Nima Shirazi and Adam JohnsonNews
Nima Shirazi and Adam JohnsonNews
Nima Shirazi and Adam JohnsonNews
Nima Shirazi and Adam JohnsonNews

About

Citations Needed is a podcast about the intersection of media, PR, and power, hosted by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson.

  • Episode 200 - The Rise of the War on Drugs 2.0: This Time It's Different, We Promise
    “Sen. Chuck Schumer warns drug dealers are pushing rainbow fentanyl to children,” CBS News cries. “'It's very challenging': Inside the fentanyl fight at the border,” ABC News reports. “The hard-drug decriminalization disaster,” New York...
  • Episode 199: The Golden Age of Crybullyism
    "Ex-officer Amber Guyger testifies in wrong-apartment murder trial: 'I was scared to death,'" a " story reported in 2019. "Starbucks Files Complaints with Labor Board, Accuses Union Organizers of Bullying and Harassment," reported Food & Wine...
  • Episode 198: How The Atlantic Magazine Helps Sell Austerity and War to Middlebrow Liberals
    “Teachers Unions: Still a Huge Obstacle to Reform.” “Countering Iran’s Menacing Persian Gulf Navy.” “Open Everything: The time to end pandemic restrictions is now.” “The Good Republicans’ Last Stand” Each of these headlines comes...
  • News Brief: Media, Billionaires' Attacks on Homeless People May Pay Off Big at Supreme Court
    On this News Brief, we are joined by Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center to discuss the upcoming Johnson v. Grants Pass case, which will be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States on April 22nd 2024. This is the most...
  • Beg-A-Thon Live Show 1-30-24: The Grim Popularity of Rise-And-Grind TikTok #Influencers
    In this Live Show Beg-A-Thon recorded Jan 30, we break down the worst Rise-And-Grind social media stars and how they've moved from Silicon Valley-adjacent to subprime motivational content helping middle and working class people get through the daily...
  • News Brief: How US Media Obscures the Violence of the Generic, Sterile-Sounding "Border Deal"
    In this News Brief we are joined by friend of the show, Maximillian Alvarez of The Real News, to discuss Democrats' pathetic, myopic, and nihilistic attempt to play the Racist Reverse Uno Card on Congressional Republicans.
  • Episode 197: The "Human Shields" Canard as Catch-All Colonial Absolution
    "Viet Cong Use Children as Human Shields," the Associated Press alleged in 1967. "'Civilian casualty?" That's a gray area," Alan Dershowitz argued in The Los Angeles Times in 2006. "We can’t ignore the truth that Hamas uses human shields,”"Jason...
  • Episode 196: Benevolent Billionaire Despotism and US Media’s Softball Treatment of ‘Effective Altruism’
    "Join Wall Street. Save the world," The Washington Post urged in 2013. "How to Know Your Donations Are Doing the Most Good," The New York Times proclaimed in 2015. "I give 10 percent of my income to charity. You should, too," Vox advised last...
  • News Brief: The ICJ Ruling and the Essentialness of Squishy Western Liberal Support for Genocide
    In this public News Brief, we react to the media spin around the ICJ's genocide ruling against Israel and how framing by the NYT and BBC seeks to uphold the logic of the so called "war" creating said genocide.
  • Episode 195: David Leonhardt and the Elite Consensus Manufacturing Machine
    "Make sense of the day’s news and ideas," urges The Morning, a daily New York Times newsletter. "Get smarter, faster on news and information that matters to you," Axios assures its readership. "This is how the news should sound," The New York Times...
  • Beg-A-Thon Announcement Jan 30: The Worst Rise-And-Grind TikTok #Influencers
    Get shredded! Get a hot trad wife! Close the Baxter Account! Join us Jan 30 at 8:30pm ET for a live show beg-a-thon with guest Hussein Kesvani, as we break down the most ridiculous and toxic rise-and-grind guys on social media, from David Goggins to...
  • News Brief: Quantifying the Media's Selective Humanity in Gaza
    In this News Brief, we are joined by Adam's anonymous co-author of their two recent studies—one of print and one of cable news—detailing US's media's double standards when covering the 'Gaza conflict.'
  • News Brief: 5 Ways US Media Helps Put a 'Humanitarian' Spin on Gaza Ethnic Cleansing
    In this News Brief, we detail how horrific population transfers, mass bombings, and collective punishment are spun as humanitarian gestures to protect civilians.
  • Episode 194: The "Graying Population" Panic and the 90-Year War on Social Security
    “Aging population to hit U.S. economy like a 'ton of bricks',” Reuters reported in 2021. “Aging Is The Real Population Bomb,” the International Monetary Fund cautioned earlier this year. “How an aging population poses challenges for U.S....
  • News Brief: Media Adopts Israel's Simplistic 'Hunt for Hamas' Narrative, Providing Cover For Ethnic Cleansing
    In this News Brief, we detail how American media focusing entirely on discrete "counter attacks" and adopting cool military-speak play-by-play ignores the much bigger and important reality of forcible population transfers and overt plans to remove...
  • 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...
  • 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...
  • Ep 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...
  • Live Show 10/30/23: 4 Arguments Against a Gaza Ceasefire and Why They're Bullshit
    In this Live Show from 10/30/23, "4 Arguments Against a Gaza Ceasefire and Why They're Bullshit," we break down the four main arguments against a ceasefire in Gaza and why they make no moral, intellectual, or...
  • Live Show 10/16: Gaza Siege and the Liberal Handwringing Industrial Complex
    In this impromptu Live Show recorded 10/16, we breakdown the latest efforts by Democrats to support Israel's brutal bombing and collective punishment of Gaza while still looking "deeply concerned" about the logical outcomes of this bombing and...