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 KickerPodcast: Hurricane Harvey
On the latest episode of The Kicker, Meg talks to the Dart Center’s Bruce Shapiro about the media’s coverage of Hurricane Harvey. Then we discuss harmful…
The KickerThe white supremacy beat
On the latest episode of The Kicker, Pete talks to CJR contributor Christiana Mbakwe about need for a white supremacy beat post-Charlottesville. Then we…
The KickerThe media responds to Charlottesville
On the latest episode of The Kicker, we dedicate the entire episode to the media’s response to Charlottesville. Meg talks to CJR Associate Editor Brendan…
The KickerPodcast: Venezuela in crisis
On the latest episode of The Kicker, Meg interviews New York Times reporter Nick Casey about his experience following the economic-turned-political crisis in…
The KickerPodcast: Tabloids in the age of Trump
On the latest episode of The Kicker, Meg has an interview with journalist and novelist Julia Dahl. They discuss her experience working at the New York Post and…
The KickerThe media is bad at covering drugs
On the latest episode of The Kicker, Meg has an interview with Leah Finnegan, features editor for The Outline. They discuss what journalists get wrong when…
The KickerTime to rethink the media’s Trump coverage?
On the latest episode of The Kicker, we run through some of the week’s biggest stories: what media mergers mean for both journalists and consumers, how to…
The Kicker“It is, I promise, worse than you think”
On the latest episode of The Kicker, we run through some of the week’s biggest media stories, including how the White House’s response to Donald Trump Jr.’s…
The KickerBreaking down CNN's Reddit fiasco
On the latest episode of The Kicker, we run through some of the week’s biggest media stories, including Al Jazeera getting caught in an international…
The KickerWhat are "women's publications" for?
We critique The Washington Post's new product targeting Millennial women, The Lily, and debate what, if anything, makes a good "women's publication." Then…
The KickerThe journalist and the arms dealer
This week, we analyze the push for unionization at digital media properties and break down a new effort by NPR to reach younger audiences. Then, Dave talks to…
The KickerMegyn Kelly gets trolled
We run through some of the week’s biggest media stories, including layoffs across the industry, New York Times stories in search of a public editor, and how a…
The KickerHow the Comey/Russia story is playing outside the media bubble
On the latest episode of The Kicker, Dave and Pete run through some of the week’s biggest media stories, including tech giants’ domination of the digital ad…
The KickerThe end of the public editor era at The New York Times
On the latest episode of The Kicker, we run through some of the week’s biggest media stories, including a look at the future of The Chicago Sun-Times, the…
The KickerThe media’s model for covering terrorist attacks is broken
Dave, Pete, and Christie run through some of the week’s biggest media stories, including a ratings leaderboard shakeup for cable news, a spurious conspiracy…
The KickerA week inside the pro-Trump parallel media universe
Pete and Dave run through the top media news of the week, from the scoop war in Washington, to the state of press freedom globally, to Roger Ailes's legacy. We…
The KickerBuzzFeed News and the 'Upside Down' media
We introduce our new print issue, which is dedicated to exploring the future of local news. Then, Dave interviews Ben Smith, editor in chief of BuzzFeed News…
The KickerBret Stephens and the role of columnists
On the latest episode of The Kicker, we run through some of the week’s biggest media stories, including counterprogramming to the White House Correspondents’…
The KickerA third generation of 'conservative' media?
CJR staffers run through some of the week's biggest media stories, including Trump's 100-day milestone, what didn't make it into The New York Times' James…
The KickerFacebook's worst-case scenario
On The Kicker, we run through the week's three biggest stories, including Bill O’Reilly, White House transparency, and the special election in Georgia’s sixth…
The KickerAddicted to war porn
On The Kicker this week, we discuss White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s job performance to date. Spicer’s gaffe in comparing Syrian President Bashar…
The KickerReckoning with Facebook’s dominance, and CNN's Tanzina Vega on race & inequality
On The Kicker this week, CJR’s Dave Uberti, Nausicaa Renner, and Pete Vernon discuss the role of platforms like Facebook and Google in the journalism…
The KickerIs the podcast boom good for journalism?
CJR's David Uberti, Pete Vernon, and Christie Chisholm discuss the podcast boom, from Serial to S-Town. What form does journalism take on the medium? And what…
The KickerTrump strains the news/opinion divide
CJR’s David Uberti, Nausicaa Renner, Pete Vernon, and Carlett Spike discuss The Wall Street Journal's scathing editorial attacking President Trump's…
The KickerBreaking News (a collaboration with BBC World Service)
This week on a special edition of The Kicker, CJR and the BBC World Service have teamed up to produce an audio documentary. Editor and Publisher Kyle Pope…
The KickerA Breitbart editor walks into a journalism conference...
CJR’s David Uberti, Christie Chisholm, Pete Vernon, and Shelley Hepworth discuss some criticism we received for inviting Breitbart economics editor John Carney…
The KickerTrump's media attacks are getting boring
CJR's David Uberti, Nausicaa Renner, and Pete Vernon discuss a wild week in White House-media relations. Then, we turn to MisinfoCon, a weekend gathering of…
The KickerSpice, Spice baby
Dave and Pete discuss why it matters that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer allows friendly outlets to ask questions at press briefings. CJR…
The KickerThe Jake Tapper-Kellyanne Conway showdown
Why are so many news organizations expanding into Australia? What is the state of health journalism as Obamacare hangs in the balance? Why were so many…
The KickerObjectivity and Trump's refugee ban
How has Breitbart used memes to build a huge audience on Facebook? Should journalists' notion of objectivity change in the face of immoral or un-American acts?…
The KickerAvoiding Trump's trap with "alternative facts"
Is the Trump Administration trying to bait aggressive reporters when it offers up "alternative facts"? What does a recent New York Times report tell us about…
The KickerThe ethics of BuzzFeed's decision to publish Trump-Russia memos
Did BuzzFeed make the right call by publishing unverified memos detailing Russian efforts to compromise Donald Trump? How is The Undefeated, a new publication…
The KickerFox News and life after Megyn Kelly
What does Fox News' primetime lineup say about its direction under the Trump Administration? Why should we care about the fate of the publishing platform…
The KickerLooking back on a tumultuous year in journalism
What media trends from 2016 were the most alarming? The most encouraging? We discuss that and more this week on The Kicker, where CJR's David Uberti, Nausicaa…
The KickerRichard Deitsch on the state of sports media
How does the atrophy of local media affect the way we understand sports? Are professional athletes getting more political, or are we just noticing it more? How…
The KickerThomas Jefferson on fake news
Should a bad tweet be a fireable offense for reporters? What can the history of fake news tell us about the challenge facing journalism today? Who are the…
The KickerMichael Rosenwald on the enduring primacy of print
Should mainstream journalists be engaging more with the right-wing press? Was print media too quick to jump on the digital bandwagon? Why do foreign news…
The KickerEmily Bell on Facebook and fake news
Does Facebook need to clean up its act? Can newsrooms overcome the culture clash between tech and editorial? And what about coverage of those Trump tweets? We…
The KickerWhat we're thankful for in journalism this Thanksgiving
David Uberti is joined by CJR's Nausicaa Renner and Pete Vernon to discuss internet trolls, CJR's massive new oral history of campaign coverage, and what we're…
The KickerFake news and Trump's trashing of political norms
CJR's Kyle Pope, David Uberti, and Nausicaa Renner discuss what publications' post-election subscription surge means for journalism, Donald Trump's…