Episode 58: The Neoliberal Optimism Industry
We're told the world is getting better all the time. In January, The New York Times' Nick Kristof explained "Why 2017 Was the Best Year in Human History." The same month, Harvard professor and Bill Ga...
28 Nov 20181h
News Brief: Consumer Society and the Curation of Culture
Focus groups have long-been derided by the left, right, and center for watering down culture and reducing creative and political endeavors to dull, show-of-hand reductionism. But what if focus groups ...
21 Nov 201840min
Episode 57: A Matter of Survival - Trivializing Trans Rights as a Boutique "Identity" Issue
In the wake of the 2016 election, many conservatives, liberals, and - unfortunately - even some on the left pointed to Democrats' reliance on so-called "identity politics" to explain Donald Trump's up...
14 Nov 201854min
Episode 56: How The Media Learned to Worry About War Without Ever Opposing It
"Bush didn't send enough Troops." "Trump needs authorization from Congress before launching a war." "Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories are not helpful." We hear thes...
7 Nov 20181h 13min
Episode 55: Jake Tapper and the Art of Faux-Adversarialism
Jake Tapper's career trajectory is an object lesson in how to succeed in corporate media. The formula generally goes like this: go after the fringes of the left and the right––but mostly the left. Nev...
31 Okt 20181h 3min
Episode 54: Local 'Crime' Reporting as Police Stenography
"The suspect fled on foot, police said. Call this number if you have any information." "The incident took place at the 1200 block of Grove." "Police say." "Police sources are telling us." "Suspect is ...
17 Okt 20181h 2min
Episode 53: The Increasingly Dull Edge of 'Hypocrisy' Takedowns
Trump says he opposed the war in Iraq, but in fact said he supported it in an obscure interview in 2004. McCain was for the tax cuts before he was against them. Republicans say they're Christians, yet...
10 Okt 201850min
Episode 52: Attacks on Affirmative Action and the Commodification of Diversity
"Diversity" is a simultaneously important and buzzword-y term beloved by the media, corporations, real estate agents and elite universities. It's something to strive for and take pride in, a symbol of...
3 Okt 20181h 9min
