"Investigative journalism." It’s a term that conjures imagery of committed, industrious newsrooms like those in the Oscar-winning films All the President’s Men or Spotlight, filled with intrepid reporters dutifully scouring documents, scrutinizing photographs and taking secretive yet explosive phone calls at all hours of the night. It’s a rallying cry for TED Talkers and Brookings Institute essayists, many of whom extol the virtues of scrappy and scrupulous reportage t...
2022-03-02 16:31:22 +0000 UTC
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Hi all, hope you are doing well. Below is this fortnight's newsletter. Look out for a new episode tomorrow! And, as always, thank you so much for supporting Citations Needed, a project we love dearly and hope to continue for many more years.
-- Adam, Julianne, Nima, Marco, and Florence
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Texas Is Terrorizing Trans Youth Chase...
2022-03-01 20:21:08 +0000 UTC
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“Among these central ranges of continental mountains and these great companion parks…lies the pleasure-ground and health-home of the nation,” wrote journalist Samuel Bowles in 1869. “Mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life,” mused naturalist John Muir in 1901. “National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst,...
2022-02-23 16:48:27 +0000 UTC
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Hi all, hope you are having a good winter. Here's this fortnight's newsletter. We can't thank you enough for making the show possible, we are eminently grateful.
- Julianne, Florence, Nima, Adam, Marco
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Bush-Era Crack Panic Is Back, and It’s Going to Get People Killed Natalie Shure, The New Republic (February 14, 2022)
Following the du...
2022-02-15 17:07:45 +0000 UTC
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In this News Brief, we are joined by friend of the show Zachary A. Siegel to discuss the extremely effective, extremely racist rightwing outrage over drug kits and how the Democrats refusing to defend the policy on its merits sets back harm reduction efforts.
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Guest
Zach Siegel is a Journalism Fellow at Northeastern University's 2022-02-10 15:13:51 +0000 UTC
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"Why We Need Inclusive Nationalism," the journal Democracy declares. "Inclusion is patriotism of the highest order," cries The Washington Post. "Try patriotism," Bloomberg opinion writer Noah Smith proclaims.
Contemporary liberals repeatedly tell us – amid events that should make us impugn the foundations of the United States, like police killings and the absurd panic over Critical Race Theory – that American patriotism is inherently good, only sul...
2022-02-09 20:17:20 +0000 UTC
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In this Patreon News Brief, we break down The New York Times' nonstop, tabloid, strange, "At what cost??," gotcha coverage of China's 'zero COVID' policy, how it cannot be analyzed outside the context of widespread failure of American elites, and how it has nothing to do with defending liberal rights.
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A Side-Effect of China’s Strict Virus Policy: Ab...
2022-02-08 15:53:23 +0000 UTC
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"Let’s get this guy off the streets before he targets another innocent person." "If you’ve seen any of these fugitives, call our hotline now." "Thanks to a courageous tipster who did the right thing, this criminal won’t be bothering anybody else for a very long time."
For decades, local and national media - from nightly news broadcasts partnering with Crime Stoppers to primetime TV shows like America’s Most Wanted - have warned consumers of dangerous criminals o...
2022-02-02 15:10:44 +0000 UTC
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In this Live Interview from 1/11, we talk with Derecka Purnell, author of 'Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom' about her new book, her personal journey of embracing an abolitionist model and how, in the midst of a full blown reactionary moment over a rise in murders, activists can address legitimate fears of crime and provide an alternative vision to the cruel, failed "lock em up" approach.
Guest
2022-01-26 15:36:53 +0000 UTC
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In this New Brief, we discuss the Winter of Labor Discipline and why holding the line against teachers unions is essential to establishing the "new normal" of working while sick with COVID for American workers.
2022-01-21 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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In this bonus interview, a follow-up to our recent episode on schlocky Hallmark Christmas movies, we speak with a film industry insider about the anti-labor production practices of feel-good TV movie fare.
Our guest, who joins us under anonymity, spent the better part of a decade working in the labor movement before becoming a screenwriter. They're now a union screenwriter currently coming off their first major network show and their first wide-release feature will be in theaters in ear...
2022-01-19 17:47:52 +0000 UTC
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Hi all, hope you are well. Here is this fortnight's newsletter. We will be back next week with our new season and all new episodes! Thank you so much for you continued to support, it means the world to us.
Thanks again,
Florence, Marco, Adam, Julianne, and Nima
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The “Great Resignation” Is Hype. W...
2022-01-18 19:08:25 +0000 UTC
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In this Patron-only News Brief we breakdown a recent CNN segment on "extremism" that equated prejudice against ethnic minorities and gay people with contempt for the military and capitalists. Adam wrote about it but it was so bad we decided it needed a follow up news brief to further express our contempt our outrage.
2021-12-29 20:47:42 +0000 UTC
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In this patron-only News Brief, we break down the new, up-and-coming rhetorical cup and ball game––the evocation of "defensive weapons"––Democrats cooked up to justify continuing to support Saudi Arabia and Israel.
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Show Notes
Chris Murphy’s Cynical, Nonsensical Betrayal on Yemen
Sarah Lazare | December 7, 2021 | The Column
2021-12-17 16:11:14 +0000 UTC
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A blast from the past teaches a town to embrace tradition and believe in miracles we simply can’t explain. A cynical urban professional finds kindness and purpose while traveling through the heartland. Two old flames living in the fast lane discover, amid the magic of Christmas, that they were meant for each other all along.
These loglines describe the plots of countless movies made for and broadcast by Hallmark, the famed greeting card company-turned-media conglomerate that has becom...
2021-12-15 16:57:05 +0000 UTC
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"Deregulation will make the economy more efficient and stimulate GDP growth," insist think tanks like the Brookings Institution and American Enterprise Institute. "Fiscal hawks," claiming to be worried about the deficit, demand austerity measures to reign in government spending. When it comes to "entitlement programs," we hear that "there are always tradeoffs."
Time and again, the media and policymakers spew the same tired recitations meant to convey the seemingly natural, immuta...
2021-12-08 17:47:57 +0000 UTC
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Hi all, hope you are well! Here's this fortnight's newsletter.
Be sure to look out for Part II of our two-parter episode that drops tomorrow. And sneak peak: next week episode is a Very Special Christmas-Themed Citations Needed!
Hope you're having a good December,
Trendel, Adam, Julianne, Nima, Florence, and Marco
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Why COP2...
2021-12-07 18:31:03 +0000 UTC
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“Supply and demand.” “It’s just Econ 101.” “Most economists agree...” “There’s always trade offs.”
Over and over, media and policymakers spew the same tired recitations meant to convey the seemingly natural, immutable laws of economics. "The economy," we’re told, is thriving when business owners and job creators are making record profits, and failing when investments in social programs have simply grown too high — and that’s the way it is and will, and should, ...
2021-12-01 16:15:22 +0000 UTC
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A character played by an actor in a fat suit shovels food in his face, unable to restrain himself in a fit of rage. Another falls, too lazy and out-of-shape to get up without the aid of others. And yet another loses weight and avenges the anti-fat bullying she faced growing up, finally earning respect as a thin person.
We see all of these tropes ad nauseam in film, television, literature, and other forms of arts and pop culture. They...
2021-11-24 16:50:19 +0000 UTC
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“The elites are out to get you and your hard-earned pay.” “We’re spending too much on protecting foreign nations and not enough defending our own borders against immigrant invaders.” “China is taking your job and will soon take over your phone.” We are consistently fed this type of “rightwing populism” –– sticking up for the working man against an array of villains: coastal elites, liberal media and foreign boogeymen - but replete with seamy audience flattery, xenophobic...
2021-11-10 18:29:05 +0000 UTC
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“It’s not about right vs left, but the people vs the elites,” “Wall Street and the media are leaching off hard working Americans like you and me who play by the rules.” “Our elite have sold us out to China.” American media consumers are routinely fed, a particular, and often confusing brand of so-called “rightwing populism” –– nominally taking on “elites”, “the media,” and “bankers” and standing up for the every man but with a suspicious mix of xenophobia, se...
2021-11-03 14:44:19 +0000 UTC
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In this News Brief, we recapped how, in the face of a once in a generation opportunity to relieve poverty and address curb climate change, US media largely gave us personality, Horse Race coverage, and defensive snark–– aiding conservatives efforts to winnow down the bill to a fraction of its original size.
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Show Notes
The Actual Human Stakes o...
2021-11-01 14:35:46 +0000 UTC
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"Feed the world." "We are the world." "Be a light to the world." Every few years, it seems, a new celebrity benefit appears. Chock full of A-listers and inspirational tag lines, it promises to tackle any number of the world’s large-scale problems, whether poverty, climate change, or disease prevention and eradication.
From Live Aid in the 1980s to Bono’s ONE Campaign of the early 2000s to the latest Global Citizen concerts, televised celebrity charity events, and their many associat...
2021-10-27 15:21:57 +0000 UTC
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Hi Patreon supporters!
Thank you as always for your support making this show possible. We are extremely grateful.
We will be holding our next one-hour live audio and text AMA Wednesday, Oct 27 at 10pm ET / 7pm PT. So save the date and prep your questions for us! They could be about media, politics, our hot takes, or how we build our episodes! Adam and Nima, as well as Citations Needed producer Florence and associate producer Julianne, will be on the line.
Instructio...
2021-10-20 22:14:39 +0000 UTC
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In this News Brief, we recap the recap of Powell's life, from the handwringing over his Iraq War UN speech to the erasure of his role in covering up My Lai massacre to training rightwing death squads in Central America and the central importance of "Good Intentions" when venerating our beloved, bipartisan war-makers.
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Show Notes
2021-10-20 18:18:19 +0000 UTC
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Hi all,
Hope you doing well. Thank you so much, as always, for your support. The show wouldn't be possible without it and we are eminently grateful for you.
- Florence, Marco, Adam, Julianne, and Nima
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IATSE Entertainment Workers Are on the Verge of Their First National Strike Alice Herman, In These Times (October 4, ...
2021-10-12 14:29:04 +0000 UTC
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In this Patreon News Brief, we breakdown American media's habit of ignoring what's actually in anti-poverty bills and who they will impact––in favor of big, scary multi trilliondy dollars top line figures.
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The Actual Human Stakes of the Reconciliation Bill Are Being Ignored in Favor of “Left vs Moderate’ Horse Race Coverage
Adam...
2021-10-08 13:49:25 +0000 UTC
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In this recording of a Live Interview for Patrons from 9/22, we speak with The Nation sports editor Dave Zirin about his new book, The Kaepernick Effect, and how a series of protests in youth sports, namely among black youth, set off firestorms and backlash in dozens of small towns throughout the country. And what the "leave politics out of sports" ethos says about the evergreen importance of racial disciplining in sports media.
Guest
2021-10-06 15:58:31 +0000 UTC
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“The eviction moratorium is killing small landlords,’ says one, as ban is extended another month,” CNBC cautions. “‘No safety net’ and little sympathy. Some small landlords struggle under eviction moratoriums,” declares The Washington Post. “Economic Pressures Are Rising On Mom And Pop Rental Owners,” laments NPR. ”[Landlords] can’t hold on much longer,” cries an LA Times headline.
Throughout the course of the pandemic, we’ve seen a spate of m...
2021-09-29 16:41:36 +0000 UTC
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“Write from experience.” “Show, don’t tell.” Self-knowledge. Self-discipline. Well-known conventions like these, whether delivered in classrooms, writing seminars or simply from one writer to another, often anchor traditional writing advice for literary authors and journalists alike in the United States.
While they may seem benign and often useful, they also have a history of political utility. Thanks to a network of underwritten cultural projects and front groups, state organ...
2021-09-22 14:29:41 +0000 UTC
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