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| Joe Rogan should invite people with expertise on trans issues to his podcast. |
In case you haven't been noticing, the anti-LGBTQ industry has new scapegoat. Spooking people about LGBTQ folks in general and rights such as marriage equality are still popular, but doesn't get as many hot and bothered reactions as spinning lies about the trans community.. And because of this, many on the right are seeking to add their voices to the cacophony of misinformation in hopes of notoriety and big bucks.
Media Matters spotlit once such example.
In an episode of his show uploaded to YouTube, podcast host Joe Rogan and his guest, Wall Street Journal writer Abigail Shrier, spent nearly two hours spreading misinformation about trans youth, including claiming that being transgender is a contagion comparable to having anorexia, “demonic possession,” and joining a cult. YouTube has policies banning content that claims groups of people are “mentally inferior, deficient, or diseased” and has taken down content similar to the interview in the past.
Rogan is one of the most influential podcast hosts in the world. He recently signed an exclusive licensing agreement worth more than $100 million with Spotify, where his show The Joe Rogan Experience will begin streaming on September 1. In a press release, Spotify said the show “has long been the most-searched-for podcast on Spotify and is the leading show on practically every other podcasting platform.” It continued, “Bringing the JRE to Spotify will mean that the platform’s more than 286 million active users will have access to one of culture’s leading voices.”
During the July 16 interview, which has been viewed over 1.8 million times on YouTube at the time of publication, Shrier promoted her new anti-trans book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughter and, alongside Rogan, encouraged parents to reject the identities of their trans kids. Rogan has previously used his podcast to oppose gender-affirming health care and to lead a crusade against trans mixed martial arts fighter Fallon Fox, including calling her a “fucking man.”
Joe Rogan is a former actor whose podcast obviously exploits the talk radio technique - talk shit because you don't know shit. Just make your voice loud and ultra macho sounding and people think you're some type of expert. Abigail Shirer sounds like the latest dime-a-dozen predatory parasitic right-wing "writer" feeding off of an LGBTQ issue and counting on the extensive conservative network to buoy her on podcasts, talks shows, and other speaking engagements while buying bulk copies of her book to shoot her name up best seller lists.
