Journalism and Media
45 episodes · Page 2 of 2
#3342: The Half-Billion Dollar Industry of Fake Crowds
How paid attendees, enthusiasm pricing tiers, and AI scoring create the illusion of organic excitement at events worldwide.
#3211: How Press Freedom Erodes Without a Single Censorship Law
No courtroom, no censor — just a terms-of-service update. How press freedom gets hollowed out in plain sight.
#3023: Beyond Netflix Docs: Where to Find the Good Stuff
Kanopy, DocuBay, WaterBear, and the festival circuit — how to find documentaries with actual substance.
#2778: When AI Podcasts Stop Being Weird
AI-generated podcasts exist, but are they welcome? One builder’s open-source project tests platform tolerance and cultural acceptance.
#2768: How Eurovision Built Europe's Broadcast Backbone
Eurovision wasn't born as a song contest. It was a television network first—and that infrastructure shaped everything.
#2531: Worst-Rated Tourism: Seeking Out Terrible Hotels & Restaurants
Exploring the subculture of travelers who deliberately seek out the lowest-rated hotels and restaurants for authentic, entertaining experiences.
#2525: Who Actually Reads Academic Journals?
Half of all papers are read by nobody but the author and reviewers. So why do 300,000 journals exist?
#2424: What Feminists Actually Mean by "The Patriarchy
Unpacking the structural concept, the popular shorthand, and where the line gets blurry between critiquing systems and demonizing individuals.
#2378: The Cooperative vs. Commercial Origins of Global News
From telegraphs to RSS feeds, discover how global news wires like Reuters and AP shaped factual reporting worldwide.
#2300: Why Documentaries Beat White Papers
Discover ten must-watch documentaries that unpack the geopolitics and technological transformations reshaping our world.
#2223: Ten Cults Nobody Made a Documentary About
From a Scientology splinter with four deities to a drug rehab that became a paramilitary religion, these high-control groups shaped history while s...
#1583: Escaping the Bubble: Building a Better Information Diet
Tired of the same five headlines? Learn how to burst your algorithmic bubble and reclaim your attention with a high-signal information diet.
#1478: Who Owns the Truth? The Evolution of the Encyclopedia
From ancient Chinese archives to the legal war between Britannica and OpenAI, we explore the shifting battleground of human knowledge.
#1310: The Docu-Bloat Era: Why Streaming Non-Fiction is So Long
Tired of six-part series that should have been a movie? We explore the rise of "docu-bloat" and where to find high-signal non-fiction films.
#1298: The Wikipedia Wars: Who Controls the Digital Truth?
Is Wikipedia still a neutral gold standard, or has it become a battlefield for ideologues? We dive into the systemic collapse of digital truth.
#1074: The $200 Information Tax: Why News Bundling is Broken
Tired of hitting paywalls? We explore why a "Spotify for news" doesn't exist and how AI might finally force the industry to change.
#998: The Evolution of Woke: From Survival to Slur
Trace the journey of "woke" from its AAVE roots to a global political shorthand and learn why its meaning is so contested today.
#987: Reputation Laundering: How the Ultra-Wealthy Edit History
Discover how the world’s elite use massive philanthropy and SEO tactics to bury scandals and literally rewrite their digital history.
#967: Tehran Access: The High-Stakes Tradecraft of Journalism
CNN is back in Tehran. Explore the high-stakes tradecraft and digital security journalists use to survive and report from inside a hostile state.
#630: The Hidden Labor of Technical Consultants
Ever wonder how TV shows get those tiny details exactly right? Herman and Corn dive into the world of technical advisors and "verisimilitude."
#352: When Your Lens Defines Your Authority
Are bulky news cameras history? Herman and Corn explore how smartphones and AI are redefining professional journalism in 2026.