Comedy is a powerful recruitment tool: how the US rightwing use laughs for vast influence – The Guardian
Posted By admin on April 27, 2022
In January, Neil Young gave Spotify an ultimatum: its me or Joe Rogan. The streaming giant picked Rogan, the comedian who was accused of spreading vaccine misinformation on his podcast. Days later, compilations of the presenter using the N-word emerged online and he apologised. Spotify stood by Rogan, on whom they had reportedly spent $200m locking into a three-and-a-half-year contract. Youngs protest marked the first time many had heard of Rogans libertarian podcast, despite it having an estimated 11 million listeners.
The vast network of US rightwing comedy from podcasts and television to YouTube and live standup needs to be taken seriously, say Matt Sienkiewicz and Nick Marx, authors of Thats Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them. The pair spent months researching rightwing comedy, concluding that whether or not youre laughing, you cant ignore its influence. What first breaks through as a joke may well show up later as part of a political platform, they write. The increasingly influential world of rightwing comedy provides cover and succour to those inclined toward the ugliest of ideologies.
Its a phenomenon noted in Louis Therouxs recent BBC series Forbidden America, where he met streamers Baked Alaska and Nick Fuentes. Both are accused of racism and misogyny, Fuentes has shared jokes about Holocaust denial and told Theroux he doesnt believe women should be able to vote. Both also use comedy as a defence when challenged on their most abhorrent views. Many viewers had never heard of the men, but as Theroux told a press conference: they already have access to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of [people] by dint of the internet this phenomenon exists in the world, and by not reporting on it, its not going to go away.
Sienkiewicz, associate professor of communication and international studies at Boston College, and Marx, associate professor of film and media studies at Colorado State University, became interested in the topic when they noticed Fox News hosts were increasingly looking for laughs. I was guilty of the denial that we identify: this thing cant be funny because it doesnt align with my political beliefs, therefore Ill define it as something else, says Marx. But this was meant to be funny to my political opposition, and to call it something else was dishonest and counterproductive.
Following the trail from Greg Gutfeld, whose Fox News show Gutfeld! was by 2021 attracting a larger viewership than Stephen Colberts CBS satire The Late Show, the pair discovered that rightwing satirists, podcasters and standups were all connected in a new comedy ecosystem. They featured on each others podcasts, TV shows and social media feeds, sharing ideas and audiences.
Sienkiewicz and Marx traced a spectrum of comedy from what was shown on network TV and the religiously tinged satire of the Babylon Bee (a sort of Christian version of the Onion), to podcasters Legion of Skanks (whose regular segment Whos more justified? sees hosts debate who should be allowed to use racial slurs), trolls such as Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes and antisemitic podcasters the Daily Shoah.
Many are masters of Reddit-style trolling and meme-making, helping them reach vast internet audiences, often the younger demographics that the Republican party and Fox News covet. Comedy, says Marx, is a powerful recruitment tool. These young men are attractive to advertisers too, helping Rogan and others make money but also incentivising comedians to develop brands built on shock tactics.
Connections between the comedians mean a Gutfeld fan can find something darker within a few clicks. Someone like Gutfeld might have a guest who doesnt say anything that points to their racism. But if you refer to the guests podcast, you find it, says Sienkiewicz. You get passed along this pathway where the absolute fringe is not as disconnected as we thought. As those researching conspiracy theories point out, the online algorithms dictating what people consume next are powerful.
The united front of rightwing comedians is another reason to pay attention. They are much better than the left at uniting behind a shared goal, Marx says. They all reference and ridicule the woke left, claiming, You cant say this any more, says Sienkiewicz. Marx adds: Theres great boundary-pushing left and liberal comedy, but the rights project is to make it seem like the left has collapsed into a humourless gaggle of self-censoring.
Comedy does not have a political orientation, says Sienkiewicz. The comedy industry has had an orientation towards centre-left. A vibrant and adventurous comedic left is a political advantage, but one that can be given away if the left gets squeamish about taking chances.
Could the UK create rightwing comedians with a comparable influence to the US? A BBC Radio 4 pilot recently featured some of the comics who have appeared on GB News. The economics of particularly the podcasting industry probably mirrors ours, says Sienkiewicz. Im confident that people like Rogan have a strong listenership there. Success breeds mimicry.
Thats Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them is published on 3 May by University of California Press.
Read the original:
- Holocaust Deniers: Who They Are And Why They Believe - All That's ... - May 5th, 2023
- The World Is Full of Holocaust Deniers - The Atlantic - March 20th, 2023
- What is Holocaust Denial? - Museum of Tolerance - December 29th, 2022
- What is antisemitism? | IHRA - Working Definition of Antisemitism - November 6th, 2022
- Denialism - Wikipedia - October 19th, 2022
- Jean-Marie Le Pen - Wikipedia - October 15th, 2022
- Echo chambers, rabbit holes, and ideological bias: How YouTube recommends content to real users - Brookings Institution - October 15th, 2022
- One year after pledging to promote Holocaust remembrance and combat antisemitism at the Malm International Forum, the Government of Canada remains... - October 15th, 2022
- A conversation with Holocaust scholar Dr. Irving Berkowitz - South Florida Sun Sentinel - October 15th, 2022
- In call with Israeli PM, Scholz condemns Holocaust denial - August 25th, 2022
- B.o.B. Addresses Claims Of Promoting Anti-Semetism And Holocaust Denial - HotNewHipHop - August 25th, 2022
- He Warned That The Declaration Of Holocaust Denial By Chavista Businessman Esteban Trapiello Is A "hate Crime". - Nation World News - August 25th, 2022
- Belief in Conspiracy Theories Is Probably Not Getting Worse Over Time - Office for Science and Society - July 31st, 2022
- Fiber artist confronts the Holocaust in 'Beauty and Terror' series - thejewishchronicle.net - July 19th, 2022
- How Holocaust Denial and Other Bogus Claims Are Poisoning Schools (Opinion) - EdWeek - July 18th, 2022
- 93 and feisty: A Dallas Holocaust survivor will never give up on her mission to educate - WFAA.com - July 18th, 2022
- Facebook reverses stance on Holocaust denial, will ban it now - July 14th, 2022
- Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General | UN Press - press.un.org - July 14th, 2022
- Criminalizing holocaust denial in Canada will protect democracy and free speech - The Conversation - July 10th, 2022
- Vivek Agnihotris Team Accuses The Wire of Soft Genocide Denial'; The Wire Responds - The Wire - July 10th, 2022
- Fighting Hate: A look inside the new St. Louis Holocaust Museum - KSDK.com - July 10th, 2022
- Denying Holocaust Denial | National Vanguard - June 23rd, 2022
- Israel Elected to Lead International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2025 - Algemeiner - June 23rd, 2022
- Denying Holocaust Denial, by Thomas Dalton - The Unz Review - June 10th, 2022
- MARCEAU: Holocaust denial should be outlawed in Canada - June 10th, 2022
- Evidence and documentation for the Holocaust - Wikipedia - June 4th, 2022
- Can You Hear Me? Speech and Power in the Global Digital Town Square - Council on Foreign Relations - June 2nd, 2022
- Shoes can be a method of escape, and a tool for taking action - The Fulcrum - May 12th, 2022
- How a Holocaust Survivor Finally Learned Her Own Birth Name | Time - TIME - May 6th, 2022
- What Changes Are Coming to the Transatlantic Digital Landscape? - German Marshall Fund - May 6th, 2022
- What to expect from a Musk-owned Twitter? - Al Jazeera English - May 6th, 2022
- What Do Twitter's Users Actually Want? - The Atlantic - May 6th, 2022
- Russia Is Not the First to Blame Jews for Their Own Holocaust - The Atlantic - May 6th, 2022
- It's a mistake to ban Holocaust denial - The Boston Globe - April 27th, 2022
- A Proclamation on Days Of Remembrance Of Victims Of The Holocaust, 2022 - The White House - April 27th, 2022
- Remarks by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the Museum of Jewish Heritage's Annual Gathering of Remembrance - United States Mission to the United... - April 27th, 2022
- Op-Ed: Will Twitter survive Elon Musk? - Los Angeles Times - April 27th, 2022
- 'Rolling Thunder' organizer pledges peaceful demonstration but won't speak to controversial guest - CTV News Ottawa - April 27th, 2022
- Survivor Olga Kay passes Holocaust education torch to youth to keep fighting denial - The Times of Israel - April 27th, 2022
- The Ups and Downs of Remote Work in New York - The New York Times - April 13th, 2022
- UN General Assembly approves resolution condemning ... - April 6th, 2022
- Northeastern Launches Into Busy Event Season - Northeastern University - April 6th, 2022
- Against Backdrop of Ukraine Crisis and Continuing Antisemitic Hate Crimes, Senator Anna Kaplan Brings Simon Wiesenthal Center's Renowned "Courage... - March 27th, 2022
- Ukraine, Racism, and the Wars We Ignore - Puck - March 18th, 2022
- Whoever is Labour leader has my sympathy: Ed Miliband on Starmer, the climate crisis and mislaying the Ed Stone - The Guardian - March 18th, 2022
- UN General Assembly adopts German-Israeli proposal against ... - March 8th, 2022
- Book bans have no place in the Flathead Daily Montanan - Daily Montanan - March 5th, 2022
- Commentary: Putin is a prisoner of his own delusions about Ukraine. They will be his undoing - Yakima Herald-Republic - March 5th, 2022
- The Twitches That Spread on Social Media - The Atlantic - March 2nd, 2022
- Impact of teaching the Holocaust and genocide studies in the classroom - WAOW - February 28th, 2022
- Florida House bill could erase years of progress on race and gender, advocates say | TheHill - The Hill - February 15th, 2022
- Whats Really at Stake in Americas History Wars? - The Wall Street Journal - February 11th, 2022
- Abbie Richards fights TikTok disinformation with a cup of tea, a conspiracy chart and a punchline - wgbh.org - February 11th, 2022
- Holocaust denial and distortion must stop - US Embassy in Georgia - January 30th, 2022
- To Combat Holocaust Denial And Online Hate, Congress Should Set Its Sights On San Francisco-Based Internet Archive - Middle East Media Research... - January 30th, 2022
- Holocaust Denial: Key Dates | Holocaust Encyclopedia - January 22nd, 2022
- UN adopts Israeli resolution to combat Holocaust denial - January 22nd, 2022
- UN approves resolution condemning denial of Nazi Holocaust ... - January 22nd, 2022
- U.N. Approves Israeli Measure to Condemn Holocaust Denial - The New York Times - January 22nd, 2022
- Hundreds of Biden Nominees Are Unconfirmed Amid G.O.P. Blockade - The New York Times - January 11th, 2022
- ADL: Holocaust denial still prevalent on Facebook, despite ... - December 14th, 2021
- Denial (2016 film) - Wikipedia - December 14th, 2021
- Holocaust Denial On Trial: The Real Story Of Irving V ... - December 14th, 2021
- Misha and the Wolves Director Sam Hobkinson on the Challenges of Making a Documentary About Fiction - Hollywood Reporter - December 14th, 2021
- Antisemitism, racism and white supremacist material in podcasts on Spotify, investigation finds - Sky News - December 9th, 2021
- It became crystal clear they were lying: the man who made Germans admit complicity in the Holocaust - The Guardian - December 9th, 2021
- The Way to Stop Bad Holocaust Analogies Is Through Education | Opinion - Newsweek - November 18th, 2021
- Im so obsessed with Kinder Eggs, I translated the packaging into hundreds of languages including Klingon - iNews - November 18th, 2021
- Readers Write: Breaking! Gulotta re-elected - Readers Write - The Island Now - November 12th, 2021
- Trust & Verify: Claims of critical race theory being taught in Collier schools remains unfounded - Wink News - November 12th, 2021
- Legality of Holocaust denial - Wikipedia - October 22nd, 2021
- Holocaust Denial: The Gas Chamber Debate | Imaging Genocide - October 22nd, 2021
- Texas schools are being told to teach opposing views of the Holocaust. Why? - The Guardian - October 22nd, 2021
- There are not two sides to every story... - The Daily Advance - October 22nd, 2021
- Italy's Right Is Whitewashing the Country's Past - Foreign Policy - October 22nd, 2021
- The Holocaust Didnt Happen - Antisemitism Uncovered - October 18th, 2021
- BREAKING: Because of Texas Republicans' Education Censorship Law, Holocaust Denial Is Getting Pushed In Texas Classrooms - Texas Democratic Party - October 18th, 2021
- Robert Faurisson - Wikipedia - October 2nd, 2021
- Lili Stern-Pohlmann, survivor of the Holocaust who was sheltered by a kind German woman and a Greek Catholic prelate obituary - Telegraph.co.uk - October 2nd, 2021
- Portman, Cardin Commend Biden Administration for Continuing U.S. Policy Against Participation in U.N. Conference That Promotes Anti-Israel Agendas -... - September 24th, 2021
Comments