The Psychology of Sticking Your Head in the Sand. Plus, Ep. 2 of American Emergency.

How Anthropic Became Holier Than Thou

This week, Anthropic filed for an IPO following a valuation of nearly $1 trillion, which would make it one of the largest IPOs in history. On this week’s On the Media, the company’s marketing campaign to position it as the “good guy” of AI. Plus, what a literary AI scandal reveals about our vanishing ability to tell what’s human and what’s not.  [01:00]  Micah speaks with Brian Merchant [https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/], a tech journalist and author of the book and newsletter Blood in the Machine, about Anthropic’s successful positioning of itself as the “ethical AI company,” even gaining themselves a seat at the table when the Pope debuted his encyclical on AI, and how fostering this image seems to be paying off in the form of a massive valuation and upcoming IPO. [16:18] Micah sits down with Vauhini Vara [https://www.vauhinivara.com/], a contributing writer for The Atlantic and the author of Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, on the infiltration of AI into literature, and how publishing and journalism have entered a new era of trying to keep AI writing at bay.  [27:51] Brooke talks with David Garrett, founder of the new non-profit the Institute for Primary Facts, about the pop-up exhibit [https://trumpsonian.us/] he organized in New York City that displayed over 3,400 printed volumes of the Epstein files, and how he intends it to be a “pressure campaign” for accountability. Plus, Andrea Sterling, an online content creator and a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, on the impact of seeing the files in real life. Further reading: * “How Anthropic used AI ethics slop to play the pope and eclipse OpenAI [https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/how-anthropic-used-its-ai-ethicslop],” by Brian Merchant * “This Literary AI Scandal Changes Everything [https://www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/05/granta-ai-fiction-book-scandal-changes-everything/687243/],” by Vauhini Vara On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm [https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm]). Follow our show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en], Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/onthemedia.bsky.social], TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@onthemedia] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia] @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I.C.E.'s "Wartime Recruitment" Campaign

For a second week, reports of inhumane conditions at Delaney Hall in New Jersey are drawing protesters and camera crews. A handful of journalists [https://jerseyvindicator.org/2026/06/01/journalists-swept-up-in-delaney-hall-crackdown-as-press-freedom-concerns-mount/] and dozens of protesters have been arrested. Under this Trump administration, I.C.E.’s operations have ballooned, making it the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency. This week we're sharing an interview Micah did with Drew Harwell, a technology reporter for The Washington Post, from earlier this year. They discuss how I.C.E. is trying to enlist new agents through a "wartime recruitment push." [https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/12/31/ice-wartime-recruitment-push/] On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm [https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm]). Follow our show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en], Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/onthemedia.bsky.social], TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@onthemedia] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia] @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Trump Sued Himself … and ‘Settled’ for a $1.8 Billion Fund

The Department of Justice is trying to create a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate Donald Trump’s political supporters who claim they were unfairly targeted by the government. On this week’s On the Media, how Trump is using the federal legal system to reward his allies and go after his perceived enemies. Plus, how a prison fire in 1930 changed the course of history for CBS News. [01:00]  Micah speaks with Anna Bower [https://bsky.app/profile/annabower.bsky.social], senior editor at Lawfare [https://www.lawfaremedia.org/], about President Trump’s effort to sue himself and how the Department of Justice is trying to reward him, and his political allies, with a nearly $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”  [17:14] Brooke speaks with historian A. Brad Schwartz [https://bsky.app/profile/abradschwartz.bsky.social] about how a horrific prison fire in 1930 changed the trajectory of CBS News. CBS aired on-the-spot coverage of the event, with Otto "Deacon" Gardner, an inmate in the prison, at the microphone. Gardner's gripping broadcast captured the attention of audiences across the country and started CBS on the path to creating the hard-hitting news that would define the network for nearly a century.  [35:53] Brooke continues her conversation with historian A. Brad Schwartz about how the prison fire showed executives at CBS that there was an audience for vivid, on-the-spot news coverage.  Further reading: * “The President Who Sued Himself [https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-president-who-sued-himself],” by Anna Bower and Eric Columbus * “The Eyewitness [https://www.cjr.org/feature/cbs-news-radio-eyewitness-otto-deacon-gardner-edward-r-murrow.php],” by A. Brad Schwartz On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm [https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm]). Follow our show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en], Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/onthemedia.bsky.social], TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@onthemedia] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia] @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Russian Phrasebook for Surviving Authoritarianism

Russian language has a rich vocabulary for describing life under tyranny. Like the plain-clothed ICE officers snatching people off the streets? In Russian, they would be called "siloviki." Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's requirement that she personally approve of contracts over $100,000? That's a phenomenon that Russians would call "manual control." Government workers being required to perform a military parade for the president's birthday? They would be called "budget people" in Russian. Brooke speaks with Maria Kuznetsova and Dan Storyev, the authors of the upcoming book How to Survive Authoritarianism: A Russian Phrasebook for Everyday Life in America [https://wwnorton.com/books/how-to-survive-authoritarianism], about how Russian words and phrases can help Americans understand what's happening in their country today. The book comes out in September.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm [https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm]). Follow our show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en], Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/onthemedia.bsky.social], TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@onthemedia] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia] @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 4 of American Emergency; The Movement to Kill FEMA

The president has proposed a new leader for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. On this week’s On the Media, a reckoning with the future of FEMA, and an interview with Trump’s nominee to lead the agency. Plus, a FEMA worker starts an anonymous newsletter to share how cuts are hurting the agency. [00:00]  Micah Loewinger brings us the final installment of OTM’s miniseries American Emergency: The Movement to Kill FEMA. Micah interviews Cameron Hamilton, an unqualified MAGA warrior brought in to take the agency down last year. When he refused to kill FEMA point blank, he was fired. Hamilton shares what it was like to work at FEMA under Kristi Noem. Earlier this month, Hamilton was nominated by the president to lead the agency – despite his lack of experience.  [00:00] Micah interviews an anonymous FEMA worker who started a newsletter amid the chaos of Kristi Noem’s leadership at DHS. The goal of the online publication, called Alt-FEMA [https://altfemanewsletter.substack.com/], was to get the truth out about the agency’s capacity — at a time when it was bleeding staff and experience. Its stated mission is to record “what is being dismantled: institutional knowledge, coordination capacity, and the ability to serve communities in crisis.” [00:00] Micah explores the future of FEMA, and the administration's plans to reduce the role of the agency in responding to disasters. We hear from a veteran FEMA staffer, MaryAnn Tierney, and a climate beat reporter at Grist, Jake Bittle [https://grist.org/author/jake-bittle/], who wrestled with the proposed reforms. Micah also speaks to the Director of Emergency Management in Vermont, Eric Forand, and an emergency manager of a tribal nation on the West Coast about how diminished federal disaster funding could hurt their communities. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm [https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm]). Follow our show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en], Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/onthemedia.bsky.social], TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@onthemedia] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMedia] @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.