Episodes

  • Makena Kelly

    Makena Kelly
    Feb 18 2025
    Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with senior WIRED reporter Makena Kelly on Elon Musk's DOGE, its extremely young and controversial team, and this concerning intersection of tech and politics in Washington. She also touches on the 'contentification' of the Trump White House and why she thinks Democrats need to lean further into new media. In the second half of the episode, Aidan talks with MSNBC producer Dan Wolfman about a new film he co-wrote that is currently working its way through the festival circuit.
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    50 mins
  • Peter Baker

    Peter Baker
    Feb 10 2025
    Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, about Trump's 'fast and furious' first weeks in office, the differences between Trump 1.0 and 2.0, and his 'volatile and provocative' proposal to take over Gaza and relocate two million Palestinians. They also speak about the pros and cons of today's information ecosystem and how it lends itself to Trump's "flood the zone" effect. In the second half of the episode, Aidan speaks with Mediaite's senior media reporter, Diana Falzone, about Trump's cabinet nominees and what's next for them.
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    50 mins
  • Jim VandeHei

    Jim VandeHei
    Feb 3 2025
    Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with the CEO and co-founder of Axios, Jim VandeHei, about Trump's wild first week, his optimistic take on the future of journalism amidst a fragmenting media industry, and disabusing ourselves of the idea that legacy media is the gatekeeper, without falling victim to Elon Musk's smear-campaign against it. In the second half of the episode, Aidan speaks with Mediaite founding editor Colby Hall about the first White House press briefing.
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    50 mins
  • Ryan J. Reilly

    Ryan J. Reilly
    Jan 27 2025
    Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Ryan J. Reilly, who covers the Justice Department and federal law enforcement for NBC News— he's been as tuned into the fallout of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol as anyone. His conversation on Press Club comes just after President Trump, on his first day in office, issued sweeping pardons to more than 1,500 individuals arrested in the Jan. 6 riots— people Reilly has been closely watching since 2021. He speaks on the astounding manipulation of public perception on Jan. 6 by Trump and his supporters, how Jan. 6 "broke the U.S. Justice System", and if he believes Trump will face any real consequences. In the second half of the episode, Mediaite founding editor Colby Hall speaks with Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy about his coverage of the Biden White House, and how he plans to cover Trump.
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    50 mins
  • Patrick Radden Keefe

    Patrick Radden Keefe
    Jan 19 2025
    Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with New Yorker staff writer, author, and executive producer Patrick Radden Keefe about his reporting process— "90% reporting and 10% writing— and FX's recent adaptation of his 2018 book, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. They also speak about his career path, his ability to tell large stories through deep dives on characters, and what's next for journalists under this next Trump administration. In the second half of the episode, Aidan speaks with founding Mediaite editor Colby Hall about the current state of the cable news industry.
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    50 mins
  • Nicholas Carlson

    Nicholas Carlson
    Jan 11 2025
    Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with former Business Insider top editor Nicholas Carlson about his departure from the news outlet and his new venture: a video media start-up called Dynamo. They also discuss a troublesome challenge that has emerged for publishers in recent years, one that Carlson faced frequently at Business Insider: extraordinarily wealthy people using lawsuits to silence reporting they don’t like. One of those figures, the hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, went on a frenzied crusade against a reporting accusing his wife of plagiarism — a crusade that put Carlson's job in jeopardy. Carlson speaks about why he really left Business Insider, what he plans to do with Dynamo, and the future of the digital media business.
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    50 mins
  • Patrick Bet-David

    Patrick Bet-David
    Jan 6 2025
    Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with businessman and conservative podcaster Patrick Bet-David, who has amassed millions of subscribers on YouTube and other social platforms with his interviews of key figures in politics and culture— including Donald Trump who came on Bet-David's show this summer per a request from his son, Barron. They talk about the age of 'podcast elections', whether he sees any hope for the future of the traditional media, and what the next four years will look like as Trump prepares to move into the White House.
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    50 mins
  • Dan Abrams

    Dan Abrams
    Dec 23 2024
    Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks to Mediaite founder and CEO Dan Abrams about his recent decision to end his NewsNation show, our increasingly polarized and fractured media industry, and what Kash Patel and ABC's $15 million settlement signal about Trump's upcoming second term. This episode was produced by Brandon Reschke and Kathryn Wilkens.
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    50 mins