Dear patrons,
As we settle our brains for a short winter's nap (we'll be back with new episodes after the holidays), we're sharing a final newsletter and all of our gratitude for your ongoing support of the show.
Below you'll find some articles we've been reading (and a few that Adam's been writing), as well as a pre-order discount code for Adam's forthcoming book, How To Sell A Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza, which will be published by Pluto Press in April 2026.
Thank you all for listening, sharing and supporting our show for another year. We are so grateful.
Happy holidays,
— The Citations Needed Team
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How to Sell a Genocide: The Media's Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza is a detailed, data-driven analysis of center-left media’s role in selling the American public on the genocide in Gaza. In the book, Adam thoroughly dissects U.S. corporate media’s role in enabling—and, at times, directly inciting—one of the most devastating campaigns of mass killing in modern memory and unpacks how major news outlets systematically sanitized Israel’s war crimes, hid the US’s central role, and dehumanized the Palestinian people.
PRE-ORDER THE BOOK NOW using code MEDIA30 for 30% off.
All proceeds will be donated to the Middle East Children’s Alliance.
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What We've Been Reading
How Vox’s new Silicon Valley-funded ‘Abundance’ vertical aligns with Silicon Valley’s political priorities - Adam Johnson, The Real News Network (December 17, 2025)
John Arnold and other AI boosters have plenty of reasons to “streamline” energy capacity—some less noble than others.
US Media Rushes to Manufacture Legal Legitimacy for Trump’s Venezuela Oil Tanker Piracy - Adam Johnson, The Column (December 12, 2025)
Venezuela oil exports are not “black market” and US sanctions are not “international sanctions.” Why does our media keep saying otherwise?
They Worked Underground in the Uranium Mines. They've Been Surrounded by Death Ever Since - Sarah Lazare, In These Times (December 1, 2025)
Navajo miners dug Uranium for years, doing backbreaking labor and contracting diseases. Now the Trump Administration wants a return to the era of US mining.
Israel Revoked Palestinians’ Work Permits — Then Launched a Deadly Crackdown on Laborers - Dalia Hatuqa, The Intercept (December 4, 2025)
In the midst of the genocide in Gaza, Israel also decided to deprive Palestinians of jobs. The country revoked their work permits and launched a crackdown of Palestinians seeking work.
Nowhere to Go: Inside the Texas Boarding Home System Where Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation are Widespread - Ottavia Spaggiari, In These Times (December 8, 2025)
As the US braces for widespread cuts to healthcare, treatment could enter a new era of austerity. Texas’ boarding homes show the widespread abuse and exploitation underfunded facilities could fall into.
The “Merit-First” Fantasy of Bari Weiss’ Anti-Woke University - Anna L. Philippe, Current Affairs (December 11, 2025)
The anti-woke University of Austin bills itself for its merit-first admissions policy and pursuit of knowledge. The faculty reveals a distinct right-wing bias and the admissions policy dismisses real inequalities in testing.
Netflix Must Be Stopped - Jake Ures, Jacobin (December 12, 2025)
Big tech has gradually eroded movie quality as it encroached on Hollywood and applied its market logic to entertainment. Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. threatens to further change the industry with little audience input.
The Secret Plot to Raise Meat Prices - Brock Hrehor, Jacobin (December 12, 2025)
Major meat producers have collaborated to quietly agree to raise prices. They have relied on algorithms to set the prices and extract more from consumers.
Inside Chicago’s Neighborhood ICE Resistance - Melissa Gira Grant, The New Republic (December 14, 2025)
Chicago residents organized a serious network to combat ICE and Border Patrol’s siege on immigrant communities. This network is making a tangible difference against federal agents.
In Her New Media Ascent, Erika Kirk Whitewashes Her Husband’s Legacy - Anna Merlan, Mother Jones (December 15, 2025)
Erika Kirk’s media tour as a grieving widow and new head of Turning Points USA presents a rare opportunity for Kirk to sanitize her organization. As she talks about mourning, she manages to sidestep concerns about the increasingly radical and racist turn her husband and TPUSA took.
Despite Declining Support for the Death Penalty, Executions Nearly Doubled in 2025, Report Says - Daniel Moritz-Rabson, The Intercept (December 15, 2025)
As Americans turn away from supporting the death penalty in polling and in the courtroom, executions have managed to still rise. Conservative states have begun to ramp up executions for people on death row as states like Florida want to appear tough on crime.
Inside Stephen Miller’s Dark Plot to Build a MAGA Terror State - Greg Sargent, The New Republic (December 15, 2025)
Stephen Miller’s vision of an ethnonationalist terror state against immigrants is both pathological in its obsession with quotas and based in longstanding far-right racial paranoia. Miller discounts his family’s own immigration story in plotting his vision of the country.
What Your Cheap Clothes Cost the Planet - Sachi Mulkey and Rebecca McCarthy, The Nation (December 15, 2025)
The fast fashion trend of mass producing trendy clothing to meet consumer demands has developed into a commercial behemoth. It also has created a costly and environmentally destructive footprint.
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Citations Merch
As always, the Citations Needed merch store is open! If you don't have some swag yet, consider picking something up for yourself or your very best friend.
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