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Citations Needed

Arts & Culture Podcasts

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

Location:

United States

Description:

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

Language:

English


Episodes
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Ep 237: How Selective, Patronizing 'Deradicalization' Discourse Pathologizes Anti-Colonial Struggle

4/15/2026
In this episode, we break down the long history of US media reducing recalcitrant populations' grievances to "terrorism," "hate," and "radicalism" in urgent need of re-education. With guest Prem Thakker.

Duration:01:21:51

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Ep 236: Manufactured Austerity and the Media Assisted 'Public-Private Partnership' Rip-Off

4/8/2026
In this episode we discuss how privatization was rebranded 'Public-Private Partnerships' and unleashed decades of raiding of the public coffers by Wall Street. With guest Donald Cohen, founder and executive director of In the Public Interest.

Duration:01:06:08

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News Brief: As American Troops Hide in Civilian Hotels, US Media Ignores Pentagon's Use of 'Human Shields'

4/1/2026
In this News Brief we examine CNN, the Atlantic, Washington Post and NYT's blatant 'human shields' double standard as reports emerge of US troops hiding from Iranian attacks in civilian infrastructure.

Duration:00:17:55

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News Brief: How Decades of Media Distortions and Lies about "Iran's Nuclear Program" Lead to War

3/25/2026
In this News Brief, we discuss a recent poll showing 70% of Americans are fundamentally wrong about the nature of Iran's "nuclear program"—including 1 in 4 who think Iran currently possesses a nuclear weapon, and detail how decades of sleazy media innuendo and fabrications got us to this point.

Duration:00:34:41

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"Shadow Fleets," Sanctions & Western Media's International Law-ification of Arbitrary US Dictates

3/11/2026
In this episode, we explore how arbitrary—often unilateral—sanctions against Enemy States are given the halo of international legal legitimacy with a combination of lies, slippery language and brainless court stenography. With guest Maryam Jamshidi, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Colorado School of Law.

Duration:01:22:12

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News Brief: As Trump Crushes Academia, the NYT and Atlantic Still Fight 'Woke' Wars from 5 Years Ago

2/18/2026
In this News Brief, we are joined by Chenjerai Kumanyika and Todd Wolfson of the American Association of University Professors to discuss Trump's gutting of higher education, its expansion on previous neoliberal privatization efforts, and how big donor and media backlash against "woke "academics and anti-Gaza genocide protestors is fueling the possible end of academic independence as we know it.

Duration:00:45:54

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Ep 234: TikTok, Gen Z's Move to Social Media and Elite Panic Over Unsanctioned News

2/4/2026
In this episode, 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 guest Omar Zahzah.

Duration:01:13:49

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News Brief: ICE, Senate Dems' Counterinsurgency PR, and the Limits of Body Cam Liberalism

1/30/2026
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 obscene budget.

Duration:00:39:34

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Ep 233: How US Media Naturalizes Capital Strikes and Helps the Rich Undermine Democracy

1/28/2026
In this episode, 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.

Duration:01:24:28

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News Brief: As Dem Leadership Waffles—Labor, Organizers, Immigrants Fight Back in Minneapolis

1/21/2026
In this News Brief, 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. With guest Janette Corcelius.

Duration:00:43:18

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News Brief: For Media Reporting on Iran, Trump Suddenly Morphs into Pro-Democracy Humanitarian

1/17/2026
In this News Brief, we discuss mainstream media coverage of ongoing protests across Iran and how nearly every major Western outlet has been uncritically framing any potential regime change plans by the US government—including Trump ordering a military attack on the country—as being motivated primarily, if not solely, by concern for the lives, safety and rights of demonstrators.

Duration:00:25:11

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News Brief: How Corporate Media Laid the Groundwork for a Rightwing Incitement Campaign in Minnesota

1/7/2026
In this News Brief, we detail how CBS, Fox, WSJ, and NYT promoted an essentialized, overblown narrative on the "Somali Minnesota fraud" story, teeing up a full blown rightwing incitement campaign against Minneapolis's immigrant communities.

Duration:00:27:42

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Ep 232: US Meddling, the Limits of 'Agency' Discourse and How Media Chooses Which 'Voices' To Center

12/10/2025
In this episode, we discuss the uses and misuses of liberal standpoint theory to promote US meddling, sanctions, and bombing. With guest Vincent Bevins.

Duration:01:29:03

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News Brief: BBC's Gaza Double Standard and Western Liberalism's Crisis of Legitimacy

12/3/2025
In this News Brief, we interview journalist Daniel Trilling and discuss his investigation into the BBC's systemic anti-Palestinian bias.

Duration:00:44:48

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Ep 231 - How To Oppose Genocide Without Opposing Genocide (Part 2): AIPAC Dems' Fake Israel Criticisms

11/26/2025
In this episode, 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 Tariq Kenney-Shawa.

Duration:01:17:44

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Ep 230 - How To Oppose Genocide Without Opposing Genocide (Part 1): Biden World's Reputation Laundering PR Tour

11/19/2025
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 industry of vibing past Democrats' lockstep support for genocide.

Duration:01:41:11

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Citations Needed Live Show Beg-a-Thon: MAHA, TikTok and the Rise of Health-Branded Fascism

11/10/2025
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-profit medical system fuel hucksterism.

Duration:00:54:40

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News Brief: As Trump Attacks Venezuela, Media Takes His Absurd "Drug War" Pretext at Face Value

10/29/2025
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.

Duration:00:22:49

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News Brief: Media Helps Sell ICE Raids with Zero Dark Thirty Ride-Along Schlock

10/22/2025
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 immigrants.

Duration:00:31:29

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News Brief: The Billionaire-Backed Groups Working to Push Dems Right in 2026 and 2028

10/13/2025
In this News Brie, 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.

Duration:00:29:50