103: The ‘Grift Industrial Complex’ Comes for The Daily Wire
Jared and Mike dig into reports of chaos at The Daily Wire after Candace Owens — once one of its top stars — claimed the company enacted a “bloodbath” of layoffs affecting as much as 60% of its staff. (The Daily Wire confirmed the layoffs but denied they were as extensive as Owens claimed.) What followed was an unusual weekend of silence from Ben Shapiro and goat lover Matt Walsh.
The guys trace the rise of the conservative media empire from its LA roots and Facebook dominance to its overextended streaming ambitions, “anti-woke” consumer products, and increasingly shaky position inside the MAGA movement. Along the way, they examine how The Daily Wire’s obsession with culture war content, Israel, and respectability politics left it out of step with the audience it helped create.
Plus: Jared and Mike toast Eoin Higgins for his recent legal success against free speech warrior Matt Taibbi and say farewell to Laura Sennett of One People’s Project, who recently died. May she rest in power.
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Comments (17)
Not surprised Slowdive return when a lot of listeners just want background fodder. The critics were right the first time.
Big recommendation for seeing Slowdive live if any of you get the chance. Seen them a couple of times in the last few years and absolutely loved them. Heard from somebody who's been watching them since the 80s that their live show really took off 3 or 4 years back.
I got in trouble in 1994 for writing the lyrics to slowdive songs on my bedroom wall. No regrets!
Love listening to new music from a band that’s been on a long hiatus and returns with a great album. I can’t believe we’re getting new Seefeel (after 15 years) and Boards of Canada (13 yrs since Tomorrow’s Harvest!) albums in the same month. Gonna add this Slowdive album to the playlist too.
One of my favorite details of the Daily Wire's product ventures is that when they started selling their chocolate bars, they had the name of the razor company that came before it on the package, which reminded me of the urban myth of tainted halloween candy.
I hope that dipshit Taibbi threw off one of his dopey hats off in disgust hearing his case was dismissed
Listening to Jeremy Very Boreing have an epiphany about the monster he created without any self awareness is quite a thing. When I hear any of these right wing bastards carp about “America losing faith in the news media,” I have to redirect them to: you fuckheads won! You started this bullshit with God and Man at Yale! The Powell memo ! You’ve been whining for more than 50 years and you fucking won! Stop being such a soy wanker!
Jared, Mike — have been really enjoying the show and appreciate the knowledge, research, and care that you both (and the invited guests) put into it every episode. That said, as someone who’s seen the inside of an LIRR train car one too many times (esp. after Yankees + Ranger games), Mike, your Ka$h impression is a weird kind of ambrosia, so thank you.
LIRR 3AM Drunk train coded FBI leader
Also, Walsh and Knowles are different from Fuentes is that the kids don’t want the sort of preachy LARPing, they’re in it for the nihilism. That’s why he’s more successful.
I think a big thing with Shapiro et al. is that they thought they could do all the other bigotries and antisemitism wouldn’t worm its way into the mix. Guess what assholes! Not how that works. Shapiro thought he could get all the fascism without it coming for him and like every fascist who comes from some minority group he found out too late that that never happens.
I think Shapiro does want real fascism but his ideal Führer would be David Horowitz and bad news that’s not who the gentile fascists have in mind.
Listening to guys like Shapiro and Boering, I always note they have these little cartoon goblin voices. There’s so many of them… Kash, Crowder, Pool… what’s the deal?
The scientists at Posting Through It Laboratories are still trying to figure it out
Can’t fight the seether…
Ah yes the marketplace of ideas, subsidized by Farris & Dan Wilks.
Also, pouring one out for Mike Knowles and his Inside the Actor’s Studio gravitas: https://youtu.be/eBSbkUjN6j0?si=Bs6yvxD7y9nBotqh