Conspiracies and the Failings of Anderson Cooper

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We have a problem with conspiracy theories. The recent growth of social media has provided infrastructure for people to just create craziness for money: Sandy Hook was fake, COVID was engineered to attack black and white people, Antifa attacked Congress on January 6, 2021. The problem is that standard media outlets have lost credibility, leading people to trust a YouTuber more than CNN.

And they complain about it a lot. Condemnation of these never-went-to-Ivy-League-School types is fueled in part by envy. After all, these social media upstarts aren’t in the club. They cut in line. Yet they will have more influence than CNN reporters, and with that, the ability to curate the public narrative. A simple network reporter could never do that on their own.

The down side of our new information system is Alex Jones and other slingers of conspiracies. While new ideas now have a platform, any speculation that gets views, gets heard. Some of those alternative news sites have led to serious news reports, though. It’s a mixed bag.

Russell Brand’s podcast/Rumble/YouTube content is very popular and is hosted on social media platforms. Brand’s ability to remain unflappable is amazing and he is willing to talk to anyone.

Russell Brand is reviled by the American Establishment for a number of reasons: his mockery of Russiagate, opposition to COVID shutdowns and opposition to interference in the Russia/Ukraine war. His engaging style is interesting and thought-provoking. Sadly, he committed a sin against the Establishment by featuring political pariahs like Jordan Peterson, who famously tried to explain to the Pope how Christianity works, or that “Universal Basic Income is unworkable because monkeys like to get drunk.”