Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal on Left-Wing Cancel Culture
The heterodox hosts of the popular Blocked and Reported podcast talk about surviving internet outrage, the roots of speech repression, and the power of direct financial support from fans.
In today's podcast, Nick Gillespie talks with Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal, two controversial, heterodox journalists in their late 30s who have been "canceled" multiple times for writing articles that have inflamed trans activists (go here and here), defended young adult novelists from would-be censors, and blamed Elizabeth Warren (rather than sexism) for the failure of her presidential campaign.
Though Herzog lives in Washington state and Singal in New York City, the pair produces the popular new show Blocked and Reported, "a podcast about internet nonsense." In a wide-ranging conversation with Gillespie, they talk about the growing repression of speech among progressives, the roots of and fixes to "cancel culture," how identity politics stifles open inquiry and honest disagreement, and surviving the collapse of alt-weeklies. They also talk about the liberating effect of Patreon, the online platform that allows creators to generate subscription revenue directly from fans (Blocked and Reported currently raises more than $8,000 per month from over 1,400 supporters).