'On the Media' Host Brooke Gladstone on Book, 'The Trouble with Reality'

As co-host of WNYC's Peabody-award-winning radio program 'On the Media,' Brooke Gladstone views the current relationship between President Donald Trump and the national news media from a unique vantage point. 

Gladstone investigates how the media shapes our world view and tries to provide listeners with the tools to decipher the often overwhelming media chaos each week alongside co-host Bob Garfield.

In her new book,  The Trouble with Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time , Gladstone excerpts various interviews and attempts to synthesize them into a guide-to-life where reality is under fire from so-called 'fake news' and 'alternative facts.'

"I basically took two weeks off the show and I wrote it during what amounts to a two-week fever dream and tried to find an answer to why the depth of this kind of distress [about] what is it we can't believe, why couldn't we believe it and how did Trump take advantage?" she said.

In the current landscape where truth seems at odds with politics, Gladstone argues reality has become a subjective and personal thing.

"People will only accept information that comports with their world view.  Facts in isolation that are not couched in context and relevance are not even heard," she said.

Gladstone recounts an interesting metaphor to describe the antagonistic relationship between Donald Trump and the journalists who report on his presidency.

"As Jack Shafer, the media critic for Politico told me: 'The media are like a hill of red ants.  You walk around it they won't bother you but if you kick it too much you're going to hurt," she said.

On the Media airs Saturdays at 3 p.m. on 90.3 WCPN ideastream.

Listen for Dan Polletta's interview with Brooke Gladstone Friday, May 19 at 1:33pm on 90.3.

Listen to the full interview: