The KickerJane Lytvynenko: Ukraine’s great ‘prebunk’
Over the past week, Ukrainians have used social media to document Russia’s attacks on civilians. Those efforts have been more effective at blunting the Russian…
The KickerEleanor Beardsley & Igor Kossov: The road out of Ukraine
In the five days since Russia declared war on Ukraine, invading troops have drawn ever closer and their attacks have grown more deadly. Domestic and foreign…
The KickerStuart Karle: Money and the politicization of press freedom
While Sarah Palin may have lost her defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, the legal climate for journalists nevertheless seems to be getting…
The KickerEleanor Beardsley: Putin and Biden summon the Cold War
The Biden administration on Friday warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen within days, and again advised Americans to leave Ukraine “now.” The…
The KickerGeorge Packer: A dishonorable ending in Afghanistan
As last summer’s efforts to aid evacuations from Afghanistan grew desperate, media debated who was to blame for the crisis. In his landmark piece “The…
The KickerTonga: Not for sale
Typical disaster journalism follows a transactional track. Survivors give the press their stories to package and sell. In turn, the media validates the horror…
The KickerRussia, Ukraine, and the front lines of information warfare
Despite Ukraine’s efforts to downplay the threat, hybrid warfare between Russia and the west has already begun. Christo Grozev is the lead Russia investigator…
The KickerThe Chicago ed beat: Why do politicians fight back when teachers want to feel safe?
Education reporters cover one of the most emotional facets of the Covid-19 pandemic. The political obsession with keeping public schools open during the latest…
The KickerJulie K. Brown, Lucia Osborne-Crowley, and coverage of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial
The Ghislaine Maxwell trial has highlighted the court system’s bullying of sexual assault victims—those who take the stand, those who come to bear witness, and…
The KickerTwitter on a tightrope
Journalists on Twitter are faced with an impossible task, a choice between building their following or avoiding harassment. More often than not, they face…
The KickerIan Urbina on Libya, the Outlaw Ocean Project, and the rules of engagement
As Ian Urbina’s investigative work uncovered human rights abuses and climate destruction across the world’s oceans, he realized he needed to diversify his…
The KickerDeep on the Steele beat: Erik Wemple & Marcy Wheeler
On this week’s Kicker, Marcy Wheeler, an independent journalist, and Erik Wemple, a media critic at the Washington Post, speak with Kyle Pope, editor and…
The KickerCOP26: Who do we edit out of the climate crisis?
Most reporters in the developing world can’t afford to attend high stakes climate conferences like the COP26 held in Glasgow this month. Neither can most…
The KickerWhat does the Facebook data dump mean?
As journalists struggle to cover the latest revelations in the Facebook story, they also endeavor to write stories that land with the general public. How much…
The KickerOn the trail of ‘pink slime’
The network of websites that pose as local news outlets but aren’t has grown exponentially in the run up to next year’s midterm elections. Who funds the sites…
The KickerBalls and Strikes: How to cover the Supreme Court’s “super-majority”
This week, the most conservative Supreme Court since the Great Depression convened. The 6-3 “super-majority” is poised to roll back decades of law. On our…
The KickerJon Allsop on Mehdi Hasan’s transatlantic rise
Medhi Hasan has built a global reputation on devastating interviews. Now on MSNBC and Peacock, is he a corrective to the equivocal tendencies of the American…
The KickerThe Wall Street Journal’s stubborn conservatism
Adam Piore spoke to 50 current and former staffers at the Wall Street Journal on how the paper’s editors limit subject matter and political coverage in an…
The KickerLarry Fink: Vulgarity and Anna Wintour’s Met Gala
In his five-plus decades of photographing performative wealth and celebrity at events like the Vanity Fair Oscar Party and the Met Gala, Larry Fink perfected…
The KickerSeptember 11: “Inflection Point”
For CJR, Jon Allsop followed the weekend’s deluge of September 11 anniversary coverage—where it excelled, and when it lacked self-awareness. On today’s Kicker…
The KickerHow We Got Here: Genders and Sexualities, host Prof. Alisa Solomon
Gender and sexuality can feel natural and even immutable, but science and the lived experience of numerous humans tell us that these categories are far more…