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On the Media

The Coding Language Caught in DOGE's Crosshairs

On the Media

WNYC Studios

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4.68.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ever heard of COBOL?

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, podcast listeners, this is Micah. I'm just popping in here before the show starts to share an urgent request.

0:06.6

As I'm sure you know, public media is under threat like never before. We've been covering the nature of these attacks here on the show, and we saw them on full display a couple weeks ago at the House subcommittee on delivering on government efficiency

0:22.0

when the heads of NPR and PBS defended public broadcasting against accusations by

0:28.8

Republican lawmakers of political bias. This is serious. At a time when public media has never been

0:36.2

more valuable, it's also never been more vulnerable.

0:40.4

On the media is a listener-supported podcast, and donations help us bring you the show every week,

0:46.1

but a significant chunk of our funding does come indirectly from Congress.

0:51.9

We will feel the hurt if Republicans cut it off. So please help us weather these

0:57.3

uncertain times by becoming a sustaining member. Giving monthly at the level that's right for you

1:03.8

will help us build a strong, lasting foundation to keep this show on air. If you've never chipped in or you want to up your donation,

1:13.6

now is the time. To give, go to on themedia.org slash donate. That's onthemedia.org

1:21.3

slash donate. Thank you so much and enjoy the show.

1:26.9

This is the On the Media Midweek podcast. I'm Brooke Gladstone.

1:32.1

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, has been edged out of the headlines

1:38.0

this past week by the administration's current flirtation with a constitutional crisis, among other things.

1:45.1

But don't worry, the Doge team is still hard at work.

1:48.7

The IRS brought in a group of dozens of career IRS engineers, along with two Doge representatives

1:54.8

for a three-day summit hackathon at the IRS building in D.C.

1:59.6

Wired's McKenna Kelly this week on CNN, where they all sat together and planned out this

2:04.3

giant project to connect all systems and all data, where someone or a variety of people

2:10.5

with special permissions would be able to basically get access to whatever IRS data they sought.

2:16.6

Last month, I reported that Doge is talking about something similar at the Social Security Administration

...

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