Episode Description

Richard Schreiber and Tom Martin welcome documentary filmmaker Michele Mitchell — Murrow Award winner, former CNN Headline News political anchor, and director of The Uncondemned — for a conversation recorded on the night CBS News Radio went dark after 98 years. The through line Richard names up front sets the tone: the watchdogs are going quiet, and the criminals are getting paid.

Mitchell, who calls her approach "responsibly rogue," traces how institutional journalism has been breaking for two decades — from a CBS president telling her in 2005 they were stepping away from investigative work, to Walter Isaacson ordering reporters to be "more patriotic" after 9/11. She connects that erosion to the $1.776 billion January 6 fund, the Epstein files, and a culture that now treats empathy as a weakness.

Her new film OG* — about the outlaw growers of California's Emerald Triangle and the unconstitutional military raid that tried to crush them — becomes the lens for the episode's central question: who gets to make the rules, and what makes someone a criminal versus an outlaw?

Topics Covered

• The Night CBS Radio Went Dark: Recorded as a 98-year-old news institution signs off for the last time — Murrow's house, gone quiet.
• Responsibly Rogue: Why Mitchell walked away from mainstream media to tell the stories the mergers and shareholders would never let her tell.
• "Be More Patriotic": Her firsthand account of Walter Isaacson pressuring CNN reporters to soften 9/11-era coverage of the Patriot Act.
• The $1.776 Billion Insult: The January 6 fund versus the 9/11 families who fought Congress for decades — rewarding the rioters while survivors were left to beg.
• Criminal or Outlaw?: The thesis behind OG* — "right side of history, wrong side of the law" — and the duty to break an unjust law.
• Operation Green Sweep: The 1990 deployment of the U.S. Army into the Emerald Triangle, a Posse Comitatus violation that foreshadows today's ICE tactics.
• "Quiet, Piggy": Misogyny in the newsroom, the press corps that won't defend its own, and the economic freedom driving the backlash against women.
• The True Alibi: Why everyone in the Epstein orbit "knew" — and the self-deception that let them take the money anyway.

About the Hosts

Richard Schreiber
Richard Schreiber is a strategic AI consultant, journalist, autism advocate, and fiction writer based in New York City. With a background spanning investigative reporting, technology consulting, and over 25 years in legal technology and procurement, Richard brings a rare combination of real-world experience and analytical depth to every conversation. He is the founder of a growing autism advocacy foundation and the author of multiple books, including Autism Care Revolution. His journalism is guided by one principle: facts first, always.

Tom Martin
Tom Martin is a veteran television news producer with more than 20 years at some of the most respected names in broadcasting. He got his start at the CBS News Washington Bureau in 1982 — where he witnessed history firsthand, including being in the room when Nixon delivered his infamous "I am not a crook" statement. The son of a legendary newspaper editor who helped launch USA Today, Tom grew up believing journalism is a sacred public trust. He carries that belief into every story he tells.

Guest: Michele Mitchell

Michele Mitchell is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, former CNN Headline News political anchor, and co-founder of Film at 11. She won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Haiti: Where Did the Money Go?, an investigation that tracked $1.4 billion in earthquake donations and found conditions on the ground had actually worsened. Her film The Uncondemned helped make rape a prosecutable war crime at the Rwanda Tribunal. Trained under mentors like Garrick Utley and Bill Moyers, Mitchell left mainstream media to tell the stories the mergers and shareholders would never allow — an approach she calls "responsibly rogue." Her latest project, OG*, documents the outlaw growers of California's Emerald Triangle and the question at the heart of this episode: who gets to decide what makes a criminal.

Our Mission

True Journalism exists because facts still matter. The press is a watchdog — not a lapdog — and the American public deserves reporting that shines a light rather than throws a shadow. This is not a political show. We do not have a party. We have one principle: if it is not a verified fact, we will say so.