The Kicker

Last year, Branko Brkic, the founder of the Daily Maverick, a South African news outlet, left his day job to launch an advocacy campaign in defense of journalism. Called Project Kontinuum, the organization aims to sound the alarm about the global threats facing the institution of journalism—and to begin to mount a defense.In this conversation, Brkic speaks about the admittedly “bleak” picture that he paints, and why news outlets have to stop playing defense if they want to survive.This podcast was recorded live at ZegFest 2025, in Tbilisi, Georgia.Read more:*Brkic’s 2024 “Call to Arms” for journalism*Brkic’s farewell editorial to readers of Daily Maverick*Daily Maverick reflects on the revelations of its #GuptaLeaks projectAudio producer: Levan KurtskhaliaAudio recorder and editor: Zura PatsiaProduced by: Amanda DarrachHosted by: Josh Hersh

For nearly twenty years, Arwa Damon worked as a journalist covering conflict zones across the Middle East—much of it as a prominent correspondent for CNN. But in 2015, amid the unending horrors of the Syrian civil war, Damon had enough. She left the network and founded Inara, a charity that helps provide treatment to children facing some of the most difficult medical conditions. Her new role has allowed her access to people and places she wouldn’t have seen as a journalist, including four visits to Gaza since October 7, 2023.Damon joins The Kicker to talk about the transition from journalism to humanitarianism—why she reached her limit as a reporter, and how doing aid work draws on many of the same skills. This podcast was recorded live on the sidelines at ZegFest 2025, in Tbilisi, Georgia.Read more:*Learn about Inara, Damon’s charity*Seize the Summit: Damon’s recent documentary about four young survivors of war attempting to climb Mount KilimanjaroAudio recorder and editor: Zura PatsiaProduced by: Amanda DarrachHosted by: Josh Hersh

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is an award-winning Iraqi journalist for The Guardian and the author of A Stranger in Your Own City (2023), a reported memoir of his life as an architect turned journalist during the American war in Iraq.In this wide-ranging conversation, Abdul-Ahad shares his journey to becoming a reporter, what he was surprised to learn about his own country, and how he approaches depicting the intimate lives of the people caught up in war—from innocent bystanders to murderous warlords.This podcast was recorded live at ZegFest 2025, in Tbilisi, Georgia.Read more:*Ghaith’s book: A Stranger in Your Own City *Mustafa’s story: “The Reluctant Collaborator: Surviving Syria’s Brutal Civil War and Its Aftermath”*Ghaith’s collected reporting for The GuardianAudio producer: Levan KurtskhaliaAudio recorder and editor: Zura PatsiaProduced by: Amanda DarrachHosted by: Josh Hersh

David Fahrenthold won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2016 reporting on how Donald Trump’s lifetime of charitable giving was largely a mirage.Nine years later, he’s still reporting on how Trumpworld’s claims about financial matters don’t always add up—this time, looking closely at the cost-cutting from DOGE for the New York Times. But does this kind of facts-first reporting still land? With Trump doing so much grifting and personal enrichment out in the open, Fahrenthold joins The Kicker to give his answer about why digging up presidential secrets is still worth the effort.Read more:*Fahrenthold’s Pulitzer-winning reporting on Trump’s charitable giving*Some closer looks at DOGE’s so-called “wall of receipts”*Who attended Trump’s crypto dinner at the White House?Hosted by Josh HershProduced by Amanda Darrach

For more than thirty years, Phil Williams has been the steadying voice of investigative reporting at NewsChannel 5, in Nashville. His deep dives into toxic wastewater and lobbyist access to state politicians have earned him a slew of major journalism awards, including five Peabodys and five duPont-Columbia Awards.But in recent years, his most viral moments have been his unflappable encounters with extremists and neo-Nazis, who have popped up brazenly in communities around Nashville—that is, until Williams shows up with receipts.Read and watch more of Williams’s reporting:*Confronting Hate – NewsChannel 5’s 2024 investigation into local extremist groups.*Hate Comes to Main Street – An investigation into a local politician’s association with hate groups.*Revealed – Williams’s deep dive into the special access lobbyists have to Tennessee politicians.

Last week, Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the end of funding for NPR and PBS. It’s the latest attempt by conservatives to cut back on support for public media, and in particular target NPR, which they view as having a liberal bias.Katherine Maher, NPR’s CEO, says that perception is deeply unfair—and notes that the vast majority of the funding for public media goes to local stations, which are widely trusted across the political spectrum.But the battle to insulate NPR from political influence is not easy—and, as Maher explains, it’s facing its toughest challenge yet.Read More:*NPR’s coverage of Trump’s recent executive order*CJR on how local and tribal radio stations have the most to lose from a funding cut*Uri Berliner, a former NPR editor, launched a broadside against the network last year for having too much of a liberal biasHosted by Josh HershProduced by Amanda Darrach

A few years ago, El Salvador was one of the most violent nations in the world, with gang killings taking the lives of dozens of people every week. Nayib Bukele, elected president in 2019, changed all that—today, violence is way down. But his brute-force approach to the problem has involved mass arrests, secret deals, and forced disappearances into a harsh prison system—which is apparently the envy of many in the Trump administration.Filmmaker Neil Brandvold has covered much of El Salvador’s transition from dangerous gangland to authoritarian dreamworld, and he joins The Kicker to explain the methods Bukele used to construct his fragile peace.Read/Watch more:*Neil’s 2024 Fault Lines documentary on El Salvador’s gang crackdown.*Neil’s 2018 Economist video about a religious reform movement for gang members.*Neil’s 2019 New York Times video including interview with Nayib Bukele.*El Faro’s 2020 investigative reporting on Bukele’s early deals with the MS-13 gang. Hosted by Josh HershProduced by Amanda Darrach

Kai Ryssdal has been the host of Marketplace, a leading daily radio show and podcast about the economy, produced by American Public Media, since 2005. He delivers the news—from the bitter latest on our 401(k)s to unexpected interviews about the modern-day resurgence of train robberies—with an affable, direct tone.And when he has something he wants listeners to know—as he did all this week, while the policies of the Trump administration sent the stock market, and the global economy, into a tailspin—he’ll just come right out and say it.This week on The Kicker, Ryssdal explains what, exactly, just happened with the economy, and why he feels it’s so important for Marketplace to call it like they see it.Read and hear more:*Listen to Marketplace here, or wherever you get your podcasts.*“No, I do not.” A report on Ryssdal’s 2019 interview with Janet Yellen, on whether Donald Trump understands macroeconomics.*“The institutions of this economy work in no small part because the institutions of this democracy work.” Ryssdal’s final comments on February 13.Hosted by Josh HershProduced by Amanda Darrach

Prosecutors weren’t notified in advance, witnesses are in shock—and Watson’s family celebrates his freedom.On the day that Carlos Watson, the founder of the digital media company Ozy Media, was due to turn himself in to prison last week, to begin serving a nearly ten-year sentence for fraud and identity theft, he and his family received some unexpected good news: President Donald Trump was commuting his sentence.Susie Banikarim, who attended nearly every day of the trial last year, and cohosted the CJR special podcast series “The Unraveling of Ozy Media,” returns to The Kicker to explain how this wild turn of events came to pass, and what Watson’s family, former employees—and even the prosecutors—have had to say so far.Read more:*“The Unraveling of Ozy Media”—a three-part podcast series from CJR, including a special presentation of evidence from the original trial*“The Sentencing of Carlos Watson”—a report from Watson’s last day in courtHosted by Josh HershProduced by Amanda Darrach

If you thought “DOGE” only stood for the “Department of Government Efficiency”—well, you’re not alone. The world of crypto is full of double meanings and inside jokes, making the recent arrival of these alternative currency markets—and their attendant “crypto bros”—into the seat of power in Washington all the more mystifying.Enter Molly White, a longtime crypto researcher (and skeptic) whose work has appeared in the New York Times as well as in her self-published newsletter, Citation Needed. On this week’s episode, Molly explains what journalists, and everyone else, need to know about meme coins (dogecoin, $TRUMP), crypto’s grifty culture, and what recent policy changes mean for the average consumer.Read more:*Lauren Watson in CJR on the lessons of crypto media.*The Times on how Trump’s meme coin made a few people very rich—at the expense of most everyone else (with research by White).*White on the strategic bitcoin reserve, and how the crypto industry is trying to shed itself of government oversight.Hosted by Josh HershProduced by Amanda Darrach