What Next: Who Influences the Influencers?

Slate Technology

Slate

Society & Culture, Technology, History

4.6 • 636 Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

During his presidency, Donald Trump demonstrated the power that social media can have in politics. Now, influencers are taking money to spread messages from across the spectrum. Unlike political ads in older media, though, influencers don’t have to disclose who is paying them—or even that they’re being paid at all. Guest: Ben Wofford, writer based at Stanford Law School, contributor to Wired. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I made you think you was real.
0:02.0	My name is Caden Sinclair.
0:04.0	Some people call us American royalty.
0:06.0	We were Liars.
0:08.0	A new series on Prime Video.
0:10.0	We were happy. We wanted for nothing.
0:12.0	Based on the best-selling novel.
0:15.0	Something terrible happened last summer,
0:17.0	and I have no memory of what or who hurt me.
0:20.0	No one in my family will tell me.
0:22.7	When you're left for dead, you want answers.
0:25.2	We Will Liars. New series, watch now, only on Prime Video.
0:31.7	If he's being totally honest, Ben Wofford isn't really on the internet.
0:42.2	He doesn't have a TikTok or an Instagram.
0:45.3	Okay, so you're a digital Neanderthal.
0:48.0	But even Ben has found it hard to miss the way politicians and the people who work with them
0:53.7	have started to cultivate the people who use the apps he so assiduously avoids.
1:00.2	I think it was Jen Saki, the former White House press secretary,
1:04.7	in one case that comes to mind that filmed some clips with a TikTok star.
1:10.2	One sec.
1:13.4	Democracy's calling. See you, Daddy. Bye. Hi, my name is Cooper, and this is a day in my life as a White House intern.
1:18.4	I think his name is Benny Drama.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Slate and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.