Citations Needed

News Brief: NYT Rushes to Defend "Reformed" Police Depts From Liberal Anti-ICE Backlash | Citations Needed Get more from Citations Needed on Patreon

In this New Brief, we detail how the New York Times, Atlantic, and others are using the specter of ICE's extreme violence and kidnappings to create a narrative of successful post-George Floyd police reform that simply does not exist.

Ep 234: TikTok, Gen Z's Move to Social Media and Elite Panic Over Unsanctioned News In this News Brief, we examine our political class' TikTok neurosis, how Gaza fueled its sell to US and Israeli military contractors, and the long history of elite panics around unsanctioned informat

In Ep 234, "TikTok, Gen Z's Move to Social Media and Elite Panic Over Unsanctioned News," we examine our political class' TikTok neurosis, how Gaza fueled its sell to US and Israeli military contractors, and the long history of elite panics around unsanctioned information flows.

with Omar Zahzah.

the best media criticism pod in the game

News Brief: ICE, Senate Dems' Counterinsurgency PR, and the Limits of Body Cam Liberalism In this News Brief, we detail the fundamental problems with Senate Democrats' cosmetic reforms, the strategy of letting outrage blow over and the conspicuous absence of any proposal that touches ICE's

In this News Brief, "ICE, Senate Dems' Counterinsurgency PR, and the Limits of Body Cam Liberalism," we detail the fundamental problems with Senate Democrats' cosmetic reforms, the strategy of letting outrage blow over and the conspicuous absence of any proposal that touches ICE's obscene budget.

As usual, Citations Needed is great and worth a listen. They do a great job examining the text, subtext, and meta-text of contemporary media, capturing how and why media frames issues the way they do. This episode makes very clear why our political imagination has to extend beyond politicians.

Ep 233: How US Media Naturalizes Capital Strikes and Helps the Rich Undermine Democracy In this episode, we examine how billionaires and corporations threatening capital strikes and capital flight to discipline populist politicians is normalized and boosted by political and business medi

In Ep 233, "How US Media Naturalizes Capital Strikes and Helps the Rich Undermine Democracy," we examine how billionaires and corporations threatening capital strikes and capital flight to discipline populist politicians and movements is treated as normal, obvious, and healthy by US media.

News Brief: As Dem Leadership Waffles—Labor, Organizers, Immigrants Fight Back in Minneapolis In this News Brief, we break down Democratic leadership's fatuous

In this News Brief, "As Dem Leadership Waffles—Labor, Organizers, Immigrants Fight Back in Minneapolis," we break down Dem leadership's fatuous "body cam" and "training" response to ICE brutality, and how organizers in the Twin Cities are not settling for cosmetic reform.

w/ guest Janette Corcelius

News Brief: For Media Reporting on Iran, Trump Suddenly Morphs into Pro-Democracy Humanitarian In this News Brief, we discuss corporate media uncritically framing a potential military attack on Iran by Trump as being motivated by concern for human rights—a premise that, while laughable on its f

In this News Brief, we discuss corporate media uncritically framing a potential military attack on Iran by Trump as being motivated by concern for human rights—a premise that, while laughable on its face, has quickly morphed into elite media consensus.

News Brief: How Corporate Media Laid the Groundwork for a Rightwing Incitement Campaign in Minnesota In this News Brief, we detail how CBS, Fox, WSJ, and NYT promoted an essentialized, overblown narrative on the

In this News Brief, "How Corporate Media Laid the Groundwork for a Rightwing Incitement Campaign in Minnesota," we detail how CBS, WSJ, NYT promoted an overblown narrative on the "Somali Minnesota fraud" story, teeing up a full blown rightwing incitement campaign.

w/ @matthewccook5.bsky.social

Ep 232: US Meddling, the Limits of 'Agency' Discourse and How Media Chooses Which 'Voices' To Center Podcast Episode · Citations Needed · 12/10/2025 · 1h 29m

Looking forward to the probably inevitable news brief on the Venezuela stuff, but in the meantime, @citationspod.bsky.social recently did a great episode on the way US meddling gets talked about in the mainstream media and it's worth a listen. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Ep 232: US Meddling, the Limits of 'Agency' Discourse and How Media Chooses Which 'Voices' To Center Podcast Episode · Citations Needed · 12/10/2025 · 1h 29m

Listening to the most recent @citationspod.bsky.social & there’s a lot of talk about Venezuela. Discussion starts around 38:30 but everything leading up to it is important, too.

News Brief: CNN Partners with Gambling App That Lets You Wager on Starvation in Gaza | Citations Needed Get more from Citations Needed on Patreon

In this News Brief, "CNN Partners with Gambling App That Lets You Wager on Starvation in Gaza," we break down CNN's partnership with Kalshi, the moral hazards of news gambling markets and the broader media-assisted financialization of every aspect of our lives.

News Brief: BBC's Gaza Double Standard and Western Liberalism's Crisis of Legitimacy In this public News Brief, we interview journalist Daniel Trilling and discuss his investigation into the BBC's systemic anti-Palestinian bias.

In this News Brief, "BBC's Gaza Double Standard and Western Liberalism's Crisis of Legitimacy," we interview journalist Daniel Trilling and discuss his investigation into the BBC's systemic anti-Palestinian bias.

Excellent episode on how the Democrats are faux opposing the genocide in Gaza while still actively supporting the genocide in Gaza despite more than 78% of registered Democrats against supporting the zionist colony. Even now the Democratic Party is a pro genocide party - do not trust _any_ of them

How To Oppose Genocide Without Opposing Genocide (Part 2): AIPAC Dems' Fake Israel Criticisms Citations Needed is a podcast about the media, power, PR, and the history of bullshit. It is hosted by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson, and produced by Florence Barrau-Adams.

In Ep 231, "How To Oppose Genocide Without Opposing Genocide (Part 2): AIPAC Dems' Fake Israel Criticisms," we detail the buyers' market for superficial Gaza critiques that permit ambitious Democrats to look pro-Palestine without the downside of actually being so.

With guest @tksshawa.bsky.social.

with guest Laura Albast!

How To Oppose Genocide Without Opposing Genocide (Part 1): Biden World's Reputation Laundering Tour In this episode, we detail recent attempts by former Biden officials to rewrite history and absolve themselves of responsibility for the horrors of Gaza, and lay out the emerging Dem-aligned media ind

In Ep 230, "How To Oppose Genocide Without Opposing Genocide (Part 1): Biden World's Reputation Laundering PR Tour," we detail attempts by ex-Biden officials to distance themselves from the horrors of Gaza and lay out the emerging Dem-aligned media industry of vibing past Dems' support for genocide.

YouTube video by Citations Needed CN LIVE Nov 2025 Election

We're live! www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY7ZyQZWOz0

Today at 5:30 pm ET / 4:30 pm CT! Link to come.

Don’t worry, we’ll find a way

This is increasingly just becoming a @citationspod.bsky.social shill acct.

Citations listeners! Join us this Wed Nov 5 at 5:30pmET/4:30pmCT for a YouTube live show on the media’s reaction to the NYC mayoral election. Will it be a Mamdani meltdown? Will there be executions in Central Park? Will the MSNBC/Pod Saves set successfully Obama-fy him? Find out!

The old @citationspod.bsky.social episode I keep referring to on this topic wasn't cynical enough: soundcloud.com/citationsnee...

Citations Needed Live Show Beg-a-Thon: MAHA, TikTok and the Rise of Health-Branded Fascism In this Live Show Beg-a-Thon from 10/13, we are joined by Justin Feldman to discuss the rise of MAHA, the broader Granola-to-Fascist Pipeline and how corporate-written food policies and our shitty for

In this Live Show Beg-a-Thon, "MAHA, TikTok and the Rise of Health-Branded Fascism," recorded on 10/13, we are joined by Justin Feldman to discuss the rise of MAHA, the broader Granola-to-Fascist Pipeline and how corporate-written food policies and our for-profit medical system fuel hucksterism.

apropos of nothing..

News Brief: As Trump Attacks Venezuela, Media Takes His Absurd “Drug War” Pretext at Face Value In this News Brief, we detail how the AP, Atlantic, Washington Post and New York Times are accepting Trump's framing that his attacks on Venezuela and Colombia are about

In this News Brief, we detail how the AP, Atlantic, Washington Post and New York Times are accepting Trump's framing that his attacks on Venezuela and Colombia are about "going after drug cartels" when it's clear they are—based on Trump's own words—about controlling Venezuela's oil.

News Brief: Media Helps Sell ICE Raids with Zero Dark Thirty Ride-Along Schlock In this News Brief, we are joined by Matthew Cunningham-Cook to discuss his recent media analysis of "embedded reports" of ICE raids that prime the public for brutal crackdowns on undocumented immigra

In this News Brief, "Media Helps Sell ICE Raids with Zero Dark Thirty Ride-Along Schlock," we discuss NYT, NBC, Fox, CBS and ABC's "embedded reports" of ICE raids that prime the public for ICE’s abductions and harassment of immigrants.

With guest @matthewccook5.bsky.social

fwiw, an amazing listen:

We're live! www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbcB...

Tonight at 9:30 pm ET! Join us on our YouTube channel. Link forthcoming!