Reflector

Rockwell

Reflector is a documentary-style podcast that tells stories about how beliefs shape our world, the context behind the messy debates in our society, and on how deeply listening to one another can reveal a sense of shared humanity. read less
Society & CultureSociety & Culture
DocumentaryDocumentary

Episodes

Why Doesn't Anyone Trust The Media?
Today
Why Doesn't Anyone Trust The Media?
In the wake of the election results, many Democrats are doing some serious soul-searching (and a fair amount of blame-gaming) to understand why they lost. But it’s not just Democrats reckoning with their loss of trust from the American people. New polling from places like Gallup shows historically high levels of distrust in journalists. Meaning that a profession built on the delivery of trusted information is now in the midst of a full on crisis of mistrust.  How did we get here? What are we doing wrong? And what, if anything, can we—or should we—do to regain that trust? For today’s episode, we take a frank look at the media’s role in this crisis with Ben Smith and Nayeema Raza. Ben Smith is the co-founder of Semafor, a news organization with ambitious goals to redefine global journalism. He’s the former media columnist for The New York Times and was the founding editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, leading it from a scrappy startup to a Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom. Ben’s journalism roots trace back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, where he covered crime and New York politics for local papers. He was part of the early journalism blogging era online, reported on the 2008 Obama campaign for Politico, and embodies a no-nonsense ethos to journalism that I’ve come to admire over the years. Nayeema Raza is (alongside Ben) the co-host on Semafor’s media podcast Mixed Signals, which explores how money, culture, and politics shape everything we read, watch, and hear. She has worked as executive producer at The New York Times Opinion and frequently guest-hosts Open to Debate. With a background in film and documentary, Nayeema often draws fascinating parallels between newsroom trends and what’s happening in Hollywood and beyond. As you’ll hear, the three of us don’t always agree. In this episode, I’m a bit more open with my views than usual—we even scrutinize some of my past work. Together, we wrestle with the causes and context of the current trust crisis in journalism, explore historical parallels, discuss the disruption of the internet and influence of social media, and unpack lessons from the Trump era so far. Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more: GROUND.NEWS To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
The Comeback of Donald Trump
Oct 30 2024
The Comeback of Donald Trump
Here comes the much-anticipated (maybe dreaded? Obnoxiously over-covered?) 2024 US presidential election, and no one knows who will emerge as the next President of the United States. Today’s episode was inspired by a conversation I had last week with a former colleague from The New York Times. She shared her concern that we in the media might have done it again. That just like in 2016, we may have failed to capture why Donald Trump, one of the least popular presidents in US history and an undeniable outlier, could be so close to winning another term in the White House.  So with the election just days away, we’re diving in to unpack that story. Our guests are Mike Pesca, a veteran of NPR and host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news podcast. Mike has covered presidential campaigns and politics for over two decades. While he’s been a sharp critic of Trump, he’s done an excellent job of explaining why so many Americans see a vote for Trump as a vote for their own self-interest. We’re also joined by Emily Jashinsky, a Washington correspondent for Unherd, co-host of the Undercurrents podcast, and someone who reports from within the conservative media ecosystem. She does a fantastic job documenting the rise of the New Right and its split from the fading conservative establishment. No matter who you are planning on voting for - or even if you aren’t going to vote at all - we’d love to hear from you. You can always reach us at hello@reflector.show. Thank you to our sponsor Ground News. You can visit them here to learn more: GROUND.NEWS To support our work please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
You Can't Say That (Part 1)
Jul 2 2024
You Can't Say That (Part 1)
About a year ago, the team that makes this show (Matt Boll and me, Andy Mills) along with our dear friend Megan Phelps-Roper (who also helps with each episode of Reflector), put out the final installment of The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling.  The show was a big hit with millions of listeners, even as it split — and in some cases enraged — media critics. Our aim was to tell the story of Rowling’s two major public controversies — both the witchcraft accusations from the late 90’s and the current backlash around sex and gender — as a way to uncover deeper truths about human nature. Today, Megan again joins us to ask: Where do things stand now? For Rowling, for the debate around sex and gender, and for our society's willingness to have hard conversations in public. Here in Part 1, author and journalist Helen Lewis guides us through the latest developments in women-only sports, women-only spaces, and youth transition medicine. We explore the ways in which the United States is becoming more of an outlier, and how J.K. Rowling’s career has continued to thrive amidst the backlash against her. In Part 2, we dive into thoughts and criticism — of J.K. Rowling, of the series we made about her, and of our team itself — from three members of the trans community, each with a unique perspective. This includes two of listeners’ favorite guests from the original series: Natalie and Noah. For paid subscribers you can listen to that episode right away. To become a paid subscriber visit us at reflector.show As always we appreciate your time and attention, and would be delighted if you’d share this show and give us a rating on Apple or Spotify. If you have any feedback, story suggestions, or criticisms, feel free to shoot us an email at hello@reflector.show Thank you to our sponsors. You can visit them here to learn more: FIRE GROUND.NEWS
Filthy Slime (Part 1)
May 28 2024
Filthy Slime (Part 1)
Music has been a feature of American culture wars since at least the time of Elvis Presley’s gyrating dance moves on The Ed Sullivan show in 1956. But amidst all the moral panics about hip-shaking and backmasking, there is a legitimate and fascinating question about the role and influence that popular music plays on human behavior and on society more broadly.  Today, we are publishing the first episode in our breakdown of the debate around Rap on Trial and what it says (and misses) about the role of music in culture. We begin in 1985 with Tipper Gore’s fight against Prince and the obscenity of 80’s rock music, then dive deep into the rapper Young Thug’s current RICO case in Atlanta Georgia and other cases where music is being brought into criminal trials. Our goal, as always, is to try and understand this story and everyone involved in the best faith possible. Which, yes, means we are going to steel-man Tipper Gore, Young Thug and T.I. all in the same story. To listen to Filthy Slime Part 2 right now: SUBSCRIBE Special thanks to our guests, Billboard Magazine’s Bill Donahoe and Van Lathan from The Higher Learning Podcast. As well as Prince Paul, Jason Kramer, Kmele Foster, and Megan Phelps-Roper. Music in this episode from Cobey Bienart and Peter Lalish Email your feedback, criticisms and story suggestions to hello@reflector.show We will read all feedback and respond in a future episode.  Our website: reflector.show Thank you to our sponsors. You can visit them here to learn more: FIRE GROUND.NEWS Other links: Van Lathan’s Higher Learning Podcast Spotify Playlist of Songs in this episode
The Sea Change
Apr 30 2024
The Sea Change
Why aren’t Americans embracing the most promising medications for treating over-drinking? Become a subscriber today: reflector.show/subscribe Alcohol consumption increased more during the COVID-19 pandemic than it had at any time in the past 50 years. Even though bars were closed for weeks on end and fewer people were out on the road doing their daily commuting, Americans were drinking so much that from 2020 through 2021 there were approximately 178,000 alcohol-related deaths - which is more deaths than from all drug overdoses combined, including opioids.  Yet, even as we return to 1960’s Mad Men era drinking habits - most Americans with a drinking problem never speak to their doctors about their drinking and less than 6% of them receive any form of treatment whatsoever. 12-step programs like Alcoholic Anonymous remain at the heart of a majority of American rehab programs, even though their “success rate” (which has historically been very hard to study) hovers around the single digits, while there are more effective medical options available.  Why?  On today’s episode, our friend Katie tells the story of her self-experimentation with the drug Naltrexone to combat her alcohol addiction and helps us grapple with why such medications are so rarely used to help problem drinkers in America.  Our thanks to our guests: Addiction psychiatrist Dr. Mark Willenbring and journalist Gabrielle Glaser. Music in this episode from Cobey Bienart and Peter Lalish Email your feedback, criticisms and story suggestions to hello@reflector.show We will read all feedback and respond in a future episode.  Our website: reflector.show Thank you to our sponsors. You can visit them here to learn more: FIRE GROUND.NEWS Other links: Glazer’s 2015 article in The Atlantic.  Andy’s 2015 public radio story on addiction treatments. Washington University’s National Survey Study.  CDC’s study on recent alcohol-related deaths. 2014 NYTimes stories on how Naltrexone and other drugs are rarely used. 2021 NYTimes story on how things have not changed. Begin your Sinclair Method Youtube Rabbit Hole here.