Citations Needed, Episode 38: The Media' Bogus Generation Obsession

LIFE magazine, January 1, 1970

“Baby Boomers are bloating the social safety net!” “GenXers are changing the nature of work!” “Millennials are killing the housing market!”

The media endlessly feeds us stories about how one generation or another is engaging in some collective act of moral failing that, either explicitly or by implication, harms another generation. It’s a widely-mocked cliché at this point, namely the near-constant analyses detailing what Millennials have “killed” or “ruined” lately - everything from Applebee's to diamonds to top sheets to beer to napkins.

The first rule of drama––and by implication, the media––is to create tension. But what if tensions that actually exist in our society, like white supremacy and class conflict, are too unpleasant and dicey to touch––upsetting advertisers and media owners who benefit from these systems? To replace these real tensions in society, the media repeatedly relies on dubious and entirely safe points of conflict, like those between two arbitrary generations. It’s not the rich or racism that’s holding me back--it’s old people running up entitlement spending or lazy youth who don’t want to work!

In this episode we talk about why this media trope isn’t just hacky and cliche, but also subtly racist and reactionary.

We are joined by Adam Conover, host of Adam Ruins Everything on truTV.

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The Show

Episode transcript available here.

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The Guest

Adam Conover is a comedian, writer, and the creator and host of Adam Ruins Everything on truTV. Follow him @adamconover.

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Citations Needed is available on iTunes, Soundcloud and LibSyn (here’s the RSS feed). You can also check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

***

Want More?

For further reading, show notes, a periodic newsletter, and more exclusive content, please visit our Patreon page and sign up to support the show!

***

Citations Needed is a media criticism podcast, hosted by Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi, political commentators and media analysts working to call bullshit on (usually corporate) media’s ubiquitous reliance on and regurgitation of false and destructive narratives, tropes and stereotypes.

Citations Needed is produced by Florence Barrau-Adams. Our Production Consultant is Josh Kross. Our research assistant is Sophia Steinert-Evoy. Transcription by Morgan McAslan. The theme is ‘Nonphenomenal Lineage’ by Grandaddy.

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Talkin' Cable News Pundits on AJE's The Listening Post

Former U.S. government officials are consistent features of cable news punditry. I joined Al Jazeera English's The Listening Post to discuss.

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Citations Needed, Episode 37: Black Lives Matter, Dreamers, and the Problem of ‘The Perfect Victim’

A pillar of the community. A straight-A student who dreamed of becoming a doctor. A loving father. Here through no fault of their own. She was hysterical and out of control. He was no angel.

The press, both local and national, humanizes some victims of state or corporate violence, while demonizing others. Despite good intentions and seemingly without noticing, the media all too often create tiered systems of moral worth by trying to find “the perfect victim.”

The media’s search for the perfect victim, and its corollary desire to smear those with less than perfect pasts, makes humanity conditional, further entrenching negative stereotypes and destructive narratives about entire communities.

In this episode, we dissect the real time auditing of those who die or are deported and how we can expand our moral vocabulary to protect all vulnerable people and populations.

We are joined by both Joel Sati and Charlene Carruthers.

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The Show

Episode transcript available here.

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The Guests

Joel Sati is a PhD student in the Jurisprudence and Social Policy program at Berkeley Law and an immigrant rights activist.

Charlene Carruthers is founding national director of the Black Youth Project 100. She has appeared on CNN, Democracy Now!, BBC and MSNBC and has written for theRoot.com, Colorlines and the Boston Review. Charlene’s forthcoming book, Unapologetic: A Black, Queer and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements, will be published in the Fall of 2018.

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Citations Needed is available on iTunes, Soundcloud and LibSyn (here’s the RSS feed). You can also check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

***

Want More?

For further reading, show notes, a periodic newsletter, and more exclusive content, please visit our Patreon page and sign up to support the show!

***

Citations Needed is a media criticism podcast, hosted by Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi, political commentators and media analysts working to call bullshit on (usually corporate) media’s ubiquitous reliance on and regurgitation of false and destructive narratives, tropes and stereotypes.

Citations Needed is produced by Florence Barrau-Adams. Our Production Consultant is Josh Kross. Our research assistant is Sophia Steinert-Evoy. Transcription by Morgan McAslan. The theme is ‘Nonphenomenal Lineage’ by Grandaddy.

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Wide Asleep on Radio Dispatch, Talkin' Iran Deal Destruction

I had the honor of returning to the Radio Dispatch airwaves to discuss the history and potential future of the Iran Deal with the great John Knefel.

Listen to it below or download it here.


And be sure to check out John and Molly Knefel's amazing archive of past shows here. And listen to the show from now on. C'mon people.

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Citations Needed, Episode 36: Maplewashing - Looking Behind Canada's Progressive Veneer

For decades, Canada has been a go-to point of reference for American progressives as a country the United States can and should strive to be. And while there are many parts about Canadian society that are measurably preferable, leftists in Canada find their country's glossy, socialist paradise image to be overblown and often a barrier to meaningful change.

This episode examines this tension, the reality versus perception, what we can learn from each other, and the common and existential thread we share of white settler-colonialism.

With guests Eriel Tchekwie Deranger of Indigenous Climate Action and writer Luke Savage.

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The Show

Episode transcript available here.

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The Guests

Luke Savage is a Toronto-based writer and political commentator. His work has appeared in Maisonneuve, Jacobin, Current Affairs and elsewhere. He works at the Broadbent Institute. Follow him @LukeWSavage.

Eriel Tchekwie Deranger is founding member and executive director of Indigenous Climate Action. Follow her at @erieltd.

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Citations Needed is available on iTunes, Soundcloud and LibSyn (here’s the RSS feed). You can also check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

***

Want More?

For further reading, show notes, a periodic newsletter, and more exclusive content, please visit our Patreon page and sign up to support the show!

***

Citations Needed is a media criticism podcast, hosted by Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi, political commentators and media analysts working to call bullshit on (usually corporate) media’s ubiquitous reliance on and regurgitation of false and destructive narratives, tropes and stereotypes.

Citations Needed is produced by Florence Barrau-Adams. Our Production Consultant is Josh Kross. Our research assistant is Sophia Steinert-Evoy. Transcription by Morgan McAslan. The theme is ‘Nonphenomenal Lineage’ by Grandaddy.

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Citations Needed, Episode 35: The Total Blackout of the Korean Left

Police officers surround anti-THAAD protesters in Seongju, South Korea, April 23, 2018. (Credit: Yonhap)

When Americans read about the Korean "conflict" in the Western press, the articles are populated almost entirely with Serious Western Talking Heads, weapons contractor-funded think tank "fellows," and former and current U.S. military brass. Who's never consulted, much less heeded, are peace and left activists from the Korean peninsula.

The notion that perma-hostility from the U.S. and arming the South to the teeth is in Korea's best interest -- and is assumed to be popular -- is simply taken for granted by U.S. media. But is this a reflection of the sentiments of most Koreans? What are the forces that oppose nonstop U.S. military occupation and endless war? How come we rarely, if ever, hear from them? And who does this wide spread erasure benefit?

Our guest today is Christine Ahn of Women Cross DMZ.

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The Show

Episode transcript available here.

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The Guest

Christine Ahn is founder and international coordinator of Women Cross DMZ, a global movement of women mobilizing to end the Korean War, reunite families, and ensure women's leadership in peace-building.

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Citations Needed is available on iTunes, Soundcloud and LibSyn (here’s the RSS feed). You can also check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

***

Want More?

For further reading, show notes, a periodic newsletter, and more exclusive content, please visit our Patreon page and sign up to support the show!

***

Citations Needed is a media criticism podcast, hosted by Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi, political commentators and media analysts working to call bullshit on (usually corporate) media’s ubiquitous reliance on and regurgitation of false and destructive narratives, tropes and stereotypes.

Citations Needed is produced by Florence Barrau-Adams. Our Production Consultant is Josh Kross. Our research assistant is Sophia Steinert-Evoy. Transcription by Morgan McAslan. The theme is ‘Nonphenomenal Lineage’ by Grandaddy.

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Citations Needed, Episode 34: What the Hell is Wrong with MSNBC?

MSNBC is by far the most influential mainstream media outlet on the American left. It sets the tone and defines the boundary for what is acceptable discourse among American liberals. But major issues the left is generally thought to care about - imperial war, worker strikes, Palestine, climate change - are almost entirely absent from coverage, as the network increasingly looks like a 24-hour Trump-Russia infomercial.

What is the point of having a liberal cable news network when it ignores so many major issues on the Left and pushes a narrative that, in the aggregate, does little beyond selling more weapons systems and inflaming US-Russia proxy wars in Syria and Ukraine? How did MSNBC get this way? What are the corporate forces making it so terrible, and is there hope for a more thoughtful, politically relevant network?

We are joined, anonymously, by a former MSNBC employee.

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The Show

Episode transcript available here.

***

Citations Needed is available on iTunes, Soundcloud and LibSyn (here’s the RSS feed). You can also check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

***

Want More?

For further reading, show notes, a periodic newsletter, and more exclusive content, please visit our Patreon page and sign up to support the show!

***

Citations Needed is a media criticism podcast, hosted by Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi, political commentators and media analysts working to call bullshit on (usually corporate) media’s ubiquitous reliance on and regurgitation of false and destructive narratives, tropes and stereotypes.

Citations Needed is produced by Florence Barrau-Adams. Our Production Consultant is Josh Kross. Our research assistant is Sophia Steinert-Evoy. Transcription by Morgan McAslan. The theme is ‘Nonphenomenal Lineage’ by Grandaddy.

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Citations Needed, Episode 33: Liberals' Obsession with the Phantom Reasonable Republican

Jeffrey Goldberg, Leon Wieseltier, and James Bennet

The unlikely rise of Trump in the past three years has created a chasm in the Republican party: those who embrace the President’s wild, unorthodox, nativist style and those who––with much posturing and self congratulation––reject his brand of conservatism. The latter group, generally called “NeverTrump” Republicans occupies a special, protected status in Serious Centrist media––despite representing only 5% of the American population.

Major outlets like The Washington Post, The Atlantic and the New York Times employ roughly 20 #NeverTrump conservatives between them; there is no greater affirmative action policy in U.S. media than for anti-Trump conservatives. So long as they reject Trump, #NeverTrump pundits can get away with the most odious points of view––anti-Arab racism, climate change denial, literally suggesting women be hanged en masse for having abortions.

What accounts for this? Where does the institutional obsession with finding a Reasonable Republican come from and why is there such a widespread denial that Donald Trump does, in fact, actually and accurately represent the GOP as it exists today?

We are joined by Slate's Osita Nwanevu.

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The Show

Episode transcript available here.

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The Guest

Osita Nwanevu is a staff writer at Slate.

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Citations Needed is available on iTunes, Soundcloud and LibSyn (here’s the RSS feed). You can also check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

***

Want More?

For further reading, show notes, a periodic newsletter, and more exclusive content, please visit our Patreon page and sign up to support the show!

***

Citations Needed is a media criticism podcast, hosted by Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi, political commentators and media analysts working to call bullshit on (usually corporate) media’s ubiquitous reliance on and regurgitation of false and destructive narratives, tropes and stereotypes.

Citations Needed is produced by Florence Barrau-Adams. Our Production Consultant is Josh Kross. Our research assistant is Sophia Steinert-Evoy. The theme is ‘Nonphenomenal Lineage’ by Grandaddy.

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Citations Needed, Episode 32: Attack of the PC College Kids!

Students at Middlebury College disrupt speaker Charles Murray.

The horror stories are ubiquitous: a theater group at Wesleyan won’t perform The Vagina Monologues because it’s offensive to trans women! Oberlin is banning classes featuring white authors! Rich, sheltered college students, increasingly indoctrinated by radical Marxist professors, are asking for safe spaces!

But how much merit is there to the popular trope that college kids are hypersensitive and coddled? Is there really a free speech crisis America's campuses? What are the origins of this evergreen complaint? Who does the constant harping on the threat of "political correctness" and anti-free speech undergrads actually hurt? And more importantly, whom does it benefit?

Today's guest is David Palumbo-Liu, professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University.

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The Show

Episode transcript available here.

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The Guest

David Palumbo-Liu is a professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University. He is the author of The Deliverance of Others: Reading Literature in a Global Age and Asian/American: Historical Crossings of a Racial Frontier, founding editor of the e-journal, Occasion: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, and a Contributing Editor for The Los Angeles Review of Books. His writing can also be found in The Nation, The Guardian, Truthout and Salon.

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Citations Needed is available on iTunes, Soundcloud and LibSyn (here’s the RSS feed). You can also check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

***

Want More?

For further reading, show notes, a periodic newsletter, and more exclusive content, please visit our Patreon page and sign up to support the show!

***

Citations Needed is a media criticism podcast, hosted by Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi, political commentators and media analysts working to call bullshit on (usually corporate) media’s ubiquitous reliance on and regurgitation of false and destructive narratives, tropes and stereotypes.

Citations Needed is produced by Florence Barrau-Adams. Our Production Consultant is Josh Kross. Our research assistant is Sophia Steinert-Evoy. The theme is ‘Nonphenomenal Lineage’ by Grandaddy.

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Citations Needed, Episode 31: Fake ISIS Plots and the Selling of Forever War

We’ve seen the headlines hundreds of times: "ISIS plot foiled," "ISIS in Brooklyn," "Woman Stopped At Airport on Way to Join ISIS." These stories strike fear into the hearts of Americans everywhere, especially in the build-up to the war effort against ISIS in Summer 2014.

The terror group was everywhere, recruiting our teenagers and attempting to strike in every major city––seemingly all at once. But what do these headlines mean exactly? What is an "ISIS plot" anyway? What is the gap between the image the media provides versus the reality of what's occurring?

On this week's episode we dive into the 17-year-long phenomenon of the US media assisting the government's war on terror by parroting dubious claims of al-Qaeda and ISIS plots when the vast majority of the time––no al-Qaeda or ISIS are involved.

With guest Pardiss Kebriaei, Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights.

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The Show

Episode transcript available here.

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The Guest

Pardiss Kebriaei is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. She was lead counsel for CCR in Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, which challenged the killings of three American citizens in U.S. drone strikes in Yemen, and Al-Aulaqi v. Obama, which challenged the authorization for the targeting of an American citizen added to secret government “kill lists.” She represents current and former Guantanamo detainees, as well as the families of two detainees who died in Guantanamo in 2006. Her writing has appeared in Harper's Magazine, The Nation, and the Yale Law & Policy Review.

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Citations Needed is available on iTunes, Soundcloud and LibSyn (here’s the RSS feed). You can also check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

***

Want More?

For further reading, show notes, a periodic newsletter, and more exclusive content, please visit our Patreon page and sign up to support the show!

***

Citations Needed is a media criticism podcast, hosted by Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi, political commentators and media analysts working to call bullshit on (usually corporate) media’s ubiquitous reliance on and regurgitation of false and destructive narratives, tropes and stereotypes.

Citations Needed is produced by Florence Barrau-Adams. Our Production Consultant is Josh Kross. Our research assistant is Sophia Steinert-Evoy. The theme is ‘Nonphenomenal Lineage’ by Grandaddy.

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Citations Needed, Episode 30: Liberal Media’s Myopic Military Worship

Fighting against the far right forces of the Republican Party and their auxiliary white supremacist media makes attempts to appropriate notions of nationalism into a liberal mold a compelling short cut for Democrats looking for easy clapbacks and viral RTs. The temptation to promote a kinder, gentler, "woke" patriotism is understandable.

But what is the collateral damage of this approach? From the justifiably horrified response to mass shootings to the jingoistic worship of all things military, what is the long-term downside of lifting up #VetsForGunControl and retired military brass as a counter to the vulgarity of Trumpism? Can the Left – including liberals – embrace a more holistic and anti-imperialist moral grammar that avoids short cuts and rejects the idea of nationalism altogether?

 
We are joined by Maggie Martin, co-director of About Face.

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The Show

Episode transcript available here.

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The Guest

Maggie Martin is co-director of About Face (formerly Iraq Veterans Against the War). During her time in the U.S. Army from 2001-2006, she was deployed three times to Kuwait and Iraq. Martin left the army as a Sergeant in 2006.

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Citations Needed is available on iTunes, Soundcloud and LibSyn (here’s the RSS feed). You can also check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

***

Want More?

For further reading, show notes, a periodic newsletter, and more exclusive content, please visit our Patreon page and sign up to support the show!

***

Citations Needed is a media criticism podcast, hosted by Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi, political commentators and media analysts working to call bullshit on (usually corporate) media’s ubiquitous reliance on and regurgitation of false and destructive narratives, tropes and stereotypes.

Citations Needed is produced by Florence Barrau-Adams. Our Production Consultant is Josh Kross. Our research assistant is Sophia Steinert-Evoy. The theme is ‘Nonphenomenal Lineage’ by Grandaddy.

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Citations Needed, Episode 29: The Asymptotic 'Two-State Solution' (Part II)

NOTE: If you haven't yet listened to last week's Part I of this episode, please do that first.

We continue our discussion of the always just-out-of-reach "two state solution" and the perpetual-by-design "peace process." Covering topics like BDS, the tedious toxicity of liberal Zionism, and pro-Israel media bias with Rebecca Vilkomerson of Jewish Voice for Peace.

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The Show

Episode transcript available here.

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The Guest

Rebecca Vilkomerson is the Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace, a national, grassroots organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just and lasting peace according to principles of human rights, equality, and international law for all the people of Israel and Palestine. In 2010 she was named one of the 50 most influential Jewish American leaders by the Forward, and was named one of 14 Women to Watch in 2014.

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Citations Needed is available on iTunes, Soundcloud and LibSyn (here’s the RSS feed). You can also check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

***

Want More?

For further reading, show notes, a periodic newsletter, and more exclusive content, please visit our Patreon page and sign up to support the show!

***

Citations Needed is a media criticism podcast, hosted by Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi, political commentators and media analysts working to call bullshit on (usually corporate) media’s ubiquitous reliance on and regurgitation of false and destructive narratives, tropes and stereotypes.

Citations Needed is produced by Florence Barrau-Adams. Our Production Consultant is Josh Kross. The theme is ‘Nonphenomenal Lineage’ by Grandaddy.

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