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CounterSpin

544 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 days ago - ★★★★★ - 458 ratings

CounterSpin is the weekly radio show of FAIR, the national media watch group.

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Episodes

Chris Bernadel on Haiti

April 12, 2024 15:47 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

What needs to change in Haiti includes Western media presentations that ignore or erase even recent history. The post Chris Bernadel on Haiti appeared first on FAIR.

Rakeen Mabud on Greedflation, Rachel K. Jones on Mifepristone

April 05, 2024 14:58 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

Corporate profit margins are at a level not seen since the 1950s, as abject greed was whistled past by the press corps. The post Rakeen Mabud on Greedflation, Rachel K. Jones on Mifepristone appeared first on FAIR.

Phyllis Bennis on Gaza Ceasefire Resolution, Robert Weissman on Boeing Scandal

March 29, 2024 15:50 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

A senior UN human rights official says there is a "plausible" case that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, a war crime. The post Phyllis Bennis on Gaza Ceasefire Resolution, Robert Weissman on Boeing Scandal appeared first on FAIR.

Evlondo Cooper on Climate Coverage, Rick Goldsmith on Stripped for Parts

March 22, 2024 16:17 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

Elite media still can’t quite connect images of floods or fires to the triumphant shareholder meetings of the fossil fuel companies. The post Evlondo Cooper on Climate Coverage, Rick Goldsmith on Stripped for Parts appeared first on FAIR.

Gay Gordon-Byrne on Right to Repair, Suyapa Portillo Villeda on Honduran Ex-President Conviction

March 15, 2024 15:52 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

Industry still argues that that cellphone isn't really "yours," in the sense that you can't fix it if it breaks. The post Gay Gordon-Byrne on Right to Repair, Suyapa Portillo Villeda on Honduran Ex-President Conviction appeared first on FAIR.

Ian Millhiser on Supreme Court Trump Protection, Alfredo Lopez on Radical Elders

March 08, 2024 16:40 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

Donald Trump could declare himself above the law—and that’s just been enabled by a recent Supreme Court ruling. The post Ian Millhiser on Supreme Court Trump Protection, Alfredo Lopez on Radical Elders appeared first on FAIR.

Victor Pickard on the Crisis of Journalism

March 01, 2024 15:49 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

If we don’t ask different questions about what we need from journalism, we will arrive at the same old unsatisfactory responses. The post Victor Pickard on the Crisis of Journalism appeared first on FAIR.

Gregory Shupak and Trita Parsi on Gaza Assault

February 23, 2024 17:02 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

As the US falls more out of step with the world, many in the US press seem divorced from the idea of US responsibility. The post Gregory Shupak and Trita Parsi on Gaza Assault appeared first on FAIR.

Ariel Adelman on Disability Civil Rights

February 16, 2024 16:14 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

Acheson v. Laufer is another example of “weaponizing the courts to dismantle labor protections, housing rights and health guidelines.” The post Ariel Adelman on Disability Civil Rights appeared first on FAIR.

Media That Benefit From Inequality Prefer to Talk About Other Things

February 14, 2024 17:02 - 8.4 KB application/pdf

The rapid rise in inequality over recent decades should have generated deep alarm in news media. But there’s little sign of distress. The post Media That Benefit From Inequality Prefer to Talk About Other Things appeared first on FAIR.

Rakeen Mabud on Greedflation

February 09, 2024 16:17 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

The same people who earn wages also buy groceries, and pretending that we’re pitted against one another is not just mis- but disinformation. The post Rakeen Mabud on Greedflation appeared first on FAIR.

Aron Thorn on Texas Border Standoff

February 02, 2024 16:32 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

What if there isn’t a "border crisis" so much as an absence of historical understanding, of empathy, of community resourcing? The post Aron Thorn on Texas Border Standoff appeared first on FAIR.

WaPo Owes an Apology to the DC Mayor It Drove From Office

February 02, 2024 01:29 - 25.5 KB text/html

The Washington Post sought to preempt DC voters by getting rid of Mayor Vincent Gray before he stood for reelection. The post WaPo Owes an Apology to the DC Mayor It Drove From Office appeared first on FAIR.

Monifa Bandele on Reimagining Public Safety, Svante Myrick on Roadblocks to Voting

January 26, 2024 16:51 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

Communities are hard at work reimagining public safety without punitive policing. There’s new work on those possibilities. The post Monifa Bandele on Reimagining Public Safety, Svante Myrick on Roadblocks to Voting appeared first on FAIR.

Gregory Shupak on Gaza and Genocide

January 19, 2024 16:21 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

How does the New York Times’ assertion that “what Israel is fighting to defend is a society that values human life” stand up now? The post Gregory Shupak on Gaza and Genocide appeared first on FAIR.

Sebastian Martinez Hickey on Minimum Wage, Saru Jayaraman on History of Tipping

January 12, 2024 16:03 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

Elite reporters are so removed from daily reality that they assume a raise in wages means fast food employees have to lose their jobs. The post Sebastian Martinez Hickey on Minimum Wage, Saru Jayaraman on History of Tipping appeared first on FAIR.

Media Obsession With Inflation Has Manufactured Discontent

January 05, 2024 20:32 - 77 KB application/pdf

Corporate media’s single-minded obsession with inflation has left the public with an objectively inaccurate view of the economy. The post Media Obsession With Inflation Has Manufactured Discontent appeared first on FAIR.

Chip Gibbons on the Right to Protest

January 05, 2024 16:57 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

US journalists invoke the First Amendment a lot, but not so much when it extends to regular folks saying NO to the US government. The post Chip Gibbons on the Right to Protest appeared first on FAIR.

Best of CounterSpin 2023

December 29, 2023 16:27 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

CounterSpin is thankful to all the activists, researchers, reporters and advocates who appear on the show to help us see the world more clearly. The post Best of CounterSpin 2023 appeared first on FAIR.

Wadie Said on the New McCarthyism

December 22, 2023 15:22 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

Powerful institutions, including the media, combine a selective understanding of free expression with a vehement desire to enforce it. The post Wadie Said on the New McCarthyism appeared first on FAIR.

Richard Wiles & Matthew Cunningham-Cook on Climate Disruption Filtered Through Corporate Media

December 15, 2023 16:57 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

We can't have a public conversation about how fossil fuels cause climate disruption in a corporate media moneyed by fossil fuel companies. The post Richard Wiles & Matthew Cunningham-Cook on Climate Disruption Filtered Through Corporate Media appeared first on FAIR.

Sonya Meyerson-Knox on Jewish Voice for Peace

December 08, 2023 16:36 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

The devastation of Gaza, and the vehement efforts to silence anyone who wants to challenge it, is the story for today. The post Sonya Meyerson-Knox on Jewish Voice for Peace appeared first on FAIR.

Melissa Gira Grant on Abortion Rights & Politics

December 01, 2023 17:03 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

Too many outlets seem to have trouble shaking the framing of abortion as a "controversy," or as posing problems for this or that politician. The post Melissa Gira Grant on Abortion Rights & Politics appeared first on FAIR.

Mark Weisbrot on Argentina’s Javier Milei

November 24, 2023 15:46 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

Argentina's new president questions the death toll of the country's military dictatorship and calls climate change a “lie of socialism.” The post Mark Weisbrot on Argentina’s Javier Milei appeared first on FAIR.

For Cable News, a Palestinian Life Is Not the Same as an Israeli Life

November 17, 2023 19:22 - 3.31 MB application/pdf

Cable news coverage of victims, war crimes and context show a double standard when it comes to US allies versus official US enemies. The post For Cable News, a Palestinian Life Is Not the Same as an Israeli Life appeared first on FAIR.

Scott Burris on US v. Rahimi

November 17, 2023 15:36 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

The question is whether the Court’s conservative majority can use its special brand of backwards-looking to determine this country’s future. The post Scott Burris on US v. Rahimi appeared first on FAIR.

‘Free Speech’ Fans Call for Censoring TikTok as Chinese Plot to Make Israel Look Bad

November 13, 2023 22:21 - 8.37 KB text/html

The Republican-held House could push to ban TikTok completely, on the grounds that it allows too much criticism of Israel. The post ‘Free Speech’ Fans Call for Censoring TikTok as Chinese Plot to Make Israel Look Bad appeared first on FAIR.

Jamil Dakwar on US & Human Rights, Matt Gertz on Mike Johnson

November 10, 2023 14:40 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

Shouldn't the press corps be actively involved in informing us about the person third in line for the presidency? The post Jamil Dakwar on US & Human Rights, Matt Gertz on Mike Johnson appeared first on FAIR.

Raed Jarrar on Biden & Saudi Arabia, Joe Torres on Tulsa Massacre

November 03, 2023 15:53 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

“The newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” The post Raed Jarrar on Biden & Saudi Arabia, Joe Torres on Tulsa Massacre appeared first on FAIR.

Peter Maybarduk on Paxlovid, Maya Schenwar on Grassroots Journalism

October 27, 2023 15:28 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

Paxlovid's "transition" to the commercial market entails hiking the cost of the treatment to 100 times the cost of production. The post Peter Maybarduk on Paxlovid, Maya Schenwar on Grassroots Journalism appeared first on FAIR.

Christopher Bosso on Food Assistance, Barbara Briggs on Workplace Disasters

October 20, 2023 14:13 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

The primary food aid program, SNAP, while the constant target of the racist, drown-government-in-the-bathtub crowd, keeps on keeping on. The post Christopher Bosso on Food Assistance, Barbara Briggs on Workplace Disasters appeared first on FAIR.

Phyllis Bennis on Gaza

October 13, 2023 15:24 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

    This week on CounterSpin:  In the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas and the ensuing bombing campaign from Israel on the Gaza Strip, many people were surprised that CNN‘s Fareed Zakaria aired an interview with a Palestinian activist who frankly described the daily human rights violations in Gaza, the right of […] The post Phyllis Bennis on Gaza appeared first on FAIR.

Rodrigo Camarena on Wage Theft

October 06, 2023 16:02 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

Corporate media tell us to be mad at the rando taking toilet paper from Walgreens, but not the executive who’s skimming your paycheck. The post Rodrigo Camarena on Wage Theft appeared first on FAIR.

Stephen Zunes on Menendez Indictment

September 29, 2023 16:06 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

The story is mostly about the political fortunes of an individual; the huge numbers of less powerful people impacted are, at best, backdrop. The post Stephen Zunes on Menendez Indictment appeared first on FAIR.

Lisa Xu on Auto Workers Strike

September 22, 2023 16:04 - 28 minutes - 12.8 MB

An unprecedented labor action is underway as thousands of Midwest autoworkers working for the Big 3 went on strike at the same time. The post Lisa Xu on Auto Workers Strike appeared first on FAIR.

Maha Hilal on Innocent Until Proven Muslim

September 15, 2023 15:34 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

September 11, 2001, is the exemplar of a past that isn’t dead, or even past, and for no one more particularly than Muslims. The post Maha Hilal on Innocent Until Proven Muslim appeared first on FAIR.

Amanda Yee on Korean Travel Ban, Hyun Lee on Korea History

September 08, 2023 16:01 - 28 minutes - 12.8 MB

Media have an active disinterest in telling the story of the Korean peninsula in anything other than static, cartoonish terms. The post Amanda Yee on Korean Travel Ban, Hyun Lee on Korea History appeared first on FAIR.

Alfie Kohn, Diane Ravitch and Kevin Kumashiro on Education

September 01, 2023 15:00 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

It does no disservice to the education battles of the current day to connect them to previous battles and conversations. The post Alfie Kohn, Diane Ravitch and Kevin Kumashiro on Education appeared first on FAIR.

Kehsi Iman Wilson on Americans with Disabilities Act

August 25, 2023 15:07 - 28 minutes - 12.8 MB

The ADA demands all kinds of attention, every day—not a once a year pat on the back about "how far we’ve come." The post Kehsi Iman Wilson on Americans with Disabilities Act appeared first on FAIR.

Six Tropes to Look Out for That Distort Israel/Palestine Coverage

August 22, 2023 17:38 - 5 MB text/html

It is vital that news readers become acquainted with the tropes that dominate coverage of the Israeli occupation. The post Six Tropes to Look Out for That Distort Israel/Palestine Coverage appeared first on FAIR.

Baher Azmy on Abu Ghraib Torture Lawsuit, Thomas Germain on Online History Destruction

August 18, 2023 14:55 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

Unlike elite media’s misty memories, the lawsuit is a stubborn indication that those responsible for Abu Ghraib haven't been called to account. The post Baher Azmy on Abu Ghraib Torture Lawsuit, Thomas Germain on Online History Destruction appeared first on FAIR.

Shankar Narayan on Facial Misrecognition, Braxton Brewington on Student Debt Abolition

August 11, 2023 15:48 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

Facial recognition, a technology that has been proven wrong, has been deemed harmful, in principle and in practice, for years now. The post Shankar Narayan on Facial Misrecognition, Braxton Brewington on Student Debt Abolition appeared first on FAIR.

Teddy Ostrow on UPS/Teamsters Agreement, Matthew Cunningham-Cook on GOP Climate Sabotage

August 04, 2023 15:25 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

Elite media are deeply accustomed to calling any union action a harm, and any company acknowledgment of workers’ value a concession. The post Teddy Ostrow on UPS/Teamsters Agreement, Matthew Cunningham-Cook on GOP Climate Sabotage appeared first on FAIR.

‘The Athletic Is the Negation of Local Sports Coverage’

August 02, 2023 20:12 - 5 MB text/html

"When you get rid of local coverage, what you also get rid of is the watchdog that is so important.... It's not all fun and games." The post ‘The Athletic Is the Negation of Local Sports Coverage’ appeared first on FAIR.

Melissa Crow on Asylum Restrictions, Dave Zirin on NYT’s Vanishing Sports Section

July 28, 2023 15:07 - 27 minutes - 12.9 MB

Advocates have long declared that Biden’s asylum restrictions are not just harmful but unlawful. And a federal judge has just agreed. The post Melissa Crow on Asylum Restrictions, Dave Zirin on NYT’s Vanishing Sports Section appeared first on FAIR.

‘We Need a Gender-Inclusive Understanding of Police Violence’

July 26, 2023 15:54 - 17 MB application/pdf

"Not a lot of people would understand that Black women are often killed by the police when they actually ask for help." The post ‘We Need a Gender-Inclusive Understanding of Police Violence’ appeared first on FAIR.

Kevin Minofu on Say Her Name

July 21, 2023 15:19 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

Say Her Name is about adding Black women to our understanding of police violence—to help make our response more meaningful and impactful. The post Kevin Minofu on Say Her Name appeared first on FAIR.

CNN Town Halls Do Democracy No Favors

July 19, 2023 20:11 - 1.81 MB text/html

Live, single-candidate town halls with strictly friendly audiences are one of the worst ways to help the public make an informed choice. The post CNN Town Halls Do Democracy No Favors appeared first on FAIR.

Arlene Martínez on Corporate Subsidies, Florín Nájera-Uresti on Journalism Preservation

July 14, 2023 15:55 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MB

White supremacy and economic policy are completely different stories for the press, but not for the people. The post Arlene Martínez on Corporate Subsidies, Florín Nájera-Uresti on Journalism Preservation appeared first on FAIR.

Media Push Doom and Gloom in Face of Historic Progressive Recovery

July 13, 2023 21:16 - 2.29 MB text/html

In the wake of a historically progressive response to an economic downturn, corporate media have been intently focused on the negative. The post Media Push Doom and Gloom in Face of Historic Progressive Recovery appeared first on FAIR.

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