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Episode 204: 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 individuals, in order to deflect responsibility and regulation. Whet...

News Brief: Unions, Gaza, and Labor's Checkered Relationship With US Militarism

On this Citations Needed 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—now available for pre-order—Blue-Collar Empire: The Untold Story of US Labor's Global Anticommunist Crusade.

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Live Show: Student Organizers Breakdown Media Distortions Over Gaza College Encampments

On this Citations Needed Live Show, recorded virtually on May 23, 2024, Adam and Nima discuss recent coverage of the campus protests over the ongoing genocide in Gaza, from the media's habit of pathologizing Zoomers to Biden's condescending implication they're just a foaming hate mob.

We were joined by guests Layla Saliba and Jonathan Ben-Menachem.

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Guests

Layla Saliba (@itslaylas)...

Episode 203: Ideological Shaping of the Possible (Part II) - How Corporate Think Tanks Function as Influence Laundromats

"Susan Rice examines U.S. foreign policy strategy with The Post's David Ignatius," read the title of a 2016 Washington Post Live conversation. "Key player in war on climate change? The Pentagon," CNN insisted in 2020. "Democrats Need To Learn How To Get Excited About the Center-Left," The Messenger proclaimed in 2023. 

These posts were all facilitated, sponsored, or authored by a member of a Democratic-aligned, corporate U.S. think tank. Whether the Center for America...

Episode 202: Ideological Shaping of the Possible (Part I) - Democrats and the Black Box Corporate Consulting Industry

“David Plouffe's advice for 2020,” Axios shared in 2019. “James Carville: 'Stupid wokeness' is a national problem for Democrats,” CNN reported in 2021. “Robert Gibbs, former White House Press Secretary under President Obama, discusses the debt ceiling deal and the latest job numbers,” MSNBC announced in 2023.

On a regular basis, news media clue us into the latest prescriptions from so-called Democratic strategists: people who’ve served as advisers, cabinet members, or othe...

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Reminder: Citations Needed streaming LIVE tonight!

Join us tonight, Thursday, May 23rd, at 10 pm ET / 9 pm CT for a YouTube livestream! We'll be joined by @itslaylas and @jbenmenachem to discuss coverage of the campus protests over Gaza, from the media's habit of pathologizing zoomers to Biden's implying they're a foaming hate mob.

We'll post the YouTube link when we go live. See you then!

Join us tomorrow, Thursday, May 23 as we stream live!

In lieu of a regularly scheduled episode this week, tomorrow, Thursday, May 23rd, we'll be hosting a livestream show at 10pmET / 9pmCT! We'll joined by @itslaylas and @jbenmenachem to discuss coverage of the campus protests over Gaza, from the media's habit of pathologizing zoomers to Biden's implying they're a foaming hate mob.

We'll post the YouT...

Episode 201: The Conservative, Faux-Erudite Rise of Nuance Trolling

“Here's why creating single-payer health care in America is so hard,” explained Harold Pollack in Vox in 2016. “The benefits of climate action…are diffuse and hard to pin down,” shrugged a Foreign Affairs article in 2020. “A nuanced view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” presented Aliza Pilichowski in The Jerusalem Post in 2023.

Each of the above is an example of something that can be called "Nuance Trolling": The insistence that some major beneficial development like ...

News Brief: Axios, NYT Help White House Obscure Their Role in Rafah Invasion

In this News Brief, we breakdown the White House's latest attempt to arm and fund Israeli war crimes while looking like helpless. bumbling humanitarians.

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Show Notes

For the Biden Campaign, Gaza Is a PR Annoyance to Manage, Not a Genocide to End

Adam Johnson | March 5, 2024 | The Column

2024-05-08 13:13:48 +0000 UTC View Post

News Brief: Campus Anti-Genocide Protests and the Weaponization of Squishy, Bad-Faith "Safety" Rhetoric

In this public News Brief, we discuss Establishment reaction to pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses, from liberal handwringing to police crackdowns to therapy-speak.

Episode 200: The Rise of the War on Drugs 2.0: This Time It's Different, We Promise

“Sen. Chuck Schumer warns drug dealers are pushing rainbow fentanyl to children,” CBS News cries. “'It's very challenging': Inside the fentanyl fight at the border,” ABC News reports. “The hard-drug decriminalization disaster,” New York Times columnist Bret Stephens laments.

In recent years, we’ve been warned about the growing threat of hyperpotent street drugs, particularly opioids. Fentanyl is disguised as Halloween candy to appeal to ...

Episde 199: The Golden Age of Crybullyism

"Ex-officer Amber Guyger testifies in wrong-apartment murder trial: 'I was scared to death,'" a " story reported in 2019. "Starbucks Files Complaints with Labor Board, Accuses Union Organizers of Bullying and Harassment," reported Food & Wine Magazine in April 2022. "Labour MPs fear for safety as pro-Palestine protesters target offices," The Guardian warned in November 2023.

Within the last decade, we’ve seen the rise of a phenomenon we...

Episode 198: The Destructive Elitism of 'The Atlantic' Magazine

“Teachers Unions: Still a Huge Obstacle to Reform.” “Countering Iran’s Menacing Persian Gulf Navy.” “Open Everything: The time to end pandemic restrictions is now.” “The Good Republicans’ Last Stand”

Each of these headlines comes from the same magazine: The Atlantic. For 167 years, the publication has enjoyed elite stature in the American literary and journalistic worlds, publishing such luminaries as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Barack Obama, and serving as a co...

News Brief: Media, Billionaires Attacks on Homeless People May Pay Off Big at Supreme Court

On this Citations Needed News Brief, we are joined by Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center to discuss the upcoming Johnson v. Grants Pass case, which will be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States on April 22, 2024. This is the most significant case about the rights of homeless people in decades, determining whether cities can make it a crime to be homeless, to sleep outside, even whe...

Beg-A-Thon Live Show 1-30-24: The Grim Popularity of Rise-And-Grind TikTok #Influencers

On this Live Show Beg-a-Thon, recorded on January 30, we discuss the social media phenomenon of the #GRINDSET Guys, the Elite Performers, the Sigma Males. They are cult personalities - no, no, influencers - who urge their followers to be solipsistic, jingoistic rise-and-grinders.

Alongside guest Hussein Kesvani, we'll look at the toxic, militaristic, reactionary and often soft-eugenicist tendencies of some of the leading voices of the #GRINDSET, all of whom have cultivated some...

News Brief: How US Media Obscures the Violence of the Generic, Sterile-Sounding "Border Deal"

In this News Brief, we are joined by friend of the show, Maximillian Alvarez of The Real News Network, to discuss Democrats' pathetic, myopic, and nihilistic attempt to play the Racist Reverse Uno Card on Congressional Republicans.

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Guest

Maximillian Alvarez is Editor-in-Chief at The Real News Network and host of the podcast 2024-02-21 15:37:15 +0000 UTC View Post

Episode 197: The "Human Shields" Canard as Catch-All Colonial Absolution

"Viet Cong Use Children as Human Shields," the Associated Press alleged in 1967. "'Civilian casualty?' That's a gray area," Alan Dershowitz argued in The Los Angeles Times in 2006. "We can’t ignore the truth that Hamas uses human shields," Jason Willick wrote in The Washington Post in 2023.

For more than five decades, military forces with overwhelming firepower, including the U.S., Israel, and others have accused enemy combatants of using “human s...

Episode 196: Benevolent Billionaire Despotism and US Media's Softball Treatment of 'Effective Altruism'

"Join Wall Street. Save the world," The Washington Post urged in 2013. "How to Know Your Donations Are Doing the Most Good," The New York Times proclaimed in 2015. "I give 10 percent of my income to charity. You should, too," Vox advised last November.

Each of these headlines tops a piece that extols the virtues of Effective Altruism, a philanthropic philosophy, for lack of a better term, ostensibly dedicated to the pursuit of the best ways to address large-scale, ...

The Beg-A-Thon is live! Join us now!

Reminder: Beg-A-Thon TONIGHT at 8:30 ET!

Join us TONIGHT at 8:30pm ET for a live show Beg-A-Thon with guest Hussein Kesvani, as we break down the most ridiculous and toxic rise-and-grind guys on social media, from David Goggins to Andy Elliott to Ed Mylett. We will be giving away merch, dunking on intense grifter assholes, and having a generally good time live on our YouTube channel. Link to come!

News Brief: The ICJ Ruling and the Essentialness of Squishy Western Liberal Support for Genocide

In this public News Brief, we react to the media spin around the ICJ's genocide ruling against Israel and how framing by the NYTimes and BBC seeks to uphold the logic of the so called "war" creating said genocide.

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Transcript

For a full transcript of this episode, go here. ...

Episode 195: David Leonhardt and the Elite Consensus Manufacturing Machine

"Make sense of the day’s news and ideas," urges The Morning, a daily New York Times newsletter. "Get smarter, faster on news and information that matters to you," Axios assures its readership. "This is how the news should sound," The New York Times again declares, via its podcast The Daily.

Over the last ten years, roughly speaking, we’ve seen the proliferation of the daily digest-style newsletter and podcast at legacy and new media organizations. Inspired, at least loosely, by the ...

Beg-A-Thon Announcement Jan 30: The Worst Rise-And-Grind TikTok #Influencers

Get shredded! Get a hot trad wife! Close the Baxter Account! Join us Jan 30 at 8:30pm ET for a live show beg-a-thon with guest Hussein Kesvani, as we break down the most ridiculous and toxic rise-and-grind guys on social media, from David Goggins to Andy Elliott to Ed Mylett. We will be giving away merch, dunking on intense grifter assholes, and having a generally good time live on our YouTube channel.

News Brief: Quantifying the Media's Selective Humanity in Gaza

Happy New Year, everyone! In this News Brief, we are joined by Adam's co-author of two recent studies—one of print and one of cable news—detailing US's media's double standards when covering the 'Gaza conflict.'

Thank you for your ongoing support of Citations Needed. We wouldn't be able to do this work without your generous support and are so grateful.

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Guest

Otto Ali is a Palestinian-American researcher and data analyst with advanced degrees i...

News Brief: 5 Ways US Media Helps Put a 'Humanitarian' Spin on Gaza Ethnic Cleansing

In this News Brief, "5 Ways US Media Helps Put a 'Humanitarian' Spin on Gaza Ethnic Cleansing," we discuss how mass expulsion routes became "humanitarian corridors," internment camps became "safe zones" and ethnic cleansing became "voluntary resettlement."

Show Notes

Bombing Palestinians Is Good For Palestinians, Say America’s Elite Pundi...