Inside The Newsroom: Recent Episodes
Daniel
Daniel Levitt delves inside the minds of journalists around the world
insidethenewsroom.substack.com
- 2,500 jobs and internships on the job board and my podcast post-game analysis
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Olga Khazan covers health, gender and science for The Atlantic, and is the author of Weird: The Power of Being an Outside in an Insider World. Listen to our fascinating chat...
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Josh is one of the world's most well-known storm chasers, and we discussed the record-setting 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, and his future plans...
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Dalal Mawad is a senior producer and correspondent for the Associated Press based in Lebanon. She takes us inside what it was like living and reporting through August's explosion...
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Louise is The Wall Street Journal's Chief News Strategist and Chief Product and Technology Officer. We talked about quitting books, sunk cost and the future of strategy in the newsroom...
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Legendary behavioural economist Cass Sunstein joins the podcast to talk about his 2008 hit, Nudge, how social change happens and whether luck is real or not...
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Today’s guest is Janelle Shane, author of You Look Like a Thing and I Love You, and expert on the weirdest artificial intelligence out there, including giant testicles that dangle from pickup trucks.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Mark Gamba on taking on Blue Dog Kurt Schrader in Tuesday's primary, and how 30 years as a photojournalist exposed Mark to the real effects climate change is having on war and migration.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Former Wall Street Journal R&D Chief Francesco Marconi on his new company Applied XL, the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in media, and the future of journalism
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Betsy Sweet is running for U.S. Senate to put an end to Citizens United and stop corporations from buying elections, as well as enacting tough legislation to stop the climate emergency.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Alex Schiffer talks about covering the Brooklyn Nets for The Athletic, how he built his network of sources, his journey from Missouri to Brooklyn and all the lessons learned in between.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
CBS News' Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett discusses how nerve-wracking it is to ask questions to a president, including his "spats" with President Obama.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
U.S House of Representatives candidate from Ohio’s 5th district Nick Rubando talks about tomorrow's primary and the difference between Ohio, Indiana and Midwestern politics
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Today marks 15 years since the first ever video was uploaded to YouTube. Words can't describe the impact YouTube has had on our lives and shaped our world. Ryan and I attempt to do so.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Andrea is a social scientist, standup comedian and circus performer. She teaches a course on data diversity at NYU and is the host of Ask A Political Scientist for Caveat NYC.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
World-renowned quantitative futurist Amy Webb discusses why businesses were so unprepared for COVID-19, 2020's hottest tech trends, and a toilet that measures your poop.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Today we have weather royalty on to talk about the 2020 tornado season, and how each state is preparing for tornadoes amid the Covid-19 outbreak...
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Mckayla Wilkes is taking on majority house leader Steny Hoyer from Maryland's 5th district. We talked about her race and the need for Universal Basic Income in times of emergency.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Find out what each U.S. state is doing to combat the spread of the coronavirus, which have been hardest hit, which ones are on the way down, and which states are yet to explode.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Sarah Nöckel takes us through how she grew her newsletter on women in tech and VC to more than 7,000 subscribers, and what we can do to narrow the gender equality gap.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello. Welcome to Inside The Newsroom. We’re in unprecedented times. The coronavirus pandemic has swept through most of the planet, with total cases at more than 167,000 and deaths at 6,449, as of Monday morning. It’s quickly becoming one of the worst pandemics in history. But even with weeks of warning signs, governments around the world continue to be too lax and do too little. Here in the UK, the government have opted for a “herd immunity” strategy, happy for up to 80 percent of the 66 million population to contract the disease to build immunity while thousands of vulnerable people die in the process. Elsewhere in Europe, Spain has joined Italy in a full lockdown. But what about the rest of the world? For the record, the official numbers of cases and deaths are likely to be far higher due to the lack of tests available and carried out. With that said, let’s take a look at what each country with a confirmed case is doing to stop COVID-19. Due to Substack’s email length limits, I’ve had to divide into two emails. Look out for another email with countries between A and I. And share this post by hitting the below button 👇
Jamaica: 10 cases, 0 deaths 🇯🇲
Prime minister Andrew Holness declared the island a disaster area, meaning the government can do whatever it takes to stem the spread, and has deployed soldiers and police in the streets to restrict movement.
Japan: 839 cases, 22 deaths 🇯🇵
One of the first countries outside of China to have a confirmed case, it’s amazing Japan has even been able to keep its cases to four figures. Still, prime minister Abe says the Olympics will go ahead in July still. I don’t believe him.
Jordan: 8 cases, 0 deaths 🇯🇴
Country will ban all incoming and outgoing flights from tomorrow, and has already banned public gatherings and events. Schools and universities are closed for two weeks, as well as tourist sites and sports facilities.
Kazakhstan: 9 cases, 0 deaths 🇰🇿
State of emergency has been declared which means a nationwide quarantine will restrict entry to and from the country.
Kenya: 3 cases, 0 deaths 🇰🇪
Travelers from any country with a confirmed case have been banned, and schools have been suspended.
Kuwait: 112 cases, 0 deaths 🇰🇼
Commercial facilities, shopping malls and public markets have been closed. No more than five people are allowed in grocery stories at the same time, and everyone is required to keep at least one meter away from each other.
Latvia: 30 cases, 0 deaths 🇱🇻
All travel has been banned as of midnight last night, as well as public gatherings of more than 50 people. Latvians and people with residents will still be allowed back in.
Lebanon: 110 cases, 3 deaths 🇱🇧
Medical state of emergency declared as the country’s financial crisis threatens to risk essential medical supplies. Restaurants and many public venues are already closed, and flights from many corona-infected countries have been halted.
Liechtenstein: 4 cases, 0 deaths 🇱🇮
Little reported out of Liechtenstein.
Lithuania: 12 cases, 0 deaths 🇱🇹
Whole country under quarantine for two weeks. Borders closed to travelers and non-essential stores have been closed.
Luxembourg: 59 cases, 1 death 🇱🇺
Country is in lockdown as number of cases are slowly starting to rise.
Malaysia: 428 cases, 0 deaths 🇲🇾
An 80 percent spike in the number of cases, with most being linked to a religious gathering attended by 16,000 people. Smart stuff. The region is a hotbed for mass outbreaks as attendees return home to neighbouring countries. Cheers Malaysia.
Maldives: 13 cases, 0 deaths 🇲🇻
While most countries are shutting down, the Maldives have been busy building a luxury quarantine resort. The hotel was built in just 10 days by around 50 workers. That sounds sturdy. Don’t go to the Maldives.
Malta: 21 cases, 0 deaths 🇲🇹
Country is on lockdown.
Martinique: 9 cases, 0 deaths 🇲🇶
Little reported on government measures, as the Costa Favolosa cruise ship has been anchored ashore over the weekend.
Mauritania: 1 case, 0 deaths 🇲🇷
First case reported on Saturday. Few reports on government action so far.
Mexico: 41 cases, 0 deaths 🇲🇽
Schools will be closed for a month starting this week, and some public gatherings have been cancelled. Sounds like too little has been done here to stop a mass outbreak.
Moldova: 23 cases, 0 deaths 🇲🇩
One of the few countries to act so early on, Moldova banned all foreigners flying in from affected countries on Tuesday, and closed all kindergartens, schools, colleges and universities for two weeks on Wednesday.
Monaco: 2 cases, 0 deaths 🇲🇨
All non-essential public spaces have been closed, which includes everything except supermarkets and food markets, pharmacies, tobacconists (of course), newsagents, petrol stations, banks and places of worship. So quite a lot then…
Mongolia: 1 case, 0 deaths 🇲🇳
Country has been in lockdown since Tuesday, barring anyone from entering or leaving its cities.
Morocco: 28 cases, 1 death 🇲🇦
All international flights have been suspended, while many tourists have been unable to leave.
Namibia: 2 cases, 0 deaths 🇳🇦
Capital city of Windhoek in lockdown as the country's Independence Celebrations scheduled for March 21 have been suspended.
Nepal: 1 case, 0 deaths 🇳🇵
Mount Everest has been closed until April 30. Not much else.
Netherlands: 1,135 cases, 20 deaths 🇳🇱
Dutch government will close all schools, bars and restaurants as number of cases passes one thousand over the weekend.
New Zealand: 8 cases, 0 deaths 🇳🇿
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has ordered everyone entering the country must self-isolate, and no cruise ships will be allowed to dock until June 30.
Nigeria: 2 cases, 0 deaths 🇳🇬
First case was detected on February 25, as cases remain surprisingly low.
North Macedonia: 14 cases, 0 deaths 🇲🇰
Travelers from high-risk countries have been banned, as have public gatherings. Elections on April 12 are still due to go ahead.
Norway: 1,211 cases, 3 deaths 🇳🇴
All schools, kindergartens and universities have closed. Bars and restaurants will be closed except for those that are able to keep customers at least one meter apart. Good luck with that. Supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open
Oman: 22 cases, 0 deaths 🇴🇲
Will ban all non-GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries tomorrow and will place anyone entering into quarantine. Public parks and all public gatherings will be closed.
Pakistan: 53 cases, 0 deaths 🇵🇰
Closed all educational institutions across the country for three weeks, and will shut borders with neighbouring Iran and Afghanistan today.
Panama: 43 cases, 1 death 🇵🇦
Short-term suspension of public and private schools in force on Wednesday, but not much else.
Paraguay: 6 cases, 0 deaths 🇵🇾
Has suspended public schools for 15 days. Not much else.
Peru: 71 cases, 0 deaths 🇵🇪
Borders will be closed and all citizens to self-quarantine for 15 days. Start of school year has been pushed back two weeks to March 30, and will spend 165 million soles ($47 million) to supply schools with hygiene kits. Travelers arriving from France, Italy, Spain and China will be quarantined for two weeks.
Philippines: 140 cases, 11 deaths 🇵🇭
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a lockdown of the entire metro Manila region yesterday until April 14, leaving more than 12 million residents with almost no time to find enough food, water, and medical care.
Poland: 119 cases, 3 deaths 🇵🇱
Borders have been sealed and returnees will be quarantined for 14 days.
Portugal: 245 cases, 0 deaths 🇵🇹
State of alert has been declared which will allow civil protection, police and the army to be mobilized. All schools, nurseries and universities will be closed as of today.
Qatar: 401 cases, 0 deaths 🇶🇦
Non-citizens have been banned from entering the country, as a $23 billion stimulus package has been announced.
Republic of Congo: 1 case, 0 deaths 🇨🇬
Not much reported, first case confirmed over weekend.
Romania: 131 cases, 0 deaths 🇷🇴
Romania’s giant population of workers in other countries are set to return. Indoor gatherings of more than 100 people have been banned, as have cultural, artistic institutions and museums. Malls and supermarkets are exempted, and so are parliamentary gatherings.
Russia: 63 cases, 0 deaths 🇷🇺
Land borders with Poland and Norway have been closed, and travel has been limited.
Rwanda: 1 case 0 deaths 🇷🇼
Churches and schools have been closed as country records first case over the weekend.
Saint Lucia: 2 cases, 0 deaths 🇱🇨
Advice on how to cough and sneeze, but not much else.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 1 case, 0 deaths 🇻🇨
Not much reported in way of government action.
San Marino: 101 cases, 5 deaths 🇸🇲
Not much reported, but due to proximity with Italy and other highly-infected European countries, expect to hear more out of San Marino imminently.
Saudi Arabia: 103 cases, 0 deaths 🇸🇦
Malls, restaurants, coffee shops and public parks and gardens were ordered to close yesterday. Supermarkets, pharmacies and food delivery still allowed.
Senegal: 24 cases, 0 deaths 🇸🇳
All schools and universities closed for the next three weeks. Religious festivals also cancelled.
Serbia: 48 cases, 0 deaths 🇷🇸
State of emergency declared as kindergartens, schools and universities will be closed until the end of the semester.
Seychelles: 2 cases, 0 deaths 🇸🇨
Contact tracing in place, as cruise chips have been blocked.
Singapore: 226 cases, 0 deaths 🇸🇬
Country can be hailed as a model to follow as cases remain low relative to closeness to China and earliness of first case. Recoveries are starting to catch up with active cases.
Slovakia: 54 cases, 0 deaths 🇸🇰
State of emergency declared yesterday, as all shops except food stores, pharmacies, banks, petrol stations and post offices will be closed from 6 am today.
Slovenia: 219 cases, 1 death 🇸🇮
Public transport has been suspended, and taxi drivers will still be allowed to operate so long as they sanitize after every ride. Bars and restaurant will be closed as well.
South Africa: 51 cases, 0 deaths 🇿🇦
State of disaster declared as schools have been closed, and public gatherings of more than 100 people have been banned. Financial package to be announced shortly.
South Korea: 8,162 cases, 75 deaths 🇰🇷
Another one of the first countries to be hit, South Korea has tested about 10,000 people a day for the virus, and has subsequently been able to keep the mortality rate below one percent. As a result, cases and deaths are slowing down.
Spain: 7,798 cases, 289 deaths 🇪🇸
Spain is Europe’s worst-hit country after Italy and has banned its people from leaving their homes for 15 days except for buying essential supplies and medicines, or for work.
Sri Lanka: 18 cases, 0 deaths 🇱🇰
Borders have been shut to UK visitors after the country postponed the two-Test cricket series.
Sudan: 1 case, 1 death 🇸🇩
Schools and universities have been closed for one month, and public gatherings have been banned.
Suriname: 1 case, 0 deaths 🇸🇷
Borders and airports were closed over the weekend as the country’s first case was reported. That’s the way to do it.
Sweden: 1,022 cases, 3 deaths 🇸🇪
Not much reported on government measures.
Switzerland: 2,200 cases, 14 deaths 🇨🇭
Schools throughout the country are closed and public gatherings of more than 100 people banned. Parliament is also cutting short the ongoing work in its two chambers.
Taiwan: 59 cases, 1 death 🇹🇼
Another of the countries first hit by the virus, it’s amazing to see just 53 cases confirmed and one death. The island is just 81 miles and a short flight away from mainland China, and on December 31, the same day China notified the WHO that it had several cases of an unknown pneumonia, Taiwan’s CDC immediately ordered inspections of passengers arriving on flights from Wuhan. Great job, Taiwan.
Thailand: 114 cases, 1 death 🇹🇭
Another of the countries first hit by the pandemic, cases were still in double figures until 32 new cases were confirmed Sunday, the largest single day jump since the outbreak started. Visas have been suspended from 19 countries included China.
Togo: 1 case, 0 deaths 🇹🇬
Only case is in stable condition. Not much reported on government measures.
Trinidad and Tobago: 2 cases, 0 deaths 🇹🇹
Contact tracing initiated, not much else.
Tunisia: 18 cases, 0 deaths 🇹🇳
First confirmed case on March 2, the country has done well to limit total cases to 18.
Turkey: 6 cases, 0 deaths 🇹🇷
Schools and universities have closed, public events have been banned, foreign visits postponed and spectators at sports events banned. Public has been urged to self-quarantine.
Ukraine: 3 cases, 1 death 🇺🇦
All air traffic to be closed tomorrow, and borders will soon follow.
United Arab Emirates: 98 cases, 0 deaths 🇦🇪
Major tourism and cultural venues closed and a $27-billion fiscal plan has been announced.
United Kingdom: 1,144 cases, 21 deaths 🇬🇧
Oh boy, where to start. While almost every other country around the world closes schools and shuts borders, thousands of people were allowed to run a half marathon in Bath. Boris Johnson has opted for “herd immunity”. Yes, the prime minister of the UK has decided to let the entire population contract the disease in order to build up immunity. Meanwhile, thousands, if not tens of thousands of Britons could die as a result. I need to sign off soon before my blood boils so much it evaporates.
Uruguay: 4 cases, 0 deaths 🇺🇾
Health emergency declared, but schools will only be closed once they have confirmed cases.
United States: 3,499 cases, 63 deaths 🇺🇸
The CDC advised Sunday evening that all public gatherings of more than 50 people should be banned, and Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf announced a ban of all dine-in facilities at bars and restaurants in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Allegheny Counties for the next 14 days. Too little too late as cases in the U.S. will likely be in the tens, if not, hundreds of thousands within the ext few weeks.
Uzbekistan: 1 case, 0 deaths 🇺🇿
First case confirmed yesterday. Around 8,000 people are under quarantine.
Venezuela: 10 cases, 0 deaths 🇻🇪
President Nicolas Maduro ordered businesses to close and citizens to remain in their homes in a “social quarantine starting today. The deterioration of its public health system after years of economic crisis has raised alarm about whether Maduro’s government is in a position to control its spread.
Vietnam: 56 cases, 0 deaths 🇻🇳
All passengers coming from or through China, South Korea, the UK and Schengen countries will be compulsorily quarantined starting today. All people including are required to wear face masks in public places. Schools remained shut nationwide. Cinemas, clubs and bars, massage parlours, karaoke shops and online game centres in urban cities are required to close until the end of March.
Like Me. Please
Thanks for making it all the way to the bottom. Please like and share this edition of Inside The Newsroom by clicking the ❤️ below the title, and clicking the button below. That way I’ll appear in clever algorithms and more people will be able to read.
If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter at DanielLevitt32 and email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
The coronavirus pandemic has swept through the planet, with cases at 167,000 and deaths at 6,449, as of Monday morning. What's each country doing to stop the spread?
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello, and welcome to another edition of Inside The Newsroom! I’m vacationing in Greece this week, but that ain’t no damn reason for no podcast. Bad English aside, today’s guest is… Francesca Fiorentini, journalist, author, comedian and officially the funniest person to grace Inside The Newsroom’s airwaves. Francesca is the host and head writer of Newsbroke on AJ+, contributor to The Young Turks, and host of Red, White and Who? on MSNBC. Below’s a post-game of everything we talked about and more. But first, my top articles of the week… Enjoy 🤓
$70,000 minimum salary — The boss of a card payments company in Seattle introduced a $70,000 minimum salary for his staff, and the gamble has paid off
Climate crisis — Where does each Democratic candidate stand on the climate crisis?
Super Tuesday — The 14 states’ economies can be split into four types
Francesca 👇
The ‘Trump Effect’ on Comedy
Francesca began as a journalist and editor for multiple outlets before taking up stand up comedy in 2011, thus beginning her hilarious intertwined brand of comedy and journalism. She’s the latest up-and-comer of a trend made most famous by the legendary Jon Stewart, whose The Daily Show blurred the line between comedy and journalism so much that, at some points over the past decade, was the source of honest news in America. Stewart’s meteoric rise to fame shadowed the changing media landscape that allowed his epic rants and satirical takedowns of Fox News to go viral across the interwebs.
Nowadays we have the likes of Michelle Wolf, Jon Oliver and Trevor Noah carrying the torch and blurring the line even further. And that’s where Francesca comes in, who managed to convince Al Jazeera to give her a shot with Newsbroke, and boy did it work out. MSNBC soon came calling with Red, White and Who?, which landed her across the table in a diner with Bernie Sanders.
State of Cable News
For all our complaints about cable news, and don’t worry, there’s plenty in the next section, the Big Three cable news outlets are doing just fine. In fact, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News are doing more than fine: In 2018, they recorded a combined $5.3 billion in revenue, by far the most they’ve ever generated and a 36 percent increase since 2015. Much of that spike was due to the ‘Donald Trump Effect’, which has sparked a renewed ratings war between the networks. But while millions of people are still glued to their TV screens, the rise of alternative media on both sides of the political spectrum has fragmented the market even further. The term “24/7 news cycle” feels weirdly archaic.
It’s because of the billions of dollars in the coffers that the cable networks must do better. Yes, they’ve 24 hours of programming to fill per day, and yes there’s nothing more in this world better than watching Wolf Blitzer stare dead-eyed into a camera on election night surrounded by 200 lobbyists and political operatives, but they have the resources to actually give us quality programs and not just excess garbage squeezed out from the sausage factory. Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown was an incredible look at the world through food and people. And Lisa Ling’s This Is Life brilliantly shines a light on life and culture around the globe. But the rest of cable news has turned into an opinion-fuelled orgy (yes I coined that all by myself 😊) which only fractures the political spectrum even more. Give us more Lisa Ling. Give us more Anthony Bourdain (RIP).
Chris Matthews and Chuck Todd Show Their True Colors. It’s Brown.
Cable news is doing great financially, there’s no denying that. But the thing about elections and controversial presidents like Trump is that they come in cycles, literally. As we discussed above, ratings and revenues have soared because of Trump’s provocative rhetoric and general idiocy, but the ratings and profits will inevitably recede to the flat numbers from before Trump when he leaves the White House, whether that’s in 2021 or 2025. But what’s less prone to election cycles is people’s memory and anger toward corruption and conspiring against a frontrunner, which is where former journalists Chris Matthews and Chuck Todd enter the fray.
Mr. Todd will need to face reality at some point to figure out his confusion of how Bernie is the frontrunner in the Democratic primary race. But what will be even more damaging to MSNBC’s long-term reputation is the constant smears of progressive candidates and their supporters. If anyone from the progressive camp even thought about comparing a politician to the Nazis, the establishment would pile on with endless criticism. But when not one but TWO MSNBC anchors compared Bernie’s rise — who himself is Jewish and whose family were murdered by the Nazis — to the Nazis invading France, the shocking reality of how low some centrists will stoop to stop Bernie is disgusting. After Matthews’ hollow apology and an accusation of sexual harassment by GQ columnist Laura Bassett, MSNBC pulled Matthews from its coverage of the South Carolina primary on Saturday. But the damage has been done. Thank the lord for Anand Giridharadas, because until MSNBC overhauls its roster of lobbyists, its reputation will remain stained.
Can We Stop Climate Change and Keep Capitalism?
Francesca has traveled to all parts of America over the past few years for various reporting and joke making. I asked her what issue has been underreported in the media, and her response was climate change, still. Lots of reasons can explain why, despite institutions including the UN declaring a climate emergency, the climate crisis is still not taken seriously enough. Perhaps the most telling reason is that most people don’t feel they’re affected by climate change (they are) and hence the likes of healthcare and the economy (still important) continue to dominate headlines. But that’s what many outlets are missing: Climate change is making healthcare more expensive and costing the economy billions of dollars each year.
Which brings us onto our next topic: Is capitalism responsible for the climate emergency? The answer is yes, or no, depending on who you ask, but neither answer is as simple as a single syllable. It’s certainly no coincidence that the rise in the world’s emissions coincides with the explosion of globalisation that’s sent our obsession with economic growth through the roof. We’ve all played a part in fuelling capitalism, with or without knowing the implications on the environment. That’s undeniable. But where the argument becomes more nuanced, is how to escape the mess… I don’t have the answer to that, sorry.
Thanks for reading this week. To sign us off, enjoy a funny 10 minutes from today’s amazing guest…
Related Podcasts
62 — Krystal Ball (The Hill) on the mainstream media’s denial of Bernie Sanders and progressivism
50 — Hadas Gold (CNN) on the war against journalism in the age of Trump
47 — Ryan Grim (The Intercept) on the history of progressivism and the Democratic establishment
Last Week…
65 — Andrew Flowers (Journalist —> Politician) on the transition from data journalist to running for office
… Next Week
🤷♂️
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
We sit down with journalist turned politician Andrew Flowers to talk about what it's like transitioning to political life, and the issues facing Massachusetts and the U.S. as a whole.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Knock Down The House star and candidate for U.S. Senate tells us why West Virginia needs help stopping the opioid crisis and coal industry from further ravaging her state.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Political scientist Brian Klaas explains the dark art of propaganda. From Ancient Persia, to Nazi Germany and Donald Trump, we explore the history of dark propaganda.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode, Krystal and I talked about her new book The Populist's Guide To 2020, The New York Times' confusing dual endorsement of Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, and the MSM blackout of Bernie Sanders.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode, I talk to trust expert Rachel Botsman, author, podcast host and Trust Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. We talked about why people trust strangers over experts, the dangers of deep fakes and why our brains allow us to believe fake news. Enjoy 🧠
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Today we catch up with legendary climate scientist Michael E. Mann to learn about his experience in Australia during some of the worst wildfires the planet has ever seen...
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Cognitive scientist and psychology professor Art Markman explains why humans are so good at being unproductive and how to snap out of those funks known as 'analysis paralysis'.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another edition of Inside The Newsroom. Today’s guest is… Stephen M. Walt, professor of international affairs Harvard University’s Kennedy School, columnist at Foreign Policy magazine and author of several books on foreign affairs. I saw Stephen speak in person at LSE a few weeks ago and, after hearing Stephen talk on whether the U.S. could have a successful foreign policy again, I had to get him on the pod. The timing couldn’t have been better as it came days after Donald Trump sporadically decided to withdraw troops from northern Syria, leaving his Kurdish allies to be butchered by Turkish forces. Stephen and I took it all the way back to the early 2000s to figure out where the U.S. went wrong, and what events led to the U.S. still being at war with the Taliban in Afghanistan 18 years later. Below is a post-game of everything we covered. Enjoy 🤓
Like Me, Please
Before you read on, please like this edition of Inside The Newsroom by clicking the ❤️ below the title. That way I’ll appear in clever algorithms and more people will be able to read. Cheers.
Can the U.S. Still Have a Successful Foreign Policy?
The simple answer to this complicated question is yes. Measuring how successful foreign policies are can be put down to a) whether the U.S. (or any country for that matter) has made another country a safer and more stable place b) whether the U.S. has made more friends than enemies after its operation and c) whether its enemies are stronger or weaker.
Some say the last time the U.S. had a successful foreign policy was when the Cold War ended back in 1991, but since then things have largely been a failure. Starting with Bill Clinton when he took over the reins in 1993, carried on by George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and now hopelessly continued as we speak by Donald Trump, both Republicans and Democrats have got it wrong.
And that’s exactly where a common misconception lies. The Republicans are often perceived as the party that supports war and the military, and rhetoric in speeches and debates often supports that theory. But when it comes down to real action, the past two presidents from each party have increased the number of troops in war zones, and have all been lousy in looking after its veterans. That said, surveys have shown that in more recent times, younger veterans tend to lean Republican.
That brings us to the worst U.S. conflict of the modern era, a war that is still going on after 18 years: the war in Afghanistan.
The Unwinnable War
It came as a shock to me that the war in Afghanistan was still going on. I thought it was done and dusted and that U.S. troops were there to maintain stability. But that’s not the case and the war in Afghanistan has slowly become a deadly quagmire.
Since Bush invaded Afghanistan in 2001, and seemingly wiped out the Taliban within months, he went for another bite of the cake and invaded Iraq in 2003. By doing so, Bush transferred the majority of his military’s power and resources more than a 1,000 miles west to eliminate Saddam Hussein, and left open the possibility for the Taliban to return to Afghanistan after hiding out in safe havens across the border in Pakistan.
After 18 years of war, thousands of lives lost and hundreds of billions of dollars spent, the U.S. is still trying to ‘win’ the war in Afghanistan. But the fact is the Taliban haven’t been vanquished and remain a threat to the U.S. and its allies, even more so after Trump cancelled secret peace talks with the group in September. The Taliban have warned that more U.S. lives would be lost as a result.
Stephen M. Walt for Foreign Policy
Realism vs Idealism
So how did the U.S. get into this Middle Eastern mess via Bush, make no apparent progress under Obama and, well, have all of its credibility shattered under Trump? It remains in this quandary because it has consistently sided with idealism, instead of realism.
As we discussed earlier, when Bush thought he’d steamrolled through the Taliban in Afghanistan, he went for the jackpot in Iraq to remove Hussein, but as his military jumped from one country thousands of miles away to another, the inevitable game of Whac-A-Mole began. Then Obama announced he’d withdraw troops from the region, reversed his decision, then went ahead with his plan until there were just less than 10,000 troops in the country at the end of his presidency. And then we have Mr. Trump, who has never experienced realism in his life, and opened the door to a bloody Turkish invasion of northern Syria and killing thousands of Kurdish allies in the process.
Idealism trumped (pardon the pun) realism in all of these cases, and explains why the U.S. is still in a conflict with the Taliban, the rise and fall of ISIS, and potential rise again of the Islamist group.
Stephen M. Walt for Foreign Policy
Why Do Countries Go To War?
As I wrote back in July after I interviewed author Sebastian Junger, there’s something in the brain that keeps humans engaging in war. I was always taught that wars were fought over for money or religion, which is true, but what I wasn’t told was that going to war has positive psychological effects. Wars bring people together, create a sense of unity, and can provoke human qualities that often lie dormant in ordinary life, such as courage and self-sacrifice.
It seems that the emotion of war has gotten the better of U.S. foreign policy for the best part of the past two decades, preventing economically and politically stable nations to be built. Instead, a series of power vacuums were created that see no end in sight. Peace depends on creating societies rich with opportunities and democracy. The fact that so many nations fail to do this makes our future prospects of peace look very bleak.
Steve Taylor for the Guardian
Last week…
56 — Jamil Smith (Rolling Stone) on voter suppression and the life of congressman Elijah Cummings
Related podcasts…
51 — Jason Kander (Democratic Party) on PTSD and how the U.S. has neglected its veterans
44 — Sebastian Junger (Tribe, The Perfect Storm) on why countries go to war
Job Corner
Each week I’ll feature a selection of new journalism jobs. This week, Cal Matters has a number of cool positions including…
California Divide Reporter
College Journalism Network Editor
Data Journalist
Deputy News Editor
Engagement Editor
Events Director
Health Reporter
Newsletter Editor
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another edition of Inside The Newsroom. Today’s guest is… Jamil Smith, senior writer at Rolling Stone where he covers national affairs and culture. Jamil is one of the most prominent voices in America on race and politics, so I picked his brain on voter suppression and remembering the life of congressman Elijah Cummings, who sadly passed away last month. Both issues have shaped politics as we know it, so we got into the weeds of how to fix voting discrimination, as well as what legacy Cummings will leave behind. Below is a post-game of everything we discussed. Enjoy 💪
Please Like Me, Thanks
Before you read on, please like this edition of Inside The Newsroom by clicking the ❤️ below the title. That way I’ll appear in clever algorithms and more people will be able to read.
Elijah Cummings Wasn’t Done
The news of Elijah Cummings’ passing last month sent shockwaves through the political world. On both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans attended Cummings’ funeral, which lasted for four and half hours due to the volume of people lining up to give eulogies. My favorite was from Barack Obama…
No matter how much Cummings achieved in his 23 years in congress — Cummings was sworn in in 1996 after winning a special election of Maryland’s 7th District — it still feels that his death, at 68 years of age, was premature. Whether it was standing up for police brutality in the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s death in his native Baltimore, or his role in the impeachment of Donald Trump, Cummings was as good as they come.
And he wasn’t done. As his widow Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, and Maryland Democratic Party chairwoman, said in her statement above, Elijah was working “until his last breath”, signing two subpoenas on his deathbed, both relating to the Trump administration’s policy change to temporarily end the ability for severely ill immigrants to seek care in the United States. Congressman Elijah Cummings left behind a gargantuan legacy that will take multiple people to replicate.
Jamil Smith, Rolling Stone
Racism Kills, Literally
It’s currently unknown what led to Cummings’ death, except “complications concerning longstanding health challenges," according to his office. What we do know is that Cummings faced the brutality of racism all his life, having first being attacked by a white mob for integrating a swimming pool in Baltimore when he was just 11 years old.
We also know that racism causes real health problems. According to a recent study, racism promotes genes that trigger inflammation, one of the major drivers of disease. This is just one reason why black Americans have a life expectancy at birth of 75.6 years, while white Americans are expected to live to 79.
April Thomas, University of Southern California
A Real-Life Purge
One of congressman Cummings’ biggest fights was against voter suppression, spearheading the House Oversight Committee and becoming a leading voice within the Democratic Party on several civil rights issues. Continuing that fight is Stacey Abrams, a relatively new face to the wider public who’s tipped to be a powerful voice within the Democratic Party for years to come. Abrams shot to fame after she lost by just 0.4 per cent, or less than 60,000 votes, to Republican Brian Kemp in Georgia’s race for governor in the 2018 midterms. The race was riddled with so many allegations that the House Oversight Committee, led by Cummings, launched an investigation into what really happened.
While the investigation is still ongoing, it was revealed recently that top Republicans in Georgia are continuing to use their power to suppress minority voters. In what is being ripped out of Kemp’s playbook, top officials in the state are investigating and issuing subpoenas to political opponents, without publicly showing evidence there was wrongdoing by those parties.
That’s where Abrams comes in. Instead of following top Democrats’ calls to run for president, Abrams launched a new national voting rights campaign, Fair Fight 2020, which aims to educate and protect voters of their rights. In some ways, Republicans understand black voters better than Democrats. While voter suppression laws aren’t as overt as they once were, individual red states now use more insidious methods carefully planned to make it harder to register and to cast a vote. In Georgia, some counties were left with just a single polling station, and it’s thought that almost 16 million Americans overall were removed from electoral register between 2014 and 2016.
Oliver Laughland, The Guardian
Which States Are Most Restrictive To Vote?
I was surprised to see that Virginia, a state Hillary Clinton won by more than five points, was among the most restrictive states in the country, but that can be explained by the majorities held by the Republicans in both the state House and Senate. Thanks to the fine folks at the Guardian US, you can find out how restrictive each state is.
Shelby County vs Holder
In 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a 5-4 decision to strip away key protections of the Voting Rights Act, a staple in the country’s democracy since 1965. In the judgement, the SCOTUS ruled that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act — the section that determines which states can change their voting laws without approval — was unconstitutional. Chief Justice John G. Roberts delivered the court’s opinion stating that “the Voting Rights Act of 1965 employed extraordinary measures to address an extraordinary problem,” suggesting that there’s now less need for voter protection.
The neutering of the Voting Rights Act has paved the way for more than half of the nation’s states to tighten their voter-ID laws, including most recently Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Tennessee and Texas.
John Schwartz, New York Times
Trump Visits Atlanta To Woo Black Voters
Donald Trump visited Atlanta last week to launch his campaign Black Voices For Trump, and unsurprisingly, it quickly turned into a circus. Sadly I’ve run out of words to describe the hypocrisy of the president when it comes to trying to attract minority voters, so I’ll let you watch for yourself…
Related Podcasts
55 — Lindsay Gibb(Power Plays newsletter) on the overt sexism in college and professional sports
51 — Jason Kander (Democratic Party) on why veterans have been left behind
47 — Ryan Grim (The Intercept, The Young Turks) on the history of progressivism within the Democratic Party
Job Corner
Each week I’ll feature a selection of new journalism jobs. This week, the Texas Tribune announced several postings for their investigative unit project with ProPublica. They also have a bunch of student fellowships…
Student Fellowships
Data Reporter
Engagement Reporter
Reporter
Research Reporter
Senior Editor
Story Producer
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Bill Bishop talks about that famous day in Tiananmen Square in 1919, how China rid itself of Japanese superiors and how those events led to the birth of Chinese nationalism of today.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another edition of Inside The Newsroom. Today’s guest is Emily Atkin, author of the Heated newsletter for people pissed off with climate change, and also a contributing editor at the New Republic. Emily and I got really, wait for it… HEATED discussing CNN’s actions, or lack of actions, in the fight against the climate crisis, and we also named the world’s worst polluters. Below is a post-game analysis on everything we discussed. Enjoy 🔥
What Is CNN For?
CNN is somewhat of an enigma when it comes to the climate crisis. One week they’ll absolutely smash the debate out of the park with seven whole hours of climate town halls, but the next week they failed to raise a single question on the issue at the fourth Democratic presidential debate. People were mad, including Republican governor of Washington Jay Inslee.
Now, to be fair to CNN, a seven-hour marathon dedicated to the climate crisis is more than any other cable outlet has done. So thank you CNN for that. But there’s simply no excuse not to keep the conversation going. The very purpose of journalism is to inform the public of the most important issues, and the climate IS among the most important issues we face today.
Emily Atkin, Heated
Who Are the Worst Polluters?
The Guardian published a bombshell of a series on the world’s biggest polluters. It’s no surprise that the top 20 polluters are all energy or oil companies, including BP whose social media team somehow kept a straight face when it tweeted this pile of s**t. It’s one of the only times I’ve seen a mass list of culprits published like this, which I hope signifies a more aggressive approach from across the media to outing the worst offenders.
Matthew Taylor and Jonathan Watts, the Guardian
If you like what you read, how about clicking the ❤️ up top. I’ll be very grateful. 😘
Oh Hey Google!
One company that didn’t make the top 20 list, but is still far from out of the woods, is our darling search engine Google. Google has made substantial donations to some of the biggest climate deniers, despite creating a mirage that it cares about anything other than money. Most prominent on the list is the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which is the Conservative think tank behind convincing Donald Trump to pull out of the Paris agreement. To be fair, it’s not hard to make Trump do something.
Google said that donating to the CEI doesn’t mean it supports climate change denial. But that’s the same old excuse you’ll hear from large companies trying to evade any ounce of responsibility. Mr. Zuckerberg espoused the same strategy last week on Capitol Hill. When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questioned why The Daily Caller was part of Facebook’s new factchecking service, Zuckerberg quickly palmed responsibility off to an outsourcer, saying that Facebook didn’t actually appoint who fact-checked the content on its own platform. It’s as if he’s missing the point, but I digress.
Google should know that donating to certain Conservative organizations will bring with it a justified backlash, and its b**t excuses aren’t going to slide.
Stephanie Kirchgaessner, the Guardian
Big Oil, Meet Big Tobacco
It was only 20-odd years ago that the U.S. government finally sued Philip Morris and a group of other large tobacco companies for defrauding the public and hiding the truth about nicotine addiction. Not that I was conscious of what was going on back then, but I can’t believe Big Tobacco got away with it for so long. Even more maddening is that climate journalists have to write strikingly similar words today, as ‘Big Tobacco’ has morphed into ‘Big Oil’. So similar are the two that the same lawyers and PR companies that lied to the public all those decades ago about nicotine, are the same people defending and deflecting for the oil companies today.
Sharon Eubanks for the Union of Concerned Scientists
Exxon Goes To Trial
BUT, as wise as the oil companies think they are, the public are following an old playbook of their own. Just as is the case in the opioid crisis and the ‘techlash’, it’s been the people and individual states that have taken action. Last week, New York’s Attorney General began a trial against ExxonMobil for misleading investors by downplaying how much future environmental regulations could affect its bottom line. It might not be perfect, but it could be a major crack in the armor for the oil industry.
Justine Calma, The Verge
Have Journalists Made Any Progress Covering the Climate?
The answer is yes and no, depending on who you ask. But largely we haven’t been able to grapple with the idea that the climate crisis is among the most important issues we face today, if not the most important. Take a read of this article written back in 2008 by the Columbia Journalism Review, and you’ll see that we’re still discussing similar issues of how to tackle covering climate change more than a decade later.
Next up… Bill Bishop, author of the Sinocism newsletter, to talk everything China.
Related Podcasts'
42 — Kait Parker (Weather.com) on how the climate crisis has already destroyed lives
37 — Josh Morgerman (aka Hurricane Man) on what he’s seen covering hundreds of hurricanes
30 — Art Markman (University of Texas) on the psychology behind climate apathy
23 — Michael E. Mann (Penn State University) on what we can do tomorrow to reduce our impact on the climate
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! Welcome to another episode of Inside The Newsroom. Today’s guest is… Katie Notopoulos! Katie covers internet culture and the tech industry for BuzzFeed News, and has a knack for finding kooky stories. We got into some serious stuff including Facebook’s new advertising tool which allows you to see who has your data, as well as why Apple are masquerading as a privacy champion. Below is everything we talked about, enjoy! 🤓
Oh, and if you like what you read, how about clicking the ❤️ up top. I’ll be very grateful. 😘
Is Apple Really Our Privacy Savior?
Compared with Facebook, Apple is a saint. Its main business model is to sell phones and computers, so it doesn’t have a natural incentive to sell your data to ad companies. Regardless of what it sells, it’s not hard to be seen as the good guy when stood next to Facebook, whose founder and CEO would probably sell his own sisters to advertisers. Apple has hit the PR trail hard recently to tell us that, unlike its competitors, the iPhone maker will not track your data and sell it to marketers. But by the very nature of its products — Apple News+ and Apple Pay to name just two — that’s hard to believe.
It’s remarkable, and quite laughable, how much Apple’s classic soft sell adverts have morphed into direct and blunt messages about how terrible its competitors are. Gone are the days of Bono making you want to dance around like a prat in your bedroom. Today, Apple’s USP is fundamental privacy features that should be expected of any company.
Katie Notopoulos, BuzzFeed News
Facebook Is Rubbing Your Data In Your Face
Facebook recently rolled out a new tool that shows you all the previously-hidden advertisers that have your data. On the face of it, this is a positive step toward transparency. But it’s also a semi-admission that there are God-knows-how-many companies out there that have your personal data. According to Facebook, "These advertisers are running ads using a contact list they or their partner uploaded that includes info about you. This info was collected by the advertiser or their partner. Typically this information is your email address or phone number." So it’s telling us that random ass companies have our data, but not how they got it and whether they were complicit in this.
Now, seeing the likes of Airbnb or Spotify on the list won’t shock or surprise anyone. But I was weirded out as to why The Fillmore Charlotte, a music venue in Charlotte, North Carolina, had my details considering I’d never stepped foot in the state of North Carolina. This is an attempt by Facebook to showcase itself as transparent, but in reality it’s just a submission of the pressure stemming from a New York Times report that revealed Facebook’s emails to reveal their true mission.
Katie Notopoulos, BuzzFeed News
The ‘Techlash’ Is Coming…
Like with most things, it’s easy to become caught in a bubble and lose sight of whether the ‘average’ person even cares about privacy. Thanks to our friends at the Pew Research Center, we know that consumers are starting to turn against social media and tech companies in what has been dubbed the ‘techlash’. It seems like a million years since The Social Network lit up the box office with almost a quarter of a billion dollars, with Zuckerberg and Facebook riding the feel-good factor that came with the success of the movie. But all good things come to an end. Facebook is now largely seen as the devil of the tech industry, which is pretty well justified after they helped screw up the 2016 election, and then failed to learn anything since.
Credit: Pew Research Center
Lee Rainie, Pew Research Center
U.S. Government to the Rescue?
Social media and tech firms have spent millions in lobbying Congress to let them continue to self-regulate, but it appears the tide is changing. The tech industry has suddenly become more open to the idea of the federal government enacting consumer privacy legislation, but don’t be fooled by their new-found receptiveness.
Until now, it’s been individual states that have been the most aggressive in the fight against the tech companies — California was the first in the U.S. to mandate companies notify customers in the event of a data breach — and the likes of Google, Microsoft and Uber know that handing the keys to lawmakers in D.C. will override state laws.
Neema Singh Guliani, ACLU
Poll Finds Facebook Repugnant
A joint poll by Axios and Harris Poll ranked the most beloved, and the most hated, companies among the nation’s most recognizable brands. Apple’s marketing seems to be working and has staved off the techlash for now, but the same can’t be said of Facebook. Among the top 100 brands, Facebook is 94th overall, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Goldman Sachs, Trump Org. and the U.S. Government. Among just tech companies, Zuckerberg ranks dead last.
Chris Canipe, Axios
A World Where Public Is the Norm
The behaviour by the giants at the top has made way for publicly sharing data to be the norm across the industry. Even the likes of Venmo, whose privacy settings are automatically set to public when you first sign up, have taken advantage of the non-existent laws surrounding protecting user data. Each time you send or receive money from someone, Venmo needlessly posts the details of that transaction to all of your connections.
And the consequences of such settings, unbeknown to most of its users, are very damaging. Earlier this year a researcher was able to scrape the Venmo API and download personal details of 115,000 transactions per day. In total, he gathered seven million public transactions which, if in the wrong hands, could then be sold onto marketing companies to start advertising to you.
Samantha Cole, Vice
Next Week… We’ll have the red hot Emily Atkin on the pod, formerly a climate reporter for the New Republic who recently launched her own newsletter on fighting climate change, aptly named Heated. We’ll also have Bill Bishop on, who also has his own newsletter, Sinocism, which is the No. 1 newsletter on Substack!
Related Podcasts
43 — Kashmir Hill (New York Times) on cutting out Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft
41 — Jessica Lessin (The Information) on what it will take to break up Facebook
36 — Sam Biddle (The Intercept) on whether Facebook’s algorithms are sexist and racist
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another edition of Inside The Newsroom. A very special guest today as we welcome in Jason Kander, army veteran and former secretary of state of Missouri. Jason quickly became the darling of the Democrat Party after he lost to Roy Blunt in the race for U.S. Senate by just 2.8 points, in one of the closest senate races in the traditionally red state. After almost pulling the trigger on a presidential bid, Jason instead ran for mayorship of his hometown Kansas City, before pulling out to treat his chronic PTSD and depression. Since then, he’s joined the Veterans Community Project, an organization dedicated to making sure that no veteran falls through the cracks of the deeply broken system currently in the U.S. I had a very moving conversation with Jason about his past year and how he’s treated his health. Listen above and read below.
Presidential bids, mayoral races and PTSD
When Jason lost to Roy Blunt back in 2016, the attention on him soared. Overnight, he went from a relatively unknown army veteran and statewide politician in Missouri, to a rising star within the Democrat Party, with rumours swirling of a potential presidential bid. And he came close. Jason had a hit podcast with the folks at Crooked Media, did daily and nightly hits on cable TV, and had a growing supporter base urging him to throw his hat in the ring. But as he travelled the country, symptoms of PTSD — Jason tried to shrug them off as tiredness and just part of serving in Afghanistan — began to affect him so much that suicidal thoughts started to creep in.
He decided to return home to Kansas City and run for mayor, in part because he thought being closer to friends and family would make his chronic depression drift away. It didn’t. Three months after announcing his mayoral run and well ahead in the polls, Jason announced in a heartfelt post that he was dropping out to get himself right. It was the first time he’d gone public about his problems.
David Philips, the New York Times
The Facebook Post
In October 2018, Jason finally admitted to himself he needed help. After 11 years of telling himself he didn’t have PTSD, the symptoms grew too great. Jason was never seriously injured during his deployment, nor did he have to take another person’s life. How could he possible have PTSD when his friends had gone through much worse? But that’s a common way of thinking when it comes to depression: The person next to me has it worse so just get on with it. But a simple analogy helped change Jason’s mind. Take the hypothetical scenario that you broke one of your toes and your friend broke their leg. Your friend’s injury is worse, but both injuries inhibit the ability to walk, and a broken toe still needs to be fixed. The same principle applies to mental health and it’s important to treat it in the same way as your physical health.
Jason Kander
Now Do You Love Me?
If you like what you read every week, throw us a wee like by clicking the ❤️ up top. I’m eternally grateful. 😘
How Many Vets Are Taking Their Own Lives?
The Trump administration has sadly been unable to make a dent in the abhorrent rate of 20 veterans killing themselves every day. That’s about one and a half times more than those who haven’t served in the military. Trump isn’t alone though. Homelessness, traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress and a military culture that shies away from seeking help are all factors that haven’t been dealt with for decades. Between 2017 and 2018, though, the suicide rate among veterans jumped 2.9 points to 24.8 percent.
Jennifer Steinhauer, the New York Times
The U.S. Has Screwed It’s Veterans
Is it me or do veterans get put on a pedestal seemingly every election cycle? That should be a good thing, but the fact that the same issues are talked about in debates and town halls over and over again — untreated PTSD, homelessness, lack of employment opportunities, loneliness — means nothing is actually being done about them. That’s part of the reason Jason and millions of other vets feel lost, hopeless and considering suicide. When a veteran completes her/his service, they should be immediately setup with basic things like housing, employment and integrated back into their community. But that’s not what’s happening. The system is broken, and it can take weeks if not months to see a therapist, even after the Veterans Health Association scandal of 2014.
Mark Hay, Vice
Tiny Houses, Big Plans: The Veterans Community Project
Jason seems happier than he’s been in a long time. That’s party due to his involvement in the Veterans Community Project, which aims to build housing and medical services for army veterans. He’s welcomed several high-profile politicians to the project’s HQ in Kansas City, including Democratic presidential candidates Beto O’Rourke and Pete Buttigieg, and even Republican U.S. senator from Missouri Roy Blunt, who beat him in the 2016 election. The VCP aims to expand nationally and their next ports of call are Denver and St. Louis. You can donate and find out more below.
Trump is Strategically Brilliant
In case you’ve been living under a rock this week, Trump branded himself “strategically brilliant” after announcing that the U.S. had brokered a ceasefire between Turkey and the Kurds. He claimed victory by temporarily ending a war and humanitarian crisis he allowed to happen in the first place. But the last two weeks of chaos in the Middle East haven’t gone unnoticed by House Republicans: On Wednesday the House passed a bipartisan bill condemning Trump’s actions by a 354-60 vote.
It’s one of the biggest signs so far that Republicans are beginning to publicly turn against Trump, as they know their boss’ actions will have deadly long-term effects. Reports of ISIS fighters and their families escaping prisons have already surfaced, but that’s just the start. Future foreign policy has been severely damaged for the future, and the keys to Syria are now in the hands of Russia.
Robin Wright, The New Yorker
Next Week… I’ll be talking to the amazing Katie Notopoulos from BuzzFeed news about Facebook’s new advertising tracking tool, and how Apple is masquerading as our privacy saviour. Also on the pod will be the red hot Emily Atkin, formerly a climate reporter for the New Republic who recently launched her own newsletter on fighting climate change, aptly named Heated.
Related Podcasts
49 — David Armstrong (ProPublica) on the opioid crisis
44 — Sebastian Junger (Perfect Storm, Tribe) on tribes, surviving and PTSD
20 — Daniel Dale (CNN) on fact checking Trump
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to the 50th(!!!) episode of Inside The Newsroom. Crazy past few days with shitshows happening on both sides of the Atlantic, and today’s guest Hadas Gold broke everything down from a U.S.-Europe standpoint. Hadas has covered politics, media and tech for CNN since 2017, and has been named one of the most influential media reporters in the game. And Hadas has a pretty cool journey — born in Tel Aviv, grew up in Arizona and now lives in London — so she’s pretty qualified to give her opinion on everything happening right now. Below are analyses of our conversation. Enjoy 🤓
Trump vs The Media
Trump’s tenure as president has been filled with inflammatory rhetoric toward the media, from calling us “fake news” to “the enemy of the people.” Trump spouts phrases like these openly and willingly without a care in the world for their consequences. But the consequences for journalists are real. Five journalists at the Capital Gazette in Maryland were killed in 2018, and Hadas’ own organization had mail bombs sent to it the same year. One thing Trump does realize is that other autocratic leaders around the world look up to the U.S., and the likes of Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, who recently said the “deceitful” media was hyping the wildfires in the his country’s Amazon rainforest, have made this a dangerous time to be a reporter.
Pete Vernon, CJR
Thanks to the Committee to Protect Journalists for creating a database that tracks all attacks on journalists around the world.
Have We Become Desensitised To Trump’s B**t?
With Trump saying something dumb seemingly every day, it’s easy to become desensitized to how outrageous one scandal or another really is. We’re only humans and I know it’s effected me in terms of what I take in or just gloss over. I asked Hadas how she deals with this problem and she said it’s a constant battle of deciding what’s most important to her audience, but it’s crucial that the same standards are met with every piece of breaking news. Sigh.
Katie Rogers, the New York Times
Tell a Friend About Me?
If you like what you’re reading right now, consider sending a friend or a loved one this link. If that’s too much, how about giving me a cheeky like instead by clicking the ❤️ up top. I’m very grateful.
Will You Help Me, Boris?
A classic case in point of being densensitized is the Times (of London) report from Wednesday that Boris Johnson is the latest foreign leader that Trump has solicited to help him at home. If true, that would take his tally to three that we know of — the Ukraine and Australia being the other two. But Trump laid another nuclear bomb on Thursday when he said, in front a group of reporters with actual cameras, that the Ukraine should indeed investigate the Bidens.
Trump is literally in the midst of an impeachment inquiry over whether he asked a foreign government (he did) to investigate a political opponent, and admitted to doing so (again) in front of reporters with actual cameras. Oh, and he added China to his list for good measure.
Catherine Philp, The Times
Is Boris Johnson Really the UK’s Donald Trump?
Related to their phone call, Boris and Donald have been likened to one another, and not just because of their terrible hair up top. Both have led a dangerous agenda of inciting fear and hate, have both led successful campaigns to divide a nation and now find themselves leaders of two of the world’s most powerful countries. BUT, and it’s a big but, the duo do have their political differences. Perhaps most distinctly is Trump’s economic protectionism to isolate the U.S. from the rest of the world, whereas Johnson is more laissez-faire, and government economic intervention is a bad thing.
Natasha Frost, QZ
Trump to Reset Relationship With EU
If there was one word to describe Trump’s relationship with the European Union, it would be ‘strained’. Since he entered office, Trump has disagreed with the EU on several issues including on Iran, trade and climate change, and is a vocal supporter of Brexit (Brex-s**t, am I right?). Mike Pompeo, Trump’s chief diplomat, met with the EU’s incoming leadership team last month in an attempt to reset their relationship. But Pompeo’s credibility went down the toilet this week after it was revealed that he was on the phone call with the president of Ukraine, the same phone call that Volodymyr Zelensky trashed several European leaders. Not a good look, Mike.
David M. Herszenhorn, Politico
⭐️ Thanks so much for reading. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic once a week. You can find me on Twitter or on email if you want to suggest a guest you want me to interview. ⭐️
The Strange Case of Naga Munchetty
BBC breakfast show host Naga Munchetty was reprimanded by her bosses last week for expressing a personal response to the president’s racist July statement that four American congresswomen of color should “go home”. Munchetty, a black journalist, was incredibly open and insightful into the insults she’s received in the past, and some viewers had a problem with that. Turns out one particular viewer’s complaint made it all the way to the top, and the BBC sided with said viewer. After a major backlash inside and outside of the organization, BBC chief Tony Hall finally reversed the decision.
Jim Waterson, The Guardian
Irish Backstop
Shameful plug time as my colleagues and I at the Guardian showed what will happen to the Ireland-Northern Ireland border in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Johnson is currently trying to find a solution to the backstop, but is finding it increasingly difficult, because, well, Brexit was a bad idea to start with.
Sean Clarke, Me, Pablo Gutiérrez, The Guardian
Related Podcasts
35 — Richard Deitsch (The Athletic)
21 — Anna Soubry (MP for Broxtowe)
20 — Daniel Dale (CNN)
Last Time
49 — David Armstrong (ProPublica)
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another edition of Inside The Newsroom. Today’s guest is David Armstrong, senior healthcare reporter at ProPublica. David has covered the pharma industry for more than a decade, and is an expert on the current opioid crisis in the U.S. We discussed a ton, and below is my post-game analysis on everything we covered. Enjoy!
How Did the Opioid Crisis Even Start?
The U.S. opioid crisis is one of its worst-ever drug epidemics. Almost 1,000 people die each week from opioid-related overdoses, and some experts say the death toll could be another 500,000 in the next decade. The problem started when doctors overprescribed legal painkillers for years and years, such as oxycodone, and was made worse by the influx of cheap substitutes supplied by foreign drug cartels, such as fentanyl. In 2017, it was estimated that 1.7 million Americans suffered from an opioid overdose.
Claire Felter, Council on Foreign Relations
Pain, Meet OxyContin
The most well-known painkiller on the market, and thus the drug attracting the most attention is OxyContin, produced and sold by Purdue Pharma. Purdue’s original best-seller was a drug called MS Contin, which is a slow-release morphine pill that dissolves over several hours into the bloodstream allowing many patients to sleep through the night. Just before the patent for MS Contin expired, Purdue developed a new, more potent painkiller derived from pure oxycodone and about 50 per cent stronger than morphine. This began the opioid crisis.
Xan Rice, New Statesman
Thanks to Dan Keating and Samuel Granados from the Washington Post for visualizing just how strong the drugs are that people are taking legally and illegally.
Is the Crisis Nearing an End?
Latest data from the CDC shows that the number of drug overdose deaths fell five percent, the first decline since 1990. Some experts point to the fall being directly linked to the reduction in opioid overprescription, but we’re not of the woods yet. Other experts say that the overdose deaths from illegal painkillers sold by drug dealers are still on the rise.
Chelsea Whyte, New Scientist
Do You Like Me?
Before you read on, please like this edition of Inside The Newsroom by clicking the ❤️ below the title. That way I’ll appear in clever algorithms and more people will be able to read. Cheers.
Who Are the Sackler family?
Brothers Mortimer and Raymond Sackler bought Purdue Pharma in 1952, which has been controlled by the wider Sackler family since their deaths in 2010 and 2017, respectively. The Sackler family were once known around the world for their generous philanthropic donations to some of the world’s leading institutions, from Yale University to the Guggenheim Museum in the US and the Serpentine Gallery to the Royal Academy in Britain. That’s all changed in the past few years.
Joanna Walters, the Guardian
The Danger (but Effectiveness) of Purdue’s Marketing
Purdue Pharma first released OxyContin in 1996 and has made billions of dollars from the drug. It did so by concealing the truth about the risk of addiction in its marketing. Purdue knew it would receive criticism, and in 2001, Richard Sackler, the company’s former president and co-chairman and son of the late Raymond Sackler, wrote this in an email with the aim of pinning the blame on the users of his company’s drug: “We have to hammer on the abusers in every way possible. They are the culprits and the problem. They are reckless criminals.”
Andrew Joseph, STAT News
Why Did Purdue Just Declare Bankruptcy?
Earlier this month, Purdue Pharma filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as part of a deal to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits against the company (my guest David Armstrong said this number is now nearer 3,000). Don’t be fooled though. Purdue and the Sackler family have certainly not run out of money. Such a process is meant to ensure that Purdue can preserve its value while it gets more time to negotiate with every entity it’s being sued by.
Andrew Joseph, STAT News
Who Are the Other Opioid Companies Involved?
It’s not just Purdue under fire. Thousands of lawsuits have been filed against other drug companies including Teva and Johnson & Johnson, who were recently ordered to pay a whopping $572million for its part in fuelling the crisis in Oklahoma alone. But it’s not just drug producers that are in hot water. Pharmacies such as CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens, who distribute the opioids to patients are being sued as well.
German Lopez, Vox
Partisan split?
While the opioid crisis should unite Democrats and Republicans against Purdue and the other companies involved, diverging strategies may have started to emerge. Most of the 24 suing states that rejected Purdue’s settlement bill are Democratic, who “are aiming to send a broader message about corporate accountability, not just to Purdue, but to the large collection of even more powerful companies still tied up in opioid litigation,” according to Politico. Meanwhile the GOP are “going for a more pragmatic approach that may also reflect the party’s traditionally closer relationship with industry.”
Sara Karlin-Smith, Dan Goldberg and Brianna Ehley, Politico
Andddddd Trump?
As per usual, Trump has claimed credit for the decline in opioid overdose deaths. Like with most things in life, it’s not that simple, and work from previous administrations to tackle the opioid crisis may be part-responsible. More nuanced, the decline in fatalities doesn’t necessarily mean that fewer people are overdosing; it may mean that the campaign to make antidotes widely available is saving their lives, though not necessarily getting people treatment to end their addiction.
Brianna Ehley, Politico
Related Podcasts
46 — Christine Brennan (USA Today, CNN, PBS)
44 — Sebastian Junger (Tribe, The Perfect Storm)
Last Time
48 — Scott Brodbeck (Local News Now)
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter @DanielLevitt32 and email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another episode of Inside The Newsroom. Today’s guest is… my former boss and editor, Scott Brodbeck. In 2015, I stayed in Washington D.C. for the summer before I took myself to Missouri to begin my master’s, and I reached out to Scott via LinkedIn looking for absolutely any work experience I could get my hands on. A quick chat or two later and I was running the streets of D.C. (D.C. is extremely hot in the summer and I lost many pounds in body weight) covering hyperlocal news in two neighbourhoods.
Scott’s a pretty remarkable person. He started his network of local news blogs in 2010 while studying for an MBA at Georgetown. He previously worked for the local NBC and Fox affiliates in town, and has thus been on both sides of the local journalism spectrum, both as a reporter and now an owner. Scott’s take on the current state of local journalism is completely unique, and listening to how he’s survived this period is nothing short of inspiring.
Anyway, listen to the podcast and let me know what you think. Meanwhile, below are the highlights of everything we talked about including some extra reading 🤓
Local News Is Dying, and Americans Have No Idea
A recent study by Pew Research found that 71 percent of U.S. adults think their local news outlet is doing “very or somewhat well financially”, despite just 14 percent of respondents saying they had paid for local news in the last year. That gap between perception and reality has meant that an estimated 13,000 communities have completely lost their local news coverage, according to a study by the University of North Carolina’s School of Media and Journalism.
Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic
Thanks to the amazing folks at Pew Research for building a tool that allows you to find out about local journalism in your home city.
God Bless Charity
If Facebook and Google continue to shrink the advertising market for everyone else in the game, the only way for local journalism to survive might be to rely on billionaire philanthropists and reader donations. The U.S. now has 200 nonprofit newsrooms, according to the Institute For Nonprofit News, and that number is growing. Having seen it work from the inside at The Texas Tribune, I’m extremely high on this type of business model. That said, most startups can’t rely solely on rich people’s cash. So keep giving to your local news organisation, if you can afford to.
Gerry Smith, Bloomberg
How Did The Texas Tribune Do It?
I had the fortune of working for one of America’s greatest journalism success stories last year, which was launched in 2009 and has thrived ever since. The Tribune focuses on everything politics in the state of Texas, and is read by 1.9 million monthly users. Led by its CEO, Evan Smith and EIC, Emily Ramshaw (amazing people), the Tribune hopes to double its number of paying members to 10,000 by the year 2025. Oh, it also wants to build on the astonishing $56 million it‘s raised since its inception. The Tribune is an excellent example of how local news can not only stay alive, but change the landscape in the process. Expect to see a lot more Tribunes in the next decade.
Laura Hazard Owen, Nieman Lab
Please Just Like Me
Before you read on, please like this edition of Inside The Newsroom by clicking the ❤️ below the title. That way I’ll appear in clever algorithms and more people will be able to read. Cheers.
Yes Google! Finally 🙏
I’ll try not to rip on Google tooooo much, but they’ve finally got serious about fixing local news. Now, whether or not you believe Google is responsible for creating the thousands of holes in local journalism, we can all agree they have too much money to know what to do with and have the ability to fill said holes. Together with McClatchy, the first city to receive the benefits of this joint initiative is Youngstown, Ohio. And just as well, as the city’s long standing publication, The Vindicator, closed its doors on August 31st.
Christine Fisher, Engadget
Why Do Newspapers Still Endorse Politicians?
The ritual of newspapers endorsing political candidates has always baffled me. Knowing how newsrooms work and why journalism even exists makes this age-old practice of taking sides all the more dangerous. Especially in today’s angry climate. There is evidence that newspaper endorsements do make a difference. But that’s not the point. Newspapers shouldn’t be in the business of taking sides and telling people who to vote for. Or in the Orlando Sentintel’s case, who not to vote for. I think that’s why The Texas Tribune is so well-respected from both Democrats and Republicans. Their business model would be ruined if they didn’t stick to just reporting.
In any case, data viz whiz Noah Veltman neatly visualized every newspaper’s endorsement since 1980. Thank you Noah.
How Much Do You Pay For News?
What I admire about Scott’s network is that it’s completely free for readers. I mean, he kind of has to keep it free, because his audience is so small and niche, and unlikely to pay for news about a single neighbourhood. An excuse often used in favor of the paywall is that people used to spend money on newspapers, but I don’t sign up to that theory. Newspapers earned billions of dollars from advertising, let alone whatever they made from selling the physical papers on top. They probably could have got away without charging for the actual newspaper.
Today’s digital paywall once again excludes certain audiences from consuming news. Doesn’t that go against a principal of journalism to spread factual information as far and wide as possible? It’s why I love working for the Guardian so much who I’ll unashamedly plug. The Guardian made its first profit this year in more than two decades, primarily through reader donations. I get that the Guardian is an international brand, but the fact here is that good, factual reporting will always earn the trust, and money, from readers.
Joshua Benton, Niemen Lab
Related Podcasts
43 — Kashmir Hill (New York Times)
39 — Henry Abbott (TrueHoop)
36 — Richard Deitsch (The Athletic)
Last Time
47 — Ryan Grim (The Intercept)
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter @DanielLevitt32 and email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Ryan Grim of The Intercept discusses his new book on Jesse Jackson and the history of progressivism in the Democratic Party, Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama's legacy among the left...
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello, and welcome to another edition of the Inside The Newsroom podcast newsletter. Today’s guest is Christine Brennan, author, columnist and commentator for USA Today, CNN, ABC, NPR and PBS. Christine’s approaching 40 years covering sports, and has thus seen the rise of women’s sports from the front row, and had some strong comments on the recent World Cup win for the U.S. soccer team. We also got into the “clash” between Megan Rapinoe and Mr. Trump. An hour wasn’t enough to discuss the entire history of women’s sports, so below is essential reading for further context and understanding of the history of women’s sports in America. Enjoy!
He Dunnit Again
The U.S. women’s national soccer team won its second straight World Cup earlier this month, making them one of the most dominant sports teams ever. Since 1991, the team has won four World Cups and four Olympics gold medals. As usual, Trump made it about himself by telling Rapinoe to “WIN” before she “TALKS”. It’s as if he never learns…
Unfortunately for Donald, Megan and the U.S. did win — Rapinoe led the way as co-captain and won the Golden Boot with six goals — which gave her the permission to talk that she was looking for. She took her talents to CNN instead of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to deliver her new bestie a stark, yet optimistic message…
Nike Nets New Record
The USWNT weren’t the only winners of the World Cup as Nike announced that “the USA Women’s Home jersey is now the No. 1 soccer jersey, men’s or women’s, ever sold on Nike.com in one season”. Nike’s president and CEO, Mark Parker, made the statement during an earnings call before the semi-final win against England (booo!), so at $90 a piece, God only knows how much Nike will end up making.
Amy Tennery, Reuters
Equal Pay. Now.
Speaking of money, the success at the World Cup once again brought the national discussion back to paying men and women equally. As if we’re still having to have the debate. Here’s Christine on what’s next in the fight for equal pay.
So How Did We Get Here?
Rarely do I speak anecdotally, but in my experience, far more women play and follow sports in the U.S. than in the UK. Why is that? Because of Title IX, a federal law signed in 1972 that states:
"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
Simply put, without Title IX, today’s newsletter wouldn’t be a thing.
NCAA
And Who Shaped Title IX?
Patsy T. Mink. Edith Louise Starrett Green. Birch Bayh. Bernice R. Sandler. Donna Lopiano. David and Myra Sadker. Benita Miller. Billie Jean King.
ACLU
Battle of the Sexes
The most well-known of those names is Billie Jean King, 12-time tennis Grand Slam winner. In 1973, a year after Title IX was signed into law and just getting off the ground, King silenced the growing number of critics by defeating Bobby Riggs in front of a sold-out Astrodome in Houston. King beat Riggs in straight sets in front of a TV audience estimated at 90 million, in what was another mammoth milestone for women.
Jerry Barca for Forbes
Like Me
Before you read on, please like this edition of Inside The Newsroom by clicking the ❤️ below the title. That way I’ll appear in clever algorithms and more people will be able to read. Cheers.
Title IX Isn’t About Just Sports
While sports gets the most attention, Title IX essentially bans discrimination of any kind based on gender. Another important area where the law has helped has been sexual abuse and harassment on college campuses, a pervasive problem that has ravaged many schools. Sadly, not all states feel the same. Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers in Missouri stripped certain aspects of Title IX to give more power to those accused of sexual abuse case. There’s still a long way to go. Sigh.
Haley Samsel, USA Today
The Sports Bra Seen Around the World
Let’s finish on a positive. It’s been 20 years since the U.S. soccer team won its first World Cup, meaning it’s been two decades since one of the most iconic images in the history of sports. After a heart-wrenching penalty shoot out, Brandi Chastain scored the winning kick and did what any of us would do in that situation and took her top off. The significance of that moment is very much still being felt today.
Jeré Longman, New York Times
Related Podcasts
39 — Henry Abbott (TrueHoop)
35 — Richard Deitsch (The Athletic)
Next Up…
… is Ryan Grim, Washington D.C. Bureau Chief for The Intercept, and a contributor to the Young Turks Network. I’m also off to Israel for two weeks, so expect a juicy newsletter detailing my trip.
Last Time
45 – James Ball (Wikileaks, TBIJ)
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter at DanielLevitt32 and email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com. Or just give us a like immediately below, whatever works.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello, and welcome to another edition of the Inside The Newsroom podcast! Today’s guest is James Ball, journalist at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and author of the book WikiLeaks. James shot to fame in 2010 when he was hired by Julian Assange to work for WikiLeaks, where he helped publish thousands of classified documents on the U.S. military’s activity in Iraq and Afghanistan. He then joined the Guardian to work on the Edward Snowden leaks and has since written five books about varying aspects of truth-telling and b**t-spotting. Below is a post-game analysis of everything we talked about, so make sure you listen to the podcast for more!
Please Like Me, Thanks
Before you read on, please like this edition of Inside The Newsroom by clicking the ❤️ below the title. That way I’ll appear in clever algorithms and more people will be able to read. Cheers.
Julian Assange: A Timeline
Before we get started, it’s worth taking a look at how Assange became a top target for the U.S. government. Since Wikileaks released the Afghan war logs in 2010, Assange has become the most prominent free-speech activist/shoddy journalist in the world, depending on how you view him. Regardless of your opinion, his impact on world privacy is undeniable.
Liam Stack, Nick Cumming-Bruce and Madeleine Kruhly, New York Times
What Kind of Man is Julian Assange?
In our podcast, James described the times he private messaged Assange about his progress on the Afghan war logs into the early hours of the morning, and how he could never really trust the man at the centre of everything. They eventually fell out and James went onto write an entire book about his time at Wikileaks, and is thus one of only a few journalists that knows the inner workings of Assange’s mind.
James Ball for The Atlantic
A Spanish Security Firm Spied on Assange
It’s sad that I’m not shocked one bit to learn that Assange was himself spied on 24 hours a day during his seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Per Spanish newspaper El País “a Spanish private defense and security firm named Undercover Global S. L., which was tasked with protecting the diplomatic building between 2012 and 2018, instructed its men to collect all possible information about the cyberactivist, particularly regarding his lawyers and collaborators.”
The surveillance recorded plans by Assange’s team to whisk him out of the embassy in disguise and flee to Russia or Cuba, but the escape was never carried out due to Assange’s refusal to admit “defeat”.
José María Irujo, EL PAÍS
Did Assange Meddle in the U.S. Election?
Rafael Correa, the former President of Ecuador, said yesterday that Assange did in fact interfere with the 2016 election that saw Donald Trump win in minority fashion. Per CNN, “We did notice that he was interfering in the elections and we do not allow that because we have principles, very clear values, as we would not like anyone to interfere in our elections," he said. "We are not going to allow that to happen with a foreign country and friend like the US.”
Marshall Cohen and Kay Guerrero, CNN
Delay, Delay, Delay
While all eyes will be on the U.S. extradition case next year, Assange and his team will be working to delay any sentence or extradition as long as possible. That’s because the opposition in the U.S. and the UK have publicly been a lot more forgiving of Assange’s past actions and freedom of the press in general.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who demanded a general election once Theresa May steps down as British Prime Minister in the coming days, said Assange should not be extradited “for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan”. Democratic 2020 frontrunners Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren also came out against any indictment against the Wikileaks founder. If Assange can somehow find a way to outlast Trump, he might well walk away with a helluva reduced punishment.
So What’s Next For Julian Assange?
Mr. Assange will face a five-day U.S. extradition hearing in the UK next February. The Wikileaks founder faces an 18-count indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice, that includes charges under the Espionage Act for “soliciting and publishing classified information and conspiring to hack into a government computer.” He’s not done there. Swedish prosecutors have also reopened an investigation into rape allegations dating back to 2010.
Haroon Siddique, The Guardian
Related Podcasts
44 — Sebastian Junger (Tribe, The Perfect Storm)
43 — Kashmir Hill (New York Times)
11 — Ewan MacAskill (The Guardian)
Next Up…
… is Christine Brennan, award-winning national sports columnist for USA Today, a commentator for CNN, ABC News, PBS NewsHour and NPR's Morning Edition and a best-selling author.
Last Time
44 — Sebastian Junger (Tribe, The Perfect Storm)
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter at DanielLevitt32 and email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com. Or just give us a like immediately below, whatever works.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello, and welcome to another edition of the Inside The Newsroom podcast newsletter! This week’s guest is Sebastian Junger, author of five books including The Perfect Storm (remember that movie?). Sebastian and I talked about his latest book, Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, which is a detailed history of how and why tribes are formed, and why today’s society isn’t set up for humans to function properly. It’s one of those books that you know is going to change your life and way of thinking within the first 20 pages. Below is a post-game analysis of everything we talked about.
The Premise For a Book
Tribe is only 138 pages long, but that’s what I like about Sebastian’s work the most. Authors often try to fill out a 300-page book and, as readers, we’ll suffer with a ton of waffle. With Tribe, I was in and out within a couple of days. The book is actually an extension of the below longform piece Sebastian wrote on how PTSD became a problem for soldiers beyond the battlefield. Even if you skip the book and just read the original article, I promise you your mind will be blown.
Sebastian Junger for Vanity Fair
Why Do They Keeping Taking Us To War?
At school I was always told that wars were fought over for economic and religious reasons. Take the U.S. and UK’s war against various terrorist groups in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s very much a war of different ideas with big economic interests. But what I haven’t ever been told, until now, is the positive psychological effects that war brings — unity, cohesion and meaning. Now, this doesn’t mean I condone war. I do not. But to unpick things you disagree with, you have to dig deeper under the shell to understand the human traits that lead people to do certain things.
Steve Taylor, The Guardian
Like Me, Please
Before you read on, please like this edition of Inside The Newsroom by clicking the ❤️ below the title. That way I’ll appear in clever algorithms and more people will be able to read. Cheers.
Why Do Disasters Bring Us Together?
Turns out it’s not just war that unites us. The first thing we’ll hear whenever a hurricane or other natural disaster hits is about how tough the people affected are, and how they’re already rebuilding the community. Disasters, as well as wars, trigger our need for social-connection, and more specifically an increased willingness to help others in times of stress. Wars are one of the greatest stresses anyone could bear, so maybe we just need to get the world’s leaders to legalize weed and everything will be alright.
Emma Seppala, Scientific American
The Cult of Extreme Sports
Back in May I completed my first ever walking marathon. Six hours and 51 minutes of complete hell. Seriously, don’t knock until you’ve tried it. As I crossed the finishing line with my new 70-year-old walking buddy, Gill, I felt a sense of direct connection with her. We’d just walked for seven freaking hours together, and I knew many far-too-personal things about her. I’ve already signed up for my next one in September with hopes that Gill will be there too (I forgot to take her number). Anyway, this is a roundabout way of saying that I now understand the obsession of extreme sports. It’s about social connection and having an identity, especially in this modern world of comfort and routine. Take Badwater, for instance. Covering 135 miles through Death Valley is no joke. But the ability to be one of only a few to complete it each year is enough to drive people to do crazy things.
Heather Hatfield, WebMD
The Value of Suffering
Without becoming a depression newsletter, it is fascinating to learn about why we feel the way we do. For me, a big turning point was realizing I could turn rejection and unfavorable events into positives. Below, David Goggins neatly sums up why suffering is actually a good thing that we need in order to succeed.
The Need To Be Needed
This will be a test for my dad to see if he actually reads these things. Stephen Levitt recently retired after a 40-year career in the finance industry. He had a tight-knit group of about five or six colleagues he’d see or talk to every day, all conversing for the good of one shared goal. Now that he’s out of the business he, like millions of other retirees, has found it hard to know how to spend all of his free time. This is one of the most common misconceptions about retirement, the notion that no more work will be heaven. But no. Work and feeling needed is essential for the soul.
Michael Mamas for Huff Post
Related Podcasts
39 — Henry Abbott (TrueHoop)
30 — Art Markman (Psychology Professor University of Texas)
24 — Ben Hammersley (Technologist)
Next Up…
… is James Ball
Last Time
43 — Kashimir Hill (New York Times)
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter at DanielLevitt32 and email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com. Or just give us a like immediately below, whatever works.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Heyo, and welcome to the second Inside The Newsroom podcast newsletter of the week! On Monday the amazing Kait Parker of weather.com came on to talk about how hurricane recoveries can last up to a decade, and how climate change attitudes among Republicans might actually be swinging the right way. Today’s guest is Kashmir Hill, an awesome tech journalist most recently at Gizmodo Media. Kash is about to announce her new gig, but one of her final projects at Gizmodo was to cut out the Big Five technology giants — Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft — from her life for one week at a time, before cutting them all. Kash described it as “hell.” 🔥Below are links and analyses of one of my favorite podcasts so far… Enjoy!
Amazon Basically Owns the Internet
You, I and the majority of the people reading this will think Amazon makes most of its money from its retail business, aka delivering whatever we want, whenever we want it. We’re wrong. I knew Amazon Web Services — Amazon’s cloud computing platform — was a big thing, but I didn’t know it raked in $25.7 billion in 2018. As Kash detailed, millions of websites use AWS in some way, so it pretty much owns the internet.
Someone at Digg
This is Why Facebook is the Most Dangerous
The most glaring difference between Facebook and the “others” is its intention to control our emotions and guilt trip us into using its platform. And it’s not just Kash or me saying this. Five years ago, Facebook actually admitted to manipulating our newsfeeds to make us feel more positive or negative, a process called "emotional contagion". They’re still doing this today.
Robert Booth, the Guardian
The Microsoft Antitrust Case Changed Everything
More than 20 years ago, Microsoft was sued by the Department of Justice and 20 state attorneys for violating antitrust law. The case allowed new competitors to flourish. Two of those companies, Amazon and Google, are now in the firing line of the DOJ’s antitrust chief, and the Microsoft case will set the precedent for any punishment.
Richard Blumenthal and Tim Wu for the New York Times
When Did Congress Become So Dumb?
In my episode with Jessica Lessin, founder and editor-in-chief of The Information, we talked about how the people supposedly keeping these companies in check aren’t even smart enough, let alone know what they’re talking about. Along with the snail’s pace with which Congress moves, it will be long, long time before anything significant changes in the tech industry.
Grace Gedye, Washington Monthly
Technology is Changing What it Means to be Human… Dayum
Well that’s not good, but it’s probably true. Vox’s Sean Illing spoke to Michael Bess, a historian of science at Vanderbilt University and the author of Our Grandchildren Redesigned: Life in a Bioengineered Society, and basically we’re all doomed, but how we’re all doomed is the spooky part.
Sean Illing, Vox.com
Want to Really Block the Tech Giants? Here’s How…
Kash worked with technologist Dhruv Mehrotra to make the series happen, and Dhruv kindly outlined exactly how he was able to keep the likes of Amazon and Google out of Kash’s life. Whether or not you decide to go cold turkey and cut everything out after reading this, there are subtle changes you can make to reduce your reliance on the Big Five that will improve your privacy, and sanity.
Dhruv Mehrotra for Gizmodo Media
Related Podcasts
41 — Jessica Lessin (The Information)
36 — Sam Biddle (The Intercept)
Next Up…
… is Domonique Foxworth or Taylor Lorenz
Last Time
42 — Kait Parker (weather.com)
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter at DanielLevitt32 and email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com. Or just give us a like immediately below, whatever works.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another edition of the Inside The Newsroom podcast newsletter. Today’s guest is Kait Parker, meteorologist at weather.com and host of the Warming Signs podcast. We talked about hurricane recoveries and what the past couple of years mean for climate change attitudes. Below are links and post-game analyses of everything we talked about. Hope you enjoy and pick up something!
Warming Signs
Clever title aside, Kait has her own podcast where she speaks to people from different areas of the meteorology and climatology worlds. Last week’s episode was topical to our own conversation, when Kait spoke to Lisa LaDue, Hurricane Harvey Mental Health and Psychosocial Program Manager for Americares. Definitely worth listening to about how when a hurricane comes ashore, it’s just the beginning of a recovery that can last decades.
Destruction Is Just the Start
Hurricane Michael’s 160mph winds left parts of Florida and Georgia unrecognizable. For many, the news was quickly shoved aside by politics or some dumb s**t Rick Scott said. But for the thousands of farmers in south west Georgia, the rebuilding has only just begun and may take up to a decade to return to normalcy.
Max Blau, Atlanta Magazine
Bob Inglis At Your Service
There are portions of the GOP that have their heads screwed on as it pertains to climate change, and one of those is former six-term South Carolina Republican congressman Bob Inglis, who lost his seat way back in 2010 in large part due to his support for climate change. Inglis didn’t even make it out of the GOP primary, but has since set up his own nonprofit, RepublicEn, devoted to getting conservatives to come to grips with climate change.
James Rainey, NBC News
Why Even Have a Hurricane Season?
Tropical storms have occurred before the “official” start of the Atlantic hurricane season (June 1st) for the past five years, which begs the question why we put a label on when a season starts and ends (November 30th). There is logic behind it: 97 percent of tropical activity in the Atlantic happens between these dates, according to the National Hurricane Center. And fun fact: The season initially stretched from June 15 through November 15, until officials decided in 1965 to expand it.
Nicole Chavez, CNN
Hurricane Imelda Sounds Terrifying 😨
A look at the names for the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. Here’s to hoping we don’t have to use all of them…
Saeed Ahmed and Judson Jones, CNN
Record May For Tornadoes
For folks like Kait, severe weather is a year-round commitment. In May, a record 13 consecutive days of tornadic activity in the US led to an unprecedented 555 tornado reports. While data is preliminary and needs to be confirmed, we know that two EF-4 tornadoes rocked Dayton, Ohio and Linwood, Kansas, and an EF-3 destroyed parts of Jefferson City, Missouri.
Amanda Schmidt, Accuweather
Is Climate Change Responsible?
The short answer is welllllll... As Dr. Victor Gensini from Northern Illinois University points out, no single weather event is caused by climate change. But that doesn’t mean climate change didn’t have an effect. More simply put, climate change increases the odds of severe weather events happening. More detail in the thread below.
Victor Gensini, Northern Illinois University
The “Twister” Effect
Something I’ve always found fascinating is the power of Hollywood, and the 1996 classic “Twister” is a classic example. The movie starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton was a huge hit on and off the screen, and is widely cited as the birth of amateur storm chasing in the US. In the decades before the movie, meteorology in America was obscure, maybe a small department at only a few dozen universities. But in the decade between 1994 and 2004, Americans receiving bachelor’s degrees in meteorology increased by 47 percent.
Ben Guarino, Washington Post
Related Podcasts
37 — Josh Morgerman (Hurricane Man)
23 — Michael E. Mann (Penn State University)
17 — James Spann (ABC 33/40)
Next Up…
… is Kashmir Hill. Kash has been a tech journalist for ages and decided to go all out by cutting out one of the big five technology companies. For one week at a time, she erased Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Apple and told me everything she learned.
Last Time
41 — Jessica Lessin (The Information)
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter at DanielLevitt32 and email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com. Or just give us a like immediately below, whatever works.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another edition of the Inside The Newsroom podcast newsletter. Today’s guest is Jessica Lessin, founder and editor-in-chief of The Information. Jessica was a technology reporter at the Wall Street Journal for almost a decade before she launched her new platform in 2013, which focuses on covering solely technology companies. Below are links and post-game analyses of everything we talked about. Enjoy!
The News Is About to Get Real Expensive
How much are you spending per month for your news? Add Spotify and Netflix on top of that and times it by 12. That takes me to around $400 a year, and I’m probably on the low end. If you’re the New York Times and Washington Post you’ll be fine, but the fact that only 16 percent of Americans are willing to pay for any online news spells disaster for local outlets.
Joshua Benton, Nieman Lab
The UK Isn’t Safe Either
It’s not just stateside where local journalism has been ravaged. An independent report on the future of British media concluded that local news coverage could “disappear entirely” unless the government didn’t provide direct financial support.
Jim Waterson, the Guardian
Like Inside The Newsroom? Do us a solid and tell a friend or colleague who might enjoy it and subscribe.
U.S. vs The World
As some British dude who studied in America, I’ve wondered why it’s so hard to curtail hate speech on social media platforms. It essentially comes down to the First Amendment, but that’s where the simplicity stops and the U.S. becomes isolated. American law and judges are united in protecting freedom of speech, but all the cultural and social pressures around the world are in the opposite direction.
Cecilia Kang, New York Times
Breaking Facebook Up Won’t Be Easy
The prospect of breaking up Facebook has never felt so real. Elizabeth Warren’s groundbreaking proposal to break up any tech company with annual global revenue of $25 billion or more has been adopted at least in part by Bernie Sanders, as well as Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. BUT, and it’s a big but, several hurdles stand in the way that might limit or even prevent any breakup of a tech giant.
Margaret Hardin McGill and Steven Overly, Politico
Yeah, But There is A Way Right?
Like I said, breaking up any large tech company won’t be easy, but it’s possible and imo, even likely. The Ringer do a nice job of breaking down why each company — Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google — has a target on their backs in the first place, and suggests possible solutions to their monopolistic dominance.
Victor Luckerson, The Ringer
For Your Viewing Pleasure…
How Did Netflix Change Everything?
I’m just about old enough to have experienced a Friday night carefully perusing every aisle in Blockbusters looking for the exact movie to match my mood. Now I painfully scroll through dozens (sometimes hundreds) of titles on Netflix to pick something out. So much damn choice! Anyway, Netflix is 21 years old, and has changed the movie and TV industry forever.
Ashley Rodriguez, Quartz
Disney Could Spend Billions To Fight Netflix
Disney was often behind many of the titles I used to scan back on my lonely Friday nights, and it’s now come full circle to start a war with its nemesis Netflix. Disney + will launch in November, adding another $7 a month to our growing subscription bills. But that’s not all. Netflix’s competition is also growing and includes Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ and YouTube Red. This could get interesting… (and even more expensive).
Peter Kafka, Vox.com
Tech Organizational Charts
I’m enamoured with a cool feature on The Information’s website that visualizes the organizational structures of the biggest tech companies in the world. Headlines often only mention the likes of Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos, but it’s below them where a ton of decision making is made. It’s cool to see who else is responsible for the negatives (and positives) of these powerful companies. Only problem is you may have to subscribe and pay to see them all.
Various staff, The Information
Related Podcasts
39 — Henry Abbott (TrueHoop)
36 — Sam Biddle (The Intercept)
35 — Richard Deitsch (The Athletic)
31 — Max Read (New York Magazine)
Next up…
Later this week we’ll have Kait Parker from weather.com. Kait is a meteorologist who focuses on the links between weather and climate change, and has her own podcast ‘Warming Signs’.
Last time…
40 — Ben Casselman (New York Times)
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter at DanielLevitt32 and email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com. Or just give us a like immediately below, whatever works.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another edition of the Inside The Newsroom podcast and newsletter. Today’s guest is… Ben Casselman of the New York Times. Ben covers the U.S. economy and, because of his previous role as chief economics writer at FiveThirtyEight, he’s a fantastic resource for what it all for Donald Trump’s re-election in 2020. Below are links and post-game analyses of everything we talked about. Enjoy and please subscribe at the top!
The economy has finally recovered from 2008 right?
The latest jobs report showed that total U.S. unemployment is 3.6 per cent, a 50-year low. That’s fantastic news, but economic recoveries are subjective and where one region might be booming, another could still be struggling. As the chart below shows, the unemployment rate is part of the business cycle and is only part of the picture with regards to the true health of an economy.
Nelson D. Schwartz, the New York Times
By Nelson D. Schwartz
The Truth Behind the Jobs Report
Fortunately for us, my former FiveThirtyEight colleague and the incredibly smart Julia Wolfe shows us that the number of jobs added or lost may not be as accurate as we think. For example, it was estimated that 263,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in April, but the exact figure could in fact be 120,000 more or less than reported. That’s a bloody big range of uncertainty, meaning we should view unemployment figures with extreme caution.
Julia Wolfe, FiveThirtyEight
Like Inside The Newsroom? Do us a solid and tell a friend or colleague who might enjoy it and subscribe.
Repeat After Me: The Stock Market Is Not the Economy
Another FiveThirtyEight article, god they’re smart… I’ve always been curious as to why people only point to one metric when assessing the health of the economy. I tried hard not to mention him in the podcast, but Mr. Trump tweets all too often about how the stock market is the sole indicator of why the economy is booming under his leadership. Well, Mr. Casselman is far smarter and does a good job of ripping that theory to shreds. Thank god for smart people.
Ben Casselman, (formerly of) FiveThirtyEight
And here’s a nice video explainer just in case…
Longest expansion ever?
The U.S. economy has grown for 106 consecutive months (8 years and 10 months), which according to CNN, is tied for the second-longest US expansion since records began. We’re still more than a year away from breaking the record, and there are signs suggesting we may or may not get there. Still, credit where credit’s due, the economy hasn’t completely tanked under Trump like some predicted.
Zachary B. Wolf and Will Houp, CNN
So Is This Trump’s Economy Now?
Ben and I discussed the importance of the economy in elections, going as far as saying the number one reason Trump won in 2016 was because of the economy, which never really recovered in certain areas under Obama. As we sit here in May 2019, the economy is now firmly Trump’s for better or worse, and he could win or lose re-election in 2020 depending on how the economy performs from now until then.
Jim Tankersley, the New York Times
Fastest growing US cities
Part of the reason for the continued economic growth is down to immigration. In rural counties where much of the population migrate to larger cities, international migration has helped local businesses and services from failing. As Bloomberg also reports, immigrants aren’t just flocking to the glitz and glamour of New York, Los Angeles or Miami. The likes of San Antonio, Columbus and Phoenix are among the fastest growing cities in the US.
Jed Kolko, the New York Times
Related Podcasts
34 — Dave Weigel (Washington Post)
20 — Daniel Dale (Toronto Star)
Next up…
Next week we’ll have Domonique Foxworth of ESPN on the podcast. Domonique covers the intersection between sports, race and culture for ESPN’s The Undefeated, and I think he’ll make for a gripping podcast so keep an eye out for the newsletter in your inbox next week. Subscribe here.
Last time…
39 — Henry Abbot (TrueHoop)
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter at DanielLevitt32 and email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com. Or just give us a like immediately below, whatever works.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another edition of the Inside The Newsroom podcast newsletter! Today’s guest is... Henry Abbott, founder of the TrueHoop basketball blog and newsletter! I’ve followed Henry’s work for a few years now, so I’m honoured to have him on. Henry and his team changed the way I and many others look at basketball, and TrueHoop is one of the few investigative outlets out there daring to tell the truth about sports.
TrueHoop is Back
After a two-year layoff, Henry and TrueHoop are back. In our discussion, Henry talked about what he learned and how he kept sane during his time away. The lesson: watch a buzzard circle outside the window and take stock of life. TrueHoop is one of the few sports investigative outlets out there and ESPN made a huge mistake by letting it go as part of its 2017 purge. But that’s the past. Henry and co. are back with more motivation to tell the truth about sports than ever before.
The Truth About Mikhail Prokhorov
In the first investigative series of the relaunch, Henry dug deep into the affairs of Brooklyn Nets owner and Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov. There is so so so much money involved in the major leagues right now and too few people investigating where this money came from. Henry went as far as to attend Putin Con (an actual thing), and also found himself in the office of Prokhorov’s lawyer, who just so happens to be Donald Trump’s lawyer as well.
Henry Abbott, TrueHoop
What the F is Putin Con?
A conference where thousands of people attend to hear about the dangers of the Vladimir Putin administration. Who wants to go next year?
What’s Lurking in Your Stadium Food?
One of those few news outlets investigating sports is ESPN’s Outside The Lines, who have done countless power-altering pieces in the past. In their stadium food series, they investigated 111 professional football, baseball, basketball and hockey facilities across North America and found that at 28 percent of the venues, at least half had food outlets that incurred a high-level violation, including bugs and pests. They also include a neat tool that allows you to find out the violations at your nearest stadiums.
Paula Lavigne, ESPN
Moneyland
Talking of rich and powerful people, Henry referenced one of the books he read in his time off. Moneyland by Oliver Bullough details the pervasive use of tax havens and shell companies to hide money and ultimately evade paying tax. Again, completely anecdotal, but there seems to be an invisible shield around the owners of our teams and leagues that goes unchecked. Anyway, Moneyland has been added to the reading list.
Andy Beckett, The Guardian
The NFL is Bipartisan?
The NBA has ascended in recent years as the most progressive and open league in North America, and is part of the reason why I’m such a huge fan. But wearing my journalist hat makes me skeptical. A big reason why the NBA has grown in popularity is because of the NFL’s self-destruction when it comes to domestic violence, CTE and comparing black players to inmates. Like most things, it largely comes down to money, and as my former colleagues at FiveThirtyEight point out, the NFL is unique in that its fans transverse the political spectrum.
Neil Paine, Harry Enten and Andrea Jones-Rooy, FiveThirtyEight
What is ‘Amygdala Hijack’?
In the podcast, Henry and I talk about why sports fans make dumb decisions that they wouldn’t otherwise make in real life. According to Henry, it comes down to ‘amygdala hijack’, which I’ll save myself from explaining and include the below video instead.
The ‘Donald Trump Effect’ on Journalism
The vicious attacks on journalism’s legitimacy and importance by Donald Trump and his administration have not gone unnoticed. The Washington Post reported that journalism school admissions have spiked since 2016, particularly for investigative and data tracks. This is good and I hope the folks entering the field keep their eyes open to injustices and corruption in sport as well.
Nick Anderson, Washington Post
Related Podcasts
35 — Richard Deitsch (The Athletic)
28 — Jonah Keri (The Athletic)
26 — Jacob Bogage (Washington Post Sports)
4 — Chris Herring (FiveThirtyEight)
Next up…
To be confirmed…
Last time…
38 — Shane Morris (Lil Nas X)
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter at DanielLevitt32 and email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com. Or just give us a like immediately below, whatever works.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another edition of the Inside The Newsroom podcast newsletter, where I’ll dish further context and info about everything discussed in the podcast. If you enjoy what you read and listen to, please subscribe to get it straight to your inbox next time.
Today’s guests are…
… storm chaser Josh Morgerman and filmmaker Caroline Menzies of the new TV show Hurricane Man, currently airing in the UK and South Africa (random) and set to hit the US in the coming months. I loved this episode and Josh’s obsession with chasing storms was absolutely addictive and makes me (don’t worry I won’t) really want to tag along with him next time.
Does climate change make hurricanes worse?
Although it’s not central to the show, it’s impossible not to talk about hurricanes without talking about climate change. What you have to consider is the difference between meteorology and climatology — they’re different but closely related. Meteorology is the study of weather, most often on a day-to-day or event-by-event basis, so it’s hard to decipher if climate change is involved. Climatology is the study of weather trends over an extended period of time. In order to explore if climate change is making hurricanes worse, you have to look at long-term trends, which is (shameful plug time) what my colleague and I looked at for the Guardian last year.
Niko Kommenda and Moi, The Guardian
The Category is Just a Number
We most often hear about the ‘category’ of a hurricane, and the barometer of panic ascends or descends according to this number. But what causes significant damage is the rain these storms bring. Take Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which stalled and sat on top of Houston and its surrounding areas for multiple days. In total, Harvey dumped 33 trillion gallons of water, and the folks at the Washington Post visualized what that looked like at the link below.
Angela Fritz and Jason Samenow, Washington Post
Why Don’t People Evacuate?
Hurricanes bring out the best and worst of people. On one hand, so many incredible people offer to help those whose lives have been destroyed. Then there’s those who sit on the sidelines and lambast anyone who “chooses” not to evacuate. The fact is, not everyone can just get up and leave town for safety. Some are physically unable. Some are physically unable to move loved ones. And as you’ll see from the next blurb, some people just flat out cannot afford to leave their possessions that they rely on to make a living.
Nicole Stephens, for the New York Times
Like Inside The Newsroom? Do us a solid and tell a friend or colleague who might enjoy it and subscribe.
This Is Why People Don’t Leave
A couple from Florida refuse to leave their fishing boat — worth $250,000 and uninsured against hurricanes — during Hurricane Michael. I watched the below clip with anguish and a clenched butt.
Long Road to Recovery
If you watch the series or have ever seen the destruction of a hurricane, you'll know town's and cities don't recover overnight. My former colleagues at FiveThirtyEight visualized how long it took the victims in New York and New Jersey to recover from Hurricane Sandy (which actually made landfall as a tropical cyclone) and there are still people calling the authorities about the damage. I imagine it will take at least the next decade for the Florida Panhandle to fully recover from the impact of Hurricane Michael, which made landfall as a top-end Category 4 hurricane.
Julia Wolfe and Oliver Order, FiveThirtyEight
Inside the Eye
Time for another video. If you’re reading this and you’ve ever survived the strongest part of a hurricane — the ferocious ‘eye wall’ — you’ll know that on the other side is a mystical land where the sun shines and the birds tweet. That majestic place is called the ‘eye’, and in the below clip, we get to see Josh experience something he described as indescribable. I likened it to being on drugs.
2019 Hurricane Season Forecast
The past two Atlantic hurricane seasons have been devastating with a total of 32 named storms, including eight major hurricanes (Category 3 or stronger). The good news is that the 2019 season is expected to be nearer the average of 12 named storms. The Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State releases its predictions each year and, while these are subject to change, the early signs are that 2019 will be calmer than the past couple of years.
Jonathan Erdman, The Weather Channel
Related Podcasts
23 — Michael E. Mann (Penn State University)
17 — James Spann (ABC 33/40)
15 — Marshall Shepherd (The Weather Channel)
14 — Rick Luettich (University of North Carolina)
13 — Jonathan Petramala (Accuweather)
2 — Damon Lane (KOCO)
Next up…
Next week we’ll have music label man Shane Morris to talk about the controversy of Lil Nas X and his ‘Old Town Road’ being removed from the Billboard Country chart. And also there’s a good chance I’ll release a pod with Jeff Zeleny of CNN.
Last time…
36 — Sam Biddle, technology reporter at The Intercept
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter at DanielLevitt32 or email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Hello! And welcome to another edition of the Inside The Newsroom podcast newsletter. For many of you it'll be the first time receiving one, so I hope you get something out of it and please do message me with any suggestions (contact details at the bottom).
Today’s Guest Is…
… Sam Biddle, technology reporter at The Intercept. Sam’s worked at a host of outlets including DCist, Newser and Gawker in the past, and reports from the intersection of technological malfeasance. Above is the podcast. And below is more context of everything we talked about with links and a little analysis from yours truly.
The Intercept is Born
Sam joined The Intercept back in 2016, shortly after it was launched in 2014 by Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill. It’s funded by eBay billionaire Pierre Omidyar. You may have heard of Greenwald and Poitras from their time in a hotel room in Hong Kong with Edward Snowden, as part of Poitras’ movie Citizenfour, which documented Snowden’s first contact with journalists about leaked NSA files. The Intercept is one of the most important news outlets in the world, imo, if not only for Greenwald calling out b**t in public as he sees it.
Ben Cosman, The Atlantic
Are Facebook’s Algorithm Sexist and Racist? Hmm… 🤔
Sam delved into a new study showing how Facebook delivers certain adverts to people based on their race and gender, even when advertisers had asked to target a broad audience. Per the researchers: “Critically, we observe significant skew in delivery along gender and racial lines for “real” ads for employment and housing opportunities despite neutral targeting parameters. Our results demonstrate previously unknown mechanisms that can lead to potentially discriminatory ad delivery, even when advertisers set their targeting parameters to be highly inclusive.”
Sam Biddle, The Intercept
Can We Live Without the ‘Big Five’?
Ever wondered what life could be like without Google and Facebook? I know I do all too often. Fortunately for us, Gizmodo journalist Kashmir Hill went all-in and cut the ‘Big Five’ technology companies from her life for an entire week. Personally, I’ve deleted Facebook and Instagram in the past six months and definitely feel better for it. But I’ll admit, I never knew how much of the internet’s infrastructure relied on a handful of companies and, as Kashmir found out, it’s almost impossible to operate as a human without them.
Kashmir Hill, Gizmodo
Like Inside The Newsroom? Do us a solid and tell a friend or colleague who might enjoy it and subscribe.
Add Another Zero and Then We’ll Talk
The Washington Post reported last week that Facebook could be fined between $3 billion and $5 billion by the Federal Trade Commission, for the company’s mishandling of its users’ data. That could turn out to be more than 100 times larger than the previous largest fine levied by the FTC to a technology company — $22.5 million given to Google in 2012. The problem is, though, Facebook released its latest earnings on Friday, and a $5 billion fine represents just a third of Facebook’s quarterly revenue, something the New York Times described as a “parking ticket”. Facebook’s share price rose 8 percent as a result. How do you penalize a company if a multi-billion dollar fine is good news?
Elizabeth Dwoskin and Tony Romm, The Washington Post
Zuckerberg’s Pivot to Privacy
Back in March, Mark Zuckerberg published the latest of his trivial essays, this time on “a privacy-focused vision for social networking.” The crux of Zuckerberg’s message was that his platform would be moving to complete end-to-end encryption, that “prevents anyone — including us — from seeing what people share.” Now, on the face of it, this appears to be positive. But does this now give Facebook an out from banning the fake content and Russian trolls that have plagued its platform in recent years? Like with most things, there’s be pros and cons. But it’s hard to believe that this move has been made for user protection, especially after leaked emails showed Facebook’s real mission is to make as much money out of its users’ data.
Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker
The Third Era of Zuck
It hasn’t been long since rumours of a presidential run circled Zuckerberg, but a tumultuous 24 months later, the only visit to Washington Zuck’s had has been to testify in Congress. According to Tim Hwang, who founded the California Review of Images and Mark Zuckerberg, we’ve entered the “third era of Zuck.” First there was the “plucky in the college dorm room hacker guy”; then came “world leader”; and finally we’ve entered Zuckerberg “in the wilderness.” Bearing in mind that Zuckerberg is still only 34, we’re starting to see through the cracks of what has been an efficient PR machine until now.
Julia Carrie Wong, The Guardian
Jack Dorsey’s PR B**t Tour
I’ve listened to three podcasts with Jack Dorsey in the past three months and all of them were scarily similar. Even ultra-skeptical podcast hosts such as Joe Rogan struggled to crack Dorsey’s veneer, as Twitter’s co-founder and current CEO told us that he’s working on changes that will mitigate abuse and harassment on the platform, but users wouldn’t notice them. Finally, in the below episode, journalist Tim Pool puts up more of a fight and things get a bit testy. Well worth the listen.
Joe Rogan Experience podcast with Jack Dorsey, Vijaya Gadde and Tim Pool
Related Podcasts
31 — Max Read (New York Magazine)
25 — Alex Hern (The Guardian)
24 — Ben Hammersley (Future Predictor)
Next up…
Later this week we'll have the folks of Hurricane Man on to talk about their new show and what it's like being in the middle of a hurricane.
… Last week
35 — Richard Deitsch (The Athletic)
Thanks so much for making it all the way to the bottom. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to get a newsletter about a cool news topic in your inbox every time I release a new podcast (1-2 times a week). You can find me on Twitter at @DanielLevitt32 or email me corrections/feedback or even a guest you’d like me to get on the podcast at daniellevitt32@gmail.com.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
You’re reading the inaugural edition of the Inside The Newsroom podcast newsletter. If you like it, then consider subscribing to get something similar sent to your inbox every time I publish a podcast. And maybe even tell a friend or colleague too.
Today’s Guest Is…… Richard Deitsch, a journalist for The Athletic covering sports media and radio host for Sportsnet 590 in Toronto. Richard previously covered sports and its media for Sports Illustrated for more than 20 years. We talked about various topics including the rise of alternative sports media (i.e. The Athletic) against legacy outlets (i.e. ESPN and Sports Illustrated) and how ESPN is dealing with insurgents to its empire. Below is some further reading (kind of like being back at school but more fun) about everything we discussed.
New Sports Sheriff In Town
The Athletic — the subscription-based sports website whose ambition is to “be the local sports page for every city in the country” — launched in January 2016. The site now has dedicated sites for more than 45 cities across North America, as well as for certain pro and college sports. Momentum appears to be strong — they raised $40m in their latest round of funding — in part because they now exist as a hive of former writers from the likes of ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports and more. The comeback of the paywall and its consequences have been fascinating to watch, as the Athletic very much has become the Spotify or Netflix of sports media.
Kevin Draper, The New York Times
Prepare To Pay For Your News Again
Employee layoffs are commonplace in today’s world, in large part due to Google and Facebook’s domination of advertising revenue. Between 2008 and 2017, around 27,000 newsroom jobs in the U.S. were cut. In the UK, more than 200 local newspapers have been completely erased. To combat the decline, more and more outlets have introduced paywalls that require readers to actually pay for content — the New York Times, Washington Post and Financial Times are three of the biggest to do so successfully. But can smaller organizations make paywalls work too? Well, there is hope. Digital media companies have much larger audiences than they did a decade ago, and successful paywall models by the NYT and co. show that consumer habits are changing, i.e. people are willing to pay for news again.
Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic
Demise of Sports Illustrated
Magazines played a huge role in me growing up to have my very own newsletter, as I’m sure they did for others, so it’s disheartening to see the industry being decimated in very public ways. First published in 1954, Sports Illustrated became a weekly staple for US sports fans, providing inside access to their favorite teams and players that social media and podcasts do today. SI’s role in pop culture has been crushed — why spend $5.99 when you can listen and scroll for free? Even the infamous Swimsuit edition has been made redundant due to, well, online porn. I’m not sure what happens to SI in the future — the title is currently up for sale for the second time in as many years — but whatever happens, the magazine will have a place in sports culture history forever.
Michael MacCambridge for The Ringer
The Guardian Shows There’s Another Way
An alternative to the paywall and advertising is the donation-based model. Without shamefully plugging my own employer, the Guardian has proven that a large news organization can be sustainable while keeping content completely free. In November of last year, the Guardian reached 1 million supporters in just three years from more than 180 countries around the world. Also, donation platforms such as Patreon allow readers to support independent journalists to cover underreported topics. So, while parts of the industry will inevitably continue to downsize, there’s definitely light at the end of what has been a dark, dark tunnel for journalism.
Pablo Gutierrez, The Guardian
The Return of TrueHoop
TrueHoop is a basketball blog that started in 2005 and was quickly acquired by ESPN in 2007. It was known for its compelling deep dives around the NBA, and its contributors included giants such as Brian Windhorst, J.A. Adande and David Thorpe. After a two-year hiatus, Abbott and TrueHoop have relaunched as a newsletter on Substack, the very platform you’re reading this newsletter on. Its first series was an investigation on Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov.
Henry Abbott, TrueHoop
The Latest at ESPN
Richard and I talked about why the likes of Bill Simmons, Jemele Hill and Adnan Virk — some of ESPN’s most high-profile names — have left the company in recent years. This comes as part of an overall cost reduction strategy by the company, which was behind the ‘Great Purge’ of talent in 2017. The below link will take you to Richard’s own podcast where he spent more than an hour discussing where ESPN finds itself in this changing media landscape and what its future looks like.
Richard Deitsch, Sports Media podcast
Related Inside The Newsroom Podcasts
Episode #28 — Jonah Keri of The Athletic
Episode # 26 — Jacob Bogage of The Washington Post
Next up on the podcast: Sam Biddle of The Intercept
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Dave Weigel covers Congress and grass-roots political movements for the Washington Post. He's the author of The Trailer newsletter, as well as "The Show That Never Ends," a history of progressive rock music.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Lauren Gambino is a political correspondent for the Guardian US. She's covering the Democratic 2020 candidates in the lead up to the primaries.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Giles Robson is a blues musician currently touring in Europe and the US. His music can be found on Spotify. Aaron Phillips is a documentary journalist and filmmaker from Mississippi. His work on the state's bicentennial can be found at Blue Magnolia Films.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Max Read is a senior editor and author of the 'Life In Pixels' column at New York Magazine. He is also former editor-in-chief of Gawker.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Art Markman is a psychology professor at the University of Texas. He's written five books focusing on the brain and how to gain competitive advantage at work.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Adam Kelsey is a political reporter for ABC and FiveThirtyEight. He's covering the Democratic 2020 Presidential candidates and everything else US politics.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Stefan Szymanski is a professor in the Department of Sport Management at the University of Michigan. He is the co-author of the book, Soccernomics.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Jacob Bogage is a national sports reporter for the Washington Post focusing on society and race.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Alex Hern is the Guardian's UK technology editor.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Ben Hammersley is a futurist and works with clients around the world to prepare for technological change. He's a former journalist for the Guardian and the BBC.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Michael E. Mann is a world-leading climate scientist and author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, and The Madhouse Effect.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Ellen Bryan is a journalist for WUSA9 in Washington D.C. and has a fascinating story of growing up in the Midwest, winning the Miss Ohio title and finding motivation from growing up with a sister who was struck by lightning.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Anna Soubry is a Conservative MP for Broxtowe. She's been outspoken on Brexit and is a leading campaigner for a people's vote on the EU.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Daniel Dale is the Toronto Star's Washington correspondent. Daniel has fact-checked every single statement that Donald Trump has made.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Jack Armstrong is a TV analyst for the Toronto Raptors and former head coach of the Niagara Purple Eagles.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Jody Avirgan is host and producer of ESPN's 30for30 podcast and FiveThirtyEight's politics podcast.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
James Spann is chief meteorologist at ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Alabama. He's the host of the WeatherBrains Podcast and is celebrating 40 years in the business.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Rodney Carmichael is NPR's hip hop writer, and has chronicled Southern rap for more than a decade.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Dr. Marshall Shepherd is former president of the American Meteorological Society, current director of atmospheric sciences at the University of Georgia, and an international expert on severe weather.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Dr. Rick Luettich is a professor and director of the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of North Carolina. His storm surge forecast model has been featured in multiple news outlets including the Guardian.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Jonathan Petramala is a national weather reporter for Accuweather. He's been based in South Carolina for the past month covering Hurricane Florence.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Andrea Jones-Rooy is a quantitative researcher for FiveThirtyEight and standup comedian.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Ewen MacAskill is a former journalist for the Guardian. He's best known for helping Edward Snowden leak CIA documents in 2013.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Jared Holt is a research associate for People For The American Way. He was profiled by Salon as the guy who got Alex Jones kicked off the internet.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Juliette Foster is a freelance journalist whose worked for Bloomberg, the BBC and Sky News. She is the founder of Magnus Communications.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Corey Pegues is a retired NYPD officer, U.S. Army medical specialist and drug dealer for the infamous Supreme Team. He's now an author, motivational speaker and community leader.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Nadieh Bremer is one of the world's leading data visualization specialists and has worked with news outlets such as the Guardian and Scientific American. Nadieh runs her own business, Visual Cinnamon.
Bussed Out: How America moves its homeless
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
B.J. Mendelson is author of the book Social Media Is B**t, a comic book writer and marketing consultant. He plans on releasing an updated version of his book next year.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Matt Symons is a professional rugby player for Harlequins in England. He's been vocal on mental health in the game, and on the transition from playing to reitrement.
Check his blog out here.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Chris Herring is a senior NBA writer for ESPN and FiveThirtyEight, and a professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Walter Hickey is former chief culture writer at FiveThirtyEight and recently started his own startup, Numlock News.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Damon Lane is chief meteorologist at KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City. He covered two monster tornadoes in 2013 live on air, including the largest twister ever recorded in El Reno, and an EF-5 that ripped through his hometown of Moore.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe
Scott MacArthur covers the Toronto Bluejays for Sportsnet Fan 590.
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at insidethenewsroom.substack.com/subscribe