Reflector

Feb 15 2025 18 ep. 52 mins 714

Reflector Podcast artwork

Reflector is a documentary-style podcast that tells stories about how beliefs shape our world, the context behind the messy debates in our society, and on how deeply listening to one another can reveal a sense of shared humanity.

Society & Culture

Copy RSS

Subscribe on Podcast Addict

Breaking USAID

Feb 15 2025 51 mins

Should the U.S. stop giving foreign aid? This is a question many have been asking long before Elon Musk and Donald Trump launched DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and began dismantling USAID and its work around the globe. Critics of foreign aid, like Bill Easterly, author of The White Man’s Burden, and Dambisa Moyo, author of Dead Aid, argue that foreign aid often does

A Nation of Immigrants Votes for Deportations

Jan 07 2025 75 mins

Despite its reputation among many on the political left, the United States has welcomed more immigrants than any other nation in history. Today, the U.S. is home to more immigrants than any other country in the world. Even amid a heated political battle over the future of immigration, it’s undeniable that a core part of America’s national identity is its image as “a nation of

Why Doesn't Anyone Trust The Media?

Nov 21 2024 58 mins

In the wake of the election results, many Democrats are doing some serious soul-searching (and a fair amount of blame-gaming) to understand why they lost. But it’s not just Democrats reckoning with their loss of trust from the American people. New polling from places like Gallup shows historically high levels of distrust in journalists. Meaning that a profession built on the deli

The Comeback of Donald Trump

Oct 30 2024 67 mins

Here comes the much-anticipated (maybe dreaded? Obnoxiously over-covered?) 2024 US presidential election, and no one knows who will emerge as the next President of the United States. Today’s episode was inspired by a conversation I had last week with a former colleague from The New York Times. She shared her concern that we in the media might have done it again. That just like in

Growing Support at American Universities for Violent Palestinian Resistance

Oct 10 2024 50 mins

Wars—like the one between Israel and Hamas—are not only fought on the battlefield, but they are also fought through stories. In today’s episode, I interview Eman Abdelhadi, an American academic, activist, and organizer in the Free Palestine movement. Abdelhadi shares a perspective on Israel that, while controversial, is gaining influence across the United States, particularly

The Whole World Is Watching

Oct 03 2024 48 mins

Today: Fears of another world war, a high stakes presidential election and the very divisive subject of American support for Israel. We speak with progressive voters who are considering staying home in November, even if it could lead to another Trump presidency. We unpack our reporting from the 2024 March on the DNC, examining the ways it compares—and doesn’t—to the 1968 Marc

Why Do Politicians Lie?

Sep 16 2024 49 mins

We are hard at work on several stories that we hope to share with you soon, but today we’re trying something a bit different. We're bringing you a roundtable discussion with Sarah Isgur and Mike Pesca on why politicians and world leaders lie—and what those lies reveal about the state of our society. Sarah Isgur is a lawyer, senior editor at The Dispatch, host of the legal podca

Hindsight: Emily Bazelon on Election Denial 2024

Aug 29 2024 29 mins

In today’s Hindsight we are looking back on our coverage of stolen election claims (No, You Stole the Election!) with journalist, lawyer, and podcast royalty, Emily Bazelon. We discuss gerrymandering, voter ID laws, growing distrust in institutions, and we debate the power of elites and whether we should be worried about Election Day 2024. We have a lot of new listeners here, and

No, You Stole the Election! (Part 3)

Aug 15 2024 44 mins

Today in our third and final installment of this series, we delve into what may be the most contested election in American history. We also take stock of the already historic and unprecedented 2024 presidential campaign season. What happens when both sides of our political divide increasingly view the other as an anti-democratic threat? Our aim with these episodes is to listen care

No, You Stole the Election! (Part 2)

Aug 08 2024 47 mins

Here in our second installment into the recent history of stolen election claims, we’ve got angry voters, disappointed politicians, and a few tech-savvy democrats who see signs of hacking, fraud, and illegitimacy in three different elections. We’ll discuss the allegations about hacked voting machines in Ohio in 2004, claims that the 2016 election was stolen from Hillary Clinton