CounterSpin
553 episodes - English - Latest episode: 20 days ago - ★★★★★ - 458 ratingsCounterSpin is the weekly radio show of FAIR, the national media watch group.
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Episodes
Diane Yentel on Eviction Crisis, Lisa Graves on USPS Under Attack
July 17, 2020 16:44 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MBWe’re looking at 20 to 28 million people facing eviction between now and September. Making folks homeless in a pandemic is just a flashpoint of this country's affordable housing crisis.
‘Hate Speech and Disinformation Flow on Facebook’
July 10, 2020 23:47 - 17 minutes - 8.2 MB"There's a real question over whether Facebook is just too damn powerful, and whether we need further regulatory and legislative interventions to hold this company accountable to the people."
Brenda Choresi Carter on the Power of Sheriffs, Gordon Mosser on Medicare for All & Covid-19
July 10, 2020 16:41 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MBA conversation that excludes sheriffs from talk of police abolition and/or reform is missing a critical element.
Jessica González on Facebook’s Promotion of Hate
July 03, 2020 16:05 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MBFacebook has accommodated Donald Trump, allowing him to post false, incendiary and racist comments that would get another person sanctioned.
‘Face Recognition Risks Chilling Our Ability to Participate in Free Speech’
July 02, 2020 16:11 - 11 minutes - 5.05 MB"It's particularly critical, in a moment where we are protesting police brutality and over-surveillance and the over-militarization of police, to take into account how advanced technologies like face recognition play into historical injustices and over-surveilling of communities of color."
‘The Decision to Not Combat the Coronavirus Was a Choice’
July 01, 2020 22:36 - 13 minutes - 5.99 MB"While we have been acting like we've done a good enough job on the coronavirus, and now can get back to what we were doing before, other countries have really taken seriously the fact that they have this deadly pandemic going on."
Corporate Media Looks to Purveyors of State Violence Abroad to Condemn State Violence at Home
June 26, 2020 19:14 - 1 Byte text/htmlBy relying on CIA testimony, media shift the focus away from the tyranny in our own backyard in favor of pointing fingers at the “despotic leaders” of “the Third World”—never mind the fact that the US has no qualms with oppressive leadership in the Middle East when it aligns with our interests. The post Corporate Media Looks to Purveyors of State Violence Abroad to Condemn State Violence at Home appeared first on FAIR.
Jim Naureckas on Covid’s Preventable Nightmare, Clare Garvie on Police Facial Recognition
June 26, 2020 16:07 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MBTrump's bizarre delusions on Covid-19 aren't just bats in his attic; they've driven a response that is nothing short of disastrous. The post Jim Naureckas on Covid’s Preventable Nightmare, Clare Garvie on Police Facial Recognition appeared first on FAIR.
‘You’re Not Allowed to Read Transgender People Out of Protection Because You Dislike Them’
June 24, 2020 20:54 - 45.7 KB application/pdf"Generally applicable nondiscrimination laws protect everyone, including unpopular groups, including, in this specific instance, LGBT people; and we're not going to read extratextual exceptions into them." The post ‘You’re Not Allowed to Read Transgender People Out of Protection Because You Dislike Them’ appeared first on FAIR.
Media Project Trump Crimes Onto Empire’s Enemies
June 19, 2020 20:54 - 689 KB application/pdfThe reaction from corporate media to Trump's threat to crush an anti-racist rebellion was to chastise his move as “un-American,” obscuring the domestic sources of inspiration for his vicious crackdown. The post Media Project Trump Crimes Onto Empire’s Enemies appeared first on FAIR.
Ezra Young on Supreme Court LGBT Ruling
June 19, 2020 16:25 - 28 minutes - 12.8 MBA historic Supreme Court ruling declared that Title VII of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 does in fact make it illegal for employers to discriminate against a worker because of their sexual orientation or their transgender status. The post Ezra Young on Supreme Court LGBT Ruling appeared first on FAIR.
‘Immunity Shouldn’t Be Part of the Conversation’
June 16, 2020 22:00 - 13 minutes - 6.37 MB"Guess what won't instill consumer confidence? A law that immunizes businesses if they don't do what's right to keep people safe. Why, in Heaven's name, would I decide to go back to restaurants and movie theaters if they have no incentive to do the right thing to keep me safe?" The post ‘Immunity Shouldn’t Be Part of the Conversation’ appeared first on FAIR.
‘We Should Be Committed to Decriminalizing if We Want to Help Communities of Color’
June 15, 2020 18:58 - 11 minutes - 5.36 MB"I think this bill really does fail to imagine what public safety could look like. That's our biggest problem with it. They're not listening to people on the ground." The post ‘We Should Be Committed to Decriminalizing if We Want to Help Communities of Color’ appeared first on FAIR.
‘Trump Judges Are Showing Just How Extreme They Are’
June 13, 2020 12:24 - 11 minutes - 5.13 MB"What we see from President Trump's nominees to these powerful courts of appeals and the Supreme Court is a consistent right-wing ideology, frankly going further even than some Reagan and Bush appointees." The post ‘Trump Judges Are Showing Just How Extreme They Are’ appeared first on FAIR.
‘To Tell Stories of Communities That Are Authentic and Genuine, You Have to Have a Conversation’
June 12, 2020 21:24 - 10 minutes - 4.61 MB"It does make sense that for the people who are trying to amplify the voices of people who are resisting police violence, that the police might not be too happy about that." The post ‘To Tell Stories of Communities That Are Authentic and Genuine, You Have to Have a Conversation’ appeared first on FAIR.
NYT Erases US Occupation’s Role in Prolonging Taliban Insurgency
June 12, 2020 19:53 - 429 KB application/pdfThe New York Times purported to explain how the Taliban managed to “outlast a superpower through nearly 19 years of grinding war,” without examining at all how the US contributed to reviving and sustaining the Taliban insurgency. The post NYT Erases US Occupation’s Role in Prolonging Taliban Insurgency appeared first on FAIR.
Maritza Perez on Overpolicing & Drugs, Remington Gregg on Corporate Immunity
June 12, 2020 16:05 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MBOverpolicing and violent policing have much to do with the so-called war on drugs, which serves as a pretext for the harassment of individuals and entire communities of black and brown people. The post Maritza Perez on Overpolicing & Drugs, Remington Gregg on Corporate Immunity appeared first on FAIR.
Alicia Bell on Police Attacks on Journalists, Elliot Mincberg on Trump’s Judges
June 05, 2020 16:29 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MBWill police attacks on journalists lead reporters to back off, covering racial injustice from a safe distance? Or will they encourage them to work more deeply and consistently to amplify precisely those voices that the "forces of order," as CNN called them, so vehemently want to silence? The post Alicia Bell on Police Attacks on Journalists, Elliot Mincberg on Trump’s Judges appeared first on FAIR.
‘The People Capturing Police Violence on Video Are the Ones Enhancing Public Safety’
June 03, 2020 22:20 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MB"More people are coming to consider that racist policing cannot be 'reformed' with an occasional lawsuit and some implicit-bias classes. CounterSpin has had unfortunate occasion to discuss the issue many times." The post ‘The People Capturing Police Violence on Video Are the Ones Enhancing Public Safety’ appeared first on FAIR.
Alex Vitale, Chase Madar and Shahid Buttar on Racist Policing
May 29, 2020 16:30 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MBMore people are coming to consider that racist policing cannot be "reformed" with an occasional lawsuit and some implicit-bias classes. CounterSpin has had unfortunate occasion to discuss the issue many times. The post Alex Vitale, Chase Madar and Shahid Buttar on Racist Policing appeared first on FAIR.
‘The War on Public Schools Continues, Only Now It’s Considered Reinvention’
May 28, 2020 16:01 - 18 minutes - 8.41 MB"I would like to see them expose this hoax that somehow, promoting privatization benefits the neediest children, when, in fact, privatization hurts the neediest children." The post ‘The War on Public Schools Continues, Only Now It’s Considered Reinvention’ appeared first on FAIR.
Diane Ravitch on Pandemic School Privatization
May 22, 2020 15:24 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MBWe talk with Diane Ravitch about the latest scheme for rich folks to decide what's best for schools their children don't attend. The post Diane Ravitch on Pandemic School Privatization appeared first on FAIR.
Morningside Case Shows Media Learned Few Lessons From Exonerated Five
May 21, 2020 18:28 - 114 KB application/pdfMany Americans now recognize the racism at multiple junctures of the criminal punishment system. Especially now, as our leaders refuse to release the disproportionately black and brown incarcerated people from prisons and jails, despite their being sites of serious COVID-19 outbreaks across the country. But even before the pandemic, some media have played a […] The post Morningside Case Shows Media Learned Few Lessons From Exonerated Five appeared first on FAIR.
‘Efforts to Make Voting More Difficult Are Magnified in a Pandemic’
May 20, 2020 22:35 - 19 minutes - 8.76 MBElection Focus 2020: "The Wisconsin opinion seemed to signal that Republicans can do whatever they want to make voting more difficult, even in a pandemic, and the Supreme Court's going to say, 'That’s OK.'” The post ‘Efforts to Make Voting More Difficult Are Magnified in a Pandemic’ appeared first on FAIR.
Ari Berman on Voter Suppression and Coronavirus
May 15, 2020 15:59 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MBElection Focus 2020: No amount of ponderous, prize-winning books written in the aftermath will substitute for tough reporting done now to protect the integrity of the vote going into one of the most monumental presidential elections in the country's history. The post Ari Berman on Voter Suppression and Coronavirus appeared first on FAIR.
‘Our Food System Is Very Much Modeled on Plantation Economics’
May 13, 2020 16:47 - 22 minutes - 10.3 MB"Emancipation never really came to agriculture, in the sense that we still don't pay the full value of the labor that's required to make the entire system work." The post ‘Our Food System Is Very Much Modeled on Plantation Economics’ appeared first on FAIR.
‘We Can Pool the World’s Science to Develop Better Medical Tools’
May 09, 2020 18:25 - 13 minutes - 6.04 MB"If one country fails to control the pandemic, other countries are going to pay a price. And so we all need to be working together on it." The post ‘We Can Pool the World’s Science to Develop Better Medical Tools’ appeared first on FAIR.
Ricardo Salvador on the Food System & Covid-19
May 08, 2020 15:43 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MBThere is hope that the spotlight the pandemic is putting on problems in our food system could be the light by which we make changes. The post Ricardo Salvador on the Food System & Covid-19 appeared first on FAIR.
‘There’s a Perceived Need to Get This Over With So We Can Get Back to Work’
May 07, 2020 17:26 - 11 minutes - 5.26 MB"You do see a lot of coverage that assumes that the two choices are to sit in our homes and have people basically go bankrupt as they can't work, or else to force them back into the workplace and have them take their chances with the coronavirus." The post ‘There’s a Perceived Need to Get This Over With So We Can Get Back to Work’ appeared first on FAIR.
‘The Industry Chose to Protect Billions of Dollars a Year in Its Own Profit’
May 04, 2020 21:20 - 10 minutes - 4.91 MB"Exxon, as far back as the 1960s, really knew the extent to which climate change was going to be the path that we were on, the modern kind of climate disruption that we’re seeing, almost a climate disaster happening every week." The post ‘The Industry Chose to Protect Billions of Dollars a Year in Its Own Profit’ appeared first on FAIR.
‘There Are People Dying and Suffering Because They Can’t Get Healthcare’
May 02, 2020 20:53 - 12 minutes - 5.95 MB"We have to make sure that everybody in America can get the healthcare they need at a price they can afford." The post ‘There Are People Dying and Suffering Because They Can’t Get Healthcare’ appeared first on FAIR.
Corporate Looting as ‘Rescue Plan,’ Robber Barons as ‘Saviors’
May 01, 2020 17:07 - 390 KB application/pdfFor a perfect illustration of how corporate media function as ruling class propaganda, watch how they spin a titanic upward redistribution of wealth as a “rescue plan” for the US economy, and paint a robber baron like US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin as a “savior” of the American public. The post Corporate Looting as ‘Rescue Plan,’ Robber Barons as ‘Saviors’ appeared first on FAIR.
Jim Naureckas on Coronavirus False Choices, Peter Maybarduk on Pharmaceutical Price-Gouging
May 01, 2020 16:21 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MBCorporate media are constitutionally committed to leaving unchallenged the notion that our choice is between sending folks back to workplaces and public spaces that might be unsafe, and letting them stay home and give up paychecks and health insurance. The post Jim Naureckas on Coronavirus False Choices, Peter Maybarduk on Pharmaceutical Price-Gouging appeared first on FAIR.
Diane Archer on Medicare for All, Sriram Madhusoodanan on Fossil Fuel Accountability
April 24, 2020 16:11 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MBBefore millions were unemployed, before Covid-19 began its sweep, healthcare was already a crisis, and the arguments against overhauling it were already visibly tired and specious. The post Diane Archer on Medicare for All, Sriram Madhusoodanan on Fossil Fuel Accountability appeared first on FAIR.
‘Public Ownership Can Eliminate Some of Those Warped Incentives Associated With Monopoly’
April 23, 2020 19:16 - 6 minutes - 2.92 MB"This is a huge opportunity for California to create an energy system that’s rooted in climate justice, that’s rooted in the realities of the changing climate, and how they’re going to ensure that they actually are creating a resilient California." The post ‘Public Ownership Can Eliminate Some of Those Warped Incentives Associated With Monopoly’ appeared first on FAIR.
‘The Federal Government Has the Resources That Could Stave Off the Economic Pain People Are Already Feeling’
April 22, 2020 21:07 - 12 minutes - 5.75 MB"This is really an opportunity to think bigger and think in a bolder way than we have before about what it's going to take, not just to fill the gaps in our infrastructure that the crisis has so clearly laid bare, but also to think beyond, about what we want our economy to look like." The post ‘The Federal Government Has the Resources That Could Stave Off the Economic Pain People Are Already Feeling’ appeared first on FAIR.
‘The US Reaction to Pressure to Ease Sanctions Was to Double Down’
April 20, 2020 20:59 - 13 minutes - 6.21 MB"If there were an opposition movement in countries like Canada and the United States and Europe, the demand wouldn't just be, 'You gotta stop this'; the demand would actually be, 'Hey, we’ve got to prosecute the people involved with this. This is killing people. This is a crime. People should be facing legal consequences for this.'” The post ‘The US Reaction to Pressure to Ease Sanctions Was to Double Down’ appeared first on FAIR.
Naomi Walker on Covid-19 Relief, Johanna Bozuwa on the Last ‘New Normal’
April 17, 2020 15:39 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MBThe $150 billion designated for state, local and tribal governments as relief from the Covid-19 crisis is nowhere near what those governments will need—and not just that, but forcing them to cut budgets just as they need to be spending more is going to drive a cycle that only hurts more those already hurting. The post Naomi Walker on Covid-19 Relief, Johanna Bozuwa on the Last ‘New Normal’ appeared first on FAIR.
‘This Many Strikes Says That Something Fundamentally Is Changing in the Country’
April 16, 2020 17:09 - 9 minutes - 4.43 MB"Frontline, essential workers are seen as heroes. And that type of energy is really going to change the conversation. Nobody really thought of grocery store workers as heroes before this." The post ‘This Many Strikes Says That Something Fundamentally Is Changing in the Country’ appeared first on FAIR.
Pandemic Doesn’t Stop Corporate Media From Crusading Against Universal Healthcare
April 15, 2020 21:05 - 1 Byte text/htmlIn the midst of the coronavirus crisis, many in corporate media are still engaging in class warfare by continuing their crusade against universal healthcare. The post Pandemic Doesn’t Stop Corporate Media From Crusading Against Universal Healthcare appeared first on FAIR.
Mike Elk on Frontline Worker Rights, Joe Emersberger on Pandemic Sanctions
April 10, 2020 16:08 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MBWhat would it look like to call corporate media's bluff on their sudden, serious respect for working people who didn't start being important because there's a contagious disease going around? The post Mike Elk on Frontline Worker Rights, Joe Emersberger on Pandemic Sanctions appeared first on FAIR.
‘The Gig Economy Is Really Just Pushing People Into Precarious Work’
April 09, 2020 16:13 - 15 minutes - 7.01 MB"The fact is, the kind of economy that's being celebrated by the 1% is, frankly, the same economy that's existed in a lot of other countries for a long time." The post ‘The Gig Economy Is Really Just Pushing People Into Precarious Work’ appeared first on FAIR.
‘These Devices Making the Super-Wealthy Super-Wealthier Will Have to Come Apart’
April 03, 2020 19:58 - 8 minutes - 3.86 MB"We now have 28 years of experience with Reaganism. The average income of the bottom 90% of Americans is today what it was back in 1980, when you adjust for inflation, and the incomes of the top tenth of 1% and above have gone through the roof. It doesn't work." The post ‘These Devices Making the Super-Wealthy Super-Wealthier Will Have to Come Apart’ appeared first on FAIR.
Bama Athreya on Gig Economy & Covid-19
April 03, 2020 15:42 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MBStrikes going on around the country right now are an indication of how workers are reacting to this moment, in which it's being made painfully clear that they are deemed both essential and expendable at once. The post Bama Athreya on Gig Economy & Covid-19 appeared first on FAIR.
‘Millions of People Lose Water Service Because They Can’t Afford Their Water Bills’
April 01, 2020 18:48 - 11 minutes - 5.26 MB"The first thing that the CDC tells you to do to help prevent the spread of disease is to wash your hands. But if you don't have water at home, you can't take that simple action to protect yourself or your family or your community." The post ‘Millions of People Lose Water Service Because They Can’t Afford Their Water Bills’ appeared first on FAIR.
Mary Grant on Water & Covid-19, David Cay Johnston on the Last Bailout
March 27, 2020 15:15 - 28 minutes - 12.9 MBAlong with many other things, Covid-19 has underscored the individual and communal harms of a water affordability crisis in this country that usually remains hidden. The post Mary Grant on Water & Covid-19, David Cay Johnston on the Last Bailout appeared first on FAIR.
‘There’s Never Been More Attention on the Ills of Profit-Motivated Pharmaceutical Production’
March 26, 2020 22:23 - 405 KB application/pdf"We see high prices, recurring shortages and declining innovation, but also these issues about drug safety and mass marketing, as the natural outcomes of an industry that is oriented around the singular goal of maximizing profit." The post ‘There’s Never Been More Attention on the Ills of Profit-Motivated Pharmaceutical Production’ appeared first on FAIR.
‘We Need to Not Just Slow Down the Disease, but Stop It’
March 24, 2020 19:21 - 11 minutes - 27 MB"The economic system has got to shut down. It is not an option to leave the economy running while we fight this virus; that is not a possibility." The post ‘We Need to Not Just Slow Down the Disease, but Stop It’ appeared first on FAIR.
Jim Naureckas on Covid-19, Dana Brown on Public Ownership of Pharmaceuticals
March 20, 2020 15:38 - 28 minutes - 12.8 MBAs we now sit, eyes glued to every media, journalists carry a great responsibility: to translate evolving information, projections and recommendations into accessible news that reflects appropriate gravity without being unhelpfully alarmist. The post Jim Naureckas on Covid-19, Dana Brown on Public Ownership of Pharmaceuticals appeared first on FAIR.
‘The US Has Played With Puerto Rico’s Economy for the Last 122 Years’
March 18, 2020 18:34 - 18 minutes - 8.25 MB"For people to actually understand that we need to audit the debt, that we need to understand the debt, and that we shouldn't be paying any debt that was created illegally, has been a struggle in itself." The post ‘The US Has Played With Puerto Rico’s Economy for the Last 122 Years’ appeared first on FAIR.