Name: News Brief: Fentanyl In Our Halloween Candy and Liberal Messaging Failures of the Overdose Crisis by Citations Needed Podcast
Duration: 41 min 33 s
Description: In this Halloween themed News Brief, we debunk the idea drug dealers are handing out fentanyl candy to our children. But we also examine why these copaganda panics are able to take hold: namely the failure of liberals to provide an alternative, non-carceral vision for how to handle the very real and urgent overdose crisis.

Im starting to wonder if using the term “overdose” as in “opioid overdose crisis” is itself a failure of messaging. 20 yrs ago i had a friend who was drinking and taking xanax and methadone. His froends warned him not to take more and he did anyways

my whole life they've been saying this and nothing happens. I'm an eighties baby

Anders talks to labor writer Jonah Furman about the ongoing rail strike. But first, some good vibes.

JONAH FURMAN
@labornotes
jonah@labornotes.org
https://www.labornotes.org/author/5777/content

BOTANICAL COMEDY
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/botanical-comedy-tickets-419948706887

MERCH
poddamnamerica.bigcartel.com

PATREON + DISCORD
patreon.com/PODDAMNAMERICA

Yeeeeaaaaahhh w/ Jonah Furman

"Why Are We Still Governed by Baby Boomers and the Remarkably Old?," inquires The New York Times. "Why Do Such Elderly People Run America?," The Atlantic wonders. "Gerontocracy Is Hurting Democracy," insists New York Magazine’s Intelligencer. "Too old to run again? Biden faces questions about his age as crises mount," The Guardian reports.

Though these headlines are framed as exploratory questions, news media seem to have their minds made up: the problem with Washington is that it’s chock full of geezers. In recent years, we’ve often heard that U.S. policymaking, helmed at the federal level by seventy- and eighty-somethings like Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Nancy Pelosi, and at the state level by the similarly aged Dianne Feinstein, Chuck Grassley and Pat Leahy, is simply growing too old and out of touch with the electorate.

There’s some credence to this, of course. It’s certainly true that those occupying the most powerful positions in U.S. government, on the whole, don’t legislate to the needs of the public – whether on healthcare, policing, education – the list goes on and on. But is that really because of legislators' age? Why does age have to be the focus in this analysis, rather than policy positions and, relatedly, class interests, which exist independent of age? Who does it serve to reduce the causes of U.S. austerity politics and violence to pat, Pepsi marketing-style "generation gap" discourse?

On this episode show, we detail how "generations" analysis is ineffectual and, more often than not, misses the mark. We'll discuss how fears of a "gerontocracy" can – if not in intent, in effect – malign old age itself, stigmatize the elderly and, above all, distract from what could be a substantive critical analysis of real, more profound vectors of oppression such as class, racism, sexism and anti-LGBTQ currents.

Our guest in Winslow Erik Wright.

Ep. 167: The Attractive Anti-Politics of 'Gerontocracy' Discourse

"Increasing Numbers of US Students Look for a ‘Real’ World," read a 1965 headline from the magazine Moderator. "Academics: Get Real!," the Harvard Business Review implored in 2009. "‘Defund the police’ runs into reality," the Washington Post warned in 2021. "As Latin America Shifts Left, Leaders Face a Short Honeymoon," the New York Times declared in 2022.  

We're often reminded that anyone who espouses some degree of left-wing politics – whether a student, activist, political leader, or anyone in between – is at odds with the "real world." Academics, especially those in the humanities, sit in their ivory towers. Organizers and demonstrators against state violence have their heads in the clouds. Elected leaders campaigning on elevating living standards don’t know what they're in for.

But who's in charge of determining what’s ‘realistic’? Or what "the real world" is exactly? Why is studying theory, fighting for better healthcare, or working toward poverty reduction any less ‘real’ than plugging away at a spreadsheet for a weapons manufacturer or venture capital firm? And how did this pat and folksy concept of the "real world" emerge as a go-to dunk on eggheads and activists?

On this episode, we seek to answer these questions, as we examine the canard that anyone to the left of a Goldman Sachs executive isn't living in or contributing to the "real world."

Our guest is Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby.

Ep168: How Faux Folksy "Real World" Advice is Employed to Limit Political Possibility and Punch Left

In this News Brief, we discuss the nominally progressive news network's lies and omissions when covering efforts to reduce the US's unprecedented jail and prison population.

News Brief: Young Turks' Misleading Anti-Bail Reform Demagoguery

We went to the NYPD's Nu-Metal ass Haunted House.

ANDREW HILARY
@AndrewHilaryUS
@WorstWeekYet
worstweekyet.com

BRAD PEARSON
@BradicalPearson
selfworst.com

MERCH
poddamnamerica.bigcartel.com

PATREON + DISCORD
patreon.com/PodDamnAmerica

House of 1000 Porkers w/ Andrew Hilary & Brad Pearson

This week we address the true Kanye West Of The Academy: Francis Fukuyama, and his End of History thesis. 

Support our great show on Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 265: 17 Easy Ways To End History

In this Live Show Beg-a-Thon, recorded 10/20, we discuss the morality politics of Star Trek and Pro Wrestling with guests are Robert Greene II and Brandi Collins-Dexter.

A Citations Needed Live Show Beg-a-Thon: The Morality Politics of Star Trek + Pro Wrestling

In this Halloween themed News Brief, we debunk the idea drug dealers are handing out fentanyl candy to our children. But we also examine why these copaganda panics are able to take hold: namely the failure of liberals to provide an alternative, non-carceral vision for how to handle the very real and urgent overdose crisis.

News Brief: Fentanyl In Our Halloween Candy and Liberal Messaging Failures of the Overdose Crisis

Friend of the show Haley O'Shaughnessy (@HaleyOSomething) stops by to chat "yall culture," sports cheating, and the interesting case of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari's heritage

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

Episode 266: Calipari In The Coal Mine (w/ special guest Haley O'Shaughnessy)

We are joined by Aaron Good, author of "American Exception: Empire and the Deep State," to talk about his book. Also we drop a cake on the floor.

AARON GOOD
@Aaron_Good_
American Exception: Empire and the Deep State
https://www.patreon.com/americanexception
https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781510769137/american-exception/
americanexception.com

ANDERS SUBSTACK
https://anderslee.substack.com/

MERCH
poddamnamerica.bigcartel.com

PATREON + DISCORD
patreon.com/poddamnamerica

The Deep Cake with Aaron Good

**audio gets better after a couple minutes** This week we talk about the most recent AppHarvest news, and then move on to an extremely cool article about Disney magic

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

Episode 270: Present Company Included

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.

News Brief: Fentanyl In Our Halloween Candy and Liberal Messaging Failures of the Overdose Crisis

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