On the Media

As results from the midterm elections continue flooding in, for the midweek podcast, we're taking a close look at the social media machinery behind incumbent left-wing Lula da Silva’s dramatic, nail-biting win against Flavio Bolsonaro in Brazil in late October. During the second round of voting on October 25th, da Silva earned 10 million more votes than he had in the first round, a stunning first in modern Brazilian history. In the aftermath of the victory, Adam Bumas, the Head of Research and Associate Editor at the independent news site Garbage Day, wrote a recent piece about how a social media strategy called "gamification," which is usually deployed by the far-right, may have boosted da Silva to victory. Host Micah Loewinger speaks to Bumas about the extremely online Brazilian congressman who pitched the strategy to da Silva, and how a "perfect storm" of factors led to the explosion of a WhatsApp group called "Lula's Army," which ended up exerting enormous influence on the election.



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With midterm elections around the corner, conspiracy theories have been planted to sow doubt in the results. On this week’s On the Media, a breakdown of what election rumors to expect on and after Election Day. Plus, how polling fraudsters are threatening trust in public opinion research.
[00:00] Micah sits down with Kate Starbird, co-founder of the Center for An Informed Public at the University of Washington, to sort through the rumors swirling in the final week of midterm election campaigns.
[16:16] Brooke chats with Mary Radcliffe, head of research at Fifty Plus One, about three fraudulent pollsters she helped catch this year, and how they muddy the waters for critical work that informs our democracy.
[30:27] Brooke speaks with Koleman Strumpf, professor of economics at Wake Forest University, about the history of betting on elections and what lessons carry forward to today.

Further reading / watching:
“Spot the Lie: 6 Moves of “Rigged Election” Rumors,” by The Center for an Informed Public
“What to Know About Election Forecasting and Prediction Markets This November,” by The Center for an Informed Public
“A Tale of Two Sullivans: Rumors Around a Department of Justice Lawsuit in Alaska,” by The Center for an Informed Public
“FiftyPlusOne just caught a pollster faking data — and they copped to it,” by Mary Radcliffe, G. Elliott Morris, Cooper Burton, and FiftyPlusOne
“Historical Presidential Betting Markets,” by Paul Rhode and Koleman Strumpf

On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

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Maria Ressa, journalist, professor at Columbia University, CEO of the press outlet Rappler, and the author of "Fight Back; A Citizen's Guide To Standing Up To Dictators," talks with WNYC host, Brian Lehrer about the role of the press and individuals in maintaining democracy, especially in this age of AI.

On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

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With control of Congress at stake, the 2026 midterm campaigns are on track to spend an all-time record sum on this election cycle. On this week’s On the Media, how political ads are resonating, and misfiring. Plus, a look at the changing relationships between public radio stations and universities after the defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
[00:00] Micah speaks with Marisa Kabas, founder of the independent news site The Handbasket, about her scoop that revealed the identity of the man who attempted to heckle Democratic senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a campaign rally last week. She discusses how El-Sayed used this exchange for his own campaign’s gain. Plus, the aftermath of a viral, widely-panned ad deployed by Vivek Ramaswamy in the Ohio gubernatorial race.
[00:00] Brooke and Micah analyze the flood of political campaign ads in the lead-up to the midterm elections, with the help of Washington Post data reporter Lydia Sidhom, who reviewed $1.6 billion of campaign ads from the highest profile congressional and gubernatorial races. They look at the five issues that candidates and PACs spent the most money highlighting—including the economy and corruption—and review what seems to be sticking for voters, and what doesn’t.
[00:00] Brooke sits down with Lucy Schiller, journalist and assistant professor of nonfiction writing at Grinnell College, to talk about her recent article examining universities struggling to adhere to the Trump administration's policies while supporting their licensed public radio stations. Then, Brooke speaks with Will Dahlberg, former general manager at WBHM in Birmingham, Alabama, about what led him to leave his station.

Further reading / watching:
“'Tommy' from viral El-Sayed video is former Sen. Hawley staffer with Christian nationalist ties,” by Marisa Kabas
“We reviewed $1.6 billion of campaign ads. Here are the takeaways,” by Luke Connors, Lydia Sidhom and Laura Beveridge
“‘All They’re Going to Hear Is Capitulation’,” by Lucy Schiller



On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

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OTM producer Molly Rosen has been on a mission to find out what technology her two-year-old kid will confront when he’s old enough to go to school. Today, big tech companies permeate schools, from the Google Chromebooks that most students are using, to the apps and software that schools run on, to the computer science courses that students and teachers are taking. To understand the decades-long campaign that got so much tech into schools, Molly spoke to Natasha Singer, who covered tech in schools for The New York Times for more than a decade. She lays out the history of how big tech got into schools in her new book, Coding Kids: Big Tech’s Battle to Remake Public Schools.



On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

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