The Banality of Evil: Joe Rogan and China

You really have to read past the title of this one.

Many of the same people who long ago screamed racism when Senator Tom Cotton suggested the now widely accepted theory that COVID-19 had escaped from a lab in China are suddenly demanding Spotify cancel Joe Rogan’s podcasting contract.

Celebrities are up in arms. Other forgotten celebrities have joined Neil Young in demanding Spotify take down their songs if they won’t take down Young. Again, many of these same people thought it was fine to call COVID the “Wuhan/Chinese originated virus” until Trump called it the “China virus.” Then it was racist.

Now, though they do not listen to Joe Rogan’s program, they have demanded Spotify silence Rogan. Even a fellow Spotify exclusive podcaster has announced her podcast will cease for now. Though she did not say so in her tweet, she has made it clear her decision is about Rogan.

It is virtue signaling. Spotify contains a variety of podcasts and paid to make Rogan an exclusive podcaster to the platform. There have been rumblings for a year about Rogan’s content. This is just the latest opportunism to cancel a voice they don’t like to hear. Ironically, Rogan is a Bernie Sanders supporter and socially of the left. But he has interviewed controversial people and, purportedly by doing so, endorsed their views or allowed them to mislead listeners.