Newsletter 8.7.18

Hi all -

Here is this week’s newsletter, hope you enjoy! 

And also, a quick production note: Citations Needed will be wrapping up Season 1 with tomorrow’s episode and will return with new shows on Wednesday, September 5th. We couldn’t have gotten through the first year without your support, which is very much appreciated. We're super excited for Season 2 and hope you are too.

Thanks again,

Nima, Florence, and Adam

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The Employment Doctrine That Screws Over Workers - Moshe Z. Marvit, Jacobin (8/7/18)

“Though at-will employment is treated as a fundamental feature of American culture and the economy, the rule is not a creation of Congress or any legislatures; it is wholly judge created.”

The $717 Billion Defense Bill That Just Breezed Through the Senate Should Be a National Scandal - Lindsay Koshgarian, In These Times (8/3/18)

A massive, bloated government program is passed like clockwork––and once again no one questions the wisdom and the public is left without any debate in US media.

Abolishing ICE Is Only The First Step - Caitlin Bellis, Current Affairs (7/20/18)

ICE is simply the shock troops of a morally bankrupt immigration system. It’s a good place to start, but not enough. 

Reporting on Medicare for All Makes Media Forget How Math Works - Justin Anderson, FAIR (7/31/18)

Screaming headlines about 33 trillion dollar healthcare costs ignore that healthcare already costs way more than that. 

Joe Biden, Neoliberal - Branko Marcetic, Jacobin (8/7/18)

Friend of the show, Branko Marcetic, continues his excellent, illuminating and consistently enraging series on the shitty career of shitty Joe Biden. Check out previous installments here and here, as well as Branko’s excellent piece on another terrible Joe. 

U.S.-Backed Saudi Airstrike on Family With Nine Children Shows “Clear Violations” of the Laws of War - Iona Craig & Shuaib Almosawa, The Intercept (8/2/18)

Saudi airstrikes flagrantly violate laws of war as a matter of course––all with help from the US military. The Intercept digs deeper into one case. 

The Media Is Giving Facebook a Free Pass to Shut Down Activists Over Russia Fears - Sarah Lazare & Julianne Tveten, In These Times (8/2/18)

Russia panic results in a totally legit anti-fascist Facebook page being taken down and smeared in US media as a Russian psyop. The activists behind the group talked to In These Times about what it's like to be falsely accused of being a foreign agent. 

How Low Literacy Rates and Lack of Education Funding Fuel the Cycle of Incarceration - Michael Sainato, Truthout (8/5/18)

As Republicans slash prison education budgets they make post-incarceration employment that much more difficult.

The Homecoming: How Ahed Tamimi Became the Symbol of Palestinian Resistance to Israeli Oppression - Alice Speri, The Intercept (7/31/18)

Tamini has been accused of being a crisis actor by Israel official Michael Oren, but she’s very much real and very much not going way. 

A New Wave Of Hardline Anti-BDS Tactics Are Targeting Students, And No One Knows Who’s Behind It - Josh Nathan-Kazis, Forward (8/2/18)

Shady funding supports thuggish attack on pro-Palestinian activists. Read the whole series!

Stop Calling Trump a Populist - Paul Krugman, The New York Times (8/2/18)

Yes, we know. Krugman. But, considering this one article, it appears that he might very well be listening to Citations Needed, namely our recent episode on the misuse of the populism label.

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