“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 for the Democratic Party: abundance. Abundance, according to its media ...
2025-06-11 13:59:33 +0000 UTC
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“Democrats Need to Face Why Trump Won,” states The New York Times' Ezra Klein Show. “Democratic strategist issues ‘hard truth’ to party members after losing election,” CNN tells viewers. “This Is Why Kamala Harris Really Lost,” writes Eric Levitz for Vox.
Since the 2024 presidential election, elite Democrats and the pundits in their orbits have taken to newspapers, podcasts, and cable channels to attempt to explain why Kamala Harris lost and Donald Trump won. Ch...
2025-06-04 14:50:16 +0000 UTC
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In this Patron-only News Brief, we breakdown Jake Tapper's most Jake Tapper story yet: a belated, safe, navel-gazing account of Biden's inner circle covering up his mental decline and how it allows Tapper to pontificate on the importance of Speaking Truth to Power without having to actually speak truth to power.
2025-05-30 21:31:41 +0000 UTC
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“Jaw Clench Study Takes Tax Dollars,” United Press International cautioned in 1975. “‘Shrimp On A Treadmill’: Rand Paul Mocks National Science Foundation Studies,” Forbes reported in 2021. “Gov't waste report finds $400K spent to give lonely rats cocaine: 'Absurd',” Fox News told viewers in 2024.
According to these headlines, a wasteful, woke liberal government has been squandering taxpayer money on something wholly undeserving: frivolous...
2025-05-28 13:43:43 +0000 UTC
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In this News Brief, we break down an object lesson in racist US-Israeli national security state toadyism, double standards, and runaway condescension.
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Palestinian writer Yousri Alghoul describes life in north Gaza NPR Morning Edition | May 19 2025
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Transcript
For a full ...
2025-05-22 17:13:14 +0000 UTC
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Hi all, here is this fortnight's newsletter. Apparently there was some issues with these not pushing to our subscribers and we have since solved the problem. Apologies for the technical problems! And thanks again for your support!
- Adam, Florence, Julianne and Nima
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Trump's First 100 Days Have Been an Absolute Disaster for Workers Sarah Anderson, In T...
2025-05-14 19:43:42 +0000 UTC
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The 10th anniversary of the killing of Freddie Gray recently passed, on April 19, 2025. Freddie Gray died on April 19, 2015, after suffering severe injuries to his spinal cord while in police custody in Baltimore.
A new documentary from The Real News Network entitled Freddie Gray: A Decade of Struggle reflects upon the ten years since the police killing of Gray. We are joined today by...
2025-05-07 15:59:28 +0000 UTC
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"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 terrorists intentionally targeted elementary schools and a youth center," ...
2025-04-30 18:01:16 +0000 UTC
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"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, and enabling widespread fraud and abuse. The only solution to this waste, f...
2025-04-23 17:54:30 +0000 UTC
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"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 geopolitical message: We all have a common enemy, and we all need to...
2025-04-16 17:27:20 +0000 UTC
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On this 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 perhaps the greatest attack on free speech in recent memory: Trump's kidnapping and disappearing of Palestinian solidarity students.
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Show Notes
Democratic Party Leaders and ...
2025-04-02 15:32:58 +0000 UTC
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“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 reason for an abuse committed by a corporation, military, or other powerf...
2025-03-26 18:36:48 +0000 UTC
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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.
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Guest
Eric Blanc (@e...
2025-03-19 17:17:04 +0000 UTC
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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.
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here. You can also find transcripts of past episodes, live shows, Beg-a-Thons,...
2025-03-18 17:00:00 +0000 UTC
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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.
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this News Brief, go here. You can also find transcripts of past episodes, live s...
2025-03-12 21:52:30 +0000 UTC
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“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 Cheney endorsement,” announced ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos ...
2025-03-12 18:24:31 +0000 UTC
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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 d
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 understandin...
2025-03-05 14:16:03 +0000 UTC
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Tune in at youtube.com/@citationsneeded tonight at 9:30 PM ET / 6:30 PM PT! We'll be joined by historian Dr. Sarah E. Bond to discuss her new book Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire and debunk th...
2025-02-19 20:17:46 +0000 UTC
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Tune in this Wednesday, February 19 at 9:30 PM ET for a Beg-a-Thon live on our YouTube channel!
We'll be joined by Dr. Sarah E. Bond, Associate Professor of History at the University of Iowa, to discuss her new book, Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire, and how Elon Musk and the MAGA world embrace the aesthetics of Rome while understanding al...
2025-02-17 17:04:54 +0000 UTC
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In this Patreon-only News Brief, we discuss the latest in Elon Musk's rightwing coup of the regulatory state, how a couple of outlets are beginning to slowly, coyly mention DOGE's ideological agenda, and how Musk and Trump have successfully built an alternative faux populist universe propped up by dishonesty and conspiratorial mud-slinging—exploiting Democrats' insistence on being the party of legal formalism and the status quo.
2025-02-14 21:08:54 +0000 UTC
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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.
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go 2025-02-12 15:51:58 +0000 UTC
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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.
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here. You can also fin...
2025-02-05 15:32:35 +0000 UTC
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In this News Brief, we talk to Chris from No More Deaths to detail Trump's strategy of terrorizing migrants, how the NYT is manufacturing a pro-mass deportation consensus, and how activists are fighting back.
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Guest
Chris is Media Outreach Coordinator for the Arizona-based humanitarian organization No More Deaths.
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Show Notes
2025-01-29 17:05:23 +0000 UTC
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In this Inauguration coverage recap we detail how elite liberal 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 simply Too Big To Fail.
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Show Notes
Trump returns to White House and unleashes barrage of executive orders
Martin Pengelly |...
2025-01-22 17:18:48 +0000 UTC
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"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 terms, e.g. bipartisanship, finding common ground, reaching across the aisle, compromis...
2025-01-15 16:06:43 +0000 UTC
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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.
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Guest
Joyce Ajlouny (2025-01-08 18:31:37 +0000 UTC
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In this Patreon-only News Brief, we breakdown why establishment media is panicking over the alleged UnitedHealth killer's populist appeal, the selective nature of what "violence" invites handwringing and why pundits want the public to believe this is about a middle school crush rather than widespread anger over privatized, for profit healthcare.
2024-12-14 20:03:07 +0000 UTC
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A note to you, our amazing supporters: We continue to be so honored and humbled to be able to do this show. And it wouldn't exist without your generous support. Thank you so much! As our eighth season of Citations Needed rolls on, we want to note that this is our final episode of the year. We'll be back after a short break for the holidays with more episodes, News Briefs and live shows. Stay tuned and thank you, again and again and again, for making Citation...
2024-12-11 17:00:42 +0000 UTC
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"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 authors — Anne Applebaum, Timothy Snyder, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, in addit...
2024-12-04 15:39:08 +0000 UTC
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