"America's 50 best cities to live in," reveals USA Today. "These rising U.S. cities could become the top places to live and work from home," reports CNBC. "The best U.S. cities to raise a family," lists MarketWatch.

Over and over again in American media we hear stories centered around ranking, judging and analyzing the rather vague concept of  a city. But who is being discussed when we talk about "cities"? How are "cities" a meaningful unit to understand a given space, especially in a country marked by runaway inequality and segregation?

When we’re told Johns Creek, Georgia, is the best city for "young people," or Carmel, Indiana, is the most "livable," whose lives and experiences are the media really talking about? Who is the audience for these reports about the best cities for families, for nightlife, for safety, for education, for happiness?

The criteria most U.S. corporate media uses centers a very particular constituent: Your average homeowner or prospective homeowner, usually white, upwardly mobile, namely, those who marketers, investors and real estate agents most want to reach.

Cities then, aren't deemed livable for their fair labor practices, but for their business-friendly policies. They're not worth moving to for their abundance of free public space in low-income neighborhoods, but for their charming boutiques and chic restaurants. They don't rank high for their strong rent-control laws, but for their ability to attract tech companies and they capture attention not for their excellent mental-health statistics, but for their "booming economies".

On this episode, we parse the ways in which media coverage of cities and urban living — often crafted by white professional-class writers for white professional-class audiences, and funded by faceless parent companies and corporate advertisers — centers the most powerful while ignoring the needs of the working class, the homeless, people with disabilities, and the vast majority of Black and brown residents.

Our guest is VOCAL-NY's Jawanza James Williams.

Episode 141: How "Most Livable Cities" Lists Center Upwardly Mobile White Professionals

Were back with Jake!   

We talk about why i have to record in car in a semi-active lot, the time lady gaga dressed up as a nazi at coachella, on the ground reporting from Real America about Bud Lite being gay and then hesse gets mad bc i start driving. 

As always subscribe to our Patreon for one (oftentimes two) bonus episodes/videos per week

SD 221 - Parking Lot Perverts

Following a misguided attempt to crack the American market, Jack and Geraint desperately try and cling onto their remaining UK fans with a tight hour of Blairite-bashing and Starmer-slagging.

Reel Politik

Episode 264 - The Rest Is Banter

Naomi Klein, author of 'The Shock Doctrine' and the upcoming 'Doppelganger: A Trip Into Mirror World', joins us to talk about QAnon, "diagonalist politics", and why people keep confusing her with Naomi Wolf online.

Subscribe for $5 a month to get an extra episode of QAA every week + access to ongoing series like Manclan, Trickle Down and The Spectral Voyager: www.patreon.com/QAnonAnonymous

Naomi Klein: https://twitter.com/NaomiAKlein / https://linktr.ee/naomiklein

Music by Pontus Berghe. Editing by Corey Klotz.

http://qanonanonymous.com

Episode 246: Age of Doppelgangers feat Naomi Klein

Pastor Clyde Sunbeam (Charles) answers questions from callers (Andrew, @Lowenaffchen) during his afternoon call-in show. E1 on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/e1podcast

304 - The Fruits of Faith Call-In Show with Pastor Clyde Sunbeam

We discuss the phenomenon of the "Progressive Except Palestine," and also we introduce a new segment.

MERCH
poddamnamerica.bigcartel.com

PATREON + DISCORD
patreon.com/poddamnamerica

Pep Talk

Lucy, Theo, and Ben bring you: An avoidable giraffe mishap, a swift act of pickleball revenge, paranoia grips Armthorpe, an absent-minded gun-mailing, and the RIPing Report.
***
The handbrake episode is Episode 213: Dad Like A Hole, and the pickleball one is the bonus episode 'Allen or Whitley'.
***
Support our show and get exclusive bonus episodes by subscribing on Patreon: www.patreon.com/BoontaVista
***
Email the show at mailbag@boontavista.com! Call in and leave us a question or a message on 1800-317-515 to be answered on the show!
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Twitter: twitter.com/boontavista
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Merchandise: shop.boontavista.com/
Twitch: twitch.tv/boontavista

EPISODE 318: The Hyundai i30 Giraffe Killer

Bonus Episodes

We take a deeper look at Nvidia, a company that has — compared to software firms like OpenAI — flown under the radar for both investigative and critical analysis of AI. We discuss their meteoric rise and the monopolistic control they have over the hardware for artificial intelligence through their business for GPUs but also how they have solidified that control through the closed, proprietary CUDA system for AI development. We also get into the journalistic style of great man + myth making + ironic distance that structures how these powerful companies and their “visionary” leaders are covered by the media. Finally, we end with one word: Gooniverse.

••• How Jensen Huang’s Nvidia Is Powering the A.I. Revolution https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/12/04/how-jensen-huangs-nvidia-is-powering-the-ai-revolution
••• How Nvidia Built a Competitive Moat Around A.I. Chips https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/21/technology/nvidia-ai-chips-gpu.html
••• Nvidia’s $40bn takeover of UK chip designer Arm collapses https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/08/nvidia-takeover-arm-collapses-softbank
••• SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son piles debt on to Silicon Valley mansion https://www.ft.com/content/1ea9c819-3019-47f6-b768-c92a0d06ecdf 

Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills   

Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

311. Selling Pickaxes for the AI Gold Rush

We’re joined by investigative reporter Daniel Boguslaw for a wide-ranging conversation about coverage of Israel in Western media, and about his recent article on the meltdown at the Times: theintercept.com/2024/01/28/new-york-times-daily-podcast-camera/

Episode 350: The New York Crimes

This week we do some Devil's Milkshake revisionism, talk about the mental deterioration of Pelosi and Biden, and discuss the significance of the ICJ case/UNRWA moral panic

Please support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 328: Perverted Backstabbers

In a new miniseries, Spencer and Esther tackle the film career of Doug Walker, beginning with his first short film with James Rolfe, "TGWTG Team Brawl."

(This won't replace TGOFV at all; it's just a side project.)

Get Cynical Episode 1 - TGWTG Team Brawl

Citations Needed is a podcast about the media, power, PR, and the history of bullshit. It is hosted by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson, and produced by Florence Barrau-Adams.

Episode 141: How "Most Livable Cities" Lists Center Upwardly Mobile White Professionals

Citations Needed Podcast

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