I think the idea that they’re mostly for the right, or listened to by conservatives, comes from how very popular rightwing podcasts have been. Few leftwing ones have such large audiences.
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Yeah, but the vast majority are wholly unpolitical, neither left or right
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Timothy Snyder…
Professor humor…
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Bezos will love it!
(Not that he actually gives a fuck what any professor has to say.)
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4 of the top 10 podcasts in the US are Joe Rogan, Shawn Ryan, Candace Owens, and Theo Von, all right wingers. The other 6 are true crime, self help, or pro Capitalist bullshit from tech CEOs. 11-20 includes Tucker Carlson and Dan Bongino. There are no left, or even center-left, podcasts in the top 20.
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I don’t doubt that the far right ones are popular. But the beauty of podcasting is the low barrier of entry and low production costs. Which means that there are many, many shows that are not blockbusters but allow their creators to make a living. To see the genre reduced to “it’s for right-wingers” is frustrating. They’re latecomers to the scene and shouldn’t get to define it in the public eye.
And don’t get me started on true crime!
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Ok, but so what? The popularity of the far right podcasts is literally having an effect on our politics. Young men, especially, are listening to this shit night and day, and they voted for Trump in disturbingly large numbers.
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I was just expressing my frustration about something I hold dear being tainted by association with those assholes. I’m not disputing that the assholes are a problem.
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Only the ones that confirm his biases, so conservative economists and right wing history profs…
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Who owns and controls too much of US mass media?
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Relevant in this thread, as well (the author was previously employed as a journalist)
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Didn’t the John Birch Society distribute “podcasts” back in the 1950’s in the form of lectures on records?
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I guess the monetization of my fav YT channels is working, because after so many plugs over the last year or two, the site/app ‘Ground News’ has caught my attention.
Is anyone here using it, and if so what are your thoughts and experiences?
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I tried it last year, but haven’t checked it out since. At the time, the categorization of outlets pushing news about Felon47 (while ignoring Biden administration actions) as left-leaning was really pissing me off. Maybe that’s changed. 
I have noticed more YT channels promoting it, too.
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I’m using it. I like that it better than most newsfeeds. Otoh: terrible search features. I’ve only had it a few months, and haven’t dropped it yet. [shrug emoji]
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