President Donald Trump has signed dozens of executive orders since returning to office. On this week’s On the Media, how the directives are butting heads with existing laws. Plus, what the DeepSeek saga reveals about American A.I.

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Dahlia Lithwick, a senior editor at Slate and host of the podcast Amicus, to discuss Donald Trump’s attempt to freeze billions of dollars in federal funding, the legality of the president’s litany of executive orders, and how political paralysis is the point.

[21:00] Brooke speaks with Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast and author of the newsletter Where’s Your Ed At on how the release of a new Chinese AI chatbot model, DeepSeek-R1, threatens to burst the American A.I. bubble, and how tech moguls have gotten away with overhyping A.I. for years.

[38:14] Brooke continues the conversation with Ed Zitron, peeling back the facade to explore what generative A.I. can actually do.

Further reading:

• “How Will the Supreme Court Respond to Trump’s Budget-Freeze Power Grab?” by Dahlia Lithwick
• “Trump’s First Flurry of Executive Orders Plagued by a Surprising Problem,” by Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern
• “Deep Impact,” by Ed Zitron
• “Godot Isn't Making it,” by Ed Zitron
• “Bubble Trouble,” by Ed Zitron

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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

When OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022, all the big tech firms were clamoring to make their own versions of the “intelligent” chatbot. Billions of dollars have been thrown into the technology – training the models, creating more advanced computer chips, building data centers. But last week, a Chinese artificial intelligence company called DeepSeek released a generative AI model that is not only competitive with the latest version of OpenAI’s model, but it was done cheaper, in less time, and with less advanced hardware. For this midweek podcast extra, host Brooke Gladstone sat down with Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast and writer of the newsletter “Where’s your Ed at,” to talk about how this new Chinese AI model threatens to burst the American tech AI bubble.

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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

President Donald Trump’s second term began with a flurry of executive orders and press. On this week’s On the Media, how to navigate the onslaught of news. Plus, executives at major outlets are telling reporters to tone down coverage of the new administration. And, what we can learn about Trump by looking at the legacy of his favorite president, William McKinley.

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone on the flood of executive orders emerging from President Trump’s return to the Oval Office, and how the chaos is the point. Plus, host Micah Loewinger explores the role of fear in stymying action and understanding.

[18:55] Micah Loewinger speaks with Oliver Darcy, author of the newsletter Status and former CNN media reporter, on how media execs are instructing reporters to tone down their Trump coverage, and how current political journalism compares to that of four years ago.

[34:21] Brooke Gladstone speaks with Chris Lehmann, the DC Bureau chief for The Nation and a contributing editor at The Baffler, on what we can learn from President Donald Trump's role model, President William McKinley.

Further reading:

• “What ‘Mass Deportation’ Actually Means,” by Dara Lind
• “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” by Oliver Darcy
• “Donald Trump Is Building a Bridge to 1896,” by Chris Lehmann

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, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.