On Assignment Podcast

“If we're not looking at these issues and understanding them for what they actually are - not just what we hope they are - I don't see much of a bright future, for my kids or anybody else's.” —Evan Simon, ABC News Producer Ever wonder if your plastic really gets recycled when you throw it in that bin? Lisa Cohen and Abi Wright speak to ABC News' Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman, and his producing team to hear how they tracked their own plastic bags, with surprising results.

“We have all these new media forms. But we haven't really found one that does what the old school news magazine still do well, which is sit across from someone and look them in the eye and turn TV into a lie detector.“ --HBO Real Sports' Correspondent David Scott Multiple duPont Award-winning journalist David Scott invited Prizes' Executive Director Abi Wright and duPont Director Lisa R. Cohen to his HBO Real Sports office back in 2018, following their win for a special investigative hour on the Olympics. We're revisiting this interview to commemorate the end of an era. For 29 seasons Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel has looked at sports from the complex lens of power, culture, and human rights. This month marks its last episode. In the 2018 episode Scott goes behind the scenes of some of his celebrated reporting - in “The Lords of the Rings,” and his duPont winning coverage of controversies around China's Olympic games, and in a harrowing trip to Chechnya to interview its repressive leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Scott offers practical tips on how to take on powerful subjects, how to safeguard your footage in dangerous locations and how to evade government “minders” seeking to keep reporters away from the real story. Watch “The Strongman” David Scott's report on Chechnyan MMA fighters and leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Watch the last episode of HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on December 19.

“These were just ordinary women turned outlaws.” - Director Tia Lessin Directors of the 2023 DuPont award-winning film ‘The Janes', Emma Pildes and Tia Lessin join journalist and J School Adjunct Professor Jessica Bruder for a lively conversation about their film that deep dives into an historic underground service for women seeking safe, affordable, illegal abortions, in the 60s and 70s.

“The incentive structures in the worlds of politics and news media… are geared towards division and not just division, but demonizing people. And it's very dangerous. It has already resulted in loss of life." -CNN's Jake Tapper Jake Tapper is the CNN Chief Washington Correspondent, anchor of The Lead with Jake Tapper, and co-host of the Sunday morning public affairs program State of the Union. In 2023, he was part of the team that won a duPont-Columbia award for their coverage of the conflict in Ukraine. He also hosted the awards at Columbia University in 2018. In this episode, Tapper sits down with Columbia Journalism School's Dean Jelani Cobb to discuss the extraordinary state of American politics how journalists should report on figures like Trump.

#89: The New Yorker's Masha Gessen with Dean Jelani Cobb by On Assignment - From the duPont-Columbia Awards

“I respect the Boy Scouts. I respect what they were founded on. But there was a really dark side and no one was talking about it.” –"Leave No Trace" Director Irene Taylor “Leave No Trace” is a 2023 duPont-Columbia Award winning documentary that exposes the stunning history of sexual abuse faced by over 80,000 young men and its subsequent cover up by The Boy Scouts of America. The film highlights the voices of six men and boys, who bravely share their stories, and hold power to account. Director, Irene Taylor, talks about the relentless way her team took on an “All-American” institution and the sensitive way they approached its survivors.

“We all understand just how easily history is forgotten. And this history is being actively destroyed.” –Podcast Host Connie Walker “Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's” is a 2023 duPont-winning series that uncovers the horrific abuse many young indigenous children–including the reporter's own family–faced at a Canadian residential school. Host and investigative journalist Connie Walker talks about the ethics of making public long buried stories of sexual abuse, highlighting indigenous voices and her own personal stake in this impactful podcast.

“They had told the story of how Tamika died, but not how she lived.” —Podcast Producer Erika Alexander “Finding Tamika” is the 2023 duPont-winning Audible series about Tamika Huston, a Black woman who went missing in 2004. The media paid scant attention, and she became a rallying cry for missing Black women and girls. But who was she outside of this tragedy? Podcast producer Erika Alexander tells us why finding the real Tamika behind the crime statistic is so important, and how journalists need to do a better job of telling these stories.

“People are often surprised when they watch the film and they realize that it's sort of a dark comedy.” “Navalny” follows Alexei Navalny, his team and his family as he investigates his own poisoning, and heads back to Russia to meet his fate. Director Daniel Roher explains how he built a relationship with Russia's most prominent opposition leader.

“I've seen officers lie in reports or stretching the truth -- that's not new - - but to entirely make something up completely and unequivocally, that just was really disturbing." - Dave Biscobing, ABC15 Chief Investigative Reporter Dave Biscobing's investigations of the Phoenix police department exposed both dishonest officers lying on the witness stand and outrageous accusations fabricated against Black Lives Matters protestors. Tune in to learn what he found, and how he found it.

“We knew it was important to let the cameras continue to roll live. But I'll be honest, we were nervous about where this was going to go when we saw those armored vehicles show up.” - VP of News Stephanie Adrouny, NBC Bay Area The 2022 duPont-winning documentary “The Moms of Magnolia Street” follows three mothers who protest Oakland's affordable housing crisis by illegally occupying a vacant home. Tune in as NBC Bay Area documentarians talk about following along from defiant start to explosive finish.

“We understood the magnitude of the event fairly early on and the need to start collecting evidence…That's how we think of this. As evidence, not just cover or B-roll.” — New York Times Visual Investigations Lead Malachy Browne on the January 6 Capitol riots. “Day of Rage” is the duPont-Columbia award-winning, New York Times visual investigation of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Co-director Malachy Browne explains what it was like to organize and dissect thousands of hours of footage from “one of the most documented acts of political violence ever.” For more, visit https://bit.ly/OADayofRage

“A story is an engine for feelings.” - This American Life founder, host and producer Ira Glass In 2019, This American Life founder, host, and producer Ira Glass gave his special brand of insight into how he crafts “This American Life,” from story inception, to reporting, writing, and production. We revisit his preeminent editorial style that paved the way for generations of narrative docu-style podcasters.

“I felt like I don't have to tell you how brutal racial capitalism is in the United States if I am showing you. I wanted capitalism to indict itself in the film.” -- director and producer Loira Limbal In her 2022 duPont Award-winning documentary “Through the Night,” filmmaker Loira Limbal intimately captured the burdens on working mothers and puts a mirror to America's daycare system, reflecting back the darker sides of capitalism.

“Finding people who praise the government is easy. Finding people who are critical of the government is easy. What is the most difficult is convincing some people who are ordinary citizens who have information to come out and speak up. ” --- director and producer Nanfu Wang

“These women who join the military are just the finest…and the fact that they are being harassed and abused and driven from military service is really a national security issue.” --- CBS Managing Editor and Anchor Norah O'Donnell

In episode two of Season 15, WNYC's KalaLea discusses how her 2022 duPont-Columbia award-winning audio series, "Blindspot: Tulsa Burning," immerses listeners in the past, embedding them in the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, while threading the impact of generational trauma through to the present.

NPR's Laura Sullivan reveals the surprising twists and turns behind her 2022 duPont-award winning Planet Money piece, “Waste Land.” Stowed in boxes of old lobbying documents in private family homes, away from public view, Laura finds out that the oil and gas industry knew all along that plastic recycling would never work – a revelation that led her down a winding road of reporting that she details in this first episode of On Assignment's Season 15.

Ed Ou is co-director of the duPont-Columbia award-winning documentary A Different Kind of Force — Policing Mental Illness. Ou joins host Lisa Cohen to talk about the process of creating a nuanced and intimate documentary that tackles two of the most fraught subjects in American life — police violence and mental illness.

Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor are the co-creators and co-hosts of the 2021 duPont Columbia Award-winning podcast Ear Hustle, a unique podcast produced in San Quentin State Prison. In this interview, they recount the origin story of this unlikely project, offer insight on the challenges of reporting inside prison, and share the true definiton of "ear hustling."

Isobel Yeung talks about India Burning, her 2021 duPont Columbia Award-winning work for Vice on Showtime and the importance of international journalism. Visit our website: www.onassignmentpodcast.com Visit the duPont awards website: www.duPont.org Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/columbiajourn Like is on Facebook: facebook.com/duPontColumbiaAwards

Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht discuss their 2021 duPont Columbia Award-winning documentary Crip Camp. The directors of the film, which was also nominated for an Oscar, speak candidly about topics like disability representation in the media, the film's relationship to present-day grassroots movements, and what it was like to get edit notes from the Obamas. Visit our website: www.onassignmentpodcast.com Visit the duPont awards website: www.duPont.org Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/columbiajourn Like is on Facebook: facebook.com/duPontColumbiaAwards

Radiolab's Jad Abumrad and Shima Oliaee join duPont-Columbia Awards Director Lisa R. Cohen to discuss how they reported "The Flag and the Fury" which won a 2021 duPont award. They explain how what started as an historical audio documentary turned into a breaking news story in the summer of 2020 and the ways they handled that change. Visit our website: www.onassignmentpodcast.com Visit the duPont awards website: www.duPont.org Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/columbiajourn Like is on Facebook: facebook.com/duPontColumbiaAwards

KSTP News Director, Kirk Varner discusses the difficulty of reporting on the murder of George Floyd and the protests that rocked Minneapolis throughout the summer of 2020. In this conversation with duPont Awards Director Lisa R. Cohen, Varner tells behind-the-scenes stories about split second newsroom decisions, like when a truck drove through protestors on live air. Visit our website: www.onassignmentpodcast.com Visit the duPont awards website: www.duPont.org Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/columbiajourn Like is on Facebook: facebook.com/duPontColumbiaAwards

David Ushery, discusses reporting on coronavirus last spring, as New York City became the epicenter of a pandemic. The WNBC team brought viewers vital life and death information about COVID, day after day, in real time. Their reporting won a 2021 duPont-Columbia award. In this conversation with duPont Awards Director, Lisa R. Cohen, Ushery recounts the uncertainty of the pandemic’s early days, his team’s commitment to transparently inform viewers, and how WNBC reporters and photographers grappled with the fear of reporting on a highly infectious virus. Visit our website: www.onassignmentpodcast.com Visit the duPont awards website: www.duPont.org Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/columbiajourn Like is on Facebook: facebook.com/duPontColumbiaAwards

Nadine Ajaka, The Washington Post’s senior producer for visual forensics, talks about her team’s reconstruction of the crackdown on peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square in Washington D.C which won a 2021 duPont-Columbia award. By analyzing visual evidence, Ajaka and her team meticulously recreated the moments leading up to Donald Trump’s infamous “bible photo-op” in front of St. John’s church. See the full reconstruction, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxYmILDya0A&t=77s Visit our website: onassignmentpodcast.com Visit the duPont awards website: duPont.org Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/columbiajourn Like is on Facebook: facebook.com/duPontColumbiaAwards

In this conversation with duPont Awards Director, Lisa R. Cohen and Executive Director of Prizes, Abi Wright, Radiolab's Latif Nasser discusses his podcast "The Other Latif". Tune in as Nasser talks the challenges of reporting on Guantanamo Bay, reveals how he initially found this story via a tweet, and reflects on his own identity as a Muslim living in the United States.

In our latest episode, Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz discuss their duPont Award-winning podcast, Bag Man, which details the brazen wrongdoing of Richard Nixon’s Vice President, Spiro T. Agnew -- and why so many have forgotten about him altogether.

The New York Times’ Science and Health Reporter Donald G. McNeil Jr., was months ahead of the general public, as he foretold the disastrous effects of COVID-19 early last spring. The winner of the 2020 John Chancellor Excellence in Journalism award-winner has been informing audiences of The Times’ podcast The Daily, and he’s joined here by The Daily host Michael Barbaro in a recent J-School student session to celebrate McNeil’s Chancellor win.

In our latest episode of On Assignment, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and duPont juror Mark Whitaker reflect on the lessons learned from Gates’ 2020 duPont-winning documentary series Reconstruction: America After the Civil War. The conversation is timely, as the nation reckons with the current fragile political climate, and the country’s legacy of slavery in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, among others.

In this month’s On Assignment episode, listen to the 2018 duPont-Award winning filmmakers describe the tenacious reporting required to produce “Let it Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992.” Director John Ridley and ABC News Producers Jeanmarie Condon, Melia Patria and Fatima Curry revisit the newly relevant documentary about the decade preceding the Rodney King beating.

In this episode of On Assignment, CBS News 60 Minutes producers Michael Rey and Oriana Zill de Granados go behind the scenes of their duPont-winning reports on the US-Mexico Border. They describe basement meetings, months of back-and-forth with government sources, and having a U.S. president criticize their reporting. They also talk about how they have adapted to producing television news remotely in the time of COID-19.

In this episode of On Assignment, we revisit a conversation with Kai Wright and Kaari Pitkin, creators of the award-winning podcast Caught: The Lives of Juvenile Justice. The WNYC series showed the human side of the web-like juvenile justice system by giving young people the chance to tell their stories in their own words.

In this episode of On Assignment, we revisit a conversation from 2016 between New Yorker Staff Writer and Columbia Journalism Professor Jelani Cobb, FRONTLINE Producer James Jacoby, and Columbia Journalism Professor Betsy West about Cobb and Jacoby’s documentary Policing the Police. The film examines the troubled Newark, New Jersey police department from the inside.

WKBW's Charlie Specht talks with Professor Nina Alvarez about a reporting journey that took many unexpected turns: from covert emails sent anonymously from inside the church, to parking lot meetings, from undercover recordings to Specht’s own conflicted personal ties as a devout Catholic.

In this episode of On Assignment, Clarissa Ward joins duPont Awards Director, Lisa R. Cohen for a conversation about how CNN managed to break story after story on Khashoggi’s disappearance; how she has handled challenging reporting situations, including trauma self-care; and the creative ways she has continued reporting on COVID-19.

Local reporters Joe Bruno and Michael Stolp of WSOC in Charlotte, North Carolina discuss their duPont Award winning reporting “Something Suspicious in District 9.”

Directors of the duPont winning documentary Love them First, Lindsey Seavert and Ben Garvin, talk with Director of the duPont-Columbia Awards, Lisa Cohen (Serving Life) about their film. The documentary, built on unprecedented year-long access, is an intimate portrait of a North Minnesota elementary school and its visionary principal. Seavert and Garvin describe the challenges of creating a feature length documentary while still fulfilling their obligations as reporters at a local, daily news outlet.

Director Rachel Lears on her film following first time politicians like AOC, who went from barkeep to U.S. Congress.

Award-winning director Nanfu Wang talks to Professor Betsy West about Wang’s Sundance-winning, Oscar-shortlisted documentary One Child Nation.

Revisiting an early #MeToo moment - Kate Snow talks about her 2017 duPont Award winning interview with 27 of Bill Cosby’s accusers.

Revisit directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen, with executive producer Amy Entelis, as they talk about their blockbuster documentary RBG. Hear them tout the power of optimism and other helpful tips they learned while making their 2019 duPont award winning film. Moderated by professor June Cross.

Revisit Nikole Hannah-Jones, NYT Magazine writer and creator of the 1619 Project, in conversation with NBC News anchor Lester Holt about reporting on race and takeaways from her 2018 John Chancellor Award-winning reporting.

This American Life Host and Producer Ira Glass has taken home seven duPont silver batons for the radio documentary series since he created it in 1995. In our special 50th episode, find out what goes into the making of one of the most listened to radio shows - one that spawned a generation of podcasts. Bonus: Hear Ira’s sage advice from his speech to the Columbia Journalism School graduating class of 2018.

WNYC’s Kai Wright and Kaari Pitkin talk morality and ethics, especially with minors as subjects, for their rare view inside the tangled world of the U.S. juvenile justice system.

CNN’s Nima Elbagir on risking her life for the stories that must be told, and the real world challenges of being a journalist of color.

2019 duPont-Columbia winner Alexandra Shiva talks navigating language and cultural barriers to make a humorous and important film about refugees that transcends party lines.

We catch up with 2019 duPont award winning director Alexandria Bombach about her latest film, “On Her Shoulders.” It’s an achingly beautiful 3-month snapshot of the life of activist and Yazidi genocide survivor, Nadia Murad. But it’s also a call to action for journalists and filmmakers, to think about the stories we tell, how we tell them and most importantly, why.

2019 duPont-winning Directors Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir interviewed 14 eloquent, emotional rape survivors for “I Am Evidence,” but only four women’s stories made it into the film. Tune in to this episode to hear about the painstaking choices they had to make as they navigated finding, selecting and telling these stories with honesty, integrity and care.

Director Bing Liu started making “Minding the Gap,” when he was 23-years-old. Now, six years later, he’s premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and snagged himself an Oscar nomination. As the countdown to the Academy Awards begins, get a behind the scenes look at how Liu made the film, plus hear about some of his ethical dilemmas while filming. But before you listen, be warned. There will be spoilers.

NYT Magazine’s Nikole Hannah-Jones talks to NBC News anchor Lester Holt about reporting on race, the perils of making things personal, and takeaways from her 2018 John Chancellor Award-winning excellent reporting.