TikTok Stars on the Politicians Begging Them for Exposure
What happens when TikTokers replace TV hosts and interviewers, and presidential candidates start begging to be on their shows?
Brian Reed sits down in a Brooklyn wine shop with four of the internet’s biggest creators: Caleb Simpson, who gets people on the street to take him up to their apartments; Julian Shapiro-Barnum who interviews kids on Recess Therapy; Anania Williams of the LGBTQ quiz show Gaydar; and Jack Coyne, host of the music game show Track Star. Their videos reach more people than many major news outlets. But who gets control over what they run? When is money changing hands? What do they do when politicians like Kamala Harris and RFK Jr. come calling?
A frank conversation about the blurry grey area between this new form of entertainment and journalism.
Check out our Substack, with more reporting on the war over truth, free speech, and tech’s role in it all.
“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.
Guests:
Julian Shapiro-Barnum, Recess Therapy
Caleb Simpson gets millions of views asking people how much they pay for their rent in New York City
Jack Coyne, Track Star
Anania Williams, Gaydar
--------
37:41
--------
37:41
‘I Believed Sandy Hook Was a Hoax’
Kate grew up believing the Sandy Hook school shooting was an elaborate false flag operation. For years she thought the 20 elementary school children and six educators who were killed that day did not actually die, but were played by crisis actors. And then, one day – in a matter of minutes – suddenly Kate realized how wrong she was.
Brian talks to Kate about what it’s like to realize you believed something so obviously wrong, so deeply damaging, for so long. And he argues that her story is a case study for reforming Section 230 – the 1996 law that gives tech companies massive immunity from getting sued over what people post. Without that law, platforms like YouTube, which amplified the lies about Sandy Hook that Kate once believed, could be taken to court by the Sandy Hook families.
Check out our Substack, with more reporting on the war on truth, free speech, and tech companies’ role in it all.
“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.
Guests:Kate, a former conspiracy believer
Dr. Joan Donovan, disinformation scholar and Director of the Critical Internet Studies Institute at Boston University
--------
47:13
--------
47:13
Betraying a Friendship to Get a Viral Story
This episode of Death, Sex, and Money is a recommendation from our contributing editor Jen Kinney.
When blogger AJ Daulerio broke the Brett Favre sexting scandal in 2010, it became one of the biggest stories of his career. But it came at a cost: he had betrayed Jenn Sterger, the woman at the center of the story, who had confided in him as a friend and explicitly asked him not to name her.
The fallout was immediate and lasting. Jenn became the target of relentless online harassment and scrutiny that has followed her for 15 years. AJ went on to face his own reckoning when his aggressive tabloid journalism eventually led to Gawker's bankruptcy, which upended his career.
In this episode of the podcast Death, Sex, and Money, both AJ and Jenn reflect on the toxic incentives of viral journalism, the lasting trauma of unwanted internet fame, and how a stray dog unexpectedly brought them back into contact after nearly a decade of silence.
AJ now writes a newsletter and hosts a podcast about recovery called The Small Bow and writes an addiction advice column for Slate called Ask A.J. You can hear more of Jenn on her podcast, Not Today... with Eddie Pence and Jenn Sterger.
Thanks to “Death, Sex & Money” for sharing this episode with us.
--------
55:18
--------
55:18
The Film the BBC Wouldn’t Air
Two veteran journalists set out to document Israel’s systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system: hospitals attacked, medical workers killed, doctors detained without charge. The BBC commissioned the film. Then pulled it.
Sometimes killing a story is routine. Sometimes it’s a scandal, even immoral.
In this episode, producer Sophie Kazis pulls back the curtain, and goes inside the edits, the delays, and the mounting pressure that shaped the fate of this film.
You can watch the film the BBC wouldn’t air, “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,” on Zeteo.com.
“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.
Guests:
Ramita Navai: Award-winning British-Iranian investigative journalist, documentary maker and author.
Ben de Pear: Award-winning British journalist; former editor, Channel 4 News; founder and executive producer, Basement Films.
--------
45:00
--------
45:00
Brian Takes on Big Tech
When late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was forced off the air, it raised huge questions about who really controls what we’re allowed to say. From billionaires and politicians to social media platforms and regulators, the boundaries of free speech in America are being redrawn in real time.
To get a sense of the country’s mood, host Brian Reed goes to the Iowa State Fair – a carnival of fried food, political rallies, and raw opinions. What he finds – people are depressed. And they have reason to be. At the heart of the discontentment is the way social media and misinformation online is spreading hate and dividing the country.
From the fairgrounds to the halls of Congress, Brian traces it all back to a little-known law from 1996 that gives Big Tech sweeping immunity. The law makes it so social media companies can’t be sued for what happens on their platforms.
And Brian comes away with a renewed sense of purpose. Change. This. Law.
Check out our Substack, with more reporting on the war on truth, free speech, and tech companies’ role in it all.
“Question Everything” is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.
Propagandist? Truth teller? Influencer? Question Everything unravels the contested work of journalists and the moral complexities surrounding the stories that impact us all.
Netherlands