Citations Needed
Citations Needed is a podcast about the intersection of media, PR, and power, hosted by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson.
Episodes
News Brief: Despite 9-Figure Infusion from Silicon Valley, Abundance Still Seeks Popular Support
In this news brief, we catch up with Dylan Gyauch-Lewis, senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project, to discuss Abundance's PR problems, why this latest neoliberalism rebrand isn't catching on and how Silicon Valley billionaires still see 'Abundance' as their best chance to counter populist forces in the Democratic Party.
News Brief: The ADL's Bogus Origin Story and Its Rise as Ideological Enforcer for Empire and Israel
In this News Brief, we talk with Emmaia Gelman, author of The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State, about how––despite posing a civil rights org––the ADL functions as defender of colonialism and enforcer for reactionary western ideologies.
Episode 239: The Vague, Capital-Serving Co-Optation of "Affordability" Politics
In this episode, we detail the long history of generic "affordability" discourse and how, post-Mamdani, it's become the go-to establishment buzzword justifying tax breaks for developers, deregulation, and cosmetic tweaks to our for-profit healthcare and education systems. With guest Luke Savage.
News Brief: The Call to Boycott—and Delegitimize—the New York Times
In this News Brief, we talk with Chris Mills Rodrigo from Writers Against The War On Gaza about their campaign to boycott the New York Times and remove the "paper of record" from its pedestal of alleged neutrality and editorial rigor.
Episode 238: The Fictional, Racist, Paranoia-Sowing "Sleeper Cell" Media Construction
In this episode, we detail the vague, baseless racism-sowing media coverage and pop culture obsession with so-called "sleeper cells," a construction that has consumed post-9/11 America but suffers from one major problem: there's no evidence it exists.
Live Show: 'How to Sell a Genocide' Book Talk at The Word Is Change Bookstore in Brooklyn, NY
This is a live recording between Nima and Adam at the Word is Change Bookstore May 7, 2026. In this conversation, we discuss key findings that can be found in Adam's new book, How to Sell a Genocide: The Media's Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza.
News Brief: "Peak TV," Streamer Studio Accounting Gimmicks, and the Precarity of Hollywood Labor
In this News Brief, we talk with Miranda Banks and Kate Fortmueller, authors of the new book Boom to Bust: How Streaming Broke Hollywood Workers, about rising inequality and precarity in Hollywood, studio consolidation, and how the dream of fame and fortune, 100 years on, is still used to concentrate power and drive down wages.
News Brief: How the Right Invented — and Exploited — the "Liberal Media" Trope
In this News Brief, we talk with A. J. Bauer, assistant professor at the University of Alabama, about his new book," Making the Liberal Media: How Conservatives Built a Movement Against the Press". In our discussion we break down the corporate and ideological forces that shaped the popular idea mainstream media was crawling with fifth columnist agitators hostile to the values of Real America
Ep 237: How Selective, Patronizing 'Deradicalization' Discourse Pathologizes Anti-Colonial Struggle
In this episode, we break down the long history of US media reducing recalcitrant populations' grievances to "terrorism," "hate," and "radicalism" in urgent need of re-education. With guest Prem Thakker.
Ep 236: Manufactured Austerity and the Media Assisted 'Public-Private Partnership' Rip-Off
In this episode we discuss how privatization was rebranded 'Public-Private Partnerships' and unleashed decades of raiding of the public coffers by Wall Street. With guest Donald Cohen, founder and executive director of In the Public Interest.
News Brief: As American Troops Hide in Civilian Hotels, US Media Ignores Pentagon's Use of 'Human Shields'
In this News Brief we examine CNN, the Atlantic, Washington Post and NYT's blatant 'human shields' double standard as reports emerge of US troops hiding from Iranian attacks in civilian infrastructure.
News Brief: How Decades of Media Distortions and Lies about "Iran's Nuclear Program" Lead to War
In this News Brief, we discuss a recent poll showing 70% of Americans are fundamentally wrong about the nature of Iran's "nuclear program"—including 1 in 4 who think Iran currently possesses a nuclear weapon, and detail how decades of sleazy media innuendo and fabrications got us to this point.
"Shadow Fleets," Sanctions & Western Media's International Law-ification of Arbitrary US Dictates
In this episode, we explore how arbitrary—often unilateral—sanctions against Enemy States are given the halo of international legal legitimacy with a combination of lies, slippery language and brainless court stenography. With guest Maryam Jamshidi, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Colorado School of Law.
News Brief: As Trump Crushes Academia, the NYT and Atlantic Still Fight 'Woke' Wars from 5 Years Ago
In this News Brief, we are joined by Chenjerai Kumanyika and Todd Wolfson of the American Association of University Professors to discuss Trump's gutting of higher education, its expansion on previous neoliberal privatization efforts, and how big donor and media backlash against "woke "academics and anti-Gaza genocide protestors is fueling the possible end of academic independence as we know
Ep 234: TikTok, Gen Z's Move to Social Media and Elite Panic Over Unsanctioned News
In this episode, we examine our political class' TikTok neurosis, how Gaza fueled its sell to US and Israeli military contractors, and the long history of elite panics around unsanctioned information flows. With guest Omar Zahzah.
News Brief: ICE, Senate Dems' Counterinsurgency PR, and the Limits of Body Cam Liberalism
In this News Brief, we detail the fundamental problems with Senate Democrats' cosmetic reforms, the strategy of letting outrage blow over and the conspicuous absence of any proposal that touches ICE's obscene budget.
Ep 233: How US Media Naturalizes Capital Strikes and Helps the Rich Undermine Democracy
In this episode, we examine how billionaires and corporations threatening capital strikes and capital flight to discipline populist politicians and movements is treated as normal, obvious, and healthy by US media.
News Brief: As Dem Leadership Waffles—Labor, Organizers, Immigrants Fight Back in Minneapolis
In this News Brief, we break down Dem leadership's fatuous "body cam" and "training" response to ICE brutality, and how organizers in the Twin Cities are not settling for cosmetic reform. With guest Janette Corcelius.
News Brief: For Media Reporting on Iran, Trump Suddenly Morphs into Pro-Democracy Humanitarian
In this News Brief, we discuss mainstream media coverage of ongoing protests across Iran and how nearly every major Western outlet has been uncritically framing any potential regime change plans by the US government—including Trump ordering a military attack on the country—as being motivated primarily, if not solely, by concern for the lives, safety and rights of demonstrators.
News Brief: How Corporate Media Laid the Groundwork for a Rightwing Incitement Campaign in Minnesota
In this News Brief, we detail how CBS, Fox, WSJ, and NYT promoted an essentialized, overblown narrative on the "Somali Minnesota fraud" story, teeing up a full blown rightwing incitement campaign against Minneapolis's immigrant communities.
Ep 232: US Meddling, the Limits of 'Agency' Discourse and How Media Chooses Which 'Voices' To Center
In this episode, we discuss the uses and misuses of liberal standpoint theory to promote US meddling, sanctions, and bombing. With guest Vincent Bevins.
News Brief: BBC's Gaza Double Standard and Western Liberalism's Crisis of Legitimacy
In this News Brief, we interview journalist Daniel Trilling and discuss his investigation into the BBC's systemic anti-Palestinian bias.
Ep 231 - How To Oppose Genocide Without Opposing Genocide (Part 2): AIPAC Dems' Fake Israel Criticisms
In this episode, we detail the buyers' market for superficial Gaza critiques that permit ambitious Democrats to look pro-Palestine without the downside of actually being so. With guest Tariq Kenney-Shawa.
Ep 230 - How To Oppose Genocide Without Opposing Genocide (Part 1): Biden World's Reputation Laundering PR Tour
In this episode, we detail recent attempts by former Biden officials to rewrite history and absolve themselves of responsibility for the horrors of Gaza, and lay out the emerging Dem-aligned media industry of vibing past Democrats' lockstep support for genocide.
Citations Needed Live Show Beg-a-Thon: MAHA, TikTok and the Rise of Health-Branded Fascism
In this Live Show Beg-a-Thon from 10/13, we are joined by Justin Feldman to discuss the rise of MAHA, the broader Granola-to-Fascist Pipeline and how corporate-written food policies and our shitty for-profit medical system fuel hucksterism.
News Brief: As Trump Attacks Venezuela, Media Takes His Absurd "Drug War" Pretext at Face Value
In this News Brief, we detail how the AP, Atlantic, Washington Post and New York Times are accepting Trump's framing that his attacks on Venezuela and Colombia are about "going after drug cartels" when it's clear they are—based on Trump's own words—about controlling Venezuela's oil.
News Brief: Media Helps Sell ICE Raids with Zero Dark Thirty Ride-Along Schlock
In this News Brief, we are joined by Matthew Cunningham-Cook to discuss his recent media analysis of "embedded reports" of ICE raids that prime the public for brutal crackdowns on undocumented immigrants.
News Brief: The Billionaire-Backed Groups Working to Push Dems Right in 2026 and 2028
In this News Brie, we detail the major factions seeking to rewrite the history of the 2024 election as "woke" Gone Too Far, downplay Gaza, and prevent economic populism at all costs.
Live Show Beg-A-Thon Monday 10/13 - Promo!
Please join us Monday, Oct 13 for a Beg-A-Thon live show @ 9:30ET/8:30CT! We will be joined by Justin Feldman to discuss the rise of MAHA, the broader Granola-to-Fascist Pipeline and how corporate-written food policies and our horrible, for-profit medical system fuel hucksterism.
Ep 229: Sociopathic 'You Got To Hand it To 'Em' Punditry and the Rise of Politics as Sport
In this episode we detail the rise of detached "who's winning and who's losing" political analyses that reduces high stakes life and death issues to fodder for ESPN-style navel-gazing. With guest Jack Mirkinson.
Ep 228 - Billionaires as Insta-Experts: How Our Media Conflates Extreme Wealth with Expertise
In Ep 228, "Billionaires as Insta-Experts: How Our Media Conflates Extreme Wealth with Expertise," we break down the media convention of assuming the rich are per se experts on everything from education to "the economy" to poverty in Africa when, in reality, they are Just Some Guys. With guest Rob Larson.
News Brief - NYT, BBC, Guardian: Starvation in Gaza Doesn't Really Count if Victim Has Preexisting Condition
In this News Brief, we detail recent "updates," "clarifications" and "added context" pro-Israel crybullies have pressured Western media outlets to make (some more willingly than others) that give readers the distinct impression emaciated children in Gaza aren't really an urgent humanitarian crisis if they have rickets, cancer, or cerebral palsy. With guest Beatrice Adler-Bolton.
Ep 227: The Importance of 'Seriousness,' or Why Palestinians Can't Be Witness to Their Own Genocide (Part II)
"Exclusive Look at Life in War-Ravaged Gaza," reads the title for a CNN interview with correspondent Clarissa Ward. "'It's a Killing Field': IDF Soldiers Ordered to Shoot Deliberately at Unarmed Gazans Waiting for Humanitarian Aid," report Yaniv Kubovich and Bar Peleg for Ha'aretz. "I'm a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It," argues Omer Bartov in The New York Times. These stories have somet
Ep 226: The Importance of 'Seriousness,' or Why Palestinians Can't Be Witness to Their Own Genocide (Part I)
"12 UN Relief Works Agency staff members are accused of involvement in Hamas' attack against Israel," reports NPR. "Details Emerge on U.N. Workers Accused of Aiding Hamas Raid," announces The New York Times. "Hamas Military Compound Found Beneath U.N. Agency Headquarters in Gaza," claims The Wall Street Journal. In January 2024—literally on the same day the International Court of Justice deemed Is
Ep 225: How US Media Frames Democracy that Actually Helps People as 'Buying Votes'
"Student loan forgiveness is a bribe for young voters," shouted Newsweek in 2022. "Harris's call for price controls on groceries is more pandering than policy," declared The Hill in 2024. "Free for all: Democratic socialist's policy pitches face tough fiscal reality in New York," warned Politico this year. Every time an elected official or political candidate proposes a policy with even the slight
Episode 224: Corporate Self-Regulation and the Fine Art of 'Preempting" Public Outrage
In this episode, we detail the classic PR gambit of corporations anticipating regulation, offering to "self-police," implementing token or superficial reforms, waiting for the outrage to blow over, then going back to business a usual. With guest Timi Iwayemi of Revolving Door Project.
News Brief: ADL, Corporate Media, Dem Elites Manufature "Antisemitism" Scandal to Discipline Mamdani
In this News Brief, we break down recent bad faith attacks on Zohran Mamdani, the ADL's DO YOU CONDEMN extortion racket, and the broader "antisemitism scandal" playbook to derail moderate social democratic policies and any meaningful criticism of Israel.
News Brief: Natural Disaster-izing the Deliberate US-Israeli Starvation Campaign in Gaza
In this News Brief, we are joined by Ashley Bohrer and Ben Teller of Jewish Voice for Peace Chicago to discuss media indifference to the US and Israel-imposed starvation of Palestinians, how sectarianism is central to the ADL's strategy, and why six JVP activists have decided to hunger strike to draw more attention to the Israeli and US-made famine in Gaza.
News Brief: Pundits Speed-Run 15 Months of Iraq War Propaganda for Iran in Five Days
In this News Brief, we break down the insta-talking points to sell war with Iran––from Ticking Time Bomb '24' plots to cherry-picked, dubious anecdotes of Iranians supposedly begging for Israeli bombs.
News Brief: US Media, Top Dems Assist Trump and Israel's Unprovoked Attack on Iran
In this public News Brief, we detail how the NYT, Washington Post, and CNN reinforce every faulty premise of Israel's attack and how top Democrats in Congress and former Harris aides either ignore Trump and Israel's massive escalation or openly support it, showing once again the scope of debate in our politics and media ranges all the way from A to B.
Ep. 223: The Empire Strikes First, Part II — 'Abundance' Pablum as Counter to Left Populism
"Can Democrats Learn to Dream Big Again?," wonders Samuel Moyn in the New York Times. "The Democrats Are Finally Landing on a New Buzzword. It's Actually Compelling," argues Slate staff writer Henry Grabar. "Do Democrats Need to Learn How to Build?," asks Benjamin Wallace-Wells in The New Yorker. For the past few months, news and editorial rooms have been abuzz with talk about a new, grand vision
Ep 222 - The Empire Strikes First Part I: Party Elites Who Lost to Trump (Twice) Blame Everyone But Themselves
In Ep. 222, "The Empire Strikes First Part I: Party Elites Who Lost to Trump (Twice) Blame Everyone But Themselves," we detail how our media allows the same party flacks who got the Dems into this mess, control over the narrative of how to get them out. With guest UC-Berkeley professor Jake Grumbach.
Episode 221: Anti-Science Mugging on the Right and the Ascent of American Anti-Intellectualism
In this episode we detail demagogues' favorite faux populist schtick of taking scientific studies out of context and mocking them, often with help from mainstream media. with guest Brenda Ekwurzel, director of climate science for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
News Brief: NPR Asks Starving Palestinian Living On Rubble to Denounce Hamas, Co-Sign His Own Ethnic Cleansing
In this News Brief, we we break down an object lesson in racist US-Israeli national security state toadyism, double standards, and runaway condescension.
News Brief: Baltimore Uprising 10 Years on: PR Co-option vs Genuine Reform
In this News Brief we are joined by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis of The Real News Network to discuss their new documentary, "Freddie Gray: A Decade of Struggle" about the lessons, pitfalls and genuine reforms stemming from the 2015 Baltimore Uprisings. You can watch the documentary here: therealnews.com/freddie-gray-the-…ng-10-years-later
Episode 220: The Power of Thought-Terminating Bad Guy Labels
"American Extremists Aiding Radicals Across Border," trumpeted the Detroit Free Press in 1919. "707 Illegal Aliens Arrested in Checkpoint Crackdown," reported the Los Angeles Times in 1987. "87 Bronx gang members responsible for nine years of murders and drug-dealing charged in largest takedown in NYC history," announced the New York Daily News in 2016. "'Top secret' Hamas documents show that terr
Ep 219: How Elites Concern Troll 'Waste' to Gut Social Welfare and Divide the Working Class
"Poverty plan hit for fraud, waste," reported the Associated Press in 1966. "Study says government waste is unbelievable," insisted United Press International in 1983. "Beneath Trump's Chaotic Spending Freeze: An Idea That Crosses Party Lines," announced The New York Times in January of this year. It's an argument that dates back decades, even centuries: Government is bloated, spending wastefully,
Ep 218: The Siren Song of Rallying Around a 'Common Enemy' to Promote Progressive Causes
"Senate Weighs Investing $120 Billion in Science to Counter China," trumpeted The New York Times in 2021. "A New Economic Patriotism Can Help Unite Our Divided Congress," argued Newsweek in 2023. "US cedes ground to China with 'self-inflicted wound' of USAid shutdown, analysts say," cautioned The Guardian in 2025. In recent years, we've been exposed to the latest version of a centuries-old geopol
News Brief: Dem Leaders, 'Free Speech' Warriors Mostly Shrug as Trump Disappears Political Dissidents
In this public News Brief, we discuss the media and high-profile Democratic Party leaders and 'Free Speech' crowd's muted—or, in many cases, completely silent—response to the greatest attack on free speech in recent memory: Trump's kidnapping and disappearing of Palestinian solidarity students.
Episode 217: A.I. Mysticism as Responsibility-Evasion PR Tactic
"Israel built an 'AI factory' for war. It unleashed it in Gaza," laments the Washington Post. "Hospitals Are Reporting More Insurance Denials. Is AI Driving Them?," reports Newsweek. "AI Raising the Rent? San Francisco Could Be the First City to Ban the Practice," announces San Francisco's KQED. Within the last few years, and particularly the last few months, we've heard this refrain: AI is the re
News Brief: Trump's Hollow Working Class Aesthetics and How Unions Can Lead a Real Resistance
In this Citations Needed News Brief interview, we're joined by Rutgers professor Eric Blanc to discuss his new book "We Are The Union," and lay out how any meaningful resistance to Trump and Trumpism has to be grounded in a growing, strong, confrontational labor movement.
News Brief: Israel Kills Over 400 in 12 Hrs, Media Unsure if This Counts as Violating the 'Ceasefire'
In this News Brief, we detail the struggle to continue framing Israel as a reluctant, defensive peace-seeking party despite its openly genocidal rhetoric and acts.
News Brief: The Disappearance of Mahmoud Khalil and the Phony 'Campus Safety' Panic
In this News Brief, we detail how Center-Left institutions and media have cynically wielded "lived experience" claptrap to assist Trump's overtly fascistic crackdown on dissenting speech.
Episode 216: Sunday Morning News Shows and the Problem With 'Agenda Setting' Court Stenography
"It's fair to call the deteriorating situation at the US/Mexican border a crisis," declared NBC's Meet the Press in 2021. "[CNN anchor Dana] Bash presses Netanyahu on Gaza death toll: 'Is Israel doing everything possible to... avoid civilian casualties?'," boasted CNN's State of the Union in 2023. "Principle over party… The latest high-profile Republican endorsement for Harris. And she got another
Citations Needed Live Show Beg-a-Thon: Ancient Rome and the False Histories Inspiring Musk & the MAGA World
In this Beg-a-Thon live show, "Ancient Rome and the False Histories Inspiring Musk & the MAGA World," with guest Dr. Sarah E. Bond, we discuss Sarah's new book, Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire, and how Elon Musk and everyone in his MAGA orbit appropriate the aesthetics of Rome while understanding almost nothing about the history they're seemingly so infatuated with. O
News Brief: Silicon Valley Patronage, How To Subtly Drift Right, and the New Conservative Media Ecosystem
In this News Brief, we interview journalist and author Eoin Higgins about his new book, "Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left," discuss the new model of tech billionaire funding, and detail how some of the biggest names in Left media became MAGA-aligned, Tucker-boosting petty, score-settlers.
News Brief: Media Continues Painting Musk's Far Right Coup as Good Faith "Cost-Cutting Effort"
In this News Brief we detail how The New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN took a pathological liar with a clear ideological agenda at his word he's worried about "waste" for the sole reason he's rich and powerful.
News Brief: Trump's Anti-Migrant Terror PR Strategy, Dr Phil's ICE Reality Show & NYT's MAGA Assist
In this News Brief, we detail the Trump's administration's strategy of trying to terrorize migrant communities, why it's not working as planned, how The New York Times is manufacturing a pro-mass deportation consensus and how migrant communities and their allies are fighting back. We are joined by Chris from the humanitarian aid organization No More Deaths.
News Brief: Media Won't Say a Nazi Salute is a Nazi Salute and How MAGA Became Too Big To Fail
In this inauguration coverage recap we detail how elite #resistance to Trump is MIA, how grassroots liberals and leftists are working behind the scenes anyway to fight back and why Trump and the billionaires who back him are now, more than ever, simply Too Big To Fail.
Episode 215: "Bipartisanship" as High-Minded Rhetorical Cover for Pushing Rightwing Policies
"Clinton seeks common ground with Republicans," reported the Associated Press in 1994. "Obama hosts dinner, urges bipartisanship," announced the AP again, in 2009. "Resist Trump? On Immigration, Top Democrats See Room for Compromise," stated The New York Times in late 2024. For decades, we've heard Democratic policymakers extol the virtues of working with Republicans. Through a series of stock ter
News Brief: NYT Bars Quakers From Using "Genocide" in Ad and Liberal Squeamishness Over the "G" Word
In this News Brief, we talk to Joyce Ajlouny of the American Friends Service Committee, discuss a recent episode where the New York Times refused to run an AFSC pro-ceasefire ad with the word "genocide" in it, and detail the broader battle within liberalism over labeling the US and Israel's "war" as genocide––and what it would entail if our media did.
Episode 214: Fake Ceasefire Talks and Feigned 'Concern' - How US Media Helped Distance Biden From the Gaza Genocide
"White House frustrated by Israel's onslaught but sees few options," reports the Washington Post. "White House cancels meeting, scolds Netanyahu in protest over video," announces Axios. "Biden Works Against the Clock as Violence Escalates in the Middle East," asserts The New York Times. Since Oct. 7, 2023, we've heard seemingly endlessly that the Biden White House disagrees with the violence in Ga
Episode 213: The Shallow, Power-Flattering Appeal of High Status #Resistance Historians
"The Bad Guys Are Winning," wrote Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic in 2021. "The War on History Is a War on Democracy," warned Timothy Snyder in The New York Times, also in 2021. "The GOP has found a Putin-lite to fawn over. That's bad news for democracy," argued Ruth Ben-Ghiat on MSNBC the following year, 2022. Within the last 10 years or so, and especially since the 2016 election of Trump, these
Episode 212: Gaza and the Political Utility of Selective Empathy
"Salvadoran Ties Bloodshed To a 'Culture of Violence'", reported The New York Times in 1981. "The violence in Lebanon is casual, random, and probably addicting," stated the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in 1985. "Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims," wrote long-time New Republic publisher and editor-in-chief Marty Peretz in 2010. There's a recurring theme within media coverage of subjugated p
News Brief: Elite Media, Dems Blame 'Woke', 'Headwinds'––Everyone But Themselves––for Trump Win,"
In this pubic News Brief, we detail the usual scapegoats for party, pundit, and press failure to stem the tide of ascendant fascism.
Episode 211: Bari Weiss, The 'University' of Austin, and the Silicon Valley-Funded Faux-Iconoclast Media Industry
The PC Police Outlaw Make-Believe." "Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web." "The Roots of Campus Hatred." "End DEI." These articles all have something in common: they were written by Bari Weiss. Weiss, the New York Times opinion editor and columnist turned horseshoe theorist media proprietor, has made a name for herself as a victim, and enemy, of that perennial right-wing bogeyman: so-c
Episode 210: Seller's Inflation and the Super Serious Economists Mocking "Greedflation" "Conspiracies"
"An inflation conspiracy theory is infecting the Democratic Party," The Washington Post frets. "'Greedflation' is a nonsense idea," The Economist insists. "Harris' plan to stop price gouging could create more problems than it solves," CNN warns. Over the last few years, as the prices of groceries, cars, and other necessities have risen, often dramatically, leading news outlets and influential pund
News Brief: Harris' Mid 2000s Neocon Re-Brand and Centrist Voters as Free Real Estate
In this News Brief, we discuss the Democratic nominee's overt embrace of conservative policy and politicians and the widespread, unchecked assumption that tracking right has zero electoral trade-offs.
Episode 209: Popularism and the "Poll-Driven" Democrat as Cover for Conservative Policy Preferences
"Calls for Transforming Police Run Into Realities of Governing in Minnesota," cautioned The New York Times in 2020. "Democrats Face Pressure on Crime From a New Front: Their Base," claimed the paper of record again, in 2022. "How Biden's recent actions on immigration could address a major issue voters have with him," announced PBS NewsHour, republishing the Associated Press, in 2024. There's a com
Episode 208: How US Media Repackages Pro-Police Policies as "Reform"
"Citizens to Aid Police in New Program," reported the Los Angeles Times in 1975. "Community Policing: Law Enforcement Returns to Its Roots," declared the Chicago Tribune in 1994. "Obama Calls for Changes in Policing After Task Force Report," announced The New York Times in 2015. Periodically, US officials propose some type of police "reform," usually after a period of widespread protest against on
News Brief: Media Incitement Against Haitian Migrants and JD Vance's Standpoint Theory for Bigoted Dopes
In this public News Brief, we examine rightwing media's shameful incitement campaign against Haitian migrants and J.D. Vance's smarmy, grating rhetorical tactic of blaming nameless "constituents" for his stoking of a hate mob.
4 Talking Points Used to Smear DNC Gaza Protesters—And Why They're Bogus
In this public News Brief, we recap the ready-made talking points used to smear DNC Gaza protests, detail why they don't add up, and discuss how the best way to avoid the appearance of party infighting is for VP Harris to Simply Do The Right Thing. This News Brief is based on an article published today in In These Times.
Ep 207: US-Backed Killing of Journalists in Gaza and the Limits of "Freedom of the Press" Sloganeering
"Western World Observes Press Freedom Day," gloated the United Press International newswire back in 1961. "Trump v. CNN: lawsuit becomes test case on press freedom," declared The Guardian in November 2018. "The 10 Best and Worst Countries for Press Freedom," says US News and World report in 2022. For decades, elite US media and government institutions have touted the sacred notion of freedom of th
News Brief: A Quantitative Analysis of US Media's Fentanyl Panic and How It Kills
In this public News Brief, we discuss a new, detailed media survey by Zach Siegel that shows how news outlets mindlessly parrot police "accidental fentanyl overdoes" misinformation.
News Brief: Substance vs Vibes in VP Kamala Harris' Gaza PR Reboot
In this public News Brief we analyze the new Democratic nominee's "shift in tone" and whether more sophisticated Empathy-Speak and continued appeals to bogus "ceasefire negotiations" signifies a meaningful break from Biden.
Episode 206: How the Gambling Industry Swallowed Sports Media Whole
"Legalize and Regulate Sports Betting," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wrote in The New York Times in 2014. "NFL Betting Promos & Bonuses | Top NFL Betting Sites & Offers for Week 9 NFL Odds & More," USA Today offered readers in 2023. "Bookmakers break down NBA, NHL playoffs, big bets," reads a June 2024 Fox Sports headline. It's not an exaggeration to state that, since its legalization in 2018, spo
Live Show 7/16/24: Paris, Power and Olympic Class War with Jules Boykoff
In this live show from July 16 2024, we are joined by Citations Needed Senior Olympics Correspondent Jules Boykoff of The Nation to discuss unrest in France over the upcoming Olympic games, increased athlete activism and unionization, and the fewer and fewer marks willing to buy the IOC's bill of goods.
The Great Neoliberal Burden Shift (Part II)- How Corporate America Offset Liability Onto Its Workers
"How Railroaders Are Killed; Train Crews Grow Careless," read a 1906 syndicated article. "There is a kind of personality who is accident-prone," reported the Kansas City Star in 1944. Amazon's safety programs are "designed to keep its nearly one million warehouse workers worldwide fit and limber," The Seattle Times claimed in 2021. For well over a century, it's been standard practice for corporat
The Great Neoliberal Burden Shift (Part I) - How Corporate America Offset Liability Onto the Public
"Choose the product best suited for baby," Nestlé urged in a 1970s baby formula ad. "What size is your carbon footprint?" wondered oil giant BP in 2003. "Texting, music listening put distracted pedestrians at risk," USA Today announced in 2012. These headlines and ad copy all offer a glimpse into a longstanding strategy among corporations: place the burdens of safety, health, and wellbeing on indi
News Brief: Unions, Gaza, and Labor's Checkered Relationship With US Militarism
On this public News Brief, we are joined by author and historian Jeff Schuhrke to discuss labor's response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the history of union support for (and opposition to) U.S.-led war and imperialism, and his upcoming book, Blue-Collar Empire: The Untold Story of US Labor's Global Anticommunist Crusade.
