The Media Narrative

Some thoughts on problems and positives, as we head into the election.

On the 1985 day when Philadelphia killed 11 residents and destroyed 61 homes, journalist Linn Washington was on the scene for nearly 24 hours. He talks about the challenges of reporting on that horrific day and the reverberations today.

A local police reporter in coastal Georgia talks about the challenges of covering the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery.

Dozens of U.S. colleges benefited from land "seized or stolen or otherwise leveraged from indigenous tribes," says historian Bobby Lee. Lee and Tristan Ahtone talk about their High Country News story.

In New Orleans, the diversity of the city has never manifested in diversity in the city's newsrooms. Jen Larino and E'Jaaz Mason founded Lede New Orleans to change that trend.

An El Paso-based reporter reflects on the challenges of covering immigration, border security, voting, and politics at the Texas - Mexico line.

The podcast returns with a focus on local, community, and nonprofit news. This episode provides a quick preview, along with clips featuring reporters from New Orleans and Texas.

Novelist, songwriter, and web design entrepeneur Jim Infantino talks about mixing utopia and dystopia in his science fiction, the realities of a music career, and living a creative life.

Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D. is a cognitive scientist and author whose new book distills key education research designed to help teachers and students alike. The best teaching is about getting students to remember and retrieve information and ideas, not ramming them into their brains, Agarwal says.

Former NBC Today Show music journalist Rona Elliot talks about overcoming barriers she faced as a woman and about her mid-1980s battles with network bosses who didn't believe audiences were interested in interviews with rock stars.

We are following the lead of hard-charging young climate activists in this episode.