Question Everything with Brian Reed

Where better to huddle up and discuss what to do about Rümeysa Öztürk and the chilling effect that is happening in journalism than on campus at Tufts University with the student journalists at The Tufts Daily? This week Brian and Question Everything co-host a live event with the editor-in-chief and associate editor from The Tufts Daily – Arghya Thallapragada and Ellora Onion-De. Together they interview journalists and attorneys, including Carol Rose, part of Rümeysa's legal team and executive director of the Massachusetts ACLU, to learn what all happened to Rümeysa and why. What did her abduction by federal agents a month ago have to do with her immigration status as a Turkish graduate student studying child development, here on a student visa? Why did Secretary of State Marco Rubio say her Op-ed was cause for incarceration? Why is she still in ICE’s custody? And what happened to the constitutional protections around free speech and a free press that we depend on in a free society?  Joined by former editor-in-chief of both the Washington Post and the Boston Globe, Marty Baron; First Amendment lawyer Robert Bertsche; and senior politics reporter at The Intercept Akela Lacey; the group wrestles in real time with the gravity of this moment, not just for Rümeysa Öztürk, but for all of us. Read the Op-ed Rümeysa and others wrote that ran in The Tufts Daily a year ago in March. Watch the video of federal agents in plainclothes, forcing Rümeysa Öztürk into an SUV on March 25, 2025. Quick thing: In our discussion Carol Rose says the ACLU has filed 100 legal actions in President Trump’s first 100 days. The specific count on those is actually higher: the ACLU filed 110 legal actions in the Trump administration’s first 100 days. Sign up for our newsletter: www.kcrw.com/questioneverything “Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last episode we discussed the campaign to overturn the Supreme Court decision that protects reporters’ ability to criticize and investigate people in power.But even with that decision still in place, reporter David Enrich has discovered a shocking wave of legal attacks that is being waged on journalists in towns and cities across the country. These are often reporters at tiny, local outlets, trying to hold people accountable in their communities. And these legal claims don’t even have to succeed - and they frequently don’t - to shut down reporters.Plus, Brian waxes poetic about the first amendment, under the night sky. This is part two of our series about David Enrich’s reporting from his book “Murder the Truth”. Listen to part one first – it’s called “Freedom of the press is great, until you’re the target.” In our newsletter this week – Brian tells a personal story about how his lawyers helped him fend off a legal threat. Check that out at:  www.kcrw.com/questioneverything“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, a Supreme Court decision called New York Times vs Sullivan was widely beloved by people across the political spectrum. Hailed as a decision that gives the first amendment teeth and sets our country apart, as a place that prizes free speech.But recently, right under our noses, some of the same people who once sang Times v Sullivan's praises have turned against it. The story of the growing movement that is trying to get the Supreme Court to overturn perhaps the strongest protection for speech and the press in America.This is part one of a two part series about the book Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful, by Times investigative editor David Enrich.Sign up for our newsletter here to hear about one of Brian’s own legal battles: www.kcrw.com/questioneverything“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The best documentary filmmaker in America spent nearly five years of his life making a nine-hour masterpiece for Netflix. It will never see the light of day. After a nasty estate battle, the series won't be released. No one will ever see it.In his first sit-down interview about this scandal, the filmmaker Ezra Edelman seeks catharsis – if not closure – in the fight for truth and control over the life story of Prince.Thanks to “Pablo Torre Finds Out” for this incredible interview. “Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Barton Gellman, a legendary investigative reporter and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, now fights against authoritarianism at the Brennan Center for Justice. He shares insights from war games with military leaders about handling a second Trump term. The discussion delves into the legal tensions surrounding presidential defiance of court orders, the serious consequences of federal budget cuts, and the critical role of public activism in safeguarding democracy. Gellman also critiques media coverage and the implications of potential unconstitutional ambitions.

It’s easy to get frustrated with the charade reporters are supposed to keep up, where they pretend they don’t have opinions or feelings or any kind of human thoughts about a story they’re telling. Plenty of journalists have been trying to break out of that charade. But the decision to do that: it can be a fraught one, with real implications.Dana Ballout struggled with this on a story she was investigating about Hassan Diab – a sociology professor who’s living as a free man in Canada, yet is convicted of a terrible crime in France. Dana and her co-host Alex Atack open up about their reporting on the series The Copernic Affair, and why Dana ultimately cut her own opinions out of the show, even though her co-host and editors wanted to include them. And this prompts Brian to revisit his own experience dropping the charade in a previous podcast he made with Hamza Syed, for The New York Times and Serial: The Trojan Horse Affair. You can check out The Copernic Affair wherever you get your podcasts or at https://www.canadaland.com/shows/the-copernic-affair/.Same with The Trojan Horse Affair: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/podcasts/trojan-horse-affair.htmlTo get the phrase from Hamza’s interview that we’re asking people to remix into something danceable, sign up for Brian’s newsletter here: www.kcrw.com/questioneverything“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you have questions for us? If so, we want to talk to you! If you have thoughts about Question Everything, critiques of our episodes, or anything you're curious about, that we're covering, or not covering…please tell us. We want to set up some conversations between listeners and Brian and our staff for an upcoming episode. Write to us at hey@placementtheory.com and someone from our staff may reach out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Carly Tate, a high school junior from a law enforcement family in Alabama, sheds light on the troubling arrest of journalists in her hometown. She discusses the chilling effect on press freedom amidst increasing tensions between the media and law enforcement. Carly shares her insights on the ethical dilemmas faced by journalists in hostile environments and the crucial role of citizen journalists. The conversation highlights the need for accountability and understanding of First Amendment rights, emphasizing the delicate balance between journalism and the legal system.

V Spehar is a dynamic social media content creator known for their engaging TikTok channel, Under the Desk News, where they deliver news in a relatable format to millions. In this discussion, V dives into the friction between traditional journalism and new media influencers, sharing insights on their recent conflict with NPR. They explore how platforms like TikTok are reshaping news consumption and trust, and emphasize the importance of personal storytelling in news reporting. The conversation highlights the evolving landscape of media and the role of audience connection.

Vicky Ward, a journalist known for her work on the Kushner family and Jeffrey Epstein, joins tech critic Edward Ongweso Jr. and futurist Douglas Rushkoff to dive into the mindset of today's billionaires. They discuss the increasing political influence of the ultra-rich and the ethical dilemmas faced by journalists covering them. The trio unpacks the paradox of immense wealth coupled with isolation and critiques modern billionaires' motivations for space exploration and philanthropy, contrasting them with past societal values.