News Brief: Israel Kills Over 400 in 12 Hrs, Media Unsure if This Counts as Violating the 'Ceasefire'

 “Israel built an ‘AI factory’ for war. It unleashed it in Gaza,” laments the Washington Post. “Hospitals Are Reporting More Insurance Denials. Is AI Driving Them?,” reports Newsweek. “AI Raising the Rent? San Francisco Could Be the First City to Ban the Practice,” announces San Francisco’s KQED.

Within the last few years, and particularly the last few months, we’ve heard this refrain: AI is the reason for an abuse committed by a corporation, military, or other powerful entity. All of a sudden, the argument goes, the adoption of “faulty” or “overly simplified” AI caused a breakdown of normal operations: spikes in health insurance claims denials, the skyrocketing of consumer prices, the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. If not for AI, it follows, these industries and militaries, in all likelihood, would implement fairer policies and better killing protocols.

We’ll admit: the narrative seems compelling at first glance. There are major dangers in incorporating AI into corporate and military procedures. But in these cases, the AI isn’t the culprit; the people making the decisions are. UnitedHealthcare would deny claims regardless of the tools at its disposal. Landlords would raise rents with or without automated software. The IDF would kill civilians no matter what technology was, or wasn’t, available to do so. So why do we keep hearing that AI is the problem? What’s the point of this frame and why is it becoming so common as a responsibility-avoidance framing? 

On today’s episode, we’ll dissect the genre of “investigative” reporting on the dangers of AI, examining how it serves as a limited hangout, offering controlled criticism while ultimately shifting responsibility toward faceless technologies and away from powerful people. 

Later on the show, we’ll be speaking with Steven Renderos, Executive Director of MediaJustice, a national racial justice organization that advances the media and technology rights of people of color. He is the creator and co-host, with the great Brandi Collins-Dexter, Bring Receipts, a politics and pop culture podcast and is executive producer of Revolutionary Spirits, a 4-part audio series on the life and martyrdom of Mexican revolutionary leader Francisco Madero.


Episode 217: A.I. Mysticism as Responsibility-Evasion PR Tactic

We talk to the Times’ Emanuel Midolo about the killing of foreign correspondent David Holden in 1977. Plus: spies, journalists, journalists as spies, and solving a sordid murder at the margins of the Cold War. Emanuele Midolo is the author of the new book MURDER IN CAIRO, co-authored by Peter Gillman, about Holden’s murder: https://timesbookshop.co.uk/murder-in-cairo-9781785907029/

Discover more episodes at podcast.trueanon.com.

Episode 447: Smiley's Person

Musician and actor Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy) returns to the show to discuss tariffs, breathing, artificial "intelligence," Clever Hans, Kentucky history, and the new Bonnie "Prince" Billy album, "The Purple Bird," out now where all fine records are sold

Lexington fans, Bonnie "Prince" Billy will be performing at the Singletary Center for the Arts on UK Campus on Tuesday, April 15th, get your tickets: https://www.eventticketscenter.com/bonnie-prince-billy-lexington-tickets/1024087/e?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw47i_BhBTEiwAaJfPpkc5K4sNSDRsUbpZk3VaQNb3RfJju1k2KWBdaPdcucOAWJfdR2ESoBoCBKMQAvD_BwE

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 387: Out Of The Whimsical Frying Pan, Into The Fire (w/ special guest Will Oldham)

"Senate Weighs Investing $120 Billion in Science to Counter China," trumpeted The New York Times in 2021. "A New Economic Patriotism Can Help Unite Our Divided Congress," argued Newsweek in 2023. "US cedes ground to China with ‘self-inflicted wound’ of USAid shutdown, analysts say," cautioned The Guardian in 2025. 

In recent years, we’ve been exposed to the latest version of a centuries-old geopolitical message: We all have a common enemy, and we all need to unite to fight it by making our own country stronger. That enemy—most commonly China—is threatening to outpace, if it isn’t already outpacing, the US in infrastructural investment, educational programs, technological development, and elsewhere, and we need to devote millions, billions, even trillions of dollars to restoring the vitality of our institutions in order to reverse this trend. 

But why must defeating an "enemy" be the justification for policy that has the potential to benefit the public? Why should we just accept the premise that there must be an "enemy" to compete against and defeat? Why can’t policy be enacted for the sole purpose of improving people’s lives? And how does this messaging about the threat of a looming adversary serve the ruling class?

On this episode, we detail the timeworn trope of the common enemy as a "unifying" device, looking at how increasingly so-called progressives are appealing to feel-good sentiments of unity and to the genuine needs for sound infrastructure, robust social safety nets, corporate regulation, and functional institutions in order to sell the idea that there is, and always will be, a shadowy bad guy that must be vanquished. 

Our guest is historian, professor and author Greg Grandin.

Episode 218: The Siren Song of Rallying Around a 'Common Enemy' to Promote Progressive Causes

Ep 219: How Elites Concern Troll "Waste" to Gut Social Welfare and Divide the Working Class

This week we take a look at some of the early effects of the tariffs, as well as the nature and purpose of RFK Jr's MAHA agenda, before pivoting to a review of Trump's first 100 days in office. Finally we turn to a very sleepy article in the New York Times about how the Resistance is...sort of...doing some stuff...and other stuff...

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 390: Moloch's Vertical Integration

We’re joined by Gareth Gore, author of the book Opus, to talk about Opus Dei, the secretive Catholic society with deep links to the current U.S. government.

Discover more episodes at podcast.trueanon.com.

Call the tip line: (646) 801-1129

Episode 459: Opus D.E.I.

This week we start off with a few stories from Trumpworld: the new budget, allegations of white genocide, importing of white Afrikaaners and deporting of Danish people. Then we switch over to a few stories from Demworld: Gerry Connolly's death, an article in Politico about how the Dems are stuck in the black lodge, and an article in the New York Times about the search for the liberal Joe Rogan. Finally, we discuss the shooting of two employees of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC last night.

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 393: Creeping Hygge

Ep 223: The Empire Strikes First, Part II — ‘Abundance’ Pablum as Counter to Left Populism

Comedy legend Larry Charles (Fridays, Seinfeld, Borat, Curb Your Enthusiasm & much more) returns to the show to discuss his new book Comedy Samurai: Forty Years of Blood, Guts, and Laughter. We have a wide ranging discussion of Larry’s life in comedy including post-war Brooklyn as a comedy incubator, grinding out avant-garde sketch comedy with Andy Kaufman, the prevalence of coke and other drugs in the comedy writing scene, getting tackled by the Secret Service trying to get a joint to Jimmy Carter’s sister, and the difficulties in comedic creative relationships. Larry also gets candid about his disappointment with the prevalence of zionism among his erstwhile comedy partners, and we talk about the humanizing force of humor in the face tragedy and despair.

Pick up Comedy Samurai here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/larry-charles/comedy-samurai/9781538771549/?lens=grand-central-publishing

AND: get your pre-order in for YEAR ZERO: A CHAPO TRAP HOUSE COMICS ANTHOLOGY starting today at www.badegg.co

947 - Laugh Now, Cry Later feat. Larry Charles (6/30/25)

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 218: The Siren Song of Rallying Around a 'Common Enemy' to Promote Progressive Causes

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