The Kicker podcast

The Kicker

The Kicker is a podcast on the media and the world today. It comes out twice a month, hosted by Josh Hersh and produced by Amanda Darrach for the Columbia Journalism Review. It is available wherever you get your podcasts, including [Apple Podcasts] (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kicker/id1178127323) and [Spotify] (https://open.spotify.com/show/5E5WVPzob4xxHEnAjfHpVX?si=66caaf7ea4734f8e) .

The Kicker is a podcast on the media and the world today. It comes out twice a month, hosted by Josh Hersh and produced by Amanda Darrach for the Columbia Journalism Review. It is available wherever you get your podcasts, including [Apple Podcasts] (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kicker/id1178127323) and [Spotify] (https://open.spotify.com/show/5E5WVPzob4xxHEnAjfHpVX?si=66caaf7ea4734f8e) .

 

#309

The Future of Journalism After Gaza

Examining an ongoing crisis for press freedom—and how to manage security risks going forwa... more

11 Dec 2025

53 MINS

53:28

11 Dec 2025


#308

Douglas Rushkoff on Being the Intellectual Dominatrix of Billionaire Tech Bros

In 1992, a writer named Douglas Rushkoff signed a contract for Cyberia, his book about the... more

25 Nov 2025

1 HR 05 MINS

1:05:25

25 Nov 2025


#307

Journalism 2050 - Trailer

Emily Bell and Heather Chaplin speak with the smartest minds in media to discuss the roots... more

24 Nov 2025

01 MINS

01:19

24 Nov 2025


#306

Margaret Sullivan Takes a New Look at Journalism Ethics

This summer, Margaret Sullivan, the executive director of the Craig Newmark Center for Jou... more

23 Oct 2025

28 MINS

28:07

23 Oct 2025


#305

Chicago’s Block Club Is Ready for ICE

On Thursday, a federal judge <a href='https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts... more

10 Oct 2025

25 MINS

25:26

10 Oct 2025


#304

Elle Reeve on the Charlie Kirk Shooting Suspect’s Inscrutable Memes

In 2017, Elle Reeve, then a correspondent for Vice News, became a household name when she ... more

19 Sep 2025

36 MINS

36:00

19 Sep 2025


#303

Garrett Graff Thinks the Press Should Be Taking Trump’s Health Much More Seriously

Last week, as DC reporters were patting themselves on the back for not falling for interne... more

10 Sep 2025

27 MINS

27:51

10 Sep 2025


#302

Hind Hassan Is Sorry We Didn’t Do More to Make Journalism Safe

Earlier this month, Hind Hassan, a decorated documentary news reporter who has covered eve... more

28 Aug 2025

28 MINS

28:40

28 Aug 2025


#301

Will the Jeffrey Epstein Scandal Break MAGA Media?

For the past few weeks, MAGA media and conservative podcasters have been torn apart over P... more

01 Aug 2025

24 MINS

24:24

01 Aug 2025


#300

What’s the Matter with the BBC?

Recent weeks have not been very comfortable for the BBC. A documentary about Gaza it refus... more

11 Jul 2025

26 MINS

26:50

11 Jul 2025


#299

The Kicker Live: Branko Brkic Wants Journalists to Wake Up

Last year, Branko Brkic, the founder of the Daily Maverick, a South African news outlet, l... more

25 Jun 2025

41 MINS

41:35

25 Jun 2025


#298

The Kicker Live: Arwa Damon on Leaving CNN and Telling Stories from Gaza

For nearly twenty years, Arwa Damon worked as a journalist covering conflict zones across ... more

24 Jun 2025

24 MINS

24:59

24 Jun 2025


#297

The Kicker Live: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad on American Misadventures in the Middle East

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is an award-winning Iraqi journalist for The Guardian and the author of ... more

23 Jun 2025

43 MINS

43:17

23 Jun 2025


#296

What’s the Point of Investigating Trump?

David Fahrenthold won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2016 reporting on how Donald Trump’s life... more

17 Jun 2025

24 MINS

24:15

17 Jun 2025


#295

‘I Try to Find the Question That People Cannot Squirm Out Of’: An Interview with Nashville’s Phil Wi...

For more than thirty years, Phil Williams has been the steadying voice of investigative re... more

29 May 2025

30 MINS

30:01

29 May 2025


#294

‘The Threat Is Very Real’: NPR’s Katherine Maher on the Fight to Save Public Media

Last week, Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the end of funding for NPR a... more

09 May 2025

32 MINS

32:10

09 May 2025


#293

Inside El Salvador’s Dystopian Prison Network

A few years ago, El Salvador was one of the most violent nations in the world, with gang k... more

24 Apr 2025

29 MINS

29:44

24 Apr 2025


#292

Kai Ryssdal Was America’s Economic Voice of Reason This Week

Kai Ryssdal has been the host of Marketplace, a leading daily radio show and podcast about... more

11 Apr 2025

24 MINS

24:31

11 Apr 2025


#291

Carlos Watson Goes Free: A Surprising Coda to the CJR Podcast

Prosecutors weren’t notified in advance, witnesses are in shock—and Watson’s family celebr... more

04 Apr 2025

19 MINS

19:55

04 Apr 2025


#290

Molly White Knows You Don’t Understand Crypto

If you thought “DOGE” only stood for the “Department of Government Efficiency”—well, you’r... more

28 Mar 2025

25 MINS

25:04

28 Mar 2025


#289

The Legal War on Journalism

Over the past several months, Donald Trump has mounted a series of legal attacks against t... more

12 Mar 2025

25 MINS

25:04

12 Mar 2025


#288

The Kicker, the Masseuses, and the Price of Doing Sports Journalism

In January, the Baltimore Banner released an investigation into the star kicker of the Bal... more

27 Feb 2025

27 MINS

27:37

27 Feb 2025


#287

A Warning from a Hungarian Journalist: ‘Brace Yourself for the Worst’

András Pethő is a Hungarian journalist and a cofounder of Direkt36, an independent investi... more

13 Feb 2025

26 MINS

26:41

13 Feb 2025


#286

CJR’s Jon Allsop on the Return of the Trump Whirlwind

Jon Allsop writes and edits <a href='https://www.cjr.org/email'>The Media Today</a>, CJR’s... more

31 Jan 2025

32 MINS

32:55

31 Jan 2025


#285

Coda’s Natalia Antelava on Meta, Trump, and How Journalism Can Survive 2025

Natalia Antelava spent many years as a correspondent for the BBC, before starting her own ... more

14 Jan 2025

30 MINS

30:10

14 Jan 2025


#284

The Unraveling of Ozy Media: Episode 3: The Verdict and the Pain

In the finale, Carlos Watson takes the stand—and the jury reaches a verdict. “The Unraveli... more

12 Dec 2024

1 HR 03 MINS

1:03:26

12 Dec 2024


#283

The Unraveling of Ozy Media: Episode 2: Built on a Bluff

How inflating traffic data went mainstream in digital media—and a key witness takes the st... more

10 Dec 2024

53 MINS

53:13

10 Dec 2024


#282

The Unraveling of Ozy Media: Episode 1: Truth and Mythmaking

Carlos Watson’s media startup arrives on the scene—and insiders reveal a dark reality unde... more

09 Dec 2024

42 MINS

42:59

09 Dec 2024


#281

Coming Soon: The Unraveling of Ozy Media

Starting on December 9, the Columbia Journalism Review presents a special three-part serie... more

05 Dec 2024

02 MINS

02:16

05 Dec 2024