Hi all!
Here's this week's newsletter. We hope you have a great holiday season, a Merry Christmas (if that's your bag), and a Happy New Year. We'll back in January with new episodes, but in the meantime enjoy our curated list of good-ass content. 2018-12-18 16:40:42 +0000 UTC View Post
The media – local and national, print and TV – love puff pieces designed to make the police look good and generally improve their overall brand with the public. More often than not, these human interest stories are typically fed to local news by ...
2018-12-12 16:00:27 +0000 UTC View Post
F-22 flyovers, 160-foot flags draped across the playing field, full color guards, camouflage uniforms, The Star-Spangled Banner, God Bless America, Support The Troops Nights, special perks for vets.
What is the origin of the runaw...
2018-12-05 16:13:12 +0000 UTC View PostDearest Patrons,
Since we last wrote, we released a new episode with anthropologist and author 2018-12-04 19:34:34 +0000 UTC View Post
In this Patreon News Brief we discuss Amazon-sponsored NPR and their recent Amazon puff piece and the problem with "tech journalism" more broadly, which prioritizes sexed-up tech woo woo over human labor and human beings.
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We're told the world is getting better all the time. In January, The New York Times' Nick Kristof explained "Why 2017 Was the Best Year in Human History." The same month, Harvard professor and Bill Gates' favorite optimist Steven Pinker lame...
2018-11-28 15:57:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Focus groups have long-been derided by the left, right, and center for watering down culture and reducing creative and political endeavors to dull, show-of-hand reductionism.
But what if focus groups – which first arose from socialist exper...
2018-11-21 16:13:57 +0000 UTC View PostDearest patrons,
Here's the latest newsletter. We are thankful for each and every one of our listeners and supporters and, as such, wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, if that's your bag – and if not, have a good week anyway!
- Sophia, Nima,...
2018-11-20 19:16:33 +0000 UTC View Post
In the wake of the 2016 election, many conservatives, liberals, and - unfortunately - even some on the left pointed to Democrats' reliance on so-called "identity politics" to explain Donald Trump's upset victory over Hillary Clinton.
One of t...
2018-11-14 15:27:49 +0000 UTC View Post
“Bush didn’t send enough Troops.”
“Trump needs authorization from Congress before launching a war.”
“Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories are not helpful.”
We hear these liberal objections t...
2018-11-07 14:24:16 +0000 UTC View PostDearest Patrons,
We know this newsletter is hitting your inboxes later than usual, but--in our defense--we've been standing in line at our local Citations Needed polling place all day.
As always, endless thanks for your continued support for ...
2018-11-07 03:31:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Credit: Daniel Dale
Hard-liner Jair Bolsonaro is ...
2018-11-01 03:47:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Jake Tapper’s career trajectory is an object lesson in how to succeed in corporate media. The formula generally goes like this: go after the fringes of the left and the right––but mostly the left. Never offend any traditional centers of power. ...
2018-10-31 15:40:37 +0000 UTC View PostDearest Patrons,
We hope you've been enjoying the new episodes of Citations Needed - we've got plenty more on tap to keep your earbuds warm this winter. But first, we're taking this week off to refuel the tanks and mix as many metaphors as...
2018-10-23 20:39:18 +0000 UTC View Post
"The suspect fled on foot, police said. Call this number if you have any information." "The incident took place at the 1200 block of Grove." "Police say." "Police sources are telling us." "Suspect is thought to be armed and dangerous."
We’ve all ...
2018-10-17 15:34:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Trump says he opposed the war in Iraq, but in fact said he supported it in an obscure interview in 2004. McCain was for the tax cuts before he was against them. Republicans say they’re Christians, yet support a philandering liar. ...
2018-10-10 14:31:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi all!
Here's this week's newsletter. Please enjoy and be sure to tune in tomorrow as our second season rolls on with a new episode featuring friend-of-the-show Roqayah Chamseddine. We discuss the problem with "hypocrisy" dunks and the popul...
2018-10-09 20:28:53 +0000 UTC View Post
"Diversity" is a simultaneously important and buzzword-y term beloved by the media, corporations, real estate agents and elite universities. It’s something to strive for and take pride in, a symbol of inclusion and tolerance.
While diversity is a...
2018-10-03 14:50:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Post-Cold War liberal chauvinism knew no better ideological conduit than the hit NBC series The West Wing. Foreign policy was imperial, staffers were self-satisfied, and Serious Democrats fended off radical leftists and made the Tough Choice...
2018-09-26 15:55:42 +0000 UTC View Post
In this Patron-only News Brief we discuss Trump's anti-Iran flunky Nikki Haley and how the media lets her casually lie all the time because of her unearned Adult In The Room status.
2018-09-26 04:00:48 +0000 UTC View PostHi all, the newsletter is back! Thanks as always for your support we're super excited for Season 2. Look out tomorrow for Ep. 51; we're joined by friend of the show Luke Savage and will be discussing the rank ideology of The West Wing.
- F...
2018-09-25 22:17:24 +0000 UTC View Post
With recent primary election wins by candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, James Thompson, Julia Salazar and others, the terms “socialist” and “democratic socialist” are everywhere. Media outlets across the political spectr...
2018-09-19 15:15:55 +0000 UTC View Post
In the mid-1990s there was a rhetorical and cultural shift on the issue of abortion, namely the result of anti-abortion activists successfully introducing the term "partial birth abortion" into both the media and cultural lexicon.
Major Democrats c...
2018-09-12 14:55:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to Citations Needed, Season Two.
From the shame-inducing “safe, legal and rare” framing of the 1990's to normalizing efforts like the #ShoutYourAbortion campaign and an uptick in abortion plot lines in mainstream television, di...
2018-09-05 15:23:30 +0000 UTC View Post
John McCain has died. The glowing paeans to his humanity, integrity and "straight talk" are already flooding the airwaves and internet tubes.
In this News Brief, we discuss the media's nearly ubiquitous hagiographic treatment of a man who spe...
2018-08-26 02:44:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Since there's been America, there have been American war crimes, and since there have been American war crimes, there's been a parallel cottage industry of hacks, shills and propagandists willing to not only apologize for, deny and downplay these cri...
2018-08-08 16:03:39 +0000 UTC View PostHi all -
Here is this week’s newsletter, hope you enjoy!
And also, a quick production note: Citations Needed will be wrapping up Season 1 with tomorrow’s episode and will return with new shows on Wednesday, Septembe...
2018-08-07 22:26:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Russia, as we all know, has sinister “oligarchs” whereas in the United States, we are told, we have “philanthropists,” “job creators,” and “titans of industry” who earn their wealth through hard work, moxie, and guile. Aside from a fe...
2018-08-01 16:17:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Russia, as we all know, has sinister “oligarchs” whereas in the United States, we are told, we have “philanthropists,” “job creators,” and “titans of industry” who earn their wealth through hard work, moxie, and guile. Aside from a fe...
2018-07-25 14:35:24 +0000 UTC View PostHi all,
Here’s this week’s newsletter. Thanks for your support as always!
- Nima, Adam, Florence
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