Citations Needed, Episode 20: Lotteryism, Part II A Most Dangerous Game -- How Sports Are Used to Fleece Public Trusts

Previously on Citations Needed, we discussed the notion of "Lotteryism," that is, the use of the media by large corporations to obscure solidarity in favor of morality tales of "making it."

It's a scam to extract resources from local governments in hopes they can "win" corporate cash, headquarters, facilities, and, of course, the promise of "jobs". Cities around the US and the world debase themselves to compete for the "honor" of hosting the Olympic Games, the World Cup, or just a new sports team - shelling out millions, if not billions, of public funds to build arenas and stadiums that average citizens often can't even afford to set foot in.

On this episode, we discuss how the media helps sports owners and other corporate forces fleece the public. With guest Dave Zirin of The Nation.

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This is the last Citations Needed episode of 2017. We'll see you next year and thanks for listening, sharing, and supporting the show!

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The Show

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The Guest

Dave Zirin is Sports Editor for The Nation and author of eight books on the politics of sports, including Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love, and most recently, Brazil’s Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, The Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy. He also hosts The Nation’s Edge of Sports podcast. Follow him on Twitter @EdgeofSports.

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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.

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Want More?

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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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