Best Media Sudies Podcasts (2024)

1
Teaching Peace Journalism in Lebanon 33:56

2h ago33:56

33:56

Vanessa Bassil is the founder and president of the Media Association for Peace, and has personally trained journalists and journalism students in Lebanon and other countries in the Middle East. She is currently in graduate school at the University of Bonn in Germany, working towards a PhD in Peace Journalism. Peace Journalism, the guiding practice …

1
Making Peace “Possible” with William Ury 47:20

11d ago47:20

47:20

William Ury is one of the world’s most influential peacebuilders and experts on negotiation. He advised Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos in the lead up to that country's historic 2016 peace agreement with the FARC, and played a key role in de-escalating nuclear tensions between the U.S. and North Korea in 2017. Getting to Yes, which Ury co-wr…

1
Tales of Tibetan resilience and resistance in exile 35:53

26d ago35:53

35:53

When India-based reporter Amy Yee got a call from her editor to cover a press conference with the Dalai Lama, she stopped what she was doing and booked the next flight. She was headed for Dharamsala, where the Buddhist leader and thousands of Tibetan refugees make their home. It was March 2008, and the Dalai Lama was responding to violence in Tibet…

1
Decoding dehumanization in the brain 36:54

1M ago36:54

36:54

“Humans are not rational beings with emotions. In fact, we're just the opposite. We're emotionally based beings who can only think rationally when we feel that our identities, as we see them, are understood and valued by others.” Those words from neuroscientist Bob Deutch triggered a lightbulb moment in the mind of Tim Phillips, a veteran peacebuil…

1
Understanding intergenerational trauma in Israel/Palestine 32:53

2M ago32:53

32:53

Intergenerational trauma, also called historical trauma, is defined as cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma experiences. The brutal October 7th attacks by Hamas inside of Israel, and the IDF’s seemingly relentless assault on Gaza have captured the world’s atten…

1
Trailer 2:13

2M ago2:13

2:13

In the news media, war gets more headlines than peace, conflict more airtime than reconciliation. And in our polarized world, reporting on conflict in a way that frames conflicts as us vs. them, good vs. evil often serves to dig us in deeper. On Making Peace Visible, we speak with journalists and peacebuilders who help us understand the human side …

1
In search of good conflict 32:17

2M ago32:17

32:17

After over two decades as a journalist, including ten years covering terrorism and disasters for TIME Magazine, Amanda Ripley thought she understood conflict. But when momentum started to build around the candidacy of Donald Trump, she questioned what she thought she knew. Ripley interviewed psychologists, mediators, and people who had made it out …

1
Reporting from Iran with a bias towards peace 36:07

3M ago36:07

36:07

We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show! Reza Sayah is an Iranian-American journalist, currently based in Tehran. He’s reported on major events around the world including the Ukrainian Revolution of 2004, the Second Iraq War, and the Egyptian Revolution. Reza has spent much of his career work…

1
Refugees and immigration: what’s missing from the narrative 32:33

3M ago32:33

32:33

As of May 2023, there were an estimated 110 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Many are escaping wars, gang violence or repressive regimes, others are fleeing climate change impacts. Some are leaving collapsed economies where they can’t feed their families. How journalists cover refugees…

1
Telling murder stories differently 22:17

4M ago22:17

22:17

On Making Peace Visible, we are always questioning the mantra, if it bleeds, it leads. Boston’s Charles Stuart murder case is a classic example of what can go horribly wrong when you follow that mantra. Charles Stuart was a father-to-be from the suburbs of Boston. Shortly after attending a birthing class in the city with his wife, Carol, Charles St…

1
Why we make this show: An interview with Jamil Simon 32:29

4M ago32:29

32:29

In this episode we’re featuring a recent interview with our host, documentary filmmaker and lifelong peace activist Jamil Simon on This is My Silver Lining, a podcast about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, with an emphasis on life’s unexpected twists. Jamil has certainly had plenty of those. In 1990 he took a job in Tunisia designing com…

1
All the peace we cannot see 36:31

5M ago36:31

36:31

Making Peace Visible is a show about how the media covers peace and conflict. One of the major reasons we make it is because peace gets so little coverage in the news media. When we do hear news about peace, it's usually focused on signing an agreement. When that’s done, the cameras, and the world's attention move on. But that handshake moment is j…

1
Democracy Works: Between Democracy and Autocracy 31:40

5M ago31:40

31:40

Between democracy and autocracy is an anocracy, defined by political scientists as a country that has elements of both forms of government — usually one that’s on the way up to becoming a full democracy or on the way down to full autocracy. This messy middle is the state when civil wars are most likely to start, and the one that requires the most d…

1
Unmasking American myths about war and the military 36:01

6M ago36:01

36:01

In the United States, about one sixth of the federal budget goes to defense. This year the country spent more on the military than any year since 2001 – over $816 billion. Why does spending continue to rise in the wake of US withdrawal from Afghanistan? Why are many Americans so passive in the face of the massive expenditures for defense that crowd…

1
Storytelling with equal-opportunity empathy 34:01

6M ago34:01

34:01

Trey Kay knows both sides of America's partisan divide intimately. He was born and raised in a conservative family in Charleston, West Virginia. As a young man he moved to New York City, where he later became a producer on the arts and culture program Studio 360, at WNYC. These days, Trey splits his time between New York and West Virginia to make U…

1
In Modi's India, journalists must toe the line or risk jail time 36:42

7M ago36:42

36:42

Western media has often referred to India as the world’s largest democracy. But during the last decade, the world has witnessed the decline of many democratic institutions in India. In a recent Time Magazine article our guest Suchitra Vijayan questions whether India can still be called a democracy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government ha…

1
How do we design for peace? 25:10

7M ago25:10

25:10

On Making Peace Visible we usually focus on stories -- narratives about peace and conflict that are told in the news, on social media, and shared in our collective zeitgeist. We’ve seen examples of how storytelling can both stoke the fire of war and encourage peaceful dialogue. In this episode, we look at a different, but related way of creating sp…

1
Un-embedding Western narratives about Afghanistan 32:40

8M ago32:40

32:40

One way to cover war is to follow the road offered by the dominant army. In Afghanistan, that often meant journalists were embedded with U.S. or NATO troops, and saw the war and the world around it through their eyes. Guest Bette Dam is a Dutch journalist who covered the war in Afghanistan for 15 years. She began her coverage in 2006, embedded with…

1
Inside comms strategy at the world's largest peacebuilding NGO 32:00

8M ago32:00

32:00

We talk a lot on this show about the reasons why peace and conflict resolution aren’t more visible in the news media and our public conversation. Our past guests have presented a variety of explanations: TV news segments are too short to talk about much beyond dramatic events, like battles and coups. For-profit media doesn't cover peace efforts bec…

1
Spotlight Colombia: Moving forward with wounds still fresh 35:48

8M ago35:48

35:48

If you're interested in learning about how peace gets made and unmade and then remade, Colombia is an amazing laboratory. Guest Elizabeth Dickinson is a senior analyst with the Crisis Group in Colombia. Dickinson spends her days in discussion with communities most affected by the civil war, as well as former FARC members. She and her colleagues use…

1
Spotlight Colombia: After demilitarization, a new narrative 28:09

9M ago28:09

28:09

After the peace agreement their leaders signed with the Colombian government in September 2016, members of the FARC guerilla group began turning in their weapons to the UN. In exchange, rank-and-file members received amnesty for acts of violence they committed during the country’s long civil war. They could leave their jungle encampments and rejoin…

1
Spotlight Colombia: Behind the scenes of making peace 27:23

10M ago27:23

27:23

A main premise of our podcast is that peace efforts are invisible in the mainstream media, or certainly not visible enough. But one place that has grabbed at least some of the world’s attention, is the peace process in Colombia. In 2016, after repeated failed negotiations, the FARC guerilla organization finally signed a peace deal with the governme…

1
Journalism as a brave space to talk about race 28:48

10M ago28:48

28:48

“The one embedded bias that we definitely have when we get up every day to cover the news anew is that we're biased for democracy. Let's just admit that. So if you're biased for democracy, then you have to be biased for racial justice, because racial justice is embedded in the democratic promise.” - Deborah Douglas Some of the most polarized debate…

1
When covering the Holy Land, hope is in the details 38:58

11M ago38:58

38:58

Our guest this episode, Daniel Estrin, is an international correspondent for NPR based in Jerusalem. There is a human element present throughout Daniel Estrin’s body of work that places listeners in the shoes of ordinary Palestinians and Israelis. Fluent in both Hebrew and Arabic and having lived in the region for over fifteen years, Daniel has a k…

1
Covering civil resistance amidst rising authoritarianism 34:06

11M ago34:06

34:06

In the mainstream news, we might not hear much about a political movement in America, or in another country, unless it “turns violent.” Building an effective protest movement takes planning, a shared commitment and coordination, and most movements are explicitly nonviolent. In fact, it’s often people unaffiliated with movements who are responsible …

1
Peace messaging: Fighting crisis fatigue with hope 25:20

11M ago25:20

25:20

“Weapons and war do not keep us safe. Instead, we should put our money and time into programs that ensure real safety and security for everyone, like affordable health care, a just judicial system, and economic opportunities.” Americans were asked if they agree or disagree with the above statement in a 2022 poll conducted by the American Friends Se…

1
How news media shortchanges nonviolent resistance 32:28

1y ago32:28

32:28

The right to peaceful protest is considered fundamental in democracies around the world. Nonviolent protest movements, like the Gandhian movement for independence in India or The Civil Rights Movement in the United States are celebrated in history books. Yet if you go looking for coverage of nonviolent protest in the news media, most of the time yo…

1
Against the tide: tech for social cohesion 29:26

1y ago29:26

29:26

It’s no secret that digital technology, in particular social media, stokes division in society and sometimes provokes violent conflict. Toxic polarization prevents us from solving problems, from making decisions together, from being constructive in our approach. In In this episode, we’ll explore the dangers of social media, but we’ll also talk abou…

1
Iraq 20 years later – what was the media’s role? 33:40

1y ago33:40

33:40

Today, most agree that the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the war that followed was a major misstep. But in the leadup to the invasion and early months of the conflict, a majority of Americans, as well as our media and political leaders, stood in favor. What happened? Guest Babak Bahador is a scholar who studies the relationship between peace, conflict,…

1
REPLAY: Building peace on a walk through the Middle East 34:39

1y ago34:39

34:39

Herds of goats, pomegranate trees in bloom, and ancient architecture are just some of the things you might witness while walking The Abraham Path, a collection of walking trails established in the past fifteen years through parts of Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq. But the trail is also engineered for human experiences. Connectin…

1
Peace has a PR problem. How do we fix it? 31:26

1y ago31:26

31:26

This episode gets to the heart of what our project, War Stories Peace Stories, is all about: How do you talk about peacebuilding in a way where people will pay attention and feel compelled to take action? Our guest Elizabeth Hume is Executive Director of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, the umbrella organization for NGOs working on conflict resoluti…

1
Podcasting for a free Ukraine 33:37

1y ago33:37

33:37

What does it mean to be Ukrainian? What is Ukraine’s significance to Europe? What is the war with Russia really about? Why should the world pay attention? These are the kind of big-picture questions journalists Anastasiia Lapatina and Jakub Parusinksi tackle on their podcast, Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World. Jakub and Anastasiia (aka Nastya)…

1
From Ukraine, war reporting that feels personal 32:25

1y ago32:25

32:25

Photographer Anastasia Taylor-Lind and writer Alisa Sopova create intimate, accessible portraits of Ukrainian civilians living close to the frontlines of the Russian invasion. Sometimes their subjects are picnicking in a park or tending a garden. Other times, they’re repairing a ceiling damaged by shelling or waiting for departure on an evacuation …

1
Solutions Journalism: news beyond problems 31:03

1+ y ago31:03

31:03

Whether you get your news from social media, read an email digest from a trusted website, turn on the TV, or open up a newspaper, the world through the lens of the news media can feel like a pretty depressing place. But according to our guest, Solutions Journalism Network co-founder David Bornstein, that’s a distorted view of reality. Solutions Jou…

1
Why peace stories rarely make the nightly news 25:50

1+ y ago25:50

25:50

Paul Solman, a business, economics, and occasional arts reporter for the PBS NewsHour since 1985, is passionate about bridging the political and cultural divides that Americans face – between right and left, rich and poor, rural and urban, and others. He channels some of that passion into helping run a nonprofit called the American Exchange Project…

1
Ending toxic polarization starts with you 32:12

1+ y ago32:12

32:12

If you’re listening to this podcast, you’re probably concerned by the level of polarization we’re seeing in societies around the world. We can point fingers at social media, the news media, political parties, fear mongering leaders, poor education, broken political systems… the list is long. The divides can seem so vast, the problems so huge. It’s …

1
REPLAY: Decolonizing international journalism 36:47

1+ y ago36:47

36:47

Our guest this episode has some advice for international journalists working abroad: "If you work with local journalists, give them a byline - they're not your free fixers. The security of locals is more important than any story. And YOU, international journalist, you are not the story." And she would know. Award-winning journalist and communicatio…

1
Kitchen coexistence in a film about Middle Eastern food 30:17

1+ y ago30:17

30:17

Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel is on a mission to bring about social change through food. A Palestinian Israeli citizen who operates in both Arab and Jewish cultures, she says “being stuck in the middle is the best place to be.” After winning the Israeli cooking competition show MasterChef– the first Muslim Arab to do so– she founded an annual food festiva…

1
Illuminating Ethiopia's hidden war 29:40

1+ y ago29:40

29:40

In the news media, war receives more attention than peace. But some wars get more attention than others. From November 2020 to November 2022, a civil war bloodier than Russia's war in Ukraine was fought in Tigray, a region in northern Ethiopia. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost, and millions were displaced. Yet depending on where you get you…

1
Dignity: a new way to look at conflict 34:30

1+ y ago34:30

34:30

“Understanding Dignity means understanding a profound aspect of what it means to be human.” - Dr. Donna Hicks Guest Donna Hicks has worked in conflict resolution around the world, including Israel/Palestine, Sri Lanka, and Northern Ireland. A few years back, she realized that all conflicts shared an essential commonality: someone’s dignity had been…

1
Peace Journalism: at least don't make matters worse 33:53

1+ y ago33:53

33:53

On Making Peace Visible, we cover national peace processes like the one unfolding in Colombia. But we also interview journalists who’ve made their careers covering violent conflict. So what’s the connecting thread? This episode gets at that question– looking through the lens of the practice of Peace Journalism. Guest Steven Youngblood is a professo…

1
A reporter’s view from Tehran 39:01

1+ y ago39:01

39:01

On September 16, 2022, a twenty-two year old Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini died in police custody. The Tehran police said she was arrested for not wearing her headscarf properly. A few days after the arrest, a photo surfaced of Amini in a hospital bed. The police claim she died suddenly of a heart problem, but many Iranians believe she was beaten…

1
Film as a catalyst for reconciliation 32:55

1+ y ago32:55

32:55

Imagine living next door to a person who murdered your father, raped your sister, or even killed your child. This was the case for many people in Sierra Leone who endured a brutal civil war from 1991 to 2002: the majority of the 50,000 who died were those killed by their own neighbors. While working with a program that facilitates ritual reconcilia…

1
A new opening for peace in Colombia 28:23

1+ y ago28:23

28:23

Five years ago, the government of Colombia signed a historic peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, putting an end to a fifty-year civil war. The agreement allowed FARC members to turn in their weapons and begin to live as civilians. The Colombian Truth Commission was established to shed light on decades of…

1
Decolonizing international journalism 36:47

2y ago36:47

36:47

Our guest this episode has some advice for international journalists working abroad: "If you work with local journalists, give them a byline - they're not your free fixers. The security of locals is more important than any story. And YOU, international journalist, you are not the story." And she would know. Award-winning journalist and communicatio…

1
A bias towards peace 35:19

2y ago35:19

35:19

Reza Sayah is an Iranian-American journalist, currently based in Tehran. He’s reported on major events around the world including the Ukrainian Revolution of 2004, the Second Iraq War, and the Egyptian Revolution. Reza has spent much of his career working for major broadcast news networks including ABC, CNN, and Al Jazeera. In those roles, he’s had…

1
Rethinking the way we cover conflict 32:37

2y ago32:37

32:37

After over two decades as a journalist, including ten years covering terrorism and disasters for TIME Magazine, Amanda Ripley thought she understood conflict. But when momentum started to build around the candidacy of Donald Trump, she questioned what she thought she knew. Ripley interviewed psychologists, mediators, and people who had made it out …

1
Building peace on a walk through the Middle East 35:38

2y ago35:38

35:38

Herds of goats, pomegranate trees in bloom, and ancient architecture are just some of the things you might witness while walking The Abraham Path, a collection of walking trails established in the past fifteen years through parts of Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq. But the trail is also engineered for human experiences. Connectin…

1
A filmmaker’s perspective on the Colombian peace process 26:47

2y ago26:47

26:47

When Colombian filmmaker Juan Carlos Borerro worked on films or TV shows in the countryside as a young man, the crew would have to stop shooting and run from the FARC when the guerillas came near. Everyone he knew had a family member who had been kidnapped or killed, and he never thought he would live to see an end to the war in his country. So whe…

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