citationsneededpodcast

Episode 193: How Military Jargon and Cliches Make Mass Death Seem Sterile (Part II)

“U.S. shipment of 'lethal aid' reaches Ukraine amid Russia tensions,” NBC News reported in January 2022. “U.S. adopting 'deterrence posture' as aircraft carrier heads towards Israel,” France 24 announced in October 2023. The same month, The Hill warned about “Nutrition: The national security threat no one is talking about.”

This is part two of our two-part episode on the language of war. Last week, we discussed terms like “boots on the ground” and “military fo...

Episode 192: How Military Jargon and Cliches Make Mass Death Seem Sterile (Part I)

“Israel Called Them ‘Precision’ Strikes. But Civilian Homes Were Hit, Too.,” The New York Times equivocated back in May 2023. “US Military Footprint in Australia Expands to Counter China,” Bloomberg announced in July 2023. “NATO to launch biggest military exercise since Cold War,” the Financial Times reported in September 2023.

Far too often, media accept and parrot the terminology of the Pentagon, never pausing to consider how deceptive and per...

Episode 191: How Media's Use of 'The Economy' Flattens Class Conflict

“Writers Strike Fallout: $2B Economic Impact May Be Just the Beginning,” the Hollywood Reporter states. “Looming UAW strike could cost US economy more than $5B in just 10 days,” Fox Business announces. “In a Strong Economy, Why Are So Many Workers on Strike?” the New York Times wonders.

We’re regularly exposed to news media’s updates on some vague notion of “the economy.” Though it’s never really defined, “the economy,” we’re told, is something that will suff...

Citations Needed Live Stream tonight 9:30pmET - Gaza Update

Citations Needed Live Stream tonight 9:30pmET on the building momentum demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and the counter-propaganda against this movement, from deliberately ambiguous calls for a "humanitarian pause" to the torrent of "terror tunnel" articles.

We will post live link when we go on at 9:30pmET, but youtube page can be followed here -> 

https://www.youtube.com/@citationsneeded

Live Show, 10/16: Gaza Siege and the Liberal Handwringing Industrial Complex

In this impromptu Live Show, recorded on October 16, "Gaza Siege and the Liberal Handwringing Industrial Complex," we break down the latest efforts by Democrats to support Israel's bombing and collective punishment of Gaza while looking Upset and Deeply Concerned.

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Donate

We urge anyone who is able to donate to Middle East Children's Alliance or 2023-10-19 15:11:40 +0000 UTC View Post

Impromptu Live Show tonight - 10pm ET

impromptu Live Show tonight to discuss efforts to end IDF bombing of Gaza, the "progressive" concern troll industrial complex and the criminalizing of dissent. You can follow our Youtube here. We will be posting a specific URL when we go live @ 10pmET.

We will be discussing Adam and Nima's dueling articles today on Gaza, both (in a weird coincidence actually) in The Nation. You can read them here:

Adam and Sarah: 2023-10-17 00:21:56 +0000 UTC View Post

News Brief: US Media, Washington Rush Head First into 9/11 2.0

In this public News Brief, we discuss the recent escalation in violence in "the middle east" and the quickly-forming bipartisan consensus to jam the issue into a simplistic, dehumanizing War on Terror narrative.

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Transcript

For a full transcript of this News Brief, go here. You can find transcripts of past e...

Episode 190: Why Media Insists the US is "Forced" to Commit Human Rights Abuses

"Realities have forced us to remain on diplomatic terms with several dictators," the Pampa Daily News stated in 1958. "U.S. ambassador to the U.N Samantha Power has been forced to look the other way as [Saudi Arabia] does as it pleases in Yemen," Politico told us in 2016. Biden is being forced to accept the flaws of America's friends," claimed The New York Times  earlier this year, 2023.

For decades, we've heard the same excuse regarding US foreign policy: 'Our le...

Episode 189: PragerU, the 'Product Of His Time' Defense and the White Guilt Amelioration Industrial Complex

"Hitler was a product of his time," historian Kent Gardner told us in 1975, just thirty years after the end of World War II. "Was Frank Rizzo racist, or just a product of his time?" The Philadelphia Inquirer pondered in 2017 about the city's notoriously racist former police commissioner and mayor just 26 years after his death. "Christopher Columbus, no saint, was product of his time," explained a 2013 commentary in the Staten Island Advance.

We often hear this sentimen...

News Brief: GOP, Corporate Media Attempt to Manufacture Conflict Between Autoworkers and Climate

In this public News Brief, we break down recent attempts by Politico, Axios, New York Times and faux populist Republicans to pit autoworkers against climate mandates––despite the fact that workers themselves support a just, green transition.

Our guest is Sydney Ghazarian.

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Guest

Sydney Ghazarian (@SydneyAzari) is an organizer at the 2023-09-20 13:52:17 +0000 UTC View Post

Episode 188: How Capital Repackages Substandard Products for the Poor as "Increasing Access"

And we're back! Welcome to season seven of Citations Needed!

Thanks for all your ongoing support of the show. We're thrilled to have been doing this for over six years and it's all thanks to the listeners like you who chose to support our work. We are so grateful.

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"COVAX and World Bank to Accelerate Vaccine Access for Developing Countries," trumpets a World Bank press release. "How AI Is Making Healthcare More Affordable And Accessible," announces Forbes ...

News Brief: Trump and the Trump Clones' Fake 'Anti-War' Rhetoric

In this Patron News Brief, we discuss the rise of Vivek Ramaswamy and his nominal opposition to sending money and arms to The Lame-o Woke war in Ukraine, while calling for the invasion of Mexico and a Cold (Hot?) War with China. 

Episode 187: Undercover Boss, Uber-Driving CEOs, and the "Empathetic Executive" Schtick

“New Starbucks CEO plans to pull barista shifts in stores every month,” CNN announces. “Uber’s CEO moonlighted as a driver and it changed the way he operates the company,” Fortune insists. “Your DoorDash driver? He’s the company’s co-founder,” the Associated Press smirks.

Month after month or week after week, we seem to hear the same stories about bold corporate executives who’ve decided to roll up their sleeves—metaphorically or otherwise—and join their lowest-l...

Episode 186: Nativism in Media (Part III) - IMF, NAFTA and Global Inequality By Design

"The World Bank and its president have been doing an important, constructive job the past five years," announced The Southern Illinoisan in 1973. "IMF assistance [has] put Jamaica well on the road to recovery," reported The Winnipeg Sun in 1982. The Trans-Pacific Partnership “could be a legacy-making achievement” for Barack Obama, The New York Times suggested in 2015.

These are the dominant narratives surrounding so-called "development" initiatives, whethe...

Ep. 185: Nativism in Media (Part II) -  The Artificial Cold War Distinction Between 'Migrants' and 'Refugees'

Immigration law should "stop punishing innocent young people brought to the country through no fault of their own by their parents," the Obama White House stated in 2013. "Migrant Caravan Continues North, Defying Mexico and U.S.," The New York Times warned in 2018. "Biden Administration Invites Ordinary Americans to Help Settle Refugees," NPR announced in early 2023.

For over a century, U.S. policy and media have distinguished between supposedly different types of immigrants. T...

Episode 184: Nativism in Media (Part I) — How Dehumanization and Militarization Manufactured a “Border Crisis”

"What one photo from the border tells us about the evolving migrant crisis," The Washington Post reveals. "The U.S. immigration crisis through the eyes of a border town mayor," reports Boston's NPR station. "Everyone can now agree – the US has a border crisis," proclaims CNN.

There's a seemingly endless stream of warnings in news media that the US is being met with a "crisis" at the US-Mexico border. This crisis, according to the press—whether it’s called a "border crisis...

News Brief: As UPS Strike “Looms,” Media Frames Working-Class Revolt as “Threat” to “The Economy”

In this public News Brief, we break down media coverage of the potential UPS strike––and the trend more broadly in labor coverage––that paints a strike as something that harms "the consumer" or "the economy" rather than what it is: the only thing that gives workers any power.

Our guest is writer and media analyst Teddy Ostrow.

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Guest

Teddy Ostrow (@teddyostrow) is a journalist from Brook...

News Brief: 2000s Zombie Neoliberalism Lives On in Obama's New Netflix Doc

In this News Brief, we review former president Barack Obama's new Netflix docuseries, "Working: What We Do All Day," and his attempt to paper over class conflict in favor of a Simply Asking CEOs To Be Nicer brand of politics.

Our guest is Editor-in-Chief of The Real News Network, Maximillian Alvarez.

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Guest

Max Alvarez is the Editor-in-Chief of The Re...

News Brief - "Go Fly Yourself": Marketing 'Sex' and the Great Stewardess Rebellion of the 1970s

In this Citations Needed Live Interview, Nima and Adam talk to Nell McShane Wulfhart, journalist and author of The ...