In "As Trump Crushes Academia, the NYT and Atlantic Still Fight 'Woke' Wars from 5 Years Ago," we are joined by Chenjerai Kumanyika & Todd Wolfson of @aaup.org to discuss Trump's gutting of higher education, neoliberalism's college takeover and the possible end of academic independence as we know it

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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...

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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...

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..

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.

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!

In this News Brief, "The Billionaire-Backed Groups Working to Push Dems Right in 2026 & 2028," we detail the major factions seeking to rewrite the history of the 2024 election as "woke" Gone Too Far, downplay Gaza, and prevent economic populism at all costs.

Monday at 9:30 pm ET / 8:30 pm CT on our YouTube channel! Don't miss it!

Making a rare appearance on this app to announce that I'll be live with Adam and Nima talking about MAHA politics on Monday evening. Hope to see you there.

In this News Brief, "IDF-Funding Mega-Billionaire Buys CBS News, Installs Bari Weiss to Enforce Ideological Discipline," we discuss the Ellisons' purchase of Paramount and the TikTok algorithm, their potential purchase of CNN, and how this will invariably incite more violence against Palestinians.

Please join us one week from today for a Beg-A-Thon live show @ 9:30ET/8:30CT! We will be 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-profit medical system fuel hucksterism.

In Ep 229, "Sociopathic 'You Got To Hand it To 'Em' Punditry and the Rise of Politics as Sport" we detail the rise of detached "who's winning/who's losing" political analysis that reduces high stakes life and death issues to fodder for ESPN-type navel-gazing. With guest @jackmirkinson.bsky.social

for those unaware, Mike Rowe is a notorious anti-union shithead. listen to the extremely good @citationspod.bsky.social about him: citationsneeded.libsyn.com/episode-64-m...

This will pair well with three Angela Collier video about billionaires pretending to be physicists

In Ep 228, "Billionaires as Insta-Experts: How Our Media Conflates Extreme Wealth with Expertise," we break down the media convention of assuming the rich are per se experts on everything from education to "the economy" to poverty in Africa when, in reality, they are Just Some Guys.

This is a very good podcast

In this News Brief, we detail recent "updates" pro-Israel crybullies have pressured media outlets to make (some more willing than others) that give readers the distinct impression emaciated children in Gaza aren't really an urgent humanitarian crisis if they have rickets, cancer, or cerebral palsy.

Citations Needed has done an extraordinary job covering the media's treatment of the ongoing genocide in Gaza throughout this atrocity, but this episode and the one before are particularly important and reach for something fundamental in the nature of the American media.

In Ep 227, "The Importance of 'Seriousness,' or Why Palestinians Can't Be Witness to Their Own Genocide (Part II)" we detail US media's trend of reporting on Israeli war crimes months after Palestinian reporters already did and the broader regime of dehumanization targeting Palestinian media workers

In Ep 226, "The Importance of 'Seriousness,' or Why Palestinians Can't Be Witness to Their Own Genocide (Part I)," we detail NYT & WSJ's incitement campaign against the UN in Jan 2024 and how it directly assisted Israel's starvation campaign. w/ guest Moureen Kaki who joins us from Khan Yunis, Gaza

Oh hey, yet another incredibly relevant @citationspod.bsky.social news brief bsky.app/profile/cita...

This podcast is hands down the best look into policy and media spin out there and this episode is no exception.

@citationspod.bsky.social is so good. That's it. Just clear-eyed banger after banger.

In Ep 225, "How US Media Frames Democracy that Actually Helps People as 'Buying Votes'," we detail the popular media trope that providing direct social welfare to people who need it is somehow cheating, or playing the electoral game on God Mode. with Janine Jackson of @fairmediawatch.bsky.social.

In Ep 224, "Corporate Self-Regulation and the Fine Art of 'Preempting' Public Outrage," we detail the classic PR gambit of corporations anticipating regulation, offering to "self-police," implementing token or superficial reforms, waiting for outrage to blow over, then going back to business a usual

as always, there is an excellent @citationspod.bsky.social episode on this bullshit practice. citationsneeded.medium.com/episode-157-...

The folks at @citationspod.bsky.social outline in vivid detail how Zohran Mamdani is being smeared by both the usual anti-Muslim racists *and* centrist Democrats for things he never said - an essential listen for anyone who cares about truth & justice.