1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 2: Ah, welcome back to it could happen here a podcast 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 2: about things falling apart. And whenever you have things falling apart, 4 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 2: you have the Daily Wire. I don't know, Garrison, what 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 2: are we talking about today? 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, the Daily Wire has been our our trusted companions 7 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 3: among the rise of the alt right and this kind 8 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 3: of just impending sense of bad that has been, you know, 9 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 3: increasing the past five, ten years, twenty years, thirty years, 10 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 3: you know. So Mia in the last episode talked about 11 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 3: some of the neoliberal conditions that kind of led to 12 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 3: this dip in church attendance, and it's resulted in the 13 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 3: Christian right kind of changing formations in a few interesting ways. 14 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 3: And we're going to talk about that here, but now 15 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 3: no more specifically about how the Daily Wire has been 16 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 3: able to profit off of this shift. So as third spaces, 17 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 3: including churches die off, online spaces have been gun to 18 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 3: fill the gaps, from Facebook groups to content creators to 19 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 3: conservative streaming services. The organizational hub of the far right 20 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 3: has been picked up by opportunistic bloggers and aspiring movie moguls. 21 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 3: Which brings us to twenty thirteen, a perfect year. Nothing 22 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 3: went wrong, just a normal, normal time. So In twenty thirteen, 23 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 3: we had failed screenwriter Ben Shapiro and failed movie producer 24 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,680 Speaker 3: Jeremy Boring. They started working together on a project called 25 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 3: Truth Revolt. Now, I assume most of us are somewhat 26 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 3: familiar with Ben Shapiro. He was an editor at Breitbart 27 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 3: This He started as a young conservative blogger who gained 28 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 3: prominence in the twentyds and the twenty teens. So I'm 29 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 3: not gonna waste too much time going into the background 30 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 3: of Ben because I'm I'm guessing we all basically know 31 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 3: who Benhapiro is. But I'm also guessing that almost no 32 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 3: one listening to this probably knows who Jeremy Boring is, 33 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 3: hence the name, So I'm gonna be focusing a lot 34 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 3: on Jeremy. I find Jeremy to be a kind of 35 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 3: fascinating person. I almost weirdly enjoy watching his stuff just 36 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 3: because I find it to be extremely fascinating. His demeanor, 37 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:42,119 Speaker 3: his way of going about creating a conservative media empire, 38 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 3: I find to be really intriguing. I've watched Jeremy Boring 39 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 3: stuff just as like a voyeurist observer for years now, 40 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 3: and he's actually starting to become more of a prominent 41 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 3: face among the right wing media ecosystem, or at least 42 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 3: he's been putting his face out there for a while. 43 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 3: Most of the time he's just been behind the scenes. 44 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 3: So Jeremy Boring is just A is A is A 45 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 3: is a good Christian boy from a small town in Texas. 46 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 3: He got involved in kind of local town. Yeah. I 47 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 3: I forget the exact town because I didn't I didn't 48 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 3: write it down in the script, but I believe it's 49 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,959 Speaker 3: somewhere in West Texas if I remember correctly. It's it's 50 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 3: it's It's been a while since I watched the two 51 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 3: hour interview with Jeremy Boring where he discussed his upbringing. 52 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 2: God, I wonder if it's Lufkin. I'm pulling it up. 53 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 2: I'm pulling it up Slayton. Okay, Okay, Well still a 54 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 2: dog shit Texas. 55 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 3: Yeah. See, that's why I didn't mention it, because it's like, who. 56 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 2: Can's in Lubbock County, Mike love it. Yeah. 57 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 3: He was kind of involved in some local community theater 58 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 3: productions as a kid, and like a lot of kids, 59 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 3: he aspired to be an actor, so as a young 60 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 3: adult he moved to La He very soon gave up 61 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 3: acting I think he had one small bit role as 62 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 3: like a crying soldier, but besides that, he just couldn't 63 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 3: get any work, so instead he decided to become a 64 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 3: struggling screenwriter. A classic classic move were moving from a 65 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 3: failed actor. Yes, yes, yes, exactly. In the early two thousands, 66 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 3: he got invited to a Hollywood Bible study group with 67 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 3: a whole bunch of like young C list celebrities, and 68 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 3: over time he evolved into a sort of pastoral role 69 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 3: within the group. And then in two thousand and seven 70 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 3: he was able to write and produce his first movie, Spiral, 71 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:38,679 Speaker 3: starring Zachary Levi, who now played Shazam in DC's movies 72 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 3: and really nothing else because he seems to be a 73 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:43,919 Speaker 3: deeply unlikable person who has not really been hired in 74 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 3: many other things. But Zachary Levi was also in this 75 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 3: like a Christian Bible study group. They were both friends, 76 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 3: him and Jeremy Boring. So they made this movie Spiral. 77 00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 3: It grossed just over three thousand dollars, So not the 78 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 3: smash hit that you know you would you you would 79 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 3: hopeful for your first movie. 80 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 2: That is, uh yeah, that's not great. 81 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 3: It's not it's it's not it's not perfect. Now. Jeremy 82 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 3: Boring claims that his religious and political beliefs made it 83 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,279 Speaker 3: so that he wasn't able to progress very far in 84 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 3: the Hollywood system. But he was invited to a secret 85 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 3: meeting of conservatives in Hollywood called the Friends of ABE 86 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:29,720 Speaker 3: that Robert, you should you should look up the Friends 87 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 3: of Abe logo because it's really good. 88 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 2: Oh my god. 89 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 3: I think people like like, uh, like John Voight and 90 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:38,359 Speaker 3: just you know those sort of. 91 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 2: Like, yeah, it sounds like I think John Voight would 92 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 2: be a member of Yes. 93 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:43,479 Speaker 3: Yes, I'm pretty sure John voightt was a member of 94 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 3: this group. 95 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 2: God, they're and they're treating it. They're treating it. There 96 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 2: was like a Friends of something or other group that 97 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:52,920 Speaker 2: was like an underground group providing reproductive healthcare service back 98 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 2: before abortion, back for Roe v. Wade, which is clearly 99 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 2: what they're Oh god is the who made this logo? 100 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 2: This is like bad clip art. Oh my god, it's 101 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 2: quite good. 102 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 3: So he was he was invited to this secret meeting, 103 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 3: the Friends of ABE, and this is where he met 104 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 3: another friend of the pod, Andrew Breitbart. So this is 105 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 3: this is actually really a really important too, Yes, a 106 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:27,679 Speaker 3: very important weird subcultural community within Hollywood. So as Jeremy 107 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 3: was trying to move into just movie producing, he was 108 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 3: actually asked to take over this Friends of Abe group. 109 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 3: So he became a very central role and he made 110 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 3: a lot of connections, connections that will soon become important 111 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 3: when we discuss The Daily Wire's own adventures in movie 112 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 3: producing in the in the next episode or so. So 113 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,479 Speaker 3: he took over this group. Eventually he had this other 114 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 3: smaller Bible study group, so he's kind of moving up 115 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 3: in the world of conservative secret meetings in Hollywood. So 116 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 3: because he met Andrew bite Bart at the Friends of Abe, 117 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 3: Andrew bype Bart obviously knows Ben Shapiro because Shapiro used 118 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 3: to be the editor at Breitbart News. 119 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 2: Also, I feel the need to note the Friends of 120 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 2: Abe was founded by Gary Sinise, who was in such 121 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 2: beloved movies as well. I think the only beloved movie 122 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 2: he was in was Forrest Gump where he played Lieutenant Dan. 123 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 3: Oh he did Bobe. 124 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, this is Lieutenant Dan founded the group, which is 125 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 2: actually like Lieutenant Dan would be in the Friends of Abe, 126 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 2: so that kind of fits. He also had apparently a 127 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 2: bit roll our some role in Apollo thirteen I forget who. 128 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 2: So there you go, Gary Sinise. Great. 129 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 3: So around this time is when Ben Shapiro and Jeremy 130 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 3: Borning first met, just before like twenty ten. I think 131 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 3: the two met via Andrew bite Bart, whom Ben was 132 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 3: working for at the time at Breitbart News. Now. Jeremy 133 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 3: and Ben hit it off, and they decided that they 134 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 3: would want to work together to create media to quote 135 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 3: unquote influence culture. That's a term that Boring uses quite 136 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 3: a lot, is like influencing culture now. Boring was very 137 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 3: impressed by Shapiro and sought to propel Shapiro's fame and 138 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 3: wanted to create a platform and wanted to create a 139 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 3: platform to increase Ben's ability to impact politics on a 140 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 3: larger scale. He really thought he saw something in Ben that, 141 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 3: if utilized, could make Ben into a pretty major celebrity. 142 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 3: Boring was friendly with board members of the David Horowitz 143 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 3: Freedom Center, an extremely racist, anti Muslim right wing think 144 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 3: tank I believe based in law. Boring thought that Ben 145 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:45,560 Speaker 3: and David had a lot in common. They were both 146 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 3: very like politically feisty Jewish conservatives in the LA scene, 147 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 3: and Boring wanted to prepare Ben to sort of carry 148 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 3: the torch of the Freedom Center using all of the 149 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 3: resources that David Horowitz have built up over a long 150 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 3: period of time. So for a year and a half, 151 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 3: Boring met with board members behind the scenes to create 152 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 3: some sort of buy in and cast Ben Shapiro as 153 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 3: the future for the Freedom Center, planning seeds of what 154 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 3: it will be to come. Eventually, David Horwitz chose Ben 155 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 3: as the heir to the Freedom Center first by giving 156 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 3: Shapiro and Boring an opportunity to test things out by 157 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 3: starting a company under the Freedom Center called Truth Revolt. 158 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 3: Truth Revolt is something that I didn't I think I 159 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 3: saw it a little bit when I was like a 160 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 3: younger teen, but it wasn't It wasn't super popular. Truth 161 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 3: Revolt saw some initial success as like a conservative quote 162 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 3: unquote news site aimed at exposing leftist media. Shapiro billed 163 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 3: Truth Revolt as the quote unquote anti media matters Now. 164 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 3: Shapiro admits that Truth of Volt ultimately wasn't very sustainable 165 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 3: because the whole website was designed around trying to generate 166 00:09:56,040 --> 00:10:00,839 Speaker 3: traffic by being linked by Drudge Report, and at the time. 167 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 2: That's like literally literally like a third of right wing 168 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 2: media in the early two thousands to mid auts like 169 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 2: that was Alex Jones's whole strategy for a while too. 170 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, the whole point was creating headlines that would be 171 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 3: linked by this conservative news aggregator. And this isn't a 172 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 3: very sustainable business model, at least that's what Ben now claims. 173 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 3: And because truth Revolt was operating under the Freedom Center, 174 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 3: it was run as a nonprofit and received very limited 175 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 3: funding and little to no advertising budget. But even back then, 176 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 3: there was a big focus on creating video content to 177 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 3: fill out the site and grow its own YouTube page. 178 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 3: I have a wonderful screenshot here of some old truth 179 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 3: Revolt videos from like nine ten years ago. We have 180 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 3: brass tax on immigration. Andrew Cleavan I think his name 181 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 3: is Clevan. He's he's one of the main Daily Wire 182 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 3: guys now, but he was involved way way back then. 183 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 3: He has a video on Obama conspiracy theories, which I'm 184 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 3: sure that's great. 185 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't wait to dig into that one. 186 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 3: Ben Shapiro has a lot of videos about why Jews 187 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 3: vote leftist. We have videos about Hillary Clinton. We have 188 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 3: the left's magical thinking. This is another Andrew Clvan video 189 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 3: called fifty Shades of Barack Obama. So again all like 190 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:29,199 Speaker 3: very very like twenty twelve type stuff here, like all 191 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,599 Speaker 3: all very like early early twenty teen. 192 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 2: They were iterating, they were cooking. 193 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 3: They were cooking, and like cooking, sometimes your first attempt 194 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 3: doesn't really work out. Truth of Bolt started declining in 195 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 3: around early twenty fifteen, but Jeremy Boring was working on 196 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 3: a business plan with a more marketing driven approach. Instead 197 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 3: of relying on like nonprofit annual donors, Boring wanted to 198 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 3: use a more of a for profit model where they 199 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 3: use ad revenue and the larger web traffic generated through 200 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 3: marketing on social media, especially on Facebook, to pay for 201 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 3: this entire media operation. Now, the old guard of this 202 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 3: conservative think tank did not really like this plan. The 203 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 3: Freedom Center actually fired Jeremy Boring when he produced this 204 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 3: plan to revamp Truth Revolt, and soon after Ben Shapiro 205 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 3: stepped down. This was in April of twenty fifteen. Jeremy 206 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 3: and board Jeremy and Ben attempted to buy out the site, 207 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,560 Speaker 3: but that didn't pan out, and eventually Truth Revolt just 208 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 3: withered away. Do you know what else slowly withers away 209 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 3: over time? 210 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 2: You without the products and services that support this podcast. 211 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 3: That's right, all right, we are back. Thank the maker 212 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 3: for all of those wonderful products and services that let 213 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 3: me spend about ten hours day watching Daily Wire videos 214 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,440 Speaker 3: so I could write like four thousand words. 215 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:10,320 Speaker 2: Truly, this was Sophie's grand dream when she began this. 216 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 3: Just have a wall of computers constantly playing daily Wire 217 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 3: plus exclusive content. 218 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 2: That was the pitch we came to corporate with, what 219 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 2: if we exposed a man to all of the Daily 220 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 2: Wire one could possibly consume? 221 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 3: Hell oh, by all right, So Jeremy Boring, failed movie producer, 222 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 3: failed screenwriter, has been fired from Truth Revolt. Ben Shapiro, 223 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 3: his colleague in arms, steps down in solidarity. We love 224 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 3: to see workers unite. So Shapiro and Boring still liked 225 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 3: their plan to use ad revenue in social media advertising 226 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:50,079 Speaker 3: to make a for profit media company. So in twenty 227 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:54,280 Speaker 3: fifteen they looked for other investors to fund a new website. 228 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:57,680 Speaker 3: And it just so happened that around this time, two 229 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 3: Texas billionaires known as the Wilks Brothers. We're looking to 230 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 3: use their fracking fortune to quote unquote influence culture. There's 231 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,280 Speaker 3: that term again. Through a mutual friend, Boring was able 232 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 3: to secure millions of dollars in seed money from the Wilkes, 233 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 3: who also later went on to fund prager You. With 234 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 3: an influx of cash on hand, Ben and Jeremy started 235 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 3: The Daily Wire initially just as a conservative news site, 236 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 3: but with ambitions to become an entire conservative entertainment production 237 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 3: and distribution house. Instead of relying on donors or links 238 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 3: from news aggregators, their new approach was focused on creating 239 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 3: and cultivating a long term audience. They first prioritized quote 240 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 3: unquote investing in making Ben and other up and coming 241 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 3: conservative figureheads more famous, in particular, using an intentional social 242 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 3: media strategy to propel people from out of the conservative 243 00:14:55,800 --> 00:15:00,600 Speaker 3: bubble into the popular zeitgeist. Specifically, Jerry Bor worked to 244 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 3: increase the personal brand awareness on sites other than Twitter, 245 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 3: where generally most of these writers spend most of their 246 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 3: social media hours. The point was to not just do 247 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 3: it on Twitter, instead do it on the other social 248 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 3: media sites where actual, like regular people spend more of 249 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 3: their time because it's mostly just other writers on Twitter 250 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 3: versus the actual audience that the Daily Wire wanted to attract, 251 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,800 Speaker 3: or mostly spending their time on places like Facebook or Instagram. 252 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 3: So fourteen months in the Daily Wire was already cash 253 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 3: flow positive, and we see this approach of specifically trying 254 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 3: to like create celebrity. It really paid off. If you 255 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 3: look at how how like the cultural figure of Ben 256 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 3: Shapiro specifically kind of emerged in the mid two thousands, 257 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 3: Like he became such like a meme, such like a 258 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 3: recognizable character through very simple marketing on like YouTube, on Facebook. 259 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 3: It was. It was wildly successful. You cannot open up 260 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 3: YouTube with out seeing a Ben Shapiro destroys college student 261 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 3: on campus video, like every single every single time. Now, 262 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 3: on top of making a news site, they also decided 263 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 3: to move into podcasting, a very controversial medium. I'm gonna 264 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 3: I'm gonna read one quote from Ben here. Quote. One 265 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 3: area that we had no idea was going to be 266 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 3: the center of revenue was the actual podcast. When I 267 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 3: look back at that business plan, what we had allocated 268 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 3: for the amount of revenue from the podcast was minimal 269 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 3: compared to how successful the podcast became. And that cannot 270 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,080 Speaker 3: be understated. The Daily Wire makes a shitload of money 271 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 3: on their podcast. 272 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, we all, we all were surprised by how lucrative 273 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 2: prop podcasting wound up being like because it was it 274 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 2: was around for like a decade or so before it 275 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 2: was it, before people were really making any money off 276 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:52,200 Speaker 2: of it. It's it kind of snowballed very quickly once 277 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 2: advertisers realized it was something they could get in on. 278 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 2: But like it was, there was a long time where 279 00:16:57,320 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 2: it was just sort of like a thing weird little 280 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 2: guy like Joe Rogan did and most people didn't really 281 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 2: think about them much. 282 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:09,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, and their social media advertising plan also worked outrageously well, 283 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:14,199 Speaker 3: especially on Facebook. Routinely, over the past few years, stories 284 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:17,280 Speaker 3: published by The Daily Wire received more likes, shares, and 285 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 3: comments on Facebook than any other news publisher by a 286 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 3: wide margin. Shapiro has more followers in The Washington Post, 287 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 3: their engagement outpaces the New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC, CNN, 288 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:34,920 Speaker 3: and Fox News on average by over ten times, and 289 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 3: they often get more clicks on their articles than all 290 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,920 Speaker 3: of those outlets combined. They have like they figured out 291 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:45,439 Speaker 3: a really successful method to promoting their news content in 292 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 3: a way that really no one else has been able 293 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:51,679 Speaker 3: to replicate. Utilizing provocative rage bait propagandized by a select 294 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,680 Speaker 3: few of online personalities, the Daily Wire has been able 295 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 3: to expand the brand recognition of not just their own 296 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 3: site but also the person brand of its own hosts. 297 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 3: Ben and Jeremy brought over some of the people from 298 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,439 Speaker 3: Truth Revolt, but they were also scouting for new talent 299 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:12,679 Speaker 3: among the twenty sixteen Conservative spear to invest their newly 300 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 3: acquired fracking resources into. Another quote from Ben is like 301 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:21,360 Speaker 3: surround yourself with people who are going to be successful unquote, 302 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 3: particularly not like going after people who are currently popular, 303 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 3: but trying to find up and coming content creators who 304 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 3: they think they can turn into being much more successful 305 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,679 Speaker 3: than what they currently started as. Among the people they 306 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 3: recruited was the relatively unknown extremist Christian writer and radio 307 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 3: talk show host Matt Walsh, who we will get to 308 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:46,600 Speaker 3: in a sec the slightly more famous blogger Candice Owens, 309 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 3: who was picked up a few years prior by the 310 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,760 Speaker 3: conservative student group Turning Point USA to be their quote 311 00:18:52,080 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 3: director of Urban Engagement, which is an awful title what 312 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 3: they mean by I wonder what they mean by urban engagement. 313 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 3: And then in twenty twenty, after being a Daily Wire 314 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 3: correspondent for a few years and helping to launch Ted 315 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:15,920 Speaker 3: Cruz's own podcast, the Daily Wire hired failed actor Michael Knowles, 316 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 3: who's basically a discount Matt Walsh to host his own podcast, 317 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:23,240 Speaker 3: And finally, in twenty twenty two, the Daily Wire recruited 318 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:27,199 Speaker 3: Jordan Peterson, probably their biggest get to date after he 319 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:33,200 Speaker 3: quote unquote retired from the University of Toronto. The original 320 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 3: funding pitch to the Wilkes Brothers, who are looking to 321 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:39,640 Speaker 3: influence culture, explicitly positioned the Daily Wire not just as 322 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 3: a news site, but as a prospective alternative to the 323 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:50,200 Speaker 3: liberal Hollywood monopoly. There's a really interesting quote here from 324 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 3: Jeremy Boring quote, I think there is a path for 325 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,199 Speaker 3: conservatives to create entertainment, but I think you have to 326 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:00,439 Speaker 3: go about it in a roundabout way. We need a 327 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 3: marketing and distribution mechanism that allows us to actually put 328 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:07,040 Speaker 3: an audience on the target, because Hollywood will never cooperate. 329 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:09,400 Speaker 3: Even if you manage to make a great film, they'll 330 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 3: never cooperate. They'll make it very difficult for you. With 331 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:15,680 Speaker 3: Ben and with what we've been doing at Truth Revolt, 332 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:19,359 Speaker 3: we can make something that's capable of marketing whatever we 333 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 3: produced thereafter for this particular audience unquote. So there he's 334 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 3: emphasizing that no matter the quality of the actual content 335 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 3: you create. For this sort of conservative media ecosystem, you 336 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 3: first need to actually build an audience that will be 337 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 3: able to find it. That's like their first step is 338 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 3: building up this audience, and then they can focus on 339 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:44,080 Speaker 3: actually making the content just because of how this distribution 340 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 3: system works. That at least that was Jeremy's take on that. 341 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 3: Do you know what else is really important for building 342 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 3: up a sustainable audience? Products, that's right, trustworthy products and 343 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 3: services that our audience knows are of of fantastic, fantastic quality. 344 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 3: It's the it's the only way. 345 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 2: We are also supported by the Wilkes Brothers, but but 346 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:12,000 Speaker 2: directly through selling hydraulic fracturing technology. So rack your backyard 347 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:14,520 Speaker 2: and join the frackvolution. 348 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 3: We're fracking back here, all right. That was just a wonderful, 349 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 3: a wonderful frack break. My back feels is so much, 350 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 3: so much, so much more loose after that, I cracked like. 351 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 2: The house across from me exploded when uh fracturing fluid 352 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:45,440 Speaker 2: released natural gas that was then ignited by an oven. 353 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 3: Speaking of speaking of fracking, I think we're both actually, 354 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 3: even though we're on different sides of the country, we're 355 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 3: both in like a ridiculous cold freeze right now. 356 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 2: It's it's it's it's pretty cold. 357 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,240 Speaker 3: Yes, it is twenty two degrees right now. 358 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like sixteen or something here. 359 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:03,440 Speaker 3: Yeah. 360 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,679 Speaker 2: Yeah, And you're in Atlanta, so you are the last 361 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,520 Speaker 2: person alive in the entire city. 362 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, but no, I'm sure for Racking has done 363 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:19,399 Speaker 3: nothing to contribute to this anyway. So let's turn our 364 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 3: dials now to twenty twenty one once again. Normal year. 365 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 3: Nothing bad happened, just a fun time overall. In twenty 366 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 3: twenty one, the Daily Wire relocated from liberal Hollywood, California, 367 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 3: to Nashville, Tennessee, with hopes of creating their own conservative 368 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 3: entertainment empire in the music city. After over half a 369 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,159 Speaker 3: decade of building up an audience, the Daily Wire started 370 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:50,520 Speaker 3: to shift towards creating in house entertainment media like movies 371 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 3: and TV, as well as producing their own neatly packaged 372 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,880 Speaker 3: documentaries to serve as a cultural catalyst in a way 373 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,919 Speaker 3: that a daily podcast show like The Shapiro Show just 374 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 3: can't write like we put out a daily podcast, and 375 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:06,960 Speaker 3: because it's a daily show, it can only have a 376 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 3: certain level of impact for all the things we cover 377 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:13,879 Speaker 3: in a way that you know, a highly produced documentary 378 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 3: can have like a little bit more like easily observable 379 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,160 Speaker 3: impact just because of how it's being packaged. So they 380 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:23,639 Speaker 3: saw this and decided they wanted to start putting a 381 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 3: lot of resources into their own documentaries as well as 382 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:31,160 Speaker 3: their podcasts. But it wasn't just documentaries. In twenty twenty one, 383 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:36,040 Speaker 3: they also distributed their first movie, Run Hide Fight thirty 384 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 3: eight percent on Rotten Tomatoes. It is a school shooter 385 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 3: thriller movie that I have not watched. I've watched a 386 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,640 Speaker 3: lot of the Daily Wires a bitual content. I am 387 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 3: not watching Run Hide Fight. I'm sorry, I'm just not 388 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:52,160 Speaker 3: doing it. 389 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't really want to watch Diehard with school 390 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 2: shooters and a teenage girl. That seems a bit on 391 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:03,760 Speaker 2: the nose. No, I simply refused. Four other original Daily 392 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:07,160 Speaker 2: Wire movies have come out since then, which we'll get 393 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:11,159 Speaker 2: to some of those in the next episode. Now, before 394 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 2: twenty twenty, the Daily Wire was making some exclusive content 395 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,200 Speaker 2: behind like a membership paywall for something that they called 396 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 2: Daily Wire All Access, But across twenty twenty one and 397 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 2: into twenty twenty two, they rebranded and pivoted hard into 398 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 2: promoting their own subscription based streaming service, The Daily Wire Plus. Again, 399 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 2: they are nothing if not original. This was during a 400 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:40,959 Speaker 2: wave of plus branded streaming services. We have Disney Plus, 401 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,920 Speaker 2: we have Paramount Plus. I'm sure there's probably many others 402 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 2: that I'm just not gonna bother even looking up. But 403 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:50,919 Speaker 2: the Daily Wire Plus the hit new streaming service that 404 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,920 Speaker 2: I'm sure your great uncle has. 405 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 3: Quote. The Daily Wire Plus is the streaming home of 406 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 3: the Daily Wire, Peterson Movies, Prager You and Daily Wire 407 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,960 Speaker 3: Kids were one of America's fastest growing media companies and 408 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:13,479 Speaker 3: counter cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. We're building 409 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 3: the future you want to see unquote. That's their that's 410 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 3: their little their little tagline thrilling. 411 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,239 Speaker 2: Yeah, truly, the new line cinema of racism. 412 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:29,679 Speaker 3: Such groundbreaking original content includes My Dinner with Trump? 413 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:33,320 Speaker 2: Oh my god, I hadn't even heard of that one. 414 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:34,439 Speaker 2: Are you fucking kidding me? 415 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,439 Speaker 3: No, I'm not kidding. What is it? 416 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,119 Speaker 2: Is it actually on My Dinner with Andrea parody? Or 417 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,639 Speaker 2: is it just something completely disconnected that they stole a 418 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:43,480 Speaker 2: famous title for. 419 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 3: If they just stole the famous title. 420 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:47,840 Speaker 2: For, damn it, it would be really funny if it 421 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:49,879 Speaker 2: was just a shot for shot remake of My Dinner 422 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 2: with Andrea, but with with Andrea as Trump, Like I would, 423 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:54,879 Speaker 2: that's respectful. 424 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 3: That's actually respectable. 425 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,120 Speaker 2: That would I would watch that movie tonight. 426 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,439 Speaker 3: No, it's it's it's just a filmed dinner with Trump 427 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 3: and like various political advisors. 428 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 2: Oh my god. Yeah, oh that's so lame. 429 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 3: We have I don't believe the Daily Wires releasing their 430 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:17,119 Speaker 3: streaming metrics just like Netflix, they're camping them. 431 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,280 Speaker 2: Secret similar companies, Yeah, very similar. 432 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:26,760 Speaker 3: We have other other hit hit documentaries like Kanye West's Favorite, 433 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 3: The Greatest Lie Ever Sold by Candace Owens. Oh god, 434 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:37,960 Speaker 3: an extremely racist misinformation or sorry, disinformation documentary about about 435 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:38,640 Speaker 3: George Floyd. 436 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:39,480 Speaker 1: We have. 437 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 3: That Mandalorian actresses movie Terror on the Prairie. We have 438 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 3: a whole bunch of a whole bunch of stuff from 439 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:52,240 Speaker 3: Jordan Peterson after he left uh the University of Toronto 440 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 3: and got and got kicked off Twitter. That's the exact 441 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 3: time that he was hired at Daily Wire. He's a 442 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 3: whole bunch of stuff of just like roundtable discussions on 443 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:03,600 Speaker 3: like the Bible, and I believe he has that dragon mythology. 444 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,640 Speaker 2: Oh it's great now that that's that's a good show. 445 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 2: I've watched all of that one that's Kobe and we 446 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 2: we enjoyed ourselves quite a lot. 447 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 3: We have We have a making a Murderer ripoff documentary 448 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:19,359 Speaker 3: by Candace Owens called Convicting a Murderer. Again, truly original stuff. 449 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 2: Great. 450 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:25,120 Speaker 3: But it's not just movies, TV shows and documentaries. It's 451 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:29,640 Speaker 3: also like, like we mentioned, their their they're hit podcasts quote. 452 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,840 Speaker 3: The Daily Wire Plus podcast network is America's sixth largest 453 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 3: podcast publisher and produces several of the top ranked podcasts 454 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,159 Speaker 3: in America, including The Ben Shapiro Show, The Jordan B. 455 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,400 Speaker 3: Peterson Podcast, Candace with Candace Owens, The Matt Wall Show, 456 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 3: The Michael Knowles Show, and The Morning Wire, some of 457 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:52,120 Speaker 3: which do quite well on the charts and are often 458 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:58,440 Speaker 3: sometimes sometimes beaten by Robert's Podcast. Anyway, so, a little 459 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:01,280 Speaker 3: over a year ago, the Daily Wire Plus passed one 460 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 3: million subscribers. We don't have any updated numbers on that, 461 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,639 Speaker 3: so it's probably quite higher now, but at least as 462 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 3: of around a year ago they had a million subscribers, 463 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,919 Speaker 3: and again as of back then, it was bringing in 464 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:19,040 Speaker 3: the company two thirds of its annual revenue. I think 465 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,199 Speaker 3: it was like three or so years ago they were 466 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 3: making one hundred million dollars a year, so they were 467 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 3: making bank across their podcasts and exclusive content. They have 468 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,720 Speaker 3: over three hundred employees and are still growing and are 469 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:37,639 Speaker 3: investing hundreds of millions of dollars into producing original entertainment content. 470 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 3: In their efforts to influence politics through entertainment media, they 471 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 3: strive to create cultural events around the release of their 472 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 3: original documentaries. The biggest success they've had with this is 473 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 3: what was in twenty twenty two with What Is a Woman? 474 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 3: Which rocketed the Daily Wire Plus into the online spotlight 475 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:59,520 Speaker 3: and proved there was great success to be had with 476 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 3: this star of aggressive anti trans advocacy. The film also 477 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,760 Speaker 3: put the previously niche figure of Matt Walsh on the 478 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 3: map and established Walsh as an authority in queer exterminationist campaigning. 479 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:16,720 Speaker 3: I've known of Walsh for like the past decade. After 480 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:19,040 Speaker 3: he had a short lived radio career, he made a 481 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 3: name in Christian circles as a provocative blogger, sort of 482 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 3: like a young firebrand of the Christian right. In the 483 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 3: early twenty teens, he had a brief stint at Glenn 484 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,280 Speaker 3: Beck's The Blaze before being recruited to The Daily Wire 485 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:36,360 Speaker 3: in twenty seventeen to do a daily podcast. The goal 486 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:39,800 Speaker 3: of documentaries such as What Is a Woman? Beyond growing 487 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 3: the Daily Wire's subscriber count is also to encourage real 488 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 3: world action while converting attention from the documentary into actual 489 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:52,040 Speaker 3: real world harassment campaigns and live events, which fuel even 490 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:54,800 Speaker 3: more content. It's like this, It's like this weird content 491 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 3: circle that the Daily Wire does. They create content to 492 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,880 Speaker 3: make these real world events, which then can fuel more content. 493 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,480 Speaker 3: It's this perfect loop that generates them a lot of money. 494 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:07,920 Speaker 3: On October twenty first, twenty twenty two, the Daily Wire 495 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,719 Speaker 3: put on a quote rally to end child mutilation at 496 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,280 Speaker 3: the Tennessee State Capitol, which was streamable on Daily Wire 497 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 3: Plus exactly. This is a perfect example of creating this 498 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 3: event that then allows them to also create exclusive content 499 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 3: for their own streaming service. The Daily Wire has been 500 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 3: incahoots with the state government of Tennessee ever since they 501 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 3: first moved their headquarters there. Back in twenty twenty one, 502 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 3: the General Assembly and Governor drafted a resolution welcoming the 503 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 3: Daily Wire to the state. Jeremy Boring regularly gets invited 504 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 3: to dinners at the Governor's mansion. After the release of 505 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:44,320 Speaker 3: What Is a Woman, the governor of Tennessee announced an 506 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 3: investigation into a transgender health clinic in Nashville, and Walsh 507 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:52,480 Speaker 3: has made appearances at official state press conferences, and Tennessee's 508 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 3: legislator has led the charge on following the Daily Wire 509 00:30:55,800 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 3: and Walsh's political program to target trans people, ban drag shows, 510 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:05,600 Speaker 3: and lobbying school boards to ban LGBTQ materials in schools. 511 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,480 Speaker 3: The Daily Wire was they were kind of wise to 512 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 3: not get too caught up in the Trumpian mud from 513 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:18,960 Speaker 3: twenty sixteen to twenty twenty, instead instead focusing on broader 514 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:23,720 Speaker 3: culture war issues ranging from anti liberalism, antidiversity, parental rights, 515 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 3: religious rights, and attacks on LGBTQ people. But that also 516 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 3: means that they didn't peak during the Trump era in 517 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 3: the way that a lot of other conservative content people 518 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 3: kind of did. They chose not to capitalize on the 519 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 3: Trumpian alt right moment, and they were way too smart 520 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 3: to go full QAnon. Instead, they were kind of waiting 521 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 3: on the sidelines, slowly growing an audience to eventually find 522 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 3: the right moment to catalyze more widespread support and thrust 523 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:56,680 Speaker 3: themselves into the spotlight, which they have now done by 524 00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,800 Speaker 3: crafting anti queer propaganda to pick up the baton from 525 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:03,080 Speaker 3: the dying to a non movement, while moving the needle 526 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 3: away from from like explicitly ce brain shit to simple 527 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:10,520 Speaker 3: stuff like parental rights and the more socially acceptable groomer 528 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:14,640 Speaker 3: and save the children talking points. The once more exotic 529 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:18,960 Speaker 3: target of pedophilic elites has been shifted to simply any 530 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:22,320 Speaker 3: random queer person, which is a much more tangible point 531 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:25,520 Speaker 3: of iyre. And that's where're gonna leave us here today, 532 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 3: kind of on the point that the Daily Wire waited 533 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:32,520 Speaker 3: and found the moment in like the first year or 534 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,760 Speaker 3: two of the Biden presidency to really push themselves to 535 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 3: be the own spotlight instead of just relying in the 536 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:41,440 Speaker 3: shadow of Donald Trump in the way that someone like 537 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 3: Tucker kind of has now done. He's not nearly as 538 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:46,960 Speaker 3: popular as he was in twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, 539 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 3: and the Daily Wire is now massively influential in a 540 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,040 Speaker 3: way that they were only kind of rising to prominence 541 00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:56,320 Speaker 3: back during the Altright era. So in the next episode, 542 00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:58,640 Speaker 3: we'll talk a little bit more about The Daily Wire's 543 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:03,640 Speaker 3: own anti queer advocacy and their push for original content, 544 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 3: including a brand new child focused to streaming service, which 545 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 3: I will talk about in the next episode. Anyway, Robert, 546 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 3: do you have any do you have any thoughts on 547 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:15,880 Speaker 3: the Daily Wire? 548 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 2: Well, I know that the child grooming service they're building 549 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 2: a big part of what they're looking to do is 550 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 2: try to copy the show Bluey, which is like the 551 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:29,520 Speaker 2: biggest thing in children's entertainment right now, and just casual 552 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 2: knowledge of where that is, talking to parents and stuff 553 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 2: about Bluey, Like, I feel like it might be a 554 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 2: bridge too far for them, because they're they're they're they're 555 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 2: trying to go after they're trying to capture like market 556 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 2: from something that's legitimately really fucking good, as opposed to 557 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 2: just put it like they're the they're kind of most 558 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:56,160 Speaker 2: commercially viable movies like the School Shooting movie are, from 559 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,840 Speaker 2: what I've read in reviews, like just kind of normal 560 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:01,800 Speaker 2: mid movies, Like they don't necessarily feel like a Daily 561 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:04,600 Speaker 2: Wire movie. There'll be a couple of points in there maybe, 562 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 2: but they could more or less pass for something you'd 563 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,840 Speaker 2: see on Netflix or Amazon Prime or whatever, which is 564 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 2: you know, if you're competing with mid grade action movies 565 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:18,480 Speaker 2: and the like that are a dime a dozen, you 566 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:20,880 Speaker 2: can actually do that fairly well. And it's even possible 567 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,840 Speaker 2: to like well. The economics of streaming are actually deeply obscure, 568 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:27,160 Speaker 2: but theoretically it's possible to do as well with that 569 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:30,480 Speaker 2: as Netflix does with it, right because people, But if 570 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,600 Speaker 2: you're trying to replace a children's show that, like kids 571 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:38,719 Speaker 2: consume voraciously and are deeply in love with and is 572 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,400 Speaker 2: really well made, I think that's actually a lot harder 573 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:44,839 Speaker 2: than they're guessing it's going to be. Like yeah, word, 574 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:47,719 Speaker 2: adults who want something to watch when they're drunk at 575 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:50,799 Speaker 2: night are a harder audience than little kids who are 576 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,400 Speaker 2: obsessed with a TV show that is the best in 577 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:54,000 Speaker 2: its market. 578 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,960 Speaker 3: It's certainly a gamble, and we will talk more about 579 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:01,200 Speaker 3: the details of this gamble in the next episode, as 580 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:05,640 Speaker 3: we will also eventually eventually talk about their brand new 581 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:11,960 Speaker 3: movie that came out last month, Ladyballers. All right, we're 582 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:13,160 Speaker 3: do I. 583 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,400 Speaker 2: Feel like I should call hr just because you mentioned 584 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 2: the name of that movie. 585 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:22,719 Speaker 3: See you in the next episode. 586 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:27,279 Speaker 1: It could happen here as a production of Cool Zone 587 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:30,160 Speaker 1: Media For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our 588 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:32,840 Speaker 1: website coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out on the 589 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:36,319 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts, 590 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:38,800 Speaker 1: you can find sources for It could happen here, updated 591 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:42,920 Speaker 1: monthly at cool zonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.