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A Republican Takes On Her Party Over Voter Data

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Voting in this year’s midterms is already underway. And for the past year leading up to this election, the Trump administration has been pushing to get its hands on every state’s unredacted voter rolls, saying it wants to check for noncitizens who are illegally registered.

Those rolls include personal information like driver’s license numbers, full birth dates, and partial Social Security numbers. Some state election officials agreed to hand their lists over to the federal government, but Utah’s Republican Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson refused.

Then the Justice Department sued her and threatened her with criminal charges.

She told Question Everything producer Zach St. Louis the story.

Also this week, The Signal Awards honored Question Everything with eight awards, including two listener choice awards. Thanks to all who voted for us! Here are two of the winning episodes you can check out: The Talented Ms. Goldiee and I Was 11 When Instagram Took Over My Life.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Deidre Henderson, Lieutenant Governor of Utah

The A.I. Populist

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Midterm elections are around the corner, and AI is obviously an issue that’s getting a ton of attention from candidates. There are so many thorny questions around this technology, but what do politicians intend to do about it? Today, we are sharing an interview with Texas Congressman Greg Casar from Slate's podcast, "What Next," where Casar talks about his concerns with AI and why he sees the anger that people feel about it as an opportunity to build a political movement that brings people together.

You can hear Slate’s What Next wherever you get your podcasts.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Lizzie O’Leary, from Slate’s What Next
Greg Casar, US Representative for Texas’s 35th Congressional District.

The High Stakes Game of Bargaining with the News

Thu, 8 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Just a few weeks ago, David Ellison and Paramount were staring down the barrel of a $7 million dollar per day fine for every day their merger with Warner Bros was not finalized, with a 12 state class-action antitrust lawsuit standing in the way. The states, led by California attorney general Rob Bonta, seemed to have Ellison backed into a corner.

But then, at what seemed like the 11th hour, Bonta announced a settlement with Paramount that would allow the merger to go through. The deal closed this week, officially giving Trump allies David and his father Larry Ellison control over vast swaths of the entertainment industry, as well CBS News and CNN.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is mad they didn’t fight harder. In an unusually frank interview, he reflects with Brian on what went wrong with their case, and what the new mega-company Skydance will mean for independent news in America.

Also, check out our previous stories on media capture and the Ellison bromance with Trump.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

William Tong, Attorney General of Connecticut

Flock Won’t Answer This One Town’s Simple Question

Thu, 1 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Flock Safety’s license plate cameras are in about 6,000 towns across the U.S. But lately, towns have been pulling out of their contracts after all sorts of creepy stories about cops using the cameras to spy on people in their personal lives.

But in Tewksbury, Mass., residents have a different concern: they can’t get Flock to tell them what their town originally agreed to. For months, residents and town officials have been asking the company a simple question, which the company will not answer. That sends two residents down a Kafkaesque rabbit hole to figure out what Flock might be hiding.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Dustin Weir, Tewksbury resident
James Mackey, Tewksbury Select Board member

Wait, Did Zuckerberg Get Off Easy?

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, Meta was in trouble. 47 states plus several U.S. territories were suing the company in federal court for knowingly harming kids with its apps, Instagram and Facebook. Several of the states were in the middle of a trial in California; damaging information was coming out about Meta; execs were being grilled on the stand; there was talk of CEO Mark Zuckerberg having to testify, and damages as high as $1.4 trillion. The company had already lost two major trials over child safety this year. The wind seemed to be at the states’ backs.

And then they settled. Without even finishing their case in court. Meta didn’t have to admit any wrongdoing.

Why? Why did the states give in? The evidence against Meta was damning. Why didn’t the states take the company to task and force a verdict?

Brian calls up the man who led the negotiations with Meta for the states, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, to ask him why he and his colleagues gave in.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General of Tennessee

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Introducing: Reaching Out

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Today we’re excited to share a special episode of Reaching Out, a new podcast from Futuro and KCRW.

Hailed by Ira Glass as the “best new show I’ve heard in years,” Reaching Out is a story about fathers, sons, and the distance between. The story begins on the eve of twin brothers’ Sayre and Connor’s 30th birthday, when they set out to find the biological father who abandoned them before they were born.

Their search pulls them through desert raves, drunken nightclubs, and across borders of time and language, forcing the brothers to confront the truths they’ve hidden from each other and themselves. And it’s not long before the twins discover that their birth father is closer than they ever could have imagined.

Follow Reaching Out on your favorite podcast app. New episodes drop every week.

The Curious Case of the Fake Florida Newsroom

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000

When Florida reporter Kate Payne stumbled across a local news site called The South Florida Standard, something about it felt off. She’d never heard of the outlet before and didn’t know any of the journalists who were listed on its staff, even though their bios touted long careers in Florida journalism. The articles the site was publishing seemed like very normal local news stories, but they were often plagiarizing the reporting of other Florida news outlets. The coverage didn’t have any obvious political agenda or bias. And Kate couldn’t see a way the site was making any money; there were no ads or ways to subscribe.

What was going on here?

After Kate told Question Everything producer Zach St. Louis about this, he got sucked into the mystery – and ended up solving it. A bizarre whodunnit for our AI age.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And subscribe to our newsletter please!

Kate Payne reported a version of this story for The Florida Trib, which you can read here.

Jeremy Carrasco is director of Riddance and the creator of JeremyFindsAI.

Guests:

Kate Payne, State Government Reporter at The Florida Trib
Jeremy Carrasco, Director of Riddance and Creator of JeremyFindsAI
Joe Alouf, Turnaround Executive

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A Pitch for Why Journalists Need to Fight

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000

What would it take to actually fix America’s broken journalism industry? Using rural North Carolina as a petri dish, the podcast Scene on Radio spent their latest season, called “The News”, diagnosing how American journalism is failing the public: collapsing local newsrooms, corporate consolidation, an information crisis nobody seems able to solve.

In the final episode of “The News”, host John Biewen and co-host Chenjerai Kumanyika turn to solutions: how can good journalism survive, and what is the vision for a new age of robust, public interest journalism?

You can hear the full season of Scene on Radio wherever you get your podcasts.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

John Biewen, co-host of Scene on Radio
Chenjerai Kumanyika , co-host of Scene on Radio
Les High, Founder and publisher of The Border Belt Independent
Victor Pickard, co-director of the Media, Inequality & Change (MIC) Center at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication

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Badass Local Journalists on How to Fight Corruption

Thu, 3 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Local reporters from around the country tell stories of using the experiences of their neighbors to confront people in power.

Guests:

Anna Wolfe with Mississippi Today
Lisa Halverstadt with Voice of San Diego
Alissa Zhu with The Baltimore Banner
Tony Plohetski with The Austin American-Statesman and KVUE Austin

Lisa is a part of the Homelessness Beat Reporters Collective, which recently produced a guide on how to responsibly cover homelessness. That guide can be found here.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

This episode was originally published on June 26th, 2024.

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The Journalist and the Firefighter

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000

How one of the most accomplished reporters of our time, Barton Gellman, lost his confidence in journalism.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

This episode was originally published on September 26th, 2024. You can listen to our follow up episode with Barton Gellman - He Quit Journalism to Fight Authoritarianism. How’s That Going?

Guests:

Barton Gellman

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A Gen Z Reporter Questions Jonathan Haidt, author of ‘The Anxious Generation’

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Over the past few months, we’ve been closely covering the major lawsuits against Meta over the ways its apps have hurt young people.

This week, we’re sharing a special episode of "Left To Their Own Devices", a Peabody-nominated series hosted by Gen Z reporter and tech-safety advocate Ava Smithing.

Recorded live on stage shortly after the recent jury verdicts against Meta and YouTube, Ava interviews NYU social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of the wildly influential "The Anxious Generation", about his ideas for how to keep kids safe from social media -- some of which Ava doesn't buy into.

It’s a timely conversation as courts and policymakers continue to grapple with how to hold tech companies accountable, and force them to make their products safer for young people.

Guests:

Ava Smithing, Left to Their Own Devices host
Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation

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Judge Compares Meta to a Factory Emitting ‘Noxious Pollution’ in a Landmark Ruling

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Just hours after we dropped last week’s episode on New Mexico’s landmark trial against Meta, Judge Bryan Biedsheid issued his ruling on what changes the company would have to make to Facebook and Instagram to better protect kids.

He ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $567 million, on top of the earlier $375 million jury penalty. He also mandated that Meta make unprecedented changes to its platforms, including limiting how long teens can use its apps and preventing their accounts from being recommended to adult strangers. This decision could become a blueprint for other states as they bring their own suits against Meta.

But the judge rejected some of the state’s biggest demands, forcing him to wade into a thicket of questions about privacy, free speech, child safety, and the limits of what one court can do. Brian talks to Question Everything producer Zach St. Louis, one of the only reporters at phase two of the trial in Santa Fe, about the ruling.

If you haven’t already, listen first to our other episodes about the New Mexico v Meta case, which led to this consequential decision – The Sting That Exposed How Meta Endangers Kids and We Went to the Trial That Could Force Meta to Change its Ways

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

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We Went to the Trial That Could Force Meta to Change its Ways

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Back in 2023, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a historic lawsuit against Meta, arguing that the tech giant has enabled the exploitation of children on its apps for years.

This year, that case finally went to trial in a Santa Fe courthouse. The state argued that Meta has knowingly harmed kids and should be forced, through a court order, to change how they operate. Meta says that these changes are unnecessary and, in some cases, an overreach of the law.

Now, one man, Judge Bryan Biedscheid, is deciding what, if any, changes he will force Meta to make to Facebook and Instagram with the aim of protecting kids. It’ll be the first decision of its kind against a major social media company in the United States.

We went to this phase of the trial in New Mexico, to see the testimony, evidence, and cross-examinations the judge is weighing right now as he makes his decision – and also to try and convince someone from Meta’s gigantic legal team to talk to us.

If you haven’t already, listen first to our initial dispatch from the New Mexico v Meta case – The Sting That Exposed How Meta Endangers Kids.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

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Is A Billionaire Bromance Capturing Our Media?

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Wall Street Journal reporter Emily Glazer investigates the rich and powerful, and recently, she got a tip that she couldn’t get out of her head: sources told her that Donald Trump and billionaire Larry Ellison are genuine friends. She found it hard to believe – in all her experience reporting on the wealthy, she’s used to hearing about transactional relationships, not people who truly like each other. It seemed especially important to understand because in Trump’s second term, Larry Ellison has amassed enormous power over American media organizations – including CBS News, 60 Minutes, Paramount, and TikTok – often with the Trump administration’s help.

Are Ellison and Trump really friends? Emily and her colleagues set out to investigate and found out way more that was going on behind the scenes between these two men than anyone in the public knew.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questionverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Emily Glazer, Wall Street Journal Enterprise Reporter, covering the rich and powerful. Read Emily's reporting on Larry Ellison and Donald Trump. We first heard Emily talk about her reporting on The Town with Matthew Belloni.

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The Sunscreen Paradox

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000

In June, disgraced former Florida Congressman turned right-wing One America News Network anchor Matt Gaetz peddled a novel and dangerous conspiracy to his audience: that using sunscreen causes skin cancer. Gaetz’s guest was Nicholas Hulscher, a prominent voice in the COVID anti-vaccination movement and co-author of one of the most prolific medical disinformation newsletters in America. Within days, this false claim had reached millions of viewers and dozens of countries – and was popping up in the comments of innocuous mommy blogger videos about applying suntan lotion to kids.

NewsGuard health editor John Gregory explains how Hulscher’s false claim metastasized throughout the internet, and how he sold it to the world by twisting the surprising findings of a legitimate scientific study.

If you're new to our show and liked this episode, let us suggest a couple of our other recent stories you might like "I Was 11 When Instagram Took Over My Life" and "The Talented Ms. Goldiee".

Guests:

John Gregory, Health Editor at NewsGuard

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The Sting That Exposed How Meta Endangers Kids

Thu, 9 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000

If you're new to our show and liked this episode, let us suggest a couple of our other recent stories you might enjoy -- check out "How Meta Is Making Billions from Scam Advertising", "I Was 11 When Instagram Took Over My Life", "The Talented Ms. Goldiee" and "Why Did ICE Lock Up This Pro-Trump Reporter?"

In a windowless room in Albuquerque, a small team of New Mexico investigators created a fake Facebook account for a 13-year-old girl to target a child predator. They made posts of her losing her last baby tooth and starting her first day of 7th grade. To their surprise, Facebook funnelled adults to the account by the thousands – men who began trying to groom, solicit, and sexually harass a person they believed was an underage girl.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez says this was the moment when he realized “there is a very, very serious problem inside of this company and on these platforms.” He launched a lawsuit against Meta, which led to the first successful verdict for child safety against a social media company. Question Everything executive producer Robyn Semien visited New Mexico to attend parts of the trial and hear from AG Torrez and his team how they took on Mark Zuckerberg, and what this victory, along with a second decision still to come, could mean for the future of social media.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questioneverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez

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Ashley St. Clair is Fighting X – And Tried To Stop This Episode

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000

If you're new to our show and liked this episode, let us suggest a couple of our other recent stories you might enjoy -- check out "I Was 11 When Instagram Took Over My Life", "The Talented Ms. Goldiee" and "Why Did ICE Lock Up This Pro-Trump Reporter?"

Last week, host Brian Reed interviewed former MAGA influencer and the mother of one of Elon Musk’s children, Ashley St. Clair, in front of a live audience in New York. After they walked off stage, St. Clair laid into Brian over the questions he asked. She then demanded that we not release the interview publicly and asked to speak to our lawyers.

Here is that interview, uncut.

In it, St. Clair talks to Brian about her landmark lawsuit against xAI, the artificial intelligence company behind Grok, which generated millions of sexually explicit deep fake images of her and other women. xAI is owned by St. Clair’s ex, Elon Musk, and Brian asks her to share stories and insights from her relationship with Musk to help people understand his erratic and offensive behavior. Brian also asks St. Clair about her years as a major figure inside the right-wing propaganda machine. It's those questions that seemed to bother her most.

Find video highlights of the live interview on our new Instagram account – @questionverything.podcast. The full video is available at our Substack.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. The live taping was presented by OnAirFest.

Our fact-checker reviewed this live, unedited conversation. We were not able to independently verify St. Clair’s remark that Musk’s devices were seized during French authorities’ search of X’s offices. Likewise with St. Clair’s recollection that she saw a Grok-generated image of a 4-year-old girl in a Bluey microprint bikini, and her claim that immigrants were getting on planes with boarding passes that didn’t have any name on them. We reached out to Musk and xAI for comment, but they did not reply.

Guests:

Ashley St. Clair

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How a Tiny Newsroom Helped Bring Down Hungary’s Authoritarian Leader

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Viktor Orbán’s authoritarian grip on Hungary became a model for the American right. He hollowed out the country’s democracy and turned much of the media into a government megaphone. Then a small newsroom called Direkt36 exposed a plot against the opposition party involving a mysterious political operative, a young IT worker, a raid on a boat in the Danube and a whistleblowing police captain. A few weeks later, Orbán was ousted from power in a landslide election.

Sean Cole reports on the investigation, called the Hungarian Watergate, and what it shows about why an independent press still matters.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Zsuzsanna Wirth, Direkt36 investigative reporter
András Pethő, Direkt36 editor
Marius Dragomir, Director of the Media and Journalism Research Center

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From Drilled: Carbon Cowboys

Thu, 4 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000

While we’re heads down working on a bunch of great new episodes, we’re sharing the first episode of the new season of Drilled.

In it, award-winning climate journalist Amy Westervelt exposes how Republican corn ethanol mogul Bruce Rastetter sold "sustainable aviation fuel" to world leaders from North Dakota to Brazil. The problem is, his “clean energy” project does nothing to help climate change.

Drilled: Carbon Cowboys follows the land grabs, pipelines, and political power stopping real progress from being made.

Find Drilled wherever you get podcasts, or at pushkin.fm/plus.

Please support the organizations that support this show:

Go to https://zbiotics.com/QUESTION and use QUESTION at checkout for 15% off any first-time orders of ZBiotics probiotics.
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‘Kick Him Off The Bench.’ A Judge in Trump’s Pulitzer Case Gets a Prize

Thu, 28 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

The Freedom of the Press Foundation just filed an ethics complaint against Florida Judge Jeffrey Kuntz, who has been nominated by President Trump for a lifetime federal court appointment. They want him stripped of his gavel and his law license.

Why? Judge Kuntz was one of the judges who ruled in Trump’s favor in his peculiar defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize board. The Freedom of the Press Foundation claims the judge handed Trump this victory while, behind the scenes, he was seeking a nomination from the Trump administration for a federal judgeship.

While Judge Kuntz’s nomination is being considered by the Senate, we revisit an episode we first aired in February 2025 about this strange lawsuit against the organization behind journalism’s most prestigious award.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of Semafor and co-host of the Mixed Signals podcast

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Can a Chatbot Convince Conspiracy Theorists of the Truth?

Thu, 21 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

If you're new to our show and liked this episode, may we suggest a couple of our other recent stories you might enjoy? Check out "I Was 11 When Instagram Took Over My Life", "The Talented Ms. Goldiee" and "Why Did ICE Lock Up This Pro-Trump Reporter?"

Like millions of others, Gordon Pennycook’s older brother has leapt down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, and Gordon says he’s tried to change his brother’s mind, without success. Which tracks, if you’ve ever debated a conspiracy theorist — it can feel impossible to pull them back to reality.

If anyone was qualified to convince his brother, though, it’s Gordon, who’s a psychology professor at Cornell University where he studies why people believe things that aren’t true. So Gordon wanted to put this question to the test: Is it actually the case that conspiracy theorists rarely change their minds? He and a team of researchers ran an experiment using an AI chatbot to rebut people’s theories. And the results were very surprising. In fact, they ended up changing Gordon’s mind about conspiracy theories, and the people who believe them.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Guests:

Gordon Pennycook, Cornell University, Associate Professor, Dorothy and Ariz Mehta Faculty Leadership Fellow

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Claude’s Russian Propaganda Problem

Thu, 14 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

According to the fact-checking company NewsGuard, Claude has been a very reliable and accurate chatbot. But in the last month or so, users have started complaining that it seemed to be getting slower, stupider, and less trustworthy. So NewsGuard AI analyst Isis Blachez ran a test on Claude, to see if it is actually getting worse. And running this test revealed a whole new iteration of Russian disinformation campaigns, designed for the AI-era, that are evolving by the second specifically to coerce chatbots into deceiving us.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Isis Blachez, analyst for AI and France at NewsGuard

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Did FEMA Really Build a Secret Lair in a Mountain?

Thu, 7 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

The first episode of a special series from On The Media’s Micah Loewinger about how a seemingly benign and important agency, FEMA, has become the subject of some of the wildest conspiracy theories.

FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) is supposed to keep Americans safe from wildfires, hurricanes, and nuclear disasters. So why has it become so profoundly distrusted and maligned, to the point that President Trump has now threatened to totally dismantle the agency?

It turns out the agency has kept a number of secrets from the public over the course of its history – and that has led to the paranoia that’s proving an existential threat to FEMA today.

Thanks to “On The Media” for sharing this episode with us. You can listen to the rest of this series, “American Emergency: The Movement to Kill FEMA”, over the next several weeks on the radio show or on podcast apps.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Please support the organizations that support this show:

Go to https://zbiotics.com/QUESTION and use QUESTION at checkout for 15% off any first-time orders of ZBiotics probiotics.
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ICE Jailed a Student for an Op-Ed, Now She’s Left America

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

In recent days, we learned that Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University grad student who was snatched off the street by masked ICE agents last year and locked up for more than a month, has had enough of America, and moved home to Turkey. The U.S. government had continued to threaten her with legal proceedings and deportation, even after releasing her from detention.

Dr. Öztürk’s “crime?” Co-authoring an op-ed in the student newspaper advocating for Palestinian rights.

A year ago this week, while Rümeysa Öztürk was being held without charge in a Louisiana ICE facility and her case was drawing national condemnation, Question Everything co-hosted an urgent live event at Tufts with The Tufts Daily, which had published Dr. Öztürk’s op-ed. That episode has just received a Webby Award for Best News & Politics podcast episode.

Student journalists Arghya Thallapragada and Ellora Onion-De and Question Everything host Brian Reed were joined by former editor-in-chief of the Washington Post and Boston Globe Marty Baron, First Amendment lawyer Robert Bertsche, one of Dr. Öztürk’s ACLU attorneys Carol Rose, and senior politics reporter at The Intercept, Akela Lacey, to wrestle in real time with the gravity of what it meant for the U.S. government to jail a student for writing a political opinion in the student newspaper. In the wake of ICE surges in American cities and more retaliation against journalists by the administration, the conversation takes on new, perhaps even more disturbing meaning, a year later.

This episode originally ran on May 1st, 2025.

Read the Op-ed Dr. Öztürk and others wrote that ran in The Tufts Daily a year ago in March, and see the Tufts Daily’s recent retrospective of their coverage of Dr. Öztürk’s case.

Watch the video of federal agents in plainclothes, forcing Rümeysa Öztürk into an SUV on March 25, 2025.

Quick thing: In our discussion Carol Rose says the ACLU has filed 100 legal actions in President Trump’s first 100 days. The specific count on those was actually higher: the ACLU filed 110 legal actions in the Trump administration’s first 100 days.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Naz Ahmed, Director of the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) project
Arghya Thallapragada, former editor-in-chief of The Tufts Daily
Ellora Onion-De, associate editor of The Tufts Daily
Marty Baron, former editor-in-chief of the Washington Post and Boston Globe
Robert Bertsche, KLARIS Law
Carol Rose, Executive Director, ACLU of Massachusetts
Akela Lacey, Senior Politics Reporter at The Intercept

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You Can Bet on Everything Now. What Could Go Wrong?

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Gambling is infiltrating American life. Ads for online sportsbooks are everywhere. Prediction markets – which are not legally considered gambling – now allow betting on everything from the unemployment numbers, to the war in Iran, to how many times Elon Musk will tweet this week. Lots of news outlets are getting in on the action: CNN, CNBC, the AP, and others are partnering with prediction markets to use their stats in coverage. What could go wrong?

On today’s show, we’re joined by three journalists who cover gambling and prediction markets to answer that question. They tell stories about how gambling has already transformed sports, the unsettling ways betting seems like it’s already influencing the news and politics, and the not-so-crazy arguments for how it could lead to better informed citizens.

Also: hours after we posted this episode, federal authorities charged a soldier -- Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke -- with being the mystery bettor we talk about in the show, who made $400,000 on Polymarket by trading on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. When asked about it, President Trump said, "The whole world unfortunately has become somewhat of a casino."

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Joon Lee, independent sports journalist and Youtuber. Find his channel here https://www.youtube.com/@iamjoonlee
Danny Funt, author of Everybody Loses: the Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Betting
Kate Knibbs, senior writer at Wired

Please support the organizations that support this show:

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Listen to our supporter More Muslim , a narrative audio series telling deeply reported stories about the Muslim experience, wherever you get podcasts.

The Story She Reported, the View She Buried

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

It’s easy to get frustrated with the charade reporters are supposed to keep up, where they pretend they don’t have opinions or feelings or any kind of human thoughts about a story they’re reporting. Plenty of journalists have been trying to break out of that charade. But the decision to do that: it can be a fraught one, with real implications.

This week, we’re re-upping a story we first ran last year about journalist Dana Ballout. Dana struggled with this personal-professional dilemma while investigating a story about Hassan Diab — a sociology professor who’s living as a free man in Canada, yet is convicted of a terrible crime in France. Dana and her co-host, Alex Atack, open up about their reporting on the series The Copernic Affair, and why Dana ultimately cut her own opinions out of the show, even though her co-host and editors wanted to include them.

This also prompts Brian to revisit his own experience dropping the charade in a previous podcast he made for The New York Times and Serial: The Trojan Horse Affair.

You can check out The Copernic Affair wherever you get your podcasts or at https://www.canadaland.com/shows/the-copernic-affair/.

Same with The Trojan Horse Affair – https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/podcasts/trojan-horse-affair.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. We have a Substack.

Guests:

Dana Ballout and Alex Atack, co-hosts of The Copernic Affair
Hamza Syed, co-host of The Trojan Horse Affair

Please support the organizations that support this show:

Ground News is a platform that makes it easy to compare news sources, read between the lines of media bias and break free from algorithms. Go to groundnews.com/QUESTION to get 40% off the unlimited Vantage plan.
DeleteMe makes it quick, easy and safe to remove your personal data online. Get 20% off DeleteMe consumer plans when you go to joindeleteme.com/QUESTION and use promo code QUESTION at checkout.
Get 15% off OneSkin with the code QUESTION at https://www.oneskin.co/QUESTION #oneskinpod
Listen to our supporter More Muslim wherever you get podcasts.

This episode originally aired on March 27th, 2025.

I Was 11 When Instagram Took Over My Life

Thu, 9 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Taylor Little was 11 years old when they lied about their age to sign up for Instagram. Now, 13 years later, they’re one of thousands of people suing the company, accusing Instagram of purposely addicting them as a child and driving them to years of mental health struggles.

Taylor takes Brian inside their dark and twisted experience with the app. They say it all started with a suggestion Instagram sent them to visit an account they didn’t follow, which they developed a morbid fascination with.

Who bears responsibility for what happened to Taylor? Is it Instagram? The users who posted the content that consumed them? Their mom?

Today’s show deals with issues of self harm and suicide. If you or someone you know are struggling with these issues, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Taylor Little, plaintiff in social media trial

Please support the organizations that support this show:

Loyola Marymount University
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Get 15% off OneSkin with the code QUESTION at https://www.oneskin.co/QUESTION #oneskinpod
Ground News is a platform that makes it easy to compare news sources, read between the lines of media bias and break free from algorithms. Go to groundnews.com/QUESTION to get 40% off the unlimited Vantage plan.

Meta Knew They Were Addicting Kids. Now They’re Paying for It.

Thu, 2 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

In the span of two days, juries handed down landmark verdicts against Meta and Google. In New Mexico, a jury ordered Meta to pay the state $375 million for failing to protect young people from predators on Instagram. And in Los Angeles, a jury found that Meta and Google knowingly designed social media platforms that addicted a young girl, causing depression, body dysmorphia, and self-harm.

But as listeners to this show might wonder – isn't suing social media companies supposed to be impossible, because of Section 230?

Brian talks to co-lead counsel in LA, Mariana McConnell, about how they pulled off the win, what this huge verdict means for the internet, and the internal Meta document that said, “Young ones are the best ones.”

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter – we’ll be sharing Brian’s extended interview with Mariana McConnell there.

Guests:

Mariana McConnell, plaintiff's co-lead counsel

Please support the organizations that support this show:

Loyola Marymount University
If you’re interested in Fabric by Gerber Life go to https://meetfabric.com/QUESTION and apply today, risk-free.
Get 15% off OneSkin with the code QUESTION at https://www.oneskin.co/QUESTION #oneskinpod
Ground News is a platform that makes it easy to compare news sources, read between the lines of media bias and break free from algorithms. Go to groundnews.com/QUESTION to get 40% off the unlimited Vantage plan.

A Video So Real It Looks Fake

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Brian sits down with expert fact-checker Sofia Rubinson who spends hours every day tracking lies online, and together they dissect a single lie that’s been rocketing around the world to millions of people, affecting the way people think about the war in Iran — including the world’s biggest podcaster.

Sofia says the AI deepfakes she’s seen consume the internet in just the last few weeks make her worried that we’ve entered a dangerous new phase of disinformation.

Watch the video of Benjamin Netanyahu featured in this episode, which NewsGuard confirmed to be real.

You can sign up for NewsGuard’s Reality Check newsletter here. And here’s our Question Everything newsletter.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Guests:

Sofia Rubinson, senior editor of Reality Check for NewsGuard

If you’re interested in Fabric by Gerber Life go to https://meetfabric.com/QUESTION and apply today, risk-free.

The Case Against Jeremy Loffredo (Ambie Award-winner for Best Reporting of the Year)

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Locked up, alone, accused of being a spy, reporter Jeremy Loffredo has to defend the fact that he’s a journalist. To the Israeli courts. And then…to our reporter.

This is part two of our two-part series about Jeremy Loffredo, who in October 2024 became the first American journalist arrested by Israel. This story won Best Reporting at the 2026 Ambie Awards, which is why we’re sharing it again now.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

This episode originally aired January 30th, 2025.

Blindfolded and Arrested on Assignment in Israel (Ambie Award-winner for Best Reporting of the Year)

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Part one of a special, two-part series, about Jeremy Loffredo, the first American journalist ever arrested by Israel, and the questions that were raised about not only Israel, but the outlet Jeremy worked for, once our team started looking into his story. We’re re-airing these episodes because they won Best Reporting from the Podcast Academy, at the 2026 Ambie Awards.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

This episode originally aired January 15th, 2025.

Are We Captured Yet? Now Trump’s Pals Are Taking Over CNN

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

News recently broke that Paramount, which is newly controlled by David Ellison and his billionaire dad Larry Ellison, won the bid to buy Warner-Brothers Discovery, after aggressively squeezing out Netflix.

As Trump himself has said, the Ellisons are “friends of mine…big supporters of mine, and they’ll do the right thing.”

Is the “right thing” squashing critical coverage of the president? Doing stories he’s more inclined to like? The Ellisons already own CBS News, through Paramount; now they’re about to own CNN. Larry Ellison also has a new ownership stake in TikTok, via a deal anointed by Trump.

Is this what experts call “media capture?” Is the U.S. in it, right now?

In this conversation we first ran in October 2025, after the Ellisons took control of Paramount, foreign correspondent Natalia Antelava explains the insidious implications of media capture from her experience living and reporting in captured countries around the world.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

This episode originally aired October 30th, 2025.

Guests:

Natalia Antelava, founder of Coda Story

The Talented Ms. Goldiee

Thu, 5 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000

When a promising young freelancer pitched a good story to his magazine, editor Nicholas Hune-Brown was ready to assign it. But as he looked more closely at the pitch and the writer’s bylines across the internet, Nicholas began to realize maybe this writer wasn’t who she seemed.

A version of Nick’s story first appeared in The Local – you can read it here.

Please take 5 minutes to fill out this survey about Question Everything – it’ll help us know what you’re getting from our show; what you want to get from our show. We appreciate it.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Nicholas Hune-Brown, Executive Editor at The Local
Victoria Goldiee

A Reporter Fights for His Freedom (Part Two)

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000

After journalist Mario Guevara was arrested while covering an anti-ICE protest, ICE moved him into their detention. As his lawyers and the ACLU tried to get Mario free, ICE argued again and again that he shouldn’t be let out, because his journalism made him too dangerous.

Mario was behind bars for 111 days. Then deported to El Salvador.

If you’re wondering where the hell the first amendment is in all this, so are we!

In the second episode in our special two-part series about Mario Guevara, we look into how the federal government targeted and detained a reporter, and ultimately fast-tracked his deportation–his first amendment rights be damned.

Please take 5 minutes to fill out this survey about Question Everything – it’ll help us know who’s listening and what you want from us! Thank you.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Sign up for our Substack newsletter, where we’ve been covering the big landmark lawsuits against social media companies for harming people with their products.

Guests:

Mario Guevara, MG News
Giovanni Diaz, ESQ.
Scarlet Kim, ACLU
Curtis Clemmons, former Gwinnett Sheriff's Deputy and Retired Assistant Chief of Gwinnett County Police

This episode has been updated to reflect the fact that the news outlet Mario did an interview with from El Salvador was not Fox News -- it was a local Fox affiliate in Atlanta.

Why did ICE Lock Up this Pro-Trump Reporter? (Part One)

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000

In June, journalist Mario Guevara was arrested while covering an anti-ICE protest in Georgia, transferred to ICE detention, and locked up by the federal government for more than 100 days. And that wasn’t even the worst of it.

But Mario is not the kind of ICE-criticizing reporter you might be picturing. He was a Trump-supporting, Republican-identifying, law-and-order-sympathizing immigration hawk, who knew ICE well and had covered them favorably for years. Why did the Trump administration still go after him?

This is the first in a special two-part series about Mario Guevara.

Please take 5 minutes to fill out this survey about Question Everything – it’ll help us know who’s listening and what you want from us! Thank you.

Guests:

Mario Guevara, MG News
Emily Wu Pearson, WABE
Giovanni Diaz, ESQ.
Scarlet Kim, ACLU

This episode has been updated to reflect the fact that Mario Guevara had a Social Security card before his immigration case was administratively closed, not after. His subsequent green card petition was also unrelated.

The Dangers of Being a Journalist

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000

A little message from host Brian Reed about a scary incident he’s dealing with. And much scarier incidents other journalists are dealing with.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Sign up for our newsletter to see Brian’s interview with Senator Dick Durbin about his effort to repeal Section 230.

We want to know who is listening to our show and how to make it a better experience! Please take 5 minutes to fill out this survey about Question Everything. Thank you!

A Minnesota Dad Takes on ICE

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Our managing editor, Kevin Sullivan, had a conversation this week with an old colleague in Minnesota that we wanted to share with you as quickly as we could. He’s a former data journalist, Michael Corey, who lives with his family in St. Paul. As ICE agents have flooded Mike’s state as part of a massive federal immigration enforcement operation, he started getting involved in grassroots efforts to track and document ICE’s conduct. He’s been following and filming agents during tense encounters, including one where they chased an American citizen into a building, pinned him against a wall, and arrested him.

Mike takes us inside what it’s like to live in Minnesota right now, and tells us how he and his neighbors are getting and trying to verify information with the encrypted messaging app, Signal, which he thinks deserves a Pulitzer.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Sign up for our Substack.

Guests:

Mike Corey, Minnesota dad & public historian

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on How He Fought ICE’s Messaging War

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000

As ICE agents have continued to threaten and kill people in Minneapolis and Minnesota’s governor and other state officials plead with the agency to leave, we share an interview with the governor of another state that was recently targeted by ICE: JB Pritzker of Illinois.

In October, as ICE agents were descending on Chicago in “Operation Midway Blitz”, Ben Smith and Max Tani of the Mixed Signals podcast from Semafor spoke to Governor Pritzker about the novel communications tactics he was using to combat ICE’s incursion into his city. Eventually he was successful in stopping President Trump from sending in National Guard troops, and Border Patrol agents left the city.

It was an urgent and timely conversation with lots of significance as we watch a similar situation unfold daily in Minnesota.

Thanks to Semafor for letting us share this interview with you. Find all episodes of Mixed Signals here.

The hosts are on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.Please rate and review our show – on this very app that you’re in right now! And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Inside ICE’s Push to Go Viral

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Many people were surprised that ICE officer Jonathan Ross was filming with his phone when he shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. But Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell was leaked thousands of internal ICE messages that show the agency is obsessed with creating viral videos, and is using arrests of immigrants slapped with “hooky” captions and pop music to feed their content machine.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Please rate and review our show – on this very app that you’re in right now! And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Here are Drew's Washington Post stories:

Guests:

Drew Harwell, Washington Post technology reporter

How One Tweak to the Internet Led This Guy to a BDSM Dungeon

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000

The story of an adult performer, Davin Strong, whose life was upended by a seemingly small change to Section 230.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. For more of our coverage of how the internet and press shape our reality, sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Davin Addison (aka Davin Strong), adult performer whose livelihood was upended after FOSTA-SESTA.
Sam Eagan, Producer, Question Everything

When Lies Spread Like Wildfire

Thu, 8 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000

At a bar that survived the destruction, a group of reporters get together a year later to talk about the personal impact the LA wildfires had on them. And some of the harrowing – and surprising – requests they got from people to check if their homes were still standing.

Thanks to Good Neighbor Bar and West Altadena Wine & Spirits for hosting us.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Sign up for our newsletter please!

Guests:

Tony Briscoe, environmental reporter, Los Angeles Times
Jacob Soboroff, senior political and national correspondent, MSNOW and author of “Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster”
Leanne Suter, reporter, ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles
Michelle Zacarias, reporter, CALÓ News
Randy Clement, co-owner, Good Neighbor Bar in Altadena, California

Host Brian Reed Confronts his Toughest Critic

Thu, 1 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000

We’re taking a quick break for the holidays, but in the spirit of New Year reflection, we’re sharing our very first episode of Question Everything.

Brian talks to fellow journalist, Gay Alcorn, who called his most well-known work – the hit podcast S-Town – “morally indefensible.”

You can read Gay’s column here. Subscribe to our newsletter to read Gay’s full reaction to this episode.

You can listen to S-Town here.

If you’re having thoughts of suicide, please reach out for help by dialing 988 or clicking here.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

This episode originally aired on September 11th, 2024.

When Hollywood Tells The Truth - with the directors of Spotlight, The Staircase, Reality, and The Investigation

Thu, 25 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000

We’re taking a short break over the holidays and will be plopping in front of the TV to watch some movies and shows. Maybe you’re doing the same? Check out one of our favorite episodes of Question Everything, where Hollywood directors gather after hours at a wine shop to drink and commiserate. They talk about the perils – and power – that come when you’re straddling fact and fiction.

Featuring Tom McCarthy, who won an Oscar for Spotlight; Antonio Campos, creator of The Staircase for HBO; Tina Satter, who directed and co-wrote Reality starring Sydney Sweeney; and Tobias Lindholm, director and writer of HBO’s The Investigation.

As we know alcohol is not always conducive to factual precision, so here are some corrections and clarifications from our fact-checker, Maggie. Though honestly the crew this time did impressively well! All we have is that the name of the New York Magazine story that inspired Tina Satter to dramatize Reality Winner is called “The World’s Biggest Terrorist Has a Pikachu Bedspread" (not “America’s Biggest Terrorist Has a Pikachu Bedspread”). And it was a National Security Agency contractor, not a former FBI agent, who alerted the FBI about Reality’s leak.

Here’s the NY Mag story. And here’s a Vanity Fair interview with Sophie, the editor of The Staircase documentary.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

This episode originally aired on December 18th, 2024.

The Scammers and Smut that Sparked the Modern Internet

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Over the past few months, our host Brian Reed has been reporting on Section 230 – the law that shields online platforms and websites from lawsuits and has shaped the way we get information today.

Now, a bipartisan attack on Section 230 is taking hold in Congress. During a Senate hearing last week, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island called Section 230 “a real vessel for evil that needs to come to an end.” He and a group of senators are hoping to move forward a Section 230 repeal bill in time for its 30th anniversary early next year.

In previous episodes, we’ve looked at how the law allows misinformation, scams, and deepfakes on today’s internet. Now, Brian goes back to the beginning: the mid-1990s when lawmakers created this law. And we see how a peculiar case in one New York courtroom ended up having massive consequences for the internet we know today.

Also: an expert on Section 230 has some beef with Brian’s reporting.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guest:

Jeff Kosseff, law professor and author of “The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet”

The Loophole That Could Keep the Epstein Files Hidden

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000

By December 19th, the Department of Justice is supposed to release all DOJ and FBI files related to Jeffrey Epstein. But through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, Bloomberg investigative reporter Jason Leopold has uncovered evidence of a secretive operation on the Epstein files that the FBI called the “Special Redaction Project.” That doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence about how much information will become public, does it?

Jason found that nearly 1,000 FBI agents were trained to review and redact the files, which included thousands of pages of documents, interview summaries, surveillance footage, search warrant photos, and more than 8 terabytes of digital evidence. The Department of Justice can withhold anything it claims is tied to an ongoing investigation – a huge loophole that could keep many of these records from the public.

But all hope is not lost. Jason also reported on a nearly decade-old FOIA lawsuit from a defunct magazine that could ultimately force the government to release more of the Epstein records.

This week, we’re airing an episode of Disclosure, where investigative reporter Jason Leopold and First Amendment attorney Matt Topic walk us through what we can expect when the deadline to release the Epstein files hits next week.

Check out more episodes from the premiere season of Disclosure.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Jason Leopold, Disclosure co-host and Bloomberg News investigative reporter
Matt Topic, Disclosure co-host and First Amendment attorney

‘Let Him Hang Himself’

Thu, 4 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000

When the recent slate of Jeffrey Epstein emails dropped, one line immediately jumped out: “I think you should let him hang himself.”

It was part of a 2015 email exchange between journalist Michael Wolff and his source, Jeffrey Epstein, discussing whether they should give Donald Trump a heads-up that Wolff had heard CNN was planning to question Trump about his relationship with Epstein.

We dissect this startling exchange by talking with three journalists, who each had a different take on it – and what this sentence means for journalism, access, and the boundaries reporters might cross to get information.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Isaac Saul, Founder and executive editor of Tangle, a nonpartisan politics newsletter
Susan Zakin, veteran journalist and Substack writer
Tara Palmeri, The Red Letter Substack and host of the Tara Palmeri Show

Can Satire Save Democracy? w/ The Onion CEO Ben Collins

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000

A nice treat for the holiday – an interview with the guy who runs the country’s funniest fake newspaper.

Ben Collins became CEO of The Onion after a long career working in traditional news, so he's got major thoughts about speaking truth to power. On this episode of fellow KCRW podcast The Sam Sanders Show, Ben lays out the role of satire in our current politics and what journalism is getting wrong about free speech.

Ben also talks about relaunching The Onion’s print newspaper (to great success), his attempts to buy Alex Jones’s extreme right-wing outlet InfoWars out of bankruptcy after the Sandy Hook lawsuits, and why AI will never write a good joke.

This episode originally aired on October 3, 2025. Check out more conversations and takes on The Culture with journalists, critics, and tastemakers on The Sam Sanders Show from KCRW and Sam Sanders Productions.

Guest:

Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion.

Call 202-225-3501 To Fix The Internet

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 21:16:45 +0000

Next week, the House is expected to hold a hearing on kids’ online safety. They plan to release several bills to protect kids from harmful content. But one issue is not on the agenda: Section 230, the law that helps shield tech platforms from liability for content posted on their sites.

In an interview with our host, Brian Reed, Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-D) says one man has the power to add 230 to the hearing: Committee Chair Brett Guthrie. Auchincloss urges our listeners to call Guthrie at 202-225-3501, and request that Section 230 be added to the agenda – so that the biggest tech companies in our country can be “humbled.” Or you can email Rep. Guthrie at guthrieassistance@mail.house.gov.

There's more contact info at his website.

You can read Rep. Auchincloss’s proposed Section 230 reform bill here. This emergency Section 230 alert is part of an ongoing journalistic experiment where Brian is shedding the traditional cloak of “objectivity” to actually try and change our information ecosystem for the better.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter, where we’ll send out Brian’s full video interview with Rep. Auchincloss about how hard it is to hold tech companies accountable.

Guests:

Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-D)

How Meta Is Making Billions From Scam Advertising

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000

It seems like Meta just can’t lose. The Facebook parent company won a huge victory in court this week. The federal government was claiming Meta was too massive after acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp, and wanted to force the company to spin off those platforms. But a federal judge disagreed.

And that means, Meta will continue to make a ton of money from scam ads on those platforms.

Reuters reporter Jeff Horwitz received leaked documents from inside Meta where employees estimated that last year its platforms served up 15 billion scam ad impressions every day, totalling about $16 billion. That’s ten percent of the company’s total 2024 revenue. It’s a major part of their business.

And if you want to sue Meta for serving you ads that lead to your credit card or identity getting stolen, it’s going to be really tough – because of Section 230, the law that prevents companies from getting sued for the content posted on their sites.

Brian talks to Jeff about what he discovered in this latest leak: how these scam ads make Meta billions, one “queasy-making” fix Meta has come up with, and how Section 230 provides not just a shield, but a lack of incentive for the company to change its ways.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter. And please help support our show by visiting our sponsor, the notetaking and personal assistant device Plaud.ai, and using the offer code QUESTION.

Guests:

Jeff Horwitz, Reuters reporter and the author of “Broken Code: Inside Facebook and the Fight to Expose Its Harmful Secrets.”

'We Don't Hate Journalists Enough': The Story of an F-ed Up Deepfake

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000

When journalist Julia Mengolini criticized her country’s president, Javier Milei, she didn’t expect to be targeted with one of the more disturbing uses of AI: a pornographic deepfake video designed to humiliate her. What began as trolling by online extremists spiraled into a government-amplified smear campaign, spurred on by senior officials and the president himself.

Juila tells reporter/producer Zach St. Louis what happened to her and what she’s doing to fight back against President Milei – an ally of Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Please help support our show by visiting our sponsor, the notetaking and personal assistant device Plaud.ai, and use offer code QUESTION.

Guests:

Julia Mengolini — Journalist, radio host, and co-founder of Futurock

A Government Whistleblower Trusts a Newsroom, Ends Up in Prison

Thu, 6 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000

When NSA contractor Reality Winner leaked proof that Russia had tried to break into the U.S. election system, she thought she was helping her country. Instead, she got the longest federal prison sentence ever for giving information to the press. While prepping for her trial, she found out that the journalist she had trusted with the leaked document, accidentally exposed her. The Intercept, once known for protecting sources like Edward Snowden, bungled their vetting process in a way that led investigators straight to Reality’s front door.

As Reality releases her new memoir, “I Am Not Your Enemy,” This American Life host Ira Glass joins her in a live conversation, where she explains what happened and how the media turned her life into fodder for tabloid TV.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Reality Winner, government whistleblower
Ira Glass, host of This American Life

Show Notes:
During Reality’s conversation with Ira Glass, she said she thought the world record for holding an abdominal plank position is around 18 hours. According to Guinness World Records, the record is 9 hours 38 minutes 47 seconds.

How Trump is Capturing America’s Media – Without a Coup

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Veteran foreign correspondent Natalia Antelava has spent 15 years reporting from places where authoritarian regimes have “captured” the media. In other words, they control the dominant messages coming from the press. From Russia to Syria, Natalia has seen what it looks like when a government takes over the media, not overnight, but piece by piece.

Now, she’s moved to the U.S., and is watching that same system work on the American media.

The Pentagon has dissolved its independent press pool. Donald Trump’s billionaire buddies are buying up some of the country’s biggest newsrooms and social apps. Public media has been gutted. And the loudest voices online are the ones that serve power best.

Natalia sits down with Brian to explain how modern autocrats achieve capture without firing a shot – and how Silicon Valley has become their “perfect accomplice”.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Natalia Antelava, founder of Coda Story

TikTok Stars on the Politicians Begging Them for Exposure

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 08:00:00 +0000

What happens when TikTokers replace TV hosts and interviewers, and presidential candidates start begging to be on their shows?

Brian Reed sits down in a Brooklyn wine shop with four of the internet’s biggest creators: Caleb Simpson, who gets people on the street to take him up to their apartments; Julian Shapiro-Barnum who interviews kids on Recess Therapy; Anania Williams of the LGBTQ quiz show Gaydar; and Jack Coyne, host of the music game show Track Star. Their videos reach more people than many major news outlets. But who gets control over what they run? When is money changing hands? What do they do when politicians like Kamala Harris and RFK Jr. come calling?

A frank conversation about the blurry grey area between this new form of entertainment and journalism.

Check out our Substack, with more reporting on the war over truth, free speech, and tech’s role in it all.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Guests:

Julian Shapiro-Barnum, Recess Therapy
Caleb Simpson gets millions of views asking people how much they pay for their rent in New York City
Jack Coyne, Track Star
Anania Williams, Gaydar

‘I Believed Sandy Hook Was a Hoax’

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Kate grew up believing the Sandy Hook school shooting was an elaborate false flag operation. For years she thought the 20 elementary school children and six educators who were killed that day did not actually die, but were played by crisis actors. And then, one day – in a matter of minutes – suddenly Kate realized how wrong she was.

Brian talks to Kate about what it’s like to realize you believed something so obviously wrong, so deeply damaging, for so long. And he argues that her story is a case study for reforming Section 230 – the 1996 law that gives tech companies massive immunity from getting sued over what people post. Without that law, platforms like YouTube, which amplified the lies about Sandy Hook that Kate once believed, could be taken to court by the Sandy Hook families.

Check out our Substack, with more reporting on the war on truth, free speech, and tech companies’ role in it all.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Guests:

Kate, a former conspiracy believer
Dr. Joan Donovan, disinformation scholar and Director of the Critical Internet Studies Institute at Boston University

Betraying a Friendship to Get a Viral Story

Thu, 9 Oct 2025 08:00:00 +0000

This episode of Death, Sex, and Money is a recommendation from our contributing editor Jen Kinney.

When blogger AJ Daulerio broke the Brett Favre sexting scandal in 2010, it became one of the biggest stories of his career. But it came at a cost: he had betrayed Jenn Sterger, the woman at the center of the story, who had confided in him as a friend and explicitly asked him not to name her.

The fallout was immediate and lasting. Jenn became the target of relentless online harassment and scrutiny that has followed her for 15 years. AJ went on to face his own reckoning when his aggressive tabloid journalism eventually led to Gawker's bankruptcy, which upended his career.

In this episode of the podcast Death, Sex, and Money, both AJ and Jenn reflect on the toxic incentives of viral journalism, the lasting trauma of unwanted internet fame, and how a stray dog unexpectedly brought them back into contact after nearly a decade of silence.

AJ now writes a newsletter and hosts a podcast about recovery called The Small Bow and writes an addiction advice column for Slate called Ask A.J. You can hear more of Jenn on her podcast, Not Today... with Eddie Pence and Jenn Sterger.

Thanks to “Death, Sex & Money” for sharing this episode with us.

The Film the BBC Wouldn’t Air

Thu, 2 Oct 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Two veteran journalists set out to document Israel’s systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system: hospitals attacked, medical workers killed, doctors detained without charge. The BBC commissioned the film. Then pulled it.

Sometimes killing a story is routine. Sometimes it’s a scandal, even immoral.

In this episode, producer Sophie Kazis pulls back the curtain, and goes inside the edits, the delays, and the mounting pressure that shaped the fate of this film.

You can watch the film the BBC wouldn’t air, “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,” on Zeteo.com.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

Ramita Navai: Award-winning British-Iranian investigative journalist, documentary maker and author.
Ben de Pear: Award-winning British journalist; former editor, Channel 4 News; founder and executive producer, Basement Films.

Brian Takes on Big Tech

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

When late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was forced off the air, it raised huge questions about who really controls what we’re allowed to say. From billionaires and politicians to social media platforms and regulators, the boundaries of free speech in America are being redrawn in real time.

To get a sense of the country’s mood, host Brian Reed goes to the Iowa State Fair – a carnival of fried food, political rallies, and raw opinions. What he finds – people are depressed. And they have reason to be. At the heart of the discontentment is the way social media and misinformation online is spreading hate and dividing the country.

From the fairgrounds to the halls of Congress, Brian traces it all back to a little-known law from 1996 that gives Big Tech sweeping immunity. The law makes it so social media companies can’t be sued for what happens on their platforms.

And Brian comes away with a renewed sense of purpose. Change. This. Law.

Check out our Substack, with more reporting on the war on truth, free speech, and tech companies’ role in it all.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

The Epstein Files

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes have been picked apart in headlines, documentaries, and endless conspiracy theories. And yet there have continued to be shocking new revelations in the story this year, as President Trump’s base has pressured him to release the government’s files about Epstein.

In this episode of Question Everything, host Brian Reed brings together the reporters who know the case best – along with one of their Trump-supporting producers – for drinks and a candid, no-holds-barred conversation. They compare notes, challenge each other’s assumptions, and reveal what it really takes to separate fact from rumor in a story that has tested the limits of journalism.

It’s one of the most provocative and confronting discussions Brian’s ever hosted about power, accountability and what’s at stake when the media goes up against billionaires and their networks.

Check out our Substack, by the way, where we get into juicy behind the scenes details and other good stuff from our episodes.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Drinking and fact-checking don’t always go hand in hand, so clarifying and correcting a few statements from the conversation here – which honestly in themselves give a sense of just how many crannies of global power the tendrils of the Epstein story reach into.

We reached out to Anouska De Georgiou to see if she wanted to comment, but we didn’t hear back.

Leslie Wexner is not the founder of Victoria’s Secret – he bought the company in 1982, and he said Jeffrey Epstein had stolen $46 million from him, not $60 million. Meanwhile investor Leon Black paid Epstein $170 million for supposed tax advice – not $160 million.

Virginia Giuffre sued Prince Andrew as an individual, not the Crown itself. Tara Palmeri’s reporting that Elon Musk dm’d Virgina Giuffre saying Trump would release the files is based on Virginia telling her this – Tara didn’t see the DM.

At one point, Eric says that in 2015, Roger Stone called Epstein’s island a “democrat orgy island”. Really, Stone wrote a book excoriating the Clintons called The Clinton’s War on Women, and there’s a chapter in there called Orgy Island, which highlights Bill Clinton’s friendship with Epstein. So Roger Stone didn’t call Epstein’s island a democrat orgy island. Just “orgy island”.

And last, but not least: the pope who was in a picture with Jeffrey Epstein, which was displayed on Epstein’s credenza, was John Paul II.

Question Everything Returns, Raring for a Fight

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

We're back. September 25th.

A Listener on What Journalists Should do Better

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A listener weighed in with some criticism on Substack. Brian (our host) got involved. Some advice for journalists ensued. It ended up inspiring an entire segment on KCRW’s show Left, Right & Center, which we’re sharing with you here.

This is the kind of action that’s happening over on our new Substack – which you should subscribe to! If you do, we’ll enter you in a lottery to join us at the next taping we do at Bibber & Bell Wine Shop in Brooklyn. We’re getting together reporters who are all covering the Jeffrey Epstein story as it has burst back into the news and is threatening Donald Trump. A couple of you can eavesdrop on the conversation from the storage area in the back with our sound guy – sign up at questioneverything.substack.com.

Brian Can't Stop Fact-checking His Mother-In-Law (from “Proxy with Yowei Shaw”)

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0000

After her NPR show was canceled some years back, producer and host Yowei Shaw gave herself a new title: “Emotional Investigative Journalist.” She started a podcast called Proxy, where she helps people who are facing unique emotional or personal obstacles by connecting them with a proxy who’s uniquely positioned to help them.

Our host, Brian, recently went on Proxy, and got help with a problem of his own: something he’s been struggling with involving a member of his family.

Here are the caregiving resources from Claudia Drossel.

Listen to Proxy with Yowei Shaw. Follow them on Instagram: @proxypodcast @yoweishaw

Badass Local Journalists on How to Fight Corruption

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Local reporters from around the country tell stories of using the experiences of their neighbors to confront people in power.

Featuring:
Anna Wolfe with Mississippi Today

Lisa Halverstadt with Voice of San Diego

Alissa Zhu with The Baltimore Banner

Tony Plohetski with The Austin American-Statesman and KVUE Austin

Lisa is a part of the Homelessness Beat Reporters Collective, which recently produced a guide on how to responsibly cover homelessness. That guide can be found here.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Who’s Behind the Raids? A Mystery in Marion (Part Two)

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A TV reporter from Kansas City hears about the newspaper raids over in Marion. Her interest is piqued by the fact that the police chief who oversaw the raids had recently left Kansas City PD. So she heads to Marion to see what she can find out. And what she finds…is basically a Bravo reality series, small-town midwestern style.

Part One of this story aired last week. Listen to it first if you haven’t already.

We’re now on Substack! You can weigh in on what we’re doing at Question Everything – make your pleasure or displeasure known – and really talk to us about our reporting, the stories we’re working on. This week, Brian will share an outtake from the Mystery in Marion series – a moment of police bodycam footage that makes his skin crawl.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

A Mystery in Marion (Part One)

Thu, 5 Jun 2025 04:00:00 +0000

On a Friday morning in rural Kansas, the publisher of a tiny local newspaper hears a knock at the door. It’s the police—with a search warrant. Within minutes, they’re inside his home, seizing his electronics. At the same time, officers are raiding his newsroom, confiscating computers and phones. No subpoena. No warning. And, according to legal experts, no right to do it.

The publisher scrambles to understand: Why is this happening? Who’s behind it? He has made some enemies over the years, in this town of just 2,000 people.

And then—just as he starts to piece it together—something even more devastating happens. A tragedy that would make national news, and change his life forever.

Part Two of this story drops next week.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

The Fight for Your Attention with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes

Thu, 29 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

MSNBC host Chris Hayes discusses his book The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource, and reckons with his own culpability in the corruption and commercialization of our attention.

Thanks to “Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso” for sharing this interview with us.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

The Hunt for a Journalist’s Killer

Thu, 22 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A group of reporters recently uncovered a closely held secret: the identity of the Israeli soldier who shot and killed renowned veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022. This is the story of how they figured it out.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

From the Fringe Web to Real Life: How Seriously Should We Be Taking Conspiracy Theories?

Thu, 8 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Back in December, we did an episode about Pyrra, an AI-powered software that tracks sifts through the far corners of the internet – in some places you probably haven’t even heard of – to see what narratives are emerging from the people who post there. A lot of these are conspiracy theories, and also violent threats.

This week, we check back in with the creator of that software, Dr. Welton Chang, about what narratives he’s seeing, right now, that might soon make the jump from fringe internet posts to actually having an impact in the real world.

Welton’s especially concerned about the violent rhetoric aimed at one particular group of people which has been topping the charts in recent weeks.

Welton is the creator of Pyrra Technologies, and Vice President for Digital Intelligence Solutions at AlertMedia.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Rümeysa Öztürk is Locked Up for an Op-ed: An Urgent Summit with the Student Newspaper that Published It

Thu, 1 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Where better to huddle up and discuss what to do about Rümeysa Öztürk and the chilling effect that is happening in journalism than on campus at Tufts University with the student journalists at The Tufts Daily?

This week Brian and Question Everything co-host a live event with the editor-in-chief and associate editor from The Tufts Daily– Arghya Thallapragada and Ellora Onion-De. Together they interview journalists and attorneys, including Carol Rose, one of Rümeysa’s lawyers and executive director of the ACLU to learn what all happened to Rümeysa, and why. What did her abduction by federal agents a month ago have to do with her immigration status as a Turkish graduate student studying child development, here on a student visa? Why did Secretary of State Marco Rubio say her Op-ed was cause for incarceration? Why is she still in ICE’s custody? And what happened to the constitutional protections around free speech and a free press that we depend on in a free society?

Joined by former editor-in-chief of the Washington Post and Boston Globe Marty Baron, First Amendment lawyer Robert Bertsche and senior politics reporter at The Intercept, Akela Lacey, the group wrestles in real time with the gravity of this moment, not just for Rümeysa Öztürk, but for all of us.

Read the Op-ed Rümeysa and others wrote that ran in The Tufts Daily a year ago in March.

Watch the video of federal agents in plainclothes, forcing Rümeysa Öztürk into an SUV on March 25, 2025.

Quick thing: In our discussion Carol Rose says the ACLU has filed 100 legal actions in President Trump’s first 100 days. The specific count on those is actually higher: the ACLU filed 110 legal actions in the Trump administration’s first 100 days.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Pounding Beers in a Shed, and Other Dispatches from the War on Free Speech

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Last episode we discussed the campaign to overturn the Supreme Court decision that protects reporters’ ability to criticize and investigate people in power.

But even with that decision still in place, reporter David Enrich has discovered a shocking wave of legal attacks that is being waged on journalists in towns and cities across the country. These are often reporters at tiny, local outlets, trying to hold people accountable in their communities.

And these legal claims don’t even have to succeed - and they frequently don’t - to shut down reporters.

Plus, Brian waxes poetic about the first amendment, under the night sky.

This is part two of our series about David Enrich’s reporting from his book “Murder the Truth”. Listen to part one first – it’s called “Freedom of the press is great, until you’re the target.”

In our newsletter this week – Brian tells a personal story about how his lawyers helped him fend off a legal threat. Check that out at: www.kcrw.com/questioneverything

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Freedom of the press is great, until you're the target

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000

For decades, a Supreme Court decision called New York Times vs Sullivan was widely beloved by people across the political spectrum. Hailed as a decision that gave the first amendment teeth and made our country great.

But recently, under our noses, some of the same people who once sang its praises have turned against it.

The story of the growing movement that is trying to get the Supreme Court to overturn one of the strongest protections for speech and the press in America.

This is part one of a two part series about the book Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful, by Times investigative editor David Enrich.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

The masterpiece Prince documentary Netflix won’t let the public see.

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The best documentary filmmaker in America spent nearly five years of his life making a nine-hour masterpiece for Netflix.

It will never see the light of day.

After a nasty estate battle, the series will not be released. No one will ever see it.

In his first sit-down interview about this catastrophe, the filmmaker, Ezra Edelman seeks catharsis – if not closure – in the fight for truth and control over the life story of one of the biggest control freaks ever.

Thanks to “Pablo Torre Finds Out” for sharing this interview with us.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

He quit journalism to fight authoritarianism. How’s that going?

Thu, 3 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Last year, we did an episode with Barton Gellman, who talked about the war games he was running with high-level military leaders and government officials to prepare for a second Trump term.

A bunch of you have been asking us to have Barton back, to find out what he’s doing, now that the second Trump term is here. So we called him up.

Barton works at the Brennan Center for Justice.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

A Rant or a Slant: When Should Reporters Speak From the Heart?

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

It’s easy to get frustrated with the charade reporters are supposed to keep up, where they pretend they don’t have opinions or feelings or any kind of human thoughts about a story they’re telling. Plenty of journalists have been trying to break out of that charade. But the decision to do that: it can be a fraught one, with real implications.

Dana Ballout struggled with this on a story she was investigating about Hassan Diab – a sociology professor who’s living as a free man in Canada, yet is convicted of a terrible crime in France. Dana and her co-host Alex Atack open up about their reporting on the series The Copernic Affair, and why Dana ultimately cut her own opinions out of the show, even though her co-host and editors wanted to include them.

And this prompts Brian to revisit his own experience dropping the charade in a previous podcast he made with Hamza Syed, for The New York Times and Serial: The Trojan Horse Affair.

You can check out The Copernic Affair wherever you get your podcasts or at https://www.canadaland.com/shows/the-copernic-affair/.

Same with The Trojan Horse Affair: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/podcasts/trojan-horse-affair.html

To get the soundbyte from Hamza’s interview that we’re asking people to remix into something danceable, sign up for Brian’s newsletter here: www.kcrw.com/questioneverything

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

A Teen, a Reporter, and a Grand Jury Leak (Over BBQ)

Thu, 20 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Brian tells the story of a reporting trip he took to Alabama, where two small-town journalists had been locked up in jail, that led to one of the most honest - and surprising - conversations about journalism he’s had in a long time.

Sign up for our newsletter to see some stories and pictures from a recent event Brian held in Alabama about his podcast S-Town. Including a photo of an S-Town inspired tattoo somebody was eager to show him. www.kcrw.com/questioneverything

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

The News is Coming from Under the Desk… on TikTok (live from On Air Fest)

Thu, 6 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

As trust in traditional journalism plummets, social media content creator V Spehar of Under the Desk News is ascendant, with over 3.4 million TikTok followers. But recently, V found themself in a public dustup with NPR over, in part, how the outlet had classified V in an interview. In this special episode of Question Everything––largely recorded live at On Air Fest––Brian and V take the stage to explore the tensions between traditional and non-traditional journalism, and what the two can learn from each other.

Since talking off the cuff live on stage doesn’t always result in the most precise utterances, here are a few additional corrections and clarifications we didn’t address directly in the episode:

While live on stage, V said that TikTok is owned “mostly by the richest man in Philadelphia, Mr. Jeffrey Yass.” In fact, Yass’ personal share in TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, is 7%, worth roughly $21 billion.

Regarding the stat in the Under the Desk News video stating “every school in America gets about 20 percent of their total school budget from the federal government,” in reality, public schools may get as little as 0% or as much as 75% of their funding from federal sources, depending on the district.

The Pew Research referenced in the conversation shows that 1 in 5 Americans get their news from online news influencers, and 54% of Americans get their news at least sometimes from social media.

And lastly: Senator Tammy Duckworth has fought for about a dozen federal employees fired from the Veteran’s Crisis Line to get their jobs back, and not employees solely from her state, Illinois.

We reached out to V’s father to confirm their conversation about the possible effects of cuts to the Department of Education, but he didn’t want to comment.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Not Like Us: How Billionaires Think

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 04:00:00 +0000

As billionaires hoard more control over our politics, it seems more important than ever to ask: What makes them tick? Four reporters gather after hours at a wine shop to discuss – over drinks – what they’ve learned from covering billionaires for years, and how it can help us hoi polloi make sense of what the ultra-rich are doing right now.

Featuring Vicky Ward, who has covered the Kushner family and Trump, and who, in 2002, was the first journalist to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s finances in a profile for Vanity Fair; John Hyatt, who covers billionaires, with a focus on Elon Musk, for Forbes; Douglas Rushkoff, who has written about tech billionaires preparing for the end of the world; and Edward Ongweso, Jr., who covers the impact of the exponential growth of large tech companies for outlets like Vice and The Nation.

A small correction: Douglas Rushkoff said that his trip to a hedge fund conference in the desert happened in 2018, but the trip was actually in 2017.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

And The Award Goes To...The Circuit Court Of The Nineteenth Judicial Circuit In and For Okeechobee County, Florida

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Ben Smith tells the story of the strange controversy over a journalism award that’s been going down in a Florida courthouse.

Ben is Editor-in-Chief of Semafor and co-host of the Mixed Signals podcast. He used to be tThe New York Times media columnist and was founding editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed News.

Sign up for our newsletter to read the lengthy listener criticism that helped inspire Brian to do this episode: www.kcrw.com/questioneverthing

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

A reporter? A spy? Or something else? Israel arrests its first American journalist.

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Locked up, alone, accused of being a spy, reporter Jeremy Loffredo has to defend the fact that he’s a journalist. To the Israeli courts. And then…to our reporter.

Part two of our two-part series about Jeremy Loffredo, who in October became the first American journalist arrested by Israel.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Blindfolded and Arrested on Assignment in Israel

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Just a few months ago, Israel did something it has never done before. It arrested an American journalist. His name is Jeremy Loffredo.

This is his story.

Part one of a special, two-part series.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

When Hollywood Tells The Truth: with Tom McCarthy, Antonio Campos, Tina Satter, and Tobias Lindholm.

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Four Hollywood directors gather after hours at a wine shop to drink and commiserate about the perils – and power – that come when you’re straddling fact and fiction. With behind the scenes stories about documentary romance, regret, and pirates.

Here’s the NY Mag story. And here’s a Vanity Fair interview with Sophie, the editor of The Staircase documentary.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Can AI tell us what stories to look out for? A live experiment.

Thu, 5 Dec 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Our team at Question Everything has been playing around with a new technology that sucks up tons of social media posts, and then uses AI to figure out what ideas are forming in the shadows of the internet before they hit the mainstream.

Brian interviews a journalist who uses this tech, to see what conversations are brewing right now that we might want to keep an eye out for in the coming weeks.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Getting Ready to Interview Trump: An Exercise

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 04:00:00 +0000

A journalist tries to get his wrestling buddy to trust in journalism.

You can find more work by Sam Eagan here.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Special Election-Eve Episode: The Story of a Story Untold

Mon, 4 Nov 2024 04:00:00 +0000

A special election-eve episode from Brian: Ruminations on a story that never was, and a late night conversation with the source he was supposed to make it about.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

When To Call A Thing What It Is

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Brian stops doomscrolling and starts doom-living. He brings two journalists he saw duking it out on Twitter into a studio, where they debate how to report on lies and racism in the Trump era. Then he finds a journalist who’s putting their big theoretical questions into practice – at a personal cost – as she covers one of the most messed up stories of the election cycle.

Watch the unedited conversation between Jeff Jarvis and David Folkenflik.

Subscribe to the Question Everything newsletter: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/question-everything

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Can Journalism Save a Marriage?

Thu, 10 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0000

A married couple finds themselves fighting miserably over the news. So they set out on a quest for the seemingly impossible: to find a news source that both a self-admitted “bleeding heart liberal” and a Trump supporter can trust.

Check out Tangle News here.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

The Journalist and the Firefighter

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 04:00:00 +0000

How one of the most accomplished reporters of our time, Barton Gellman, lost his confidence in journalism.

Sign up for our newsletter to hear the one outtake from the interview that Brian wished he could get into the episode, but couldn’t.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Drinks for Five: Ira Glass, Zoe Chace, Jonathan Eig, Astead Herndon

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 00:55:21 +0000

Brian puts four journalists together in a room, gives them drinks, and starts rolling tape. Their only instructions: show up with questions for each other and be ready to talk candidly about the challenges in their jobs. Foremost on their minds: Why do people even share their stories with journalists in the first place?

You can watch this whole episode on YouTube [INSERT LINK]! And subscribe to the Question Everything newsletter too.

You can hear Ira Glass and Zoe Chace on “This American Life”.

Astead Herndon hosts “The Run Up” for the New York Times.

Jonathan Eig’s book about Martin Luther King, Jr. is called “King: A Life”.

Since drinking and talking off the cuff doesn’t always result in the most precise utterances, here are a few corrections and clarifications from our fact-checker: In Astead’s story about the anti-immigrant group in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the quote was “These people aren’t coming from Norway,” not “Sweden.” The book Jonathan mentioned about adolescent cellphone addiction, by Jonathan Haidt, is called The Anxious Generation. There were a few people we were unable to track down to confirm the details of the stories told about them: the two police officers Jonathan mentioned, and the source’s family member who Astead said complained to him about his reporting.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

The Critic

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 00:51:27 +0000

Brian talks to a fellow journalist who called his most well-known work “morally indefensible.”

You can read Gay Alcorn’s column here. Subscribe to our newsletter to read Gay’s full reaction to this episode.

You can listen to S-Town here.

If you’re having thoughts of suicide, please reach out for help by dialing 988 or clicking here.

“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

Question Everything is out now!

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Journalist Brian Reed of S-Town is questioning everything, even his own work. Season premiere Sept 12.