Consistently of the best media criticism produced

or just dumb? listen to these guys without having to smell them

The best news criticism podcast out there

There’s no podcast I’ve recommended more than Citations Needed. There’s no podcast update that appears that I prioritize more than Citations Needed. At a time when truth is hard to discern through the noise of well-funded, corporate state reifying propaganda, Citations Needed is a critical and essential resource for anyone hoping to feel sane. I’m profoundly grateful for their work.

one of the few sources of media that make me feel sane

Excellent study of the framing of news. Really important and eye opening.

Hands down the best news and media podcast. Incredible guests and refreshing moral clarity. Never miss an episode.

I love every episode. One of my very favorite politics. Great media analysis.

Pulls no punches Analysis and facts

nima & adam crush regularly. been listening for 7 years & have no ragrets. i wish more people would listen to this show & no they are not paying me to say this but maybe they should.

After discovering this podcast I quickly listened through their entire catalogue of full-length episodes (nothing but bangers). The hosts and their many incredible guests have fundamentally altered the way I understand American media (on which I was raised through no fault of my own) and gifted me a cohesive, intelligent, and moral vision of the world. I cannot recommend this podcast enough and believe everyone would be better for a listen.

Incisive discussions and analyses that offer clarity and morality check amidst all the cynicism, glibness and apathy, especially in these dark times. Really appreciate the work.

I hope every journalist takes these criticisms seriously. This podcast as made me a more discerning media consumer

Keepin’ it fresh!

Always listen to Citations Needed as soon as a new episode comes out. You are very close to guilting me into to donating. Please keep up your excellent work.

Love the show, love the content, love the format, love the guests, love the humor, love the analysis, love the criticism—a ten out of ten if there ever was and probably the only podcast anywhere that doesn't get interrupted by Amazon.

I'm love this podcast so much. I discovered it about a day and a half ago and have been binge listening to the episodes one after the other. Great topics in the context of media criticism. It's kind of my new favorite right now. I would love so much if the hosts chose to do a critique of the media's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the current policy of pretending that it doesn't exist. Just saying. Anyway- love the podcast!

I found the terms "thought-terminating statements" and "nuance trolling" incredibly helpful for calling out unproductive arguments. This is not a pod to change anyone's mind, it's frankly too snarky for that; it's a pod to equip the left to advocate better.

I’ve been listening to Citations Needed since the first pandemic lockdown, during which I’d walk my dogs late at night to avoid crowded sidewalks and listen to Nima and Adam (+guests) help make sense of all the icky bad in the world. I listened to the entire backlog of episodes in spring 2020 during those late night strolls. I’ve been a listener (and when finances could afford, a Patron on Patreon — would highly recommend for access to some incredible content) for four years now and am so thankful that Citations Needed continues to be explicit about the state of the world, refusing to mince words when it comes to condemning genocide and state violence. If you feel like you’re going crazy because everything is bad but no one is talking about how everything feels bad, you need this podcast.

When there’s no class analysis.

Most of the bad reviews seem to fail to realize the hosts often are, at the onset of the episode, open and honest about their political persuasion. Well made and hard hitting podcast with amazing guests and timely topics.

This podcast does not mince words or waste time. They are on track and to-the-point. Very illuminating.

Their analysis and guests are top notch. It’s particularly helpful in peeling back layers of media that are thrown at us more frequently and across more mediums than ever before. The “data driven” and (continued) war on drug episodes are what drew me in. Stayed for the NYT slander. Keep it up guys!

If you pride yourself on being well-informed and unbiased, you should already be listening to this podcast. So, what’s the problem here?

I was listening to their podcast on effective altruism and I thought their critique was goof but their discussion of figures like Bentham and Peter Singer were frankly very shallow and showed they hadn’t actually engaged with them as thinkers.

Propagandistic echo chamber, not “journalism.” Opinions are one-sided, shallow, and based on that politically correct far left theoretical framework which has been way too fashionable in the 21st century. What these two dudes describe is not how the real world works. Not insightful. Skip.

Invaluable

Opinion masquerading as news. Thumbs down

One of the best media critique podcasts out there. Very well researched and featuring great, knowledgeable guests. I come away from each episode feeling a touch smarter for listening.

You will either really like this podcast or hate it. If you listen to, read, or watch a lot of traditional media, you might be pretty shocked by what you hear. Buckle up.

Had high hopes for this podcast but everything that’s discussed isn’t nuanced at all and frankly these guys don’t seem especially smart and don’t have the credentials to be experts on… anything. So many points are treated as being very straightforward but they’re simplistic because they’re the hosts’ opinion. They view everything as having no complications because there’s only one way to see it… that’s rarely the case in reality.

Thought provoking. Helpful in an age where media and journalism is more constant than ever. I appreciate the critical lense to understand reporting from big publications in the context of current events. It helps keep me informed

Consistently quality research and analysis. I really appreciate the first half is an explainer or breakdown of the topic and the second is an interview with a subject matter expert. They provide clear reasons and arguments which I find incredibly helpful. Glad they are listener funded.

Citations Needed has really been slapping lately. Keep it up.

Terrorist apologists might be the wrong phrase but its close enough. Their discussion of what is going on in the middle east is disgusting. This should not be on Apple.

It would seem that if it draws attention to oneself, regardless of the way the moral compass points, you are more than willing to wallow in it.

The most one-sided podcast you could possibly find.

This is an incredible show. Love the analysis and way it helps me understand things.

It’s not hyperbole to say that this podcast has refined my way of thinking, sharpened my critical thinking skills, and ruined so many things I thought I loved because I wasn’t thinking about them too hard. Can a podcast make you a more deliberate, compassionate person? I think so. Love the serious episodes about heady topics but the occasional sprinkle of Hallmark holiday movie industrial complex is so good. This is the #1 podcast I recommend to others.

Easily the podcast I recommend to people more than any other. Nima and Adam analyze our culture and narratives in more sharply and critically than I can fund anywhere else. Anytime the issues of the day are brought in conversation, I know that there’s a meticulously cited episode breaking how the common narratives of the day manipulate our understanding of our world, how things work, how it might be harming us through a structural critique and offering different perspectives to challenge our idea of what’s possible. A fantastic and under appreciated pod.

I like how some of the reviews have people crying about you guys being dismissive to party lines, or calling you biased, but I really appreciate the leftist perspective. And of course the deep dives into the dark world of modern media. It’s mostly unbiased fact checking anyway, don’t see what their issue is. Love the show, thank you so much.

It also probably gives you enough tools to analyze my use of essential as a review title. Incredible toolbox for staying sane in a truly ridiculous modern media environment

While I like the content, I could do without the smarminess and arrogant dismissal of everything that doesn’t conform to their views. I don’t see how tacitly telling me how to think via voice inflections and laughter is much different than the news media telling me how to think via their reporting.

So informative & engaging - highly recommend

Excellent. Critiques supported by thorough research. Honest and incredibly informative.

One of my favourites

Goes beyond merely fact-checking the mainstream media landscape and delves into how the news eco-system is influenced by dark money, policy institutes, institutional bias, and failures in reporting. Each episode targets a different, often decades-old trope, like unemployment or the war on drugs, and uncovers how questions in newspapers, magazines, and on television are framed to create a false narrative that makes the public believe there are only certain rational choices.

Recently, the voice of the show is representative of liberal bubble thinking. It admonishes moderate voters and uses holier than thou tones to deliver its view point. Vaguely references academic papers, etc without actually discussing the contents of such references, and presumes all academic output is valid, reproducible and without agenda, and cites them as if produced by flawed humans with uncertainty in results. It’s illustrative of the type of far left communication style that turns off more voters than it reaches. Instead of adding to electoral victories for anyone left of Mitt Romney, communication methods like this will instead alienate voters and send them to embrace the Right, exactly the opposite of the goal of these hosts. I cannot recommend this show to anyone.

This podcast is important, if any podcast can be. Nima and Adam are sharp, likable, and principled critics of mainstream (primarily US) culture, especially political and journalistic culture. Casual in tone, their analyses and interviews are nonetheless incredibly accessible, rigorous, clear-eyed, and timely. They come from an unapologetically left perspective but I think almost anyone could get something valuable out of this podcast.

Always an interesting episode and I always come away informed. Like the work so much I even support these guys on patreon.