Brooke Gladstone

Throughout the more than six-decade celebration of Jackie Robinson's desegregation of baseball, the journalist who brought Robinson's story to the world has remained unknown. In an interview that originally aired in May, Brooke talks to Los Angeles Times sports writer Bill Plashcke, who recently penned a portrait of writer Wendell Smith, who helped secure Robinson's place in American history. 

Basketball Hall of Famer Walt "Clyde" Frazier has made a successful transition from NBA star to sports broadcaster on the MSG Network. With his cool rhymes and even cooler clothes, Frazier sat down with Brooke for a live event to discuss basketball, broadcasting and the art of being cool in an interview that originally aired in March.

NBA on CBS 1970s theme music

We all have our annual Thanksgiving traditions, and for the news media it seems to be the annual reporting of the rising cost of the holiday meal. Brooke speaks with Columbia Journalism Review's Ryan Chittum about how these annual reports come about, and how they are misleading to consumers.

In the wake of the information about the NSA leaked by former government contractor Edward Snowden, the NSA has seen the volume of FOIA requests for the agency go through the roof. Brooke talks with Pamela Phillips, the chief of the NSA Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Office about how the agency is dealing with the sudden influx of requests, and what kinds of requests are rejected outright.

The best selling book of all time is going digital. As a successful mini-series and downloadable app, the Bible seems to be as popular as ever. Brooke speaks with writer Thomas Larson about the importance of the spoken Word and the effect of new media on its "holiness".

A teen gets bullied online. A teen commits suicide because of this bullying. As these terrible episodes keep occurring, the coverage of them presents a simple case of cause and effect: bullying leads to suicide. Bob speaks to the Poynter Institute’s Kelly McBride, who says this causation is inaccurate, and that contrary to what the media may be portraying, bullying is not on the rise.

After months of denying it, Toronto mayor Rob Ford finally admitted this week that, yes, he has smoked crack. His confession came after the police got hold of a video that Gawker and The Toronto Star had seen back in May, showing Ford doing the deed. The old media newspaper and the new media website exchanged harsh words this week about the way the story was handled. Brooke speaks with Gawker's Tom Scocca and The Toronto Star's John Cruickshank about their difference of opinion.

The alleged bullying of Miami Dolphin Jonathan Martin by teammate Richie Incognito made headlines this week. Unlike the bullying stories the media usually report on, this case didn't involve teenagers on social media, and the narrative wasn't so clear cut. Brooke speaks with NPR sports correspondent Mike Pesca about how the story evolved throughout the week.

With the News of the World phone hacking case currently at trial, we take a look at Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, which has been shaken since the scandal broke. Brooke speaks to NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik about his new book “Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires.”

A lot of listeners responded to Brian Krebs’ story on the Experian data breach last week. The consensus: we’re all worried about the security of our personal data. Brooke speaks to Journalist and PandoDaily editor Adam Penenberg, who did what many listeners seem to think is the ultimate nightmare. He challenged hackers to hack into all of his personal information. The only information he gave them to go on? His byline.

Audrey Hudson is a journalist for conservative news outlets like the Colorado Observer, NewsMax and The Washington Times. This August, while authorities executed a search warrant on her home on an unrelated matter, they confiscated some of her reporting notes. Now Hudson and The Washington Times are preparing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security. Brooke talks to Hudson about the raid and the documents confiscated. 

Howard Shore - Cops Or Criminals Featuring G.E. Smith And Larry Saltzman

Following Edward Snowden's leaks about the NSA's surveillance program, the NSA, members of Congress and the Obama administration all attempted to justify the program by declaring that it had thwarted more than 50 terrorist plots. But, at a Senate hearing last month, NSA Chief General Keith Alexander admitted that the numbers being cited weren't all plots and weren't all thwarted. Brooke talks to ProPublica's Justin Elliott about how the claim spread despite a lack of evidence to support it.

Cake - Fashion Nugget

When Nigerian prince scam spam hits our inboxes, most of us know to politely decline requests for assistance. One might wonder why scammers don’t come up with something a bit more believable. But according to a paper (pdf) by Cormac Herley of Microsoft Research, the email’s overt scaminess helps identify the biggest suckers. In an interview from August of last year, Psychology professor Daniel Simons, who wrote about the phenomenon in the Wall Street Journal, explains.

Each week, On the Media talks about our news, information, technology, privacy, and more. Brooke Gladstone, managing editor and co-host of On the Media, discusses her latest reporting, including the project to help shed light on Department of Homeland Security airport detainment practices, stemming from a personal airport experience of OTM producer Sarah Abdurrahman.

Brian Krebs' investigation raises larger questions. If Experian, one of the three main credit bureaus, is susceptible to accidentally selling data to identity thieves, what about all of the other data brokers out there? Brooke gets in touch with Avivah Litan, a fraud and security research analyst at Gartner, to put the Experian data breach into context, and talk about the larger implications of data security for consumers. 

Beacon - Late November

When OTM producer Sarah Abdurrahman tried getting answers from the Department of Homeland Security for her border detainment story, she experienced first hand how opaque the behemoth federal agency can be with reporters. But her experience wasn't unique. Brooke speaks with New York Times contributor Susan Stellin and Rio Grande Valley correspondent for the Associated Press Christopher Sherman--two journalists that regularly come in contact with DHS and its various agencies--about just how difficult it can be to get information.

This week, security reporter Brian Krebs uncovered the story of how Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus, unwittingly sold its data to an identity theft outfit. Brooke talks to Krebs about how he discovered this significant breach.

Brooke and OTM producer PJ Vogt prepare to send their saliva off to 23andMe, a company that analyzes DNA information. Before they prepare their samples, Brooke and PJ talk with OTM senior producer Katya Rogers, and former OTM producer Jamie York about what they hope to find out from their genetic testing, what they’re concerned about discovering, and the value of having their genetic information online.

This week, Glenn Greenwald, now a household name for his role in reporting the Edward Snowden leaks, announced he was leaving The Guardian for a "a once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity." Brooke talks to pressthink.org's Jay Rosen about that opportunity and how it could differ from current journalistic endeavors.

Brooke and OTM producer PJ Vogt get their genetic tests back and reveal the results to each other. Then, to help them understand what their results really mean, Brooke and PJ speak to geneticist Greg Lennon, co-founder of SNPedia, a wiki-pedia for genetic information that aims to make “DNA stuff” real. Lennon answers some of Brooke and PJ’s pressing questions about their results. Among other things, Brooke finds out she doesn’t have as much Neanderthal in her genes as she hoped.