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Citations Needed

Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson

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

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23 episodes
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Avg 1 hr
English

Episodes 23

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Wednesday · 1 hr 8 min
Ep 244: The Authenticity Affect (Part II) - The Dopey, Power-Flattering, Media-Created "Maverick" Politician
In Part 2 of our 3-part series on the uses and misuses of "authenticity," we examine the media obsession with "political mavericks" who "buck party orthodoxy"—almost aways with either trivial interventions or, as is most often the case, throwing vulnerable populations and causes under the bus. With guest Jack Mirkinson, senior editor at The Nation magazine.
September 23 · 1 hr 26 min
Ep 243: The Authenticity Affect (Part I) — Whistlestop Tours, Smarm, and the Art of Channeling 'Folk'
In part 1 of our 3-part series on the uses and misuses of "authenticity," we examine the Real America "listening tour," its propaganda utility, and how it uses the superficial aesthetics of rural simplicity to sell class-flattening, power-serving narratives. With writer and teacher John Patrick Leary.
August 19 · 1 hr 16 min
Ep 242 - The Disempowering Politics of 'Inevitability' Part 2: US Empire as Mysterious, Teleological Force
In this episode, we discuss how circular "inevitability" arguments have been used for centuries to justify war, expansionism and perpetual hostility — most recently against China. Our guest is organizer and writer Tobita Chow.
August 12 · 1 hr 28 min
Ep 241 - The Disempowering Politics of 'Inevitability' Part 1: Data Centers and LLM as 'The Future'
In this episode, we breakdown the popular "inevitability" argument AI companies are using to bulldoze over democracy and how the "inevitability" line has been used to sell everything from Manifest Destiny to poverty-creating "free trade deals". We are joined by guest Amy Woodson Bolton, professor of British and Irish history at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.
July 29 · 41 min
News Brief: Very Serious New Yorker Article Launders Biden Officials' Responsibility for Gaza Genocide
In this News Brief, we are joined by Kaleem Hawa to discuss David K Kirkpatrick's 10,000 word PR job that feigns criticism of Biden officials, but ultimately serves to distance them from the horrors of Gaza.
July 15 · 28 min
News Brief: Why US Media Has Evoked Israel's "Right to Exist" 1,001 Times vs Only 6 For Palestine
In this News Brief, we dissect the Orwellian phrase "right to exist," why it only applies to Israel, what purpose it serves, and why Palestinians are never said to have such a right.
July 8 · 1 hr 34 min
Ep 240: How the Media's "Burden," the "Straining Resources" Framing Manufactures the Expendable Other
In this episode, we discuss the ideological work done by our media's default frame of immigrants, poor seniors, homeless people, and those with disabilities as "burdens" and "strains" on our limited resources––namely those provided by the holy Taxpayer. Meanwhile, skyrocketing police and Pentagon budgets are just treated as unremarkable laws of nature. With guest Beatrice Adler-Bolton of the Death Panel podcast.
July 1 · 38 min
News Brief: Despite 9-Figure Infusion from Silicon Valley, Abundance Still Seeks Popular Support
In this news brief, we catch up with Dylan Gyauch-Lewis, senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project, to discuss Abundance's PR problems, why this latest neoliberalism rebrand isn't catching on and how Silicon Valley billionaires still see 'Abundance' as their best chance to counter populist forces in the Democratic Party.
June 24 · 42 min
News Brief: The ADL's Bogus Origin Story and Its Rise as Ideological Enforcer for Empire and Israel
In this News Brief, we talk with Emmaia Gelman, author of The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State, about how––despite posing a civil rights org––the ADL functions as defender of colonialism and enforcer for reactionary western ideologies.
June 17 · 1 hr 20 min
Episode 239: The Vague, Capital-Serving Co-Optation of "Affordability" Politics
In this episode, we detail the long history of generic "affordability" discourse and how, post-Mamdani, it's become the go-to establishment buzzword justifying tax breaks for developers, deregulation, and cosmetic tweaks to our for-profit healthcare and education systems. With guest Luke Savage.
May 28 · 40 min
News Brief: The Call to Boycott—and Delegitimize—the New York Times
In this News Brief, we talk with Chris Mills Rodrigo from Writers Against The War On Gaza about their campaign to boycott the New York Times and remove the "paper of record" from its pedestal of alleged neutrality and editorial rigor.
May 20 · 1 hr 30 min
Episode 238: The Fictional, Racist, Paranoia-Sowing "Sleeper Cell" Media Construction
In this episode, we detail the vague, baseless racism-sowing media coverage and pop culture obsession with so-called "sleeper cells," a construction that has consumed post-9/11 America but suffers from one major problem: there's no evidence it exists.
May 13 · 1 hr 3 min
Live Show: 'How to Sell a Genocide' Book Talk at The Word Is Change Bookstore in Brooklyn, NY
This is a live recording between Nima and Adam at the Word is Change Bookstore May 7, 2026. In this conversation, we discuss key findings that can be found in Adam's new book, How to Sell a Genocide: The Media's Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza.
May 6 · 47 min
News Brief: "Peak TV," Streamer Studio Accounting Gimmicks, and the Precarity of Hollywood Labor
In this News Brief, we talk with Miranda Banks and Kate Fortmueller, authors of the new book Boom to Bust: How Streaming Broke Hollywood Workers, about rising inequality and precarity in Hollywood, studio consolidation, and how the dream of fame and fortune, 100 years on, is still used to concentrate power and drive down wages.
April 22 · 51 min
News Brief: How the Right Invented — and Exploited — the "Liberal Media" Trope
In this News Brief, we talk with A. J. Bauer, assistant professor at the University of Alabama, about his new book," Making the Liberal Media: How Conservatives Built a Movement Against the Press". In our discussion we break down the corporate and ideological forces that shaped the popular idea mainstream media was crawling with fifth columnist agitators hostile to the values of Real America.
April 15 · 1 hr 21 min
Ep 237: How Selective, Patronizing 'Deradicalization' Discourse Pathologizes Anti-Colonial Struggle
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.
April 8 · 1 hr 6 min
Ep 236: Manufactured Austerity and the Media Assisted 'Public-Private Partnership' Rip-Off
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.
April 1 · 17 min
News Brief: As American Troops Hide in Civilian Hotels, US Media Ignores Pentagon's Use of 'Human Shields'
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.
March 25 · 34 min
News Brief: How Decades of Media Distortions and Lies about "Iran's Nuclear Program" Lead to War
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.
March 11 · 1 hr 22 min
"Shadow Fleets," Sanctions & Western Media's International Law-ification of Arbitrary US Dictates
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.

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