

The Kicker
Columbia Journalism Review
The Kicker is a podcast on the media and the world today. It comes out twice a month, hosted by Josh Hersh and produced by Amanda Darrach for the Columbia Journalism Review. It is available wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 25, 2019 • 20min
Pulitzer winner Darrin Bell—‘In a tyrannical kingdom, only the jester can tell the truth’
On this week’s episode, CJR Editor and Publisher Kyle Pope speaks with freelance cartoonist Darrin Bell, who won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning for his “beautiful and daring editorial cartoons that took on issues affecting disenfranchised communities, calling out lies, hypocrisy and fraud in the political turmoil surrounding the Trump administration.” Bell, who is the first African American artist to win the prize, discusses the importance of editorial cartoons in a political crisis.

Apr 18, 2019 • 20min
Podcast: In conversation with 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner Susanne Craig
ON THIS WEEK’S EPISODE, CJR Editor and Publisher Kyle Pope speaks with Susanne Craig, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, about her work in the Pulitzer Prize–winning investigation that questioned Trump’s claim that he is a self-made billionaire. The investigative piece, which is 15,000 words long and took 18 months to complete, is the work of Craig, David Barstow, and Russ Buettner.

Apr 11, 2019 • 21min
An editor murdered in Kashmir signals the erosion of press freedom
On this week’s episode, CJR Editor and Publisher Kyle Pope speaks with Aliya Iftikhar, Asia research associate for the Committee to Protect Journalists. As elections in India begin, Iftikhar discusses her investigation of Rising Kashmir Editor Shujaat Bukhari’s unsolved assassination. Amid the rise of Hindu nationalism and the recent erosion of democratic values in India, the media has been left to fend for itself.

Apr 4, 2019 • 19min
Podcast: In conversation with Susan Smith Richardson from the Center for Public Integrity
ON THIS WEEK’S EPISODE, CJR Editor and Publisher Kyle Pope speaks with Susan Smith Richardson who has been appointed as the new chief executive of Center for Public Integrity. She will be the first African American to head the nonprofit investigative journalism outlet. They talked about diversifying newsrooms, covering the 2020 elections, and the historic mayoral win in Chicago.

Mar 28, 2019 • 18min
Mueller, Barr, and what journalism can do when the judicial system fails us
ON THIS WEEK’S EPISODE, Managing Editor Betsy Morais and Digital Editor Nausicaa Renner discuss the backlash against journalism in the wake of the Mueller report’s delivery to Attorney General William Barr, and why justice in journalism fills the void between our judicial system and the court of public opinion.

Mar 21, 2019 • 16min
Podcast: Clerk who took over for racist Ala. editor speaks
Podcast: Clerk who took over for racist Ala. editor speaks by Columbia Journalism Review

Mar 14, 2019 • 25min
Podcast: Adam Moss and David Haskell on the transfer of power at New York
ON THIS WEEK’S EPISODE, outgoing Editor in Chief of New York Adam Moss and his successor David Haskell interview one another. They talk pitches, the art of the edit, and how they find the balance between magazine and newsroom. They were speaking at the Delacorte Lecture Series at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

Mar 7, 2019 • 15min
Podcast: What counts as journalism?
ON THIS WEEK’S EPISODE, CJR Editor and Publisher Kyle Pope and Seamus Hughes of George Washington University's Program on Extremism talk about who gets to be a reporter and what counts as journalism, especially when done by institutions that aren’t traditionally journalistic.

Feb 28, 2019 • 20min
Heather Heyer’s mother: ‘I knew the press was coming’
ON THIS WEEK’S EPISODE, CJR Editor and Publisher Kyle Pope speaks with Susan Bro, whose daughter Heather Heyer died in the 2017 Charlottesville attack, and Contributing Editor Camille Bromley, who profiled Bro’s dealings with the press for our latest print edition. Bro discusses shifting the “white savior” narrative around her daughter’s death towards a focus on taking action against racism.

Feb 21, 2019 • 22min
Podcast: Who is going to pay for journalism?
ON THIS WEEK’S EPISODE, CJR Editor and Publisher Kyle Pope and Mathew Ingram, CJR’s chief digital writer discuss The Cairncross Review, a report published in the UK, and the role of tech companies like Google and Facebook on news. They are joined by Josh Young, creator of our trust-based engagement platform, Galley by CJR, who spoke about the idea behind Galley and how it is helping journalists engage in meaningful discussions.


