Best Davo and Won Podcasts (2025)

1
The Kicker Live: Arwa Damon on Leaving CNN and Telling Stories from Gaza 24:59

20h ago24:59

24:59

For nearly twenty years, Arwa Damon worked as a journalist covering conflict zones across the Middle East—much of it as a prominent correspondent for CNN. But in 2015, amid the unending horrors of the Syrian civil war, Damon had enough. She left the network and founded Inara, a charity that helps provide treatment to children facing some of the mos…

1
The Kicker Live: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad on American Misadventures in the Middle East 43:17

2d ago43:17

43:17

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is an award-winning Iraqi journalist for The Guardian and the author of A Stranger in Your Own City (2023), a reported memoir of his life as an architect turned journalist during the American war in Iraq. In this wide-ranging conversation, Abdul-Ahad shares his journey to becoming a reporter, what he was surprised to learn about h…

1
What’s the Point of Investigating Trump? 24:15

8d ago24:15

24:15

David Fahrenthold won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2016 reporting on how Donald Trump’s lifetime of charitable giving was largely a mirage. Nine years later, he’s still reporting on how Trumpworld’s claims about financial matters don’t always add up—this time, looking closely at the cost-cutting from DOGE for the New York Times. But does this kind of…

1
‘I Try to Find the Question That People Cannot Squirm Out Of’: An Interview with Nashville’s Phil Williams 30:01

27d ago30:01

30:01

For more than thirty years, Phil Williams has been the steadying voice of investigative reporting at NewsChannel 5, in Nashville. His deep dives into toxic wastewater and lobbyist access to state politicians have earned him a slew of major journalism awards, including five Peabodys and five duPont-Columbia Awards. But in recent years, his most vira…

1
‘The Threat Is Very Real’: NPR’s Katherine Maher on the Fight to Save Public Media 32:10

2M ago32:10

32:10

Last week, Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the end of funding for NPR and PBS. It’s the latest attempt by conservatives to cut back on support for public media, and in particular target NPR, which they view as having a liberal bias. Katherine Maher, NPR’s CEO, says that perception is deeply unfair—and notes that the vast majority…

1
Inside El Salvador’s Dystopian Prison Network 29:44

2M ago29:44

29:44

A few years ago, El Salvador was one of the most violent nations in the world, with gang killings taking the lives of dozens of people every week. Nayib Bukele, elected president in 2019, changed all that—today, violence is way down. But his brute-force approach to the problem has involved mass arrests, secret deals, and forced disappearances into …

1
Kai Ryssdal Was America’s Economic Voice of Reason This Week 24:31

2M ago24:31

24:31

Kai Ryssdal has been the host of Marketplace, a leading daily radio show and podcast about the economy, produced by American Public Media, since 2005. He delivers the news—from the bitter latest on our 401(k)s to unexpected interviews about the modern-day resurgence of train robberies—with an affable, direct tone. And when he has something he wants…

1
Carlos Watson Goes Free: A Surprising Coda to the CJR Podcast 19:55

3M ago19:55

19:55

Prosecutors weren’t notified in advance, witnesses are in shock—and Watson’s family celebrates his freedom. On the day that Carlos Watson, the founder of the digital media company Ozy Media, was due to turn himself in to prison last week, to begin serving a nearly ten-year sentence for fraud and identity theft, he and his family received some unexp…

1
Molly White Knows You Don’t Understand Crypto 25:04

3M ago25:04

25:04

If you thought “DOGE” only stood for the “Department of Government Efficiency”—well, you’re not alone. The world of crypto is full of double meanings and inside jokes, making the recent arrival of these alternative currency markets—and their attendant “crypto bros”—into the seat of power in Washington all the more mystifying. Enter Molly White, a l…

1
The Legal War on Journalism 25:04

3M ago25:04

25:04

Over the past several months, Donald Trump has mounted a series of legal attacks against the media, including a libel case against ABC, an FCC investigation into CBS, and a lawsuit accusing an Iowa pollster (and the newspaper that publishes her) of “election interference.” The sometimes far-fetched claims in these cases notwithstanding, the maneuve…

1
The Kicker, the Masseuses, and the Price of Doing Sports Journalism 27:37

4M ago27:37

27:37

In January, the Baltimore Banner released an investigation into the star kicker of the Baltimore Ravens, in which multiple women accused him of sexually inappropriate behavior during massages, dating back years. (The player denies the accusations.) It was an example of a rare kind of journalism these days: hard-hitting accountability reporting on s…

1
A Warning from a Hungarian Journalist: ‘Brace Yourself for the Worst’ 26:41

4M ago26:41

26:41

András Pethő is a Hungarian journalist and a cofounder of Direkt36, an independent investigative news outlet. Over the past decade, he’s watched as the government of Viktor Orbán—the world leader whom Steve Bannon once praised as “Trump before Trump”—has systematically eroded the freedom of the press in his country, in ways that may feel familiar t…

1
CJR’s Jon Allsop on the Return of the Trump Whirlwind 32:55

5M ago32:55

32:55

Jon Allsop writes and edits The Media Today, CJR’s daily newsletter. There, he’s closely watched as the American press has struggled to respond to, and cover, the barrage of news that pours out of Donald Trump. As a frenetic new term begins, Jon joins The Kicker to share his thoughts on what the media gets wrong—and how the political press might be…

1
Coda’s Natalia Antelava on Meta, Trump, and How Journalism Can Survive 2025 30:10

5M ago30:10

30:10

Natalia Antelava spent many years as a correspondent for the BBC, before starting her own media company, Coda Story, in 2016. She’s covered wars in the Middle East and the rise of authoritarianism across Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. For the past year, she was a Knight Fellow at Stanford, where she examined how journalism might survive in an era…

1
The Unraveling of Ozy Media: Episode 3: The Verdict and the Pain 1:03:26

6M ago1:03:26

1:03:26

In the finale, Carlos Watson takes the stand—and the jury reaches a verdict. “The Unraveling of Ozy Media” is a special three-part series of The Kicker, on the trial of Carlos Watson and the excesses of the digital media age, presented by the Columbia Journalism Review. Hosted and coproduced by Josh Hersh and Susie Banikarim Produced and edited by …

1
The Unraveling of Ozy Media: Episode 2: Built on a Bluff 53:13

7M ago53:13

53:13

How inflating traffic data went mainstream in digital media—and a key witness takes the stand. “The Unraveling of Ozy Media” is a special three-part series of The Kicker, on the trial of Carlos Watson and the excesses of the digital media age, presented by the Columbia Journalism Review. Hosted and coproduced by Josh Hersh and Susie Banikarim Produ…

1
The Unraveling of Ozy Media: Episode 1: Truth and Mythmaking 42:59

7M ago42:59

42:59

Carlos Watson’s media startup arrives on the scene—and insiders reveal a dark reality under its glossy veneer. “The Unraveling of Ozy Media” is a special three-part series of The Kicker, on the trial of Carlos Watson and the excesses of the digital media age, presented by the Columbia Journalism Review. Hosted and coproduced by Josh Hersh and Susie…

1
Coming Soon: The Unraveling of Ozy Media 2:16

7M ago2:16

2:16

Starting on December 9, the Columbia Journalism Review presents a special three-part series of The Kicker: “The Unraveling of Ozy Media,” on the dramatic rise and fall of Carlos Watson, the cofounder of the digital media company Ozy. In 2023, Watson was charged with fraud after it was revealed that one of his partners had masqueraded as a YouTube e…

1
How Trump Won the Latino Vote: A Deep Dive with CJR Contributor Jack Herrera 28:29

8M ago28:29

28:29

Nearly half of all Latino voters put their support behind former president Donald Trump this week, according to exit polls—a 14 percent increase from 2020. Those results surprised many, but not Jack Herrera, who has been reporting on the shifting voting habits of Latino communities across the country for years. Herrera joins The Kicker to talk abou…

1
Martin Baron on Jeff Bezos, the Post, and the role of presidential endorsements 24:22

8M ago24:22

24:22

Martin Baron was the executive editor of the Washington Post from 2013 until his retirement, in 2021—which meant he was there for the arrival of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as owner and publisher of the paper. He’s long praised Bezos for taking a firm line against any interference with the paper’s journalism, but Bezos’s sudden decision, announced la…

1
How Trump’s team could craft ‘the narrative’ after the election: NBC’s Ryan Reilly on 2020, and the road ahead 33:21

8M ago33:21

33:21

The so-called Big Lie—that the 2020 election was stolen out from under Donald Trump—was more than just a series of individual false facts and misleading videos. It was a narrative, carefully constructed by people affiliated with the Trump campaign, and disseminated through friendly news outlets and social media channels. Four years later, that stor…

1
Hell Gate's Chris Robbins on a manic news cycle in New York 26:16

9M ago26:16

26:16

New York City is the media capital of the world, but the number of people and outlets covering the city locally has taken a hit recently. Over the past few years, the Wall Street Journal dropped its independent metro section, the New York Times announced it would stop endorsing local races, and the all-news radio station WCBS went off the air. But …

1
The power of uncomfortable ideas: Jina Moore Ngarambe on her time at Guernica 39:19

9M ago39:19

39:19

In March, the digital literary magazine Guernica published a personal essay by a British Israeli writer and translator, about her experiences in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas terror attacks. It was raw and honest and painful to read. The writer, Joanna Chen, had spent years before the attacks and subsequent war on Gaza volunteering for an or…

1
‘That’s how you run a debate!’: 9News’s Kyle Clark on holding politicians accountable 28:25

10M ago28:25

28:25

In late May, Kyle Clark went viral after he moderated a debate featuring six Republican candidates for Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District, including Rep. Lauren Boebert. He refused to allow the candidates to evade his direct questions with waffling, rambly answers, instead repeatedly cutting them off: “You didn’t make any attempt to answer th…

1
The long, destructive path of fire: Talking to Source NM’s Patrick Lohmann about a never-ending wildfire season 22:25

10M ago22:25

22:25

In early 2023, Patrick Lohmann, a reporter for the nonprofit Source NM, moved to the small town of Las Vegas, New Mexico, to learn how residents were coping with the aftermath of the largest wildfire in state history. What he learned there was that the destruction brought on by wildfires doesn’t end when the fire itself goes out. It can take years …

1
1968 all over again? Heather Hendershot and Ted Koppel on a year for the media to remember. 32:52

10M ago32:52

32:52

The Democrats are gathering in Chicago next week, and the sitting president has dropped out of the race. But as the guests on today’s podcast remind us, that doesn’t mean history is repeating itself. In 1968, Ted Koppel was just back from a tour covering the war in Vietnam, and assigned to the comparatively tame—if, as he reminds us, not without it…

1
Kamala Harris steps up: Politico’s Eugene Daniels on a wild month of news 31:06

11M ago31:06

31:06

Eugene Daniels is a White House reporter for Politico, with a special focus on Kamala Harris. That’s put him front and center for a month of news that few people in politics saw coming. On this episode of The Kicker, Daniels shares what he’s learned from nearly four years of covering the vice president, how her relationship with the press will diff…

1
Spanish-speaking journalism…in Iowa: A conversation with Lorena Lopez 30:08

11M ago30:08

30:08

Lorena Lopez came to the United States from her home country of Nicaragua, where she was an investigative reporter, in 1992. But it wasn’t until 2016 that she managed to return to her passion, as the founding editor of La Prensa, a Spanish-language newspaper serving Western Iowa. On this week’s Kicker, Lopez talks about her long journey back to jou…

1
What did we know and when? Alex Thompson on investigating Biden’s mental decline 24:11

12M ago24:11

24:11

Alex Thompson, a national political correspondent for Axios, first reported that President Biden had started wearing special sneakers, in part to reduce the risk of tripping, last fall. But until the debate last week, he was still one of a small handful of reporters who was aggressively pursuing direct evidence that Biden’s age – regular fodder for…

1
Not even a ‘no comment’: Paul Farhi on the media’s historic struggles with relevance 34:50

1y ago34:50

34:50

Paul Farhi was a media reporter for the Washington Post until the end of last year. But instead of retiring, he’s been busier than ever, chronicling the seemingly endless stream of bad news stories about the media business, for outlets like The Atlantic and here at CJR. He joins The Kicker to talk about traditional journalism’s struggles to stay re…

1
Staying “scrupulously neutral”: Steve Herman on covering the White House in the age of Trump 36:43

1y ago36:43

36:43

Steve Herman was the White House correspondent for Voice of America during the Trump administration. He joins The Kicker to talk about his new book on what it was like to cover a deeply unpredictable president—and why he believes it’s essential, even under extreme circumstances, for reporters to stay out of the political fray. This podcast is part …

1
How Israeli Journalists Cover Their Own Country 41:51

1y ago41:51

41:51

Haaretz is one of Israel’s most respected newspapers. It’s also one of the few willing to openly criticize the government for its treatment of Palestinians. The Kicker speaks with Hagar Shezaf and Omer Benjakob, two journalists with the paper, about what it’s like to do accountability journalism in Israel these days—especially in the aftermath of t…

1
Crisis at Columbia: A Conversation with Jelani Cobb 26:00

1y ago26:00

26:00

Jelani Cobb is the Dean of the Columbia Journalism School. He is also a staff writer at the New Yorker magazine. For much of the past few weeks, he has been enmeshed in Columbia University’s efforts to grapple with a protest movement on campus over the war in Gaza – one that culminated in the takeover of a building, and finally, on Tuesday, April 3…

1
'Inside Wagner': Video journalism unmasks Russia’s secretive mercenary group 41:02

1y ago41:02

41:02

This week, host Josh Hersh dives into the world of documentary news. Amel Guettatfi and Julia Steers just won the Polk Award for Inside Wagner, their hourlong Vice News documentary on the Wagner Group—Vladimir Putin’s private army of militiamen. They discuss their unprecedented access to a military training operation in the Central African Republic…

1
Josh Fine: How to Revive Investigative Sports Reporting in the Age of the Athlete 38:42

1y ago38:42

38:42

In recent years, numerous beloved sports news institutions have been shut down, or dramatically reduced their operations, while digital shows hosted by professional sportspeople, current and retired, have become ubiquitous, Meanwhile, traditional sports journalism—particularly of the type that asks uncomfortable questions of what is, ultimately, a …

1
Alissa Quart: on reimagining reporting on a recession 25:03

2y ago25:03

25:03

News of stubborn inflation, increasing unemployment, and the housing crisis dominate headlines of late. Alissa Quart is trying to improve that reportage, in content and form. Quart is the executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, which challenges traditional narratives of economic class and issues through funding original repor…

1
Svitlana Oslavska: On Documenting a War on Her Home Front 25:12

2y ago25:12

25:12

Before Russia invaded her home country, Ukrainian journalist Svitlana Oslavska was reviewing books for Krytyka, a Ukrainian magazine, and writing nonfiction books. Now, she’s documenting war crimes committed by the Russians against Ukrainians for the Reckoning Project. Since joining the Project, Oslavska’s reporting serves two purposes — to provide…

1
How Authoritarians Erase the Past 37:10

2y ago37:10

37:10

The Columbia Journalism Review recently invited journalists, academics, and experts to convene at a conference called "FaultLines: Democracy." In this episode, taped at the FaultLines conference, Masha Gessen, of The New Yorker; Jodie Ginseberg, president of the Committee to Protect Journalists; and Sheila Coronel, an expert in global investigative…

1
Hearts and Minds Media 33:57

2y ago33:57

33:57

For decades, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have broadcast into countries all over, in dozens of languages. Yet in some places where the United States has invested the most soft power, authoritarianism has only gotten stronger—and journalists remain at risk. That may be especially true in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s takeov…

1
Feven Merid: On Jacaranda Nigeria Limited 19:40

2+ y ago19:40

19:40

In 1982, about twenty Black journalists quit their jobs at American networks, banded together under the name Jacaranda Nigeria Limited, and flew to Nigeria, where they would work under the country’s newly elected president to revamp a state-funded journalism network. On today’s episode of the Kicker, Feven Merid, a Columbia Journalism Review staff …

1
Jeff Gerth on the press versus the president 18:42

2+ y ago18:42

18:42

Last week, the Columbia Journalism Review published a four-part investigation into the media’s fraught relationship with Donald Trump. In this episode of the Kicker, Jeff Gerth, who authored the report, talks to Kyle Pope, CJR’s editor and publisher, about the origin of the investigation and the intense responses to it, with which Gerth admits he i…

1
FT's Rana Foroohar: What the Davos Crowd Doesn't See 26:27

2+ y ago26:27

26:27

After two decades of attending the World Economic Forum's annual gathering of business elites in Davos, Rana Foroohar, associate editor of the Financial Times, stayed back this year. In this week’s episode of The Kicker, Foroohar tells Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review, why the annual meet-up of global technocrats im…

1
Jon Allsop Returns. Plus, What We’re Watching in 2023 32:03

2+ y ago32:03

32:03

At the start of January, Jon Allsop, chief writer of Columbia Journalism Review’s newsletter, The Media Today, tuned back into the news after a two-month hiatus. On this week’s Kicker, Allsop discusses what he found upon his return: a “ghostland” of a Twitter feed and a keen awareness of the “trivial” nature of the news cycle. In conversation with …

1
The Tow Center’s Emily Bell: Musk’s Twitter is “openly hostile” to journalists. What should we do? 22:36

2+ y ago22:36

22:36

Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter has inspired news headlines once unimaginable (see New York Magazine's "Elon Musk is Selling Off Twitter’s Cafeteria and Furniture"). It has also created serious problems for journalists who rely on the platform for developing sources, finding stories, and driving readership. It’s not safe to do journalistic busines…

1
Introducing Red Pen: A Grammar Podcast 3:58

2+ y ago3:58

3:58

Welcome to the weird, wild, scintillatingly stylish, and syntactically sound world of RED PEN—the grammar podcast that won't put you to sleep. Brought to you by the Columbia Journalism Review and hosted by old buds Ryan Davis and Mike Laws, RED PEN plucks examples from the news (as well as from novels, music, movies—wherever!) to answer all those q…

1
The Guardian’s David Smith: Covering a new chapter of Trump 26:33

2+ y ago26:33

26:33

Writing for The Guardian last week, Washington bureau chief David Smith recalled that Donald Trump, announcing his run for presidency at Mar-a-Lago, appeared an “ousted dictator, drained of power and surrounded by a dwindling band of loyalists in his last redoubt.” Many in the media similarly reported a lackluster atmosphere and an uninspired Trump…

1
Ross Barkan’s Notes on Election Coverage: Form, Function, and the Future 29:24

2+ y ago29:24

29:24

On today’s Kicker, what the media got right and wrong in the 2022 midterm election. Ross Barkan, a politics reporter for New York magazine, The Nation and more talks with CJR’s editor and publisher Kyle Pope about the media’s penchant for speculation in divisive elections.Also in the discussion: how the media grapples with writing about a democracy…

1
Bill Keller: On covering the ‘freedom’ beat – prisons and Russia 21:32

2+ y ago21:32

21:32

Reporting from Moscow in the final years of the Cold War, Bill Keller witnessed the Soviet Union “fall apart like Humpty Dumpty.” On this week’s Kicker, Keller says Vladimir Putin is trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again – evoking international anxieties from the past. Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review, ask…

1
Nic Haque on Climate Change: 'I became a journalist because of this.' 19:57

2+ y ago19:57

19:57

Just as Europeans prepare for winter amid rising gas prices – calling upon their old ties to gas-rich African countries – a colonial-era island off the coast of Senegal erodes into the rising sea. Both these stories, discussed on this week’s Kicker with Nic Haque, a reporter for Al Jazeera, underscore the urgency of the climate crises that journali…

1
Rebecca Traister: Abortion, a case study in media disinterest 26:39

3y ago26:39

26:39

On this week’s Kicker, Rebecca Traister, a writer-at-large for New York Magazine and the Cut, and the author of “Good and Mad,” a book about the history and political power of women’s anger, sits down with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR. They discuss why the press seemed only willing to cover “medically chilling” abortion stories, and how t…

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