Question Everything
Propagandist? Truth teller? Influencer? Question Everything unravels the contested work of journalists and the moral complexities surrounding the stories that impact us all.
Episodes
We’re taking a quick break for the holidays, but in the spirit of New Year reflection, we’re sharing our very first episode of Question Everything.
Brian talks to fellow journalist, Gay Alcorn, who called his most well-known work – the hit podcast S-Town – “morally indefensible.”
You can read Gay’s column here. Subscribe...
We’re taking a short break over the holidays and will be plopping in front of the TV to watch some movies and shows. Maybe you’re doing the same? Check out one of our favorite episodes of Question Everything, where Hollywood directors gather after hours at a wine shop to drink and commiserate. They talk about the perils – and power – that come when you’re straddling fa...
Over the past few months, our host Brian Reed has been reporting on Section 230 – the law that shields online platforms and websites from lawsuits and has shaped the way we get information today.
Now, a bipartisan attack on Section 230 is taking hold in Congress. During a Senate hearing last week, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island called Section 230 “a r...
By December 19th, the Department of Justice is supposed to release all DOJ and FBI files related to Jeffrey Epstein. But through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, Bloomberg investigative reporter Jason Leopold has uncovered evidence of a secretive operation on the Epstein files that the FBI called the “Special Redaction Project.” That doesn’t necessarily inspire confiden...
When the recent slate of Jeffrey Epstein emails dropped, one line immediately jumped out: “I think you should let him hang himself.”
It was part of a 2015 email exchange between journalist Michael Wolff and his source, Jeffrey Epstein, discussing whether they should give Donald Trump a heads-up that Wolff had heard CNN was planning to question Trump about his relationship w...
A nice treat for the holiday – an interview with the guy who runs the country’s funniest fake newspaper.
Ben Collins became CEO of The Onion after a long career working in traditional news, so he's got major thoughts about speaking truth to power. On this episode of fellow KCRW podcast The Sam Sanders Show, Ben lays out the role of satire in our current politics and w...
Next week, the House is expected to hold a hearing on kids’ online safety. They plan to release several bills to protect kids from harmful content. But one issue is not on the agenda: Section 230, the law that helps shield tech platforms from liability for content posted on their sites.
In an interview with our host, Brian Reed, Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-D) says one ...
It seems like Meta just can’t lose. The Facebook parent company won a huge victory in court this week. The federal government was claiming Meta was too massive after acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp, and wanted to force the company to spin off those platforms. But a federal judge disagreed.
And that means, Meta will continue to make a ton of money from scam ads on those platforms...
When journalist Julia Mengolini criticized her country’s president, Javier Milei, she didn’t expect to be targeted with one of the more disturbing uses of AI: a pornographic deepfake video designed to humiliate her. What began as trolling by online extremists spiraled into a government-amplified smear campaign, spurred on by senior officials and the president himself.
Juila...
When NSA contractor Reality Winner leaked proof that Russia had tried to break into the U.S. election system, she thought she was helping her country. Instead, she got the longest federal prison sentence ever for giving information to the press. While prepping for her trial, she found out that the journalist she had trusted with the leaked document, accidentally exposed her. The Intercept, once kno...
Veteran foreign correspondent Natalia Antelava has spent 15 years reporting from places where authoritarian regimes have “captured” the media. In other words, they control the dominant messages coming from the press. From Russia to Syria, Natalia has seen what it looks like when a government takes over the media, not overnight, but piece by piece.
Now, she’s mov...
What happens when TikTokers replace TV hosts and interviewers, and presidential candidates start begging to be on their shows?
Brian Reed sits down in a Brooklyn wine shop with four of the internet’s biggest creators: Caleb Simpson, who gets people on the street to take him up to their apartments; Julian Shapiro-Barnum who interviews kids on Recess Therapy; Anania Williams of the...
Kate grew up believing the Sandy Hook school shooting was an elaborate false flag operation. For years she thought the 20 elementary school children and six educators who were killed that day did not actually die, but were played by crisis actors. And then, one day – in a matter of minutes – suddenly Kate realized how wrong she was.
Brian talks to Kate about what it&r...
This episode of Death, Sex, and Money is a recommendation from our contributing editor Jen Kinney.
When blogger AJ Daulerio broke the Brett Favre sexting scandal in 2010, it became one of the biggest stories of his career. But it came at a cost: he had betrayed Jenn Sterger, the woman at the center of the story, who had confided in him as a friend and explicitly asked him not to ...
Two veteran journalists set out to document Israel’s systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system: hospitals attacked, medical workers killed, doctors detained without charge. The BBC commissioned the film. Then pulled it.
Sometimes killing a story is routine. Sometimes it’s a scandal, even immoral.
In this episode, producer Sophie Kazis pulls back ...
Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes have been picked apart in headlines, documentaries, and endless conspiracy theories. And yet there have continued to be shocking new revelations in the story this year, as President Trump’s base has pressured him to release the government’s files about Epstein.
In this episode of Question Everything, host Brian Reed brings together the r...
When late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was forced off the air, it raised huge questions about who really controls what we’re allowed to say. From billionaires and politicians to social media platforms and regulators, the boundaries of free speech in America are being redrawn in real time.
To get a sense of the country’s mood, host Brian Reed goes to the Iowa State Fair – a...
We're back. September 25th.
A listener weighed in with some criticism on Substack. Brian (our host) got involved. Some advice for journalists ensued. It ended up inspiring an entire segment on KCRW’s show Left, Right & Center, which we’re sharing with you here.
This is the kind of action that’s happening over on our new Substack – which you should subscribe to! If you do, we’ll e...
After her NPR show was canceled some years back, producer and host Yowei Shaw gave herself a new title: “Emotional Investigative Journalist.” She started a podcast called Proxy, where she helps people who are facing unique emotional or personal obstacles by connecting them with a proxy who’s uniquely positioned to help them.
Our host, Brian, recently went on Proxy, an...
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