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What Next - The New King of Conservative Media

Slate Daily Feed

Slate

Business, News, Society & Culture

3.91.1K Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2022

⏱️ 24 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Conservative talk radio host Dan Bongino sits atop a media ecosystem that is fueling the fervor behind Trump and his big lie. 


Guest: Evan Osnos is staff writer at The New Yorker and a fellow at the Brookings Institute. He’s also the author of Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

So, Evan, when was the first time you heard the name, Dan Bongino?

0:10.9

That's interesting.

0:12.0

I guess it was probably about two years ago.

0:16.3

Evan Osnos is a staff writer at The New Yorker.

0:20.0

I first saw his name appear on the list of the most trafficked items on Facebook.

0:29.2

Somebody at the New York Times and started putting together a list every day of the things that were most popular.

0:35.8

And some of the names were familiar.

0:37.4

You know, you might see somebody like Sean Hannity or Ben Shapiro. of the things that were most popular. And some of the names were familiar.

0:41.6

You know, you might see somebody like Sean Hannity or Ben Shapiro.

0:44.4

And then there was this guy named Dan Bongino.

0:52.1

And very often, he would have many of the most, of the ten most popular items.

0:54.1

And were you just like, who is this guy?

0:55.8

Yeah, yeah, I really was.

0:59.3

I was, for me, at least, it was a totally brand new name.

1:05.4

In case you aren't quite sure who Dan Bongino is, here's what you need to know.

1:12.5

Over the last few years, Bongino's made himself into a central node in the right-wing information ecosystem.

1:19.5

Bongino dominates on Facebook. His page often gets more engagement than those of the New York Times or The Washington Post. Bonino's got a podcast, of course. He spun that into a show on Fox News.

1:27.2

And earlier this year, he took over Rush Limbaugh's

1:30.3

time slot on many terrestrial radio stations. Millions and millions of people are listening every day.

1:36.6

We dismantle leftist talking points on the regular every single day. I'm telling you almost nothing

1:41.9

they're telling you is true. It's funny because I think of taking over Rush Limba's slot is kind of a coronation of sorts.

1:51.1

Did Bongino see it that way?

...

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