How the Right Won the Attention Economy

Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

Jo Piazza, Influence Inc.

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, Parenting, Personal Journals, Technology

4.3 • 833 Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The right did not accidentally win social media and the internet. They built an entire influencer machine, and the left is still acting like a few sponsored posts during election season might somehow be enough to compete in the attention economy. We're chatting with Emily Amick about how conservatives turned podcasts, wellness influencers, mommy bloggers, TikTok creators, and pop culture accounts into a political ecosystem that shifts peoples' politics and shapes culture. We talk about the anti-birth-control messaging spreading through MAHA and wellness spaces, the money gap between right-wing and progressive media, why the left keeps talking mostly to itself, and what has to change before the midterms. Read Emily's piece on the influencer economy here. Follow Emily here. Buy Democracy in Retrograde here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:32.4	All right, we've got Simon on the line. Simon, young people, they're just all a bit lazy, aren't they?
0:38.9	What are you for?
0:39.8	Welcome to McDonald's.
0:40.9	Have you get the six minutes, please?
0:42.5	Some say young people are work shy, but at McDonald's, we hired 47,000 of them last year.
0:49.1	How's your night?
0:49.9	Like George here, who keeps things running during a Friday rush.
0:55.2	Resilience, making it happen at McDonald's.
0:59.9	Now, are all the traitors present?
1:02.7	Let's get started, shall we?
1:04.6	From rags to riches.
1:06.0	I'm so sick of this.
1:07.2	Working like a dog and being treated worse.
1:09.3	Yorkshire to New York.
1:13.9	For climbers, you and me. A life dedicated to revenge let's make this an occasion to remember a woman of substance on channel four stream now
1:20.1	hey all joe here and you are listening to Under the Influence.
1:30.5	Today we're talking about politics.
	...

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