Episode 08: The Human Rights Concern Troll Industrial Complex
Citations Needed
Citations Needed
4.8 • 4.1K Ratings
🗓️ 6 September 2017
⏱️ 75 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We discuss the cynical use of "human rights" to advance US interests with guest Glenn Greenwald.
The conceit that the U.S. has been a dedicated and earnest promoter of "freedom", "democracy," and "human rights" throughout the world — even if, at times, a "flawed" one — is a defining narrative, largely taken for granted by major media. But how accurate is this assumption? What do we mean when we talk about human rights? What abuses are highlighted and which aren't? Where do labor rights fit into the broader discussion of human rights?
On this episode of Citations Needed, we attempt to parse some of these complex questions and how they fit into a broader discussions of soft power and war.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Citations Needed with Nemeshirazi and Adam Johnson. |
| 0:09.0 | Welcome to Citations Needed where we discuss media, PR, and the history of bullshit. |
| 0:15.4 | I am Nemeshirazi. |
| 0:16.6 | I'm Adam Johnson. |
| 0:17.6 | You can find us on the Twitter machine at CitationsPod. |
| 0:23.2 | We're on Facebook. |
| 0:24.2 | We're also on Patreon. |
| 0:25.8 | Patreon.com-slash-s Citations Needed podcast. |
| 0:30.3 | I will say we are so thankful for all the support we've gotten so far. |
| 0:35.6 | Thank you everyone. |
| 0:37.0 | We encourage people to support us as long as they've already given all of their money |
| 0:42.6 | to Hurricane Harvey. |
| 0:44.0 | What if you're going to let go of it? |
| 0:45.0 | I'd feel free to help. |
| 0:47.0 | And today we are going to be talking about the issue of human rights concern trolling |
| 0:52.6 | and the massive media industrial political complex that is built up around that, especially |
| 0:59.2 | with regards to foreign policy and the implications of doing human rights hand-ringing to effectively |
| 1:05.9 | argue for war. |
| 1:08.6 | Yeah. |
| 1:09.6 | So this is something that's awkward to talk about because we generally have a good impression |
| 1:14.4 | of what it is to be human rights and to fight for human rights. |
| 1:18.1 | And we venerate and put in high esteem human rights groups as a kind of independent moral |
... |
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