Journalism and Media
45 episodes
#6144: 8 Real Steganography Cases and How They Got Caught
eBay, a doll shop, and a blink in Morse code — eight real steganography cases, and the tell that exposed every one.
#6075: Israel's Pollsters: Who Calls the Race Before You Vote
Nine days out, a tour of Israel's polling culture — the pollsters who matter, the famous misses, and the numbers to watch on election night.
#6074: The Worst Documentaries of 2026 (So Far)
Awards for the year's worst documentaries: recycled premises, infomercials, a two-week Instadoc, Mr. T's verdict on his own film, and Melania's 90-point critic-audience gap.
#5837: Atlas Obscura: 33,000 Hidden Places and a Boardroom Coup
A rotating circle of plants in Argentina, a boiling river 400 miles from any volcano, and the founders who got voted off the board.
#5835: What Do You Call the Urge to Know Obscure Things?
There's no single name for the pull toward transporter bridges, strange borders, and overlooked infrastructure. The vocabulary exists — it's just s...
#5821: Free Speech's Outer Edge: Hate Speech Law
Brandenburg v. Ohio rewrote when speech becomes a crime. Which countries go furthest toward zero restrictions — and why none fully do.
#5699: From Dawkins to "Karen": How Memes Really Spread
A biologist coined "meme" in 1976. Fifty years later, a Switch trailer screenshot became "Karen." How did we get here?
#5662: Right of Reply: What the Rulebook Actually Says
The IDF's 10-page rebuttal to NAZA bundles a valid procedural complaint with an invalid one. Here's what journalism codes actually require.
#5577: When the UN Goes Viral: Pitchers, Shoes, and 6-Second Clips
A six-second clip of a man drinking from a pitcher resurfaces as if it's new — inside the long history of the UN's most meme-able moments.
#5576: Lying Flat as a Tactic: The Quiet Opt-Out
Tang ping, quiet quitting, and the N-po generation — what happens when people stop donating effort they were never paid for?
#5414: Inventing Anna: The Real Tradecraft Behind the Con
How Anna Delvey ran a four-year con on Word docs, AOL addresses, and a supermarket burner phone — and what Netflix got right.
#5311: Churchill's McKinsey Interview: When Oratory Meets the Case
Churchill's rhetoric was architectural, every sentence load-bearing. McKinsey wants the answer in sixty seconds. Let's roleplay the collision.
#5290: Inside the Urban Exploration Boom
13.7 billion TikTok views, 42 arrests at one IBM office park, and a community at war with its own imitators.
#5134: Why Japanese TV Commits So Hard to Absurdity
Ten comedians who can't laugh, exploding rings, and a man who won a contest for 15 months — why Japan goes all in.
#5103: Getting Quoted Without Regret: Source Tips
A listener's dictated email became a published quote he regrets. Here's how to handle being on the record.
#4983: Crash Landing on You: Romance vs. North Korean Reality
A defector co-writer shaped K-drama's most realistic—and most fictional—portrait of North Korea.
#4918: Inside an ICE Deportation Flight: Restraints, Memes, and the Machinery
From arrest to ICE Air: what it feels like to be deported, and why the agency posts memes about it.
#4901: The Loneliness of Power: How Politics Kills Friendship
Can a president have real friends? The structural barriers that make genuine connection nearly impossible for public figures.
#4677: Beyond the Itinerary: Travel Writing That Actually Works
Bill Bryson made travel writing feel alive. Who's carrying that torch to places he never explored?
#4009: When Manifestos Actually Work for Voters
Three parties that reimagined the voter manifesto — and what they teach us about political communication.
#3876: From Hidden Audience to Real Community
Turn podcast listeners into an engaged community. Platform choice, invitation design, and retention mechanics.
#3629: The Real Karl Pilkington: Genuine or Act?
Was Karl Pilkington faking it on *An Idiot Abroad*? And what else captures that same reluctant-host magic?
#3416: Crisis Comms: When PR Becomes a Different Animal
Why crisis comms is its own discipline—and what makes someone exemplary at it.
#3410: What a Government Spokesperson Actually Does All Day
From 5 AM news scans to the 1 PM briefing—what it really takes to speak for a government.