Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Stephen Gutowski, founder of The Reload, about the state of gun violence and gun control in the country. They discuss his new gig at CNN, what’s going on at the NRA, and what the media gets wrong when it covers firearms.
Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with New York Times writer-at-large Jim Rutenberg about the vast media empire of Rupert Murdoch. Rutenberg is the co-author of an extensive Times investigation into the Murdoch family that was published in 2019. That report was turned into a documentary — "The Murdochs: Empire of Influence" — for which Rutenberg served as consulting producer and is now airing Sundays at 9 p.m. on CNN. McLaughlin and Rutenberg discuss the future of the Murdoch empire, how t...
Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Margaret Sullivan, the veteran journalist who, until August, served as media columnist for the Washington Post. Before joining The Post, she was the public editor of the New York Times and before that the top editor of the Buffalo News. McLaughlin and Sullivan discuss how media covers threats to democracy, the power of Fox News, CNN's new path, and drama plaguing major outlets like the Post and the Times. Sullivan is out with a new book in October, “N...
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Cody Keenan, chief speechwriter to President Barack Obama during his second term in office, about his new book. "Grace: President Obama And Ten Days In The Battle For America" recounts 10 days in 2015, a shocking period of tragedy and progress that started with the horrific mass shooting at a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina and ended with the Supreme Court upholding marriage equality and much of the Affordable Care Act. McLaughlin ...
Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with CNN anchor Kate Bolduan, host of 11 a.m. show "At This Hour." They discuss her extraordinary career and her 15 years at CNN. Bolduan joined the network at 24, and within five years she was named the co-host of "New Day" — making her the youngest morning show host on television. In the years since she has interviewed presidents and reported from war zones. McLaughlin and Bolduan talk about her career and the radical changes happening within CNN.
Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Jake Adelstein, an American journalist who covered crime in Tokyo for more than a decade. His book "Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan" inspired the hit HBO show starring Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe. McLaughing and Adelstein discuss the life of a reporter in Tokyo, covering the yakuza, and how the HBO show came together.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Axios co-founder and top editor Mike Allen about the $525 million sale of his business to Cox Media. Allen catapulted to fame as the cheerful insider behind Politico Playbook, the early morning newsletter that established itself as a must-read for political obsessives inside the beltway and beyond. After leaving Politico, Allen co-founded Axios in 2017, and the site went from an upstart outlet with a focus on "smart brevity" reporting to a sp...
Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with legendary media reporter and New Yorker writer Ken Auletta about his new book on the life, downfall and imprisonment of Harvey Weinstein, "Hollywood Ending." Auletta discusses his 2002 profile that almost exposed the movie mogul, how Hollywood and the media helped him conceal his crimes for so long, the NBC News-Ronan Farrow row, and the eventual reporting and prosecution that brought Harvey Weinstein down.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Kate Snow, the Emmy Award-winning journalist who now serves as NBC News Senior National Correspondent and anchor of the Sunday broadcast of Nightly News. Snow spent last Saturday night in Chicago for an extraordinary report in which she and three other NBC correspondents witnessed one night of gun violence in four American cities. The feature, which aired for 14 minutes on Nightly News, tackled the gun violence crisis from the perspective of ...
Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Alex Holder, the British filmmaker behind perhaps the most anticipated political documentary of the year. "Unprecedented," examines the final months of Donald Trump’s presidency, featuring shocking footage of the January 6th attack on the Capitol and interviews with Trump and his inner circle. Raw footage from the doc was subpoenaed and cited heavily in the January 6 House select committee hearings. McLaughlin and Holder discuss those hearings, how he...
Andrew McCarthy, Fox News contributor, National Review editor and former federal prosecutor, returns to The Interview to speak with Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin about the bombshell Jan. 6 hearings and whether former President Donald Trump will face criminal charges.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Cenk Uygur, the host of The Young Turks and founder and CEO of the TYT network, for the 20th anniversary of his show. They discuss how media has changed in the last two decades, whether progressives are welcome on cable news, how online platforms like YouTube handle speech, and what he makes of newsroom revolts shaking outlets like the Washington Post.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Kellyanne Conway, who served as senior counselor to former President Donald Trump and ran his successful 2016 campaign, about her new memoir, "Here’s the Deal." McLaughlin and Conway discuss her time in the Trump administration, leaking and backbiting in his White House, the myth that the 2020 election was stolen, the Jan 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol, and living with George Conway.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Mark Esper, who served as secretary of defense under former President Donald Trump and is now out with a new book, ‘A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times.’ Esper discusses serving during the alarming final months of the Trump presidency and what he fears most about a second Trump term.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Kara Swisher, the New York Times writer and host of ‘Sway’, about Elon Musk’s dramatic bid to take over Twitter. Swisher knows Musk better than most: she has been covering Silicon Valley for decades, and has interviewed the billionaire Tesla CEO at length multiple times. McLaughlin called up Swisher on Thursday to discuss the latest twist in Twitter’s fate, what’s really going through the head of the world’s richest man, and what Swisher make...
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Democratic strategist Jess McIntosh about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. McIntosh is a veteran campaign adviser and strategist, with a particular focus on reproductive rights. She served on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and as the communications director for EMILY’s List, which works to elect pro-choice candidates. McLaughlin and McIntosh discuss what the decision means for Roe, for abortion in America, and for the up...
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance as he prepares to return to Ukraine to cover the Russian invasion. Chance, a veteran war correspondent and one of the few journalists to have interviewed Vladimir Putin, discusses the toll of covering wars like Ukraine, what the next phase of the conflict looks like, how Russian media is spinning its atrocities – and whether the Russian people are buying it.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with New York Daily News Police Bureau Chief Rocco Parascandola about the 29-hour manhunt for the Brooklyn subway shooter, what the attack means for crime in New York City, and how crime reporting has changed in his decades on the beat.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with CNN anchor Kasie Hunt about her new show on CNN+, making the jump from cable news to streaming, keeping things on track after the ouster of Jeff Zucker, and how covering politics has changed since she was on the bus for Mitt Romney’s 2012 election campaign.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks to Puck founding partner Matt Belloni about the fallout from Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, what it means that a streaming service won best picture, and his move from serving as editor in chief of The Hollywood Reporter to a new kind of news outlet.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Jane Ferguson, a special correspondent for PBS NewsHour and contributor to the New Yorker. Ferguson arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine less than two weeks ago, the same day documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud was killed by Russian forces. Ferguson and McLaughlin discuss the dangers of reporting from Ukraine, how she copes with covering war, and why so many journalists seem to be caught in the crossfire in this particular conflict. Ferguson, an experienc...
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Dan McLaughlin, a foreign correspondent covering eastern Europe for The Irish Times. McLaughlin, who has spent years reporting from eastern Europe and Russia, has been on the ground in Ukraine covering the Russian invasion. They discuss what Ukraine is like right now for its citizens and reporters, what's next for Putin's invasion, and Russia’s escalating crackdown on the press.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with tech reporter Taylor Lorenz about covering influencers, creator culture, and social media. We also discuss her move to the Washington Post, her experience at the New York Times, how she deals with harassment from YouTubers and attacks from Tucker Carlson, and whether papers like the Times are equipped to defend reporters from modern smear campaigns.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks to CNN anchor and chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto, who is reporting from Ukraine this week as Russia amasses troops on its border. Sciutto explains the crisis, reveals what live is like in Ukrainian capital Kyiv right now, how CNN set up shop in a potential war zone, and whether the press has gotten better at covering war.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin talks to Margaret Brennan, moderator of Face the Nation, about how she prepares for the show, asking tough questions of world leaders, conflict between Russia and Ukraine, dealing with election deniers, and her incredible career in journalism.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks with CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers about voting rights, partisan discourse on MLK Day, media coverage of the Biden administration, his career as a politician, attorney and author, and his new children's book "Who Are Your People."
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Leonhardt, a senior writer at the New York Times and author of their highly influential morning newsletter (it's called "The Morning"). They discuss the Omicron wave, media coverage of the Covid pandemic, misinformation from the right and left, and his incredible career in journalism.
Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin speaks to New York Times music critic Jon Caramanica. They discuss the life and legacy of Virgil Abloh, interviewing Kanye West in Wyoming, covering the music industry through a pandemic, and whether Drake has a good album left in him. Caramanica, who hails from Brooklyn, cut his teeth in journalism writing for rap magazines. He now wears a few enviable hats at the Times: pop music critic, author of the Critical Shopper column, and host of the Popcast po...
Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks with Fox News host Pete Hegseth, a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and an ardent supporter of Donald Trump. They spoke the morning after Hegseth hosted the “Patriot Awards”, an event put on by streaming platform Fox Nation. The spirited discussion covered the ceremony, the 2020 election, Covid vaccines and more.
Mediaite editor Aidan McLaughlin speaks to David French, a conservative writer, constitutional lawyer and veteran. He is senior editor at The Dispatch and author of a fresh newsletter for The Atlantic, The Third Rail, which tackles the complex issues that divide the country. French and McLaughlin discuss evangelical support for Trump, whether there is any legal basis for "rigged election" claims, Christian opposition to vaccines, the legality of vaccine mandates, and the future of the Republican...
