Brian Reed
@brihreed.bsky.social
Host of Question Everything from KCRW and Placement Theory: lnk.to/khCBOC
Co-founder of Placement Theory
Host of S-Town; Co-Host of The Trojan Horse Affair (Serial/New York Times); formerly senior producer at This American Life
Signal: brihreed.45
Co-founder of Placement Theory
Host of S-Town; Co-Host of The Trojan Horse Affair (Serial/New York Times); formerly senior producer at This American Life
Signal: brihreed.45
We submitted a ridiculous fake ad to Facebook for a free sub-orbital trip to space. They approved it and took our money. They're making billions of dollars this way, and they know it.
November 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
We submitted a ridiculous fake ad to Facebook for a free sub-orbital trip to space. They approved it and took our money. They're making billions of dollars this way, and they know it.
Left: my spice drawer as organized by my wife.
Middle: my mother-in-law’s spice drawer.
Right: What the hell does this have to do with the recent @reuters.com scoop about Facebook’s business model?
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/q...
Middle: my mother-in-law’s spice drawer.
Right: What the hell does this have to do with the recent @reuters.com scoop about Facebook’s business model?
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/q...
November 20, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Left: my spice drawer as organized by my wife.
Middle: my mother-in-law’s spice drawer.
Right: What the hell does this have to do with the recent @reuters.com scoop about Facebook’s business model?
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/q...
Middle: my mother-in-law’s spice drawer.
Right: What the hell does this have to do with the recent @reuters.com scoop about Facebook’s business model?
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/q...
Y’all! Question Everything made one of ApplePodcasts’ best episodes of the year.
Cheesin over here. 🤩
Cheesin over here. 🤩
November 19, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Y’all! Question Everything made one of ApplePodcasts’ best episodes of the year.
Cheesin over here. 🤩
Cheesin over here. 🤩
WTF is going on here with Michael Wolff giving PR strategy advice to Jeffrey Epstein about how to play Donald Trump? Is this some Journalist and the Murderer shit? Or an author colluding with a sex trafficker? Or both?
November 12, 2025 at 6:12 PM
WTF is going on here with Michael Wolff giving PR strategy advice to Jeffrey Epstein about how to play Donald Trump? Is this some Journalist and the Murderer shit? Or an author colluding with a sex trafficker? Or both?
A Colonel has come forward to say that the U.S. government investigated Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing by an Israeli soldier, and determined that the soldier likely knew he was shooting a journalist. But that finding was whitewashed and covered up by the Biden administration.
November 7, 2025 at 2:19 PM
A Colonel has come forward to say that the U.S. government investigated Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing by an Israeli soldier, and determined that the soldier likely knew he was shooting a journalist. But that finding was whitewashed and covered up by the Biden administration.
I order the exact same groceries for my mother-in-law week after week (she has Alzheimers), and Amazon conveniently reminds me how much the prices have increased.
October 29, 2025 at 3:02 PM
I order the exact same groceries for my mother-in-law week after week (she has Alzheimers), and Amazon conveniently reminds me how much the prices have increased.
Col Steven J. Lockjaw?
October 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Col Steven J. Lockjaw?
My Subway take? "Influencers should have fact-checkers." I debate it with some of the biggest influencers on TikTok. Link in the thread. 👇
October 28, 2025 at 3:24 PM
My Subway take? "Influencers should have fact-checkers." I debate it with some of the biggest influencers on TikTok. Link in the thread. 👇
We are excited to be nominated for a Signal Award in three categories! Please vote for us, it helps the show. Go to vote.signalaward.com, search for “Placement Theory”, and vote for the three entries that pop up. Thank you!
October 8, 2025 at 12:14 AM
We are excited to be nominated for a Signal Award in three categories! Please vote for us, it helps the show. Go to vote.signalaward.com, search for “Placement Theory”, and vote for the three entries that pop up. Thank you!
I found the response the BBC gave to our reporting about the Gaza documentary they killed to be incredible. In what world does the BBC not have a choice about what to run or not? In what world does it not have a choice over what its own editorial and ethical policies are?
Link ⬇️
Link ⬇️
October 6, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I found the response the BBC gave to our reporting about the Gaza documentary they killed to be incredible. In what world does the BBC not have a choice about what to run or not? In what world does it not have a choice over what its own editorial and ethical policies are?
Link ⬇️
Link ⬇️
This is a nightmare. Not that traditional media needs to be *the* trusted source of news, but knowing the alternative information ecosystem people are turning to, there needs to be a systemic effort to disincentivize lies there and incentivize facts.
(h/t @oliverdarcy.bsky.social at Status)
(h/t @oliverdarcy.bsky.social at Status)
October 3, 2025 at 11:56 AM
This is a nightmare. Not that traditional media needs to be *the* trusted source of news, but knowing the alternative information ecosystem people are turning to, there needs to be a systemic effort to disincentivize lies there and incentivize facts.
(h/t @oliverdarcy.bsky.social at Status)
(h/t @oliverdarcy.bsky.social at Status)
Think about the role of these quotations marks in this reporting on this news about reporting, and what it says about the state of reality right now.
October 3, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Think about the role of these quotations marks in this reporting on this news about reporting, and what it says about the state of reality right now.
Fair enough. Gotta respect logging off.
September 24, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Fair enough. Gotta respect logging off.
The limits of using AI (ChatGPT) for journalistic research.
September 14, 2025 at 6:51 PM
The limits of using AI (ChatGPT) for journalistic research.
A funny @nytimes.com report about Skydance’s interest in Warner Brothers Discovery.
September 12, 2025 at 4:09 PM
A funny @nytimes.com report about Skydance’s interest in Warner Brothers Discovery.
Nice to have an opportunity to reflect on my personal career-long tangle with journalism, stretching all the way back to where it began for me: Mrs. Stellavato’s journalism class in high school, and taking on our reclusive headmaster.
September 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Nice to have an opportunity to reflect on my personal career-long tangle with journalism, stretching all the way back to where it began for me: Mrs. Stellavato’s journalism class in high school, and taking on our reclusive headmaster.
Researchers discovered what seemed to be a heartening finding about local journalism. But the data then suggested something more complicated -- and dispiriting.
We dig into it here📒: substack.com/home/post/p-...
We dig into it here📒: substack.com/home/post/p-...
June 30, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Researchers discovered what seemed to be a heartening finding about local journalism. But the data then suggested something more complicated -- and dispiriting.
We dig into it here📒: substack.com/home/post/p-...
We dig into it here📒: substack.com/home/post/p-...
This (literally) just in from Kansas:
June 12, 2025 at 8:41 PM
This (literally) just in from Kansas:
The @brennancenter.bsky.social has been running war games with military and govt leaders to play out the ways this could go. What will the US Marshals do? Judges? The public?
Listen to hear what they've learned and what you can do if Trump defies a court order: t.co/Q2Qt4yroNV
Listen to hear what they've learned and what you can do if Trump defies a court order: t.co/Q2Qt4yroNV
April 4, 2025 at 5:00 PM
The @brennancenter.bsky.social has been running war games with military and govt leaders to play out the ways this could go. What will the US Marshals do? Judges? The public?
Listen to hear what they've learned and what you can do if Trump defies a court order: t.co/Q2Qt4yroNV
Listen to hear what they've learned and what you can do if Trump defies a court order: t.co/Q2Qt4yroNV
When should reporters say what they think? It's a personal and often fraught decision.
On Question Everything, I talk to a reporter who was all set to include her personal take in a recent story. And then, just before the story was about to air, cut it.
Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/q...
On Question Everything, I talk to a reporter who was all set to include her personal take in a recent story. And then, just before the story was about to air, cut it.
Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/q...
March 27, 2025 at 7:40 PM
When should reporters say what they think? It's a personal and often fraught decision.
On Question Everything, I talk to a reporter who was all set to include her personal take in a recent story. And then, just before the story was about to air, cut it.
Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/q...
On Question Everything, I talk to a reporter who was all set to include her personal take in a recent story. And then, just before the story was about to air, cut it.
Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/q...
Did you know about what happened in Atmore, Alabama? I had a heart-to-heart with a high schooler at a BBQ restaurant about it. Link in the thread.
March 26, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Did you know about what happened in Atmore, Alabama? I had a heart-to-heart with a high schooler at a BBQ restaurant about it. Link in the thread.
Journalists jailed for an article they published. In America. How was this allowed to happen?
March 20, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Journalists jailed for an article they published. In America. How was this allowed to happen?
Am I missing something, or do these sentences not logically follow each other? He's signing an order shuttering it, but it can't be shuttered by the order? If these are the incoherences attempts to spark a constitutional crisis create, journalistic language needs to adapt quick.
March 20, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Am I missing something, or do these sentences not logically follow each other? He's signing an order shuttering it, but it can't be shuttered by the order? If these are the incoherences attempts to spark a constitutional crisis create, journalistic language needs to adapt quick.
Recently, an @npr.org interviewee posted a video to their 3M+ TikTok followers, saying "After what I tell you next, I can promise you you will *never* hear me on NPR again." They thought the interview had been a hot mess, and they launched into a tirade about it.
March 7, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Recently, an @npr.org interviewee posted a video to their 3M+ TikTok followers, saying "After what I tell you next, I can promise you you will *never* hear me on NPR again." They thought the interview had been a hot mess, and they launched into a tirade about it.