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How Podcasts, Joe Rogan & Tucker Carlson Stream Holocaust Denial, the ‘Jewish Question’ & 9/11 Conspiracies to Millions
Joe Rogan, host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Spotify. Photo: Screenshot.
If the unstoppable rise of social media defined the 2000s and 2010s, then the 2020s belong to the podcast. Audio talk formats have existed since the advent of radio, but for years, they struggled to hold younger audiences’ attention, eclipsed by television, streaming platforms, and social media.
But talking is back. And this time, the listeners aren’t just middle-aged commuters or retirees pottering around the garden. Today, young people are tuning in en masse, eager to hear podcast hosts discuss everything from politics to pop culture and self-improvement.
Social media’s meteoric rise inevitably led to intense scrutiny. In its early days — a digital Wild West — platforms like Facebook and Twitter (now X) hosted everything from hardcore pornography to snuff videos. But as these companies grew, so did their moderation efforts. Today, giants like Meta and TikTok employ large teams to monitor and remove illegal or inciteful content. Case in point: HonestReporting’s successful campaign to get pro-Hamas influencer Jackson Hinkle de-platformed from Meta.
Yet, despite these efforts, antisemitic hate speech remains rampant on social media, particularly since Meta followed X’s lead under Elon Musk in loosening content moderation policies. The result? A documented surge in violent rhetoric and conspiracy theories targeting Jews.
Still, social media platforms at least pretend to enforce some level of oversight. In January, Meta once again mimicked X by introducing its own Community Notes feature, allowing approved users to add context to misleading posts. It’s far from perfect, but at least it’s something.
Podcasting, on the other hand, operates with virtually no scrutiny. Part of this is due to its relatively recent rise in popularity. But there’s also a lingering — and patently inaccurate — perception that podcasts, like traditional broadcast media, adhere to some level of fact-checking and editorial standards.
Podcast platforms today are closer to a free-for-all, where anything goes so long as it attracts enough listeners to be profitable. And young people are listening — a lot. According to Pew Research, nearly half (48%) of Americans aged 18 to 29 tune in to podcasts multiple times a week. More importantly, they don’t just passively consume content — they actively engage with it.
Listeners under 50 are far more likely to follow podcast hosts on social media, adopt new habits based on what they hear, and participate in online discussions about their favorite shows. Around 40% of listeners aged 18 to 49 say they’ve made lifestyle changes because of something they heard on a podcast.
For younger audiences, podcasts aren’t just background noise. They shape conversations, influence personal choices, and, as growing evidence indicates, are increasingly pulling listeners toward more extreme ideologies.
Spotify’s Cash Cow: Joe Rogan
With over 14 million listeners and the title of Spotify’s top podcaster in 2024, Joe Rogan is the undisputed king of the podcasting world. His guest list includes everyone from Donald Trump to Mark Zuckerberg, Bernie Sanders, and Edward Snowden — proof of both his influence and his ability to play host to just about anyone.
Controversy has always been Rogan’s currency. His media empire thrives on the outrage his show generates, and at this point, what once shocked no longer has the same impact. That may, at least in part, explain his latest choice of guest: Ian Carroll, a self-proclaimed journalist who has spent years trafficking in virulent antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Carroll checks all the usual modern-day antisemite boxes: blaming 9/11 on Israel, ranting about a “Zionist mafia” controlling the US, and recycling every tired trope about Jewish financial and political influence. Over the course of his nearly three-hour appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, he delivered an unfiltered torrent of conspiracy theories, offering little more than a jumble of well-worn antisemitic rhetoric.
Israel, he claimed, was founded by “organized crime figures in America” with ties to “the Jewish mob” and “the Rothschild banking family.” Jeffrey Epstein, he added in a particularly incoherent segment, “was clearly a Jewish organization working on behalf of Israel and other groups.”
And Rogan? He nodded along, offering words of encouragement, even musing at one point, “What’s interesting is you can talk about this now, post-Oct. 7, post-Gaza.”
It was a telling remark. The host who built his brand on “just asking questions” had stopped questioning entirely — and instead, provided a platform for undisguised Nazi propaganda.
Selling Holocaust Denial: Tucker Carlson & Candace Owens
Yet, Rogan isn’t leading the charge — he’s following a broader and deeply troubling trend of high-profile Western podcasters turning Holocaust revisionism into a profitable enterprise.
Among Rogan’s upcoming guests is Darryl Cooper, a Holocaust revisionist who has defended Hitler and blamed Winston Churchill for World War II. Cooper was previously given a prominent platform on former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s podcast, where he delivered an appalling revisionist take on the Holocaust.
During that interview, Cooper claimed that the US was on the “wrong side” in World War II and suggested that millions of Jews in concentration camps “ended up dead” only because the Nazis lacked the resources to care for them.
Not only did Carlson give Cooper an unchallenged platform to spread these lies to an audience of millions, but he also lavished him with praise, calling him “the most important popular historian in the United States.”
Carlson’s interview with Cooper appeared to be an attempt to disguise his guest’s modern-day Nazi views with a veneer of intellectual credibility. It was only a slightly more sophisticated repackaging of antisemitism than that offered by Candace Owens — one of the most influential podcasters in the world, with nearly 4 million subscribers — who has used her platform to defend Adolf Hitler, accuse Israel of enforcing apartheid against Muslims, and push the ever-reliable conspiracy that Hollywood is secretly controlled by Jewish elites.
Owens, perhaps, lacks the intellectual prowess to attempt subtlety. When Kanye West praised Hitler, Owens brushed it off as merely his opinion while mocking Jews who criticized him as overly “emotional” and insisting they “can’t take a joke.” When confronted, her response followed the predictable script of the intellectually dishonest — first doubling down, then claiming victimhood, and, when that failed, falling back on the old “I was just asking questions” line.
With figures like Carlson and Owens normalizing and laundering these ideas, Holocaust denial and antisemitic conspiracies are no longer confined to the fringes — they’re being streamed to millions, dressed up as “alternative perspectives” in the name of free speech.
Mainstreaming the “Manosphere”: Myron Gaines
The online ecosystem known as the manosphere was once the niche domain of pick-up artists, incels, and self-styled “alpha males.” But thanks to figures like Nick Fuentes and Myron Gaines, it has metastasized into a mainstream movement — one built on a foundation of misogyny, racism, and antisemitism.
Gaines, a former Homeland Security agent turned dating guru (real name: Amrou Fudl), co-hosts the Fresh & Fit podcast, a show that masquerades as a men’s self-improvement program but in reality serves as a breeding ground for conspiracy theories and open admiration for fascism.
Fresh & Fit has repeatedly hosted Holocaust deniers, white nationalists, and far-right propagandists, including Nick Fuentes — who has used his multiple appearances to justify Nazi book burnings and deny the Holocaust. Gaines himself has bragged, “We’re the biggest platform that’s talking about the JQ. No one else will do it” — a reference to the so-called “Jewish Question,” the same phrase the Nazis used to justify genocide.
Podcaster Myron Gaines with alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate.
In another episode, Gaines defended Hitler, declaring, “Though he did things that were morally incorrect, he definitely did a bunch of things correct for his country. That’s a fact.” One of the show’s longest-running gags — if you can call it that — is playing a cash register sound effect whenever discussing Jewish people.
Despite this, Fresh & Fit remains wildly popular, drawing millions of views on Rumble and other platforms.
A Wall of Silence From Podcast Platforms
At the heart of all this are the podcast streaming platforms themselves: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Rumble — giants that make a healthy profit off the hate spewed by their most popular stars.
YouTube, to its credit, has been marginally more proactive, demonetizing Gaines’s Fresh & Fit podcast and banning Nick Fuentes entirely. But these measures are ultimately futile. Without a unified approach across all major platforms, these creators can simply migrate elsewhere, continuing to rake in millions of views and sponsorship dollars.
And even outright bans mean little when controversial figures can just appear as guests on someone else’s show. Case in point: Candace Owens’ most popular YouTube video isn’t even her own — it’s an interview with alleged sex trafficker and influencer Andrew Tate. That single episode has racked up nearly 7 million views, more than twice as many as her channel’s entire subscriber base.
Podcasting’s near-total lack of oversight is no longer just a fringe problem — it’s a mainstream industry failure. Given the enormous reach of these platforms, the question isn’t whether they should be scrutinized, but why they haven’t been already.
And if the platforms won’t take responsibility, perhaps their advertisers should. Does Coca-Cola want its brand associated with Holocaust denial? Should Nike, Pepsi, and Amazon be comfortable sponsoring content that jokes about Jews being murdered? Are they certain their ads aren’t playing next to a discussion about how “Hitler was right”?
It’s easy to dismiss podcasting as mere shock talk. But talk influences action. And right now, podcast platforms — and the brands funding them — are profiting from hate. The only question is: how long can they pretend not to notice?
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post How Podcasts, Joe Rogan & Tucker Carlson Stream Holocaust Denial, the ‘Jewish Question’ & 9/11 Conspiracies to Millions first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Rejects US Nuclear Proposal, Says ‘Counteroffer’ Coming as Talks Stall Over Uranium Enrichment, Sanctions
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran has denounced the latest nuclear proposal from the United States as “unprofessional and untechnical,” reaffirming the country’s right to enrich uranium and announcing plans to present a counteroffer in the coming days.
“After receiving the American proposal regarding the Iranian nuclear program, we are now preparing a counteroffer,” Ali Shamkhnai, political adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Shamkhani criticized the White House draft proposal as “not well thought out,” emphasizing its alleged failure to address sanction relief — a key demand for Tehran under any deal with Washington.
“There is no mention whatsoever of lifting sanctions in the latest American proposal, even though the issue of sanctions is a fundamental matter for Iran,” Shamkhnai said.
The Iranian official also warned that Tehran will not allow the US to dismantle its “peaceful nuclear program” or force uranium enrichment down to zero.
“Iran will never relinquish its natural rights,” Shamkhani said.
Washington’s draft proposal for a new nuclear deal was delivered by Omani officials — who have been mediating negotiations between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff — during last month’s talks in Rome.
On Wednesday, Khamenei dismissed such an offer, saying it “contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance” and runs counter to Iran’s key objectives.
“The proposal that the Americans have presented is 100 percent against our interests,” the Iranian leader said during a televised speech.
“The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear program. Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?” Khamenei continued.
After five rounds of talks, diplomatic efforts have yet to yield results as both adversaries clash over Iran’s demand to maintain its domestic uranium enrichment program — a condition the White House has firmly rejected.
In April, Tehran and Washington held their first official nuclear negotiation since the US withdrew from a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that had imposed temporary limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief.
Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has sought to curtail Tehran’s potential to develop a nuclear weapon that could spark a regional arms race and pose a threat to Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran seeks to have Western sanctions on its oil-dependent economy lifted, while maintaining its nuclear enrichment program — which the country insists is solely for civilian purposes.
As part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon — Washington has been targeting Tehran’s oil industry with mounting sanctions.
Amid the ongoing diplomatic deadlock, Israel has declared it will never allow the Islamist regime to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country views Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to uphold any agreement that prevents Tehran from enriching uranium.
“But in any case, Israel maintains the right to defend itself from a regime that is threatening to annihilate it,” Netanyahu said in a press conference last month, following reports that Jerusalem could strike Iranian nuclear sites if ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran fail.
The post Iran Rejects US Nuclear Proposal, Says ‘Counteroffer’ Coming as Talks Stall Over Uranium Enrichment, Sanctions first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Day After Colorado Attack, Founder of Anti-Israel Group Chides Activists Who Are Insufficiently ‘Pro-Resistance’
Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of WithinOurLifetime (WOL), leading a pro-Hamas demonstration in New York City on Aug. 14, 2024. Photo: Michael Nigro via Reuters Connect
Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of the radical anti-Israel organization Within Our Lifetime, chastised those within the pro-Palestinian movement who only support “resistance” in the abstract but not in practice following Sunday’s antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado.
“A lot of people who call themselves anti-Zionist or pro-resistance don’t actually understand what resistance is,” Kiswani posted on X/Twitter on Monday. “They support it in theory, but when it shows up in practice, they hesitate, distance themselves, or shift the conversation entirely.”
She continued, “And it makes it even harder for those of us who are principled to take public stances. We’re already marginalized, already painted as extreme or dangerous and that isolation only deepens when others in the movement won’t stand firm when it counts.”
Kiswani’s comments came the day after a man threw Molotov cocktails at a Boulder gathering where participants were rallying in support of the Israeli hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza — which resulted in 15 injuries, including some critically, in what US authorities called a targeted terrorist attack. Her tweets also came less than two weeks after a gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, while they were leaving an at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee. In both attacks, the perpetrator yelled “Free Palestine” as they targeted innocent civilians, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
After Kiswani’s social media posts sparked some backlash among pro-Israel users on X, she provided limited pushback on the idea that it was an expression of support for the prior day’s attack in Colorado.
“Zionists are freaking out in the QTs about this, insisting it’s about Colorado,” she wrote. “Newsflash: the world doesn’t revolve around you. Resistance hasn’t stopped in Gaza, look at what just happened in Jabalia [where three IDF soldiers were killed] for instance. The perpetual victimhood is getting old.”
However, Kiswani did not say her comment had no connection to the attack in Colorado, and she did not say that she opposed the firebombing.
Kiswani and her group, Within Our Lifetime (WOL), have been at the forefront of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas activism since Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, a massacre that started the war in Gaza.
On Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the biggest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, WOL organized a protest to celebrate the prior day’s attack, which it described as an effort to “defend the heroic Palestinian resistance.” Kiswani notably refused to condemn Hamas and the Oct. 7 massacre following the atrocities.
Then, in Apil 2024, Kiswani refused to condemn the chant “Death to America” and organized a mass demonstration to block the “arteries of capitalism” by staging a blockade of commercial shipping ports across the world in protest of Western support for the Jewish state. That same month, she was banned from Columbia University’s campus in New York City after leading chants calling for an “intifada,” or violent uprising.
The following month, Kiswani led a demonstration in Brooklyn, New York in which she lambasted the local police department, claimed then-US President Joe Biden will soon die, and called for the destruction of Israel.
That proceeded the activist saying she does not want Zionists “anywhere” in the world while speaking in defense of a person who called for “Zionists” to leave a crowded subway car in New York City.
WOL, which planned a protest last year to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, was also behind demonstrations at the Nova Music Festival exhibit, which commemorated the more than 300 civilians slaughtered by Hamas while at a music festival.
The latter protest prompted widespread condemnation, including from Biden and even progressive members of the US Congress who are outspoken against Israel.
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), for example, posted on social media that the “callousness, dehumanization, and targeting of Jews on display at last night’s protest outside the Nova Festival exhibit was atrocious antisemitism – plain and simple.”
The post Day After Colorado Attack, Founder of Anti-Israel Group Chides Activists Who Are Insufficiently ‘Pro-Resistance’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel’s Defense Exports Hit Record $15 Billion in 2024 Despite European Pressure, Calls for Arms Embargo
Israeli troops on the ground in Gaza. Photo: IDF via Reuters
Israel reached a new all-time high in defense exports in 2024, nearing $15 billion — the fourth consecutive year of record-breaking sales — despite mounting international criticism over the war in Gaza and growing pressure from European countries to suspend arms deals.
In a press release on Wednesday, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced that defense exports reached over $14.7 billion last year — a 13 percent increase from 2023 — with more than half of the deals valued at over $100 million.
According to the ministry, Israel’s military exports have more than doubled over the past five years, highlighting the industry’s rapid expansion and growing global demand.
“This tremendous achievement is a direct result of the successes of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and defense industries against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Ayatollah regime in Iran, and in additional arenas where we operate against Israel’s enemies,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
“The world sees Israeli strength and seeks to be a partner in it. We will continue strengthening the IDF and the Israeli economy through security innovation to ensure clear superiority against any threat – anywhere and anytime,” Katz continued.
In 2024, over half of the Jewish state’s defense contracts were with European countries — up from 35 percent the previous year — as many in the region have increased their defense spending following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Despite increasing pressure and widespread anti-Israel sentiment among European governments amid the current conflict in Gaza, this latest data seems to contradict recent calls by European leaders to impose an arms embargo on the Jewish state over its defensive campaign in Gaza against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
On Wednesday, Germany reversed its earlier threat to halt arms deliveries to Israel, reaffirming its commitment to continue cooperation and maintain defense contracts with Jerusalem.
“Germany will continue to support the State of Israel, including with arms deliveries,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told lawmakers in parliament.
Last week, Berlin warned it would take unspecified measures against Israel if it continued its military campaign in Gaza, citing concerns that exported weapons were being used in violation of humanitarian law.
“Our full support for the right to exist and the security of the State of Israel must not be instrumentalized for the conflict and the warfare currently being waged in the Gaza Strip,” Wadephul said in a statement.
Germany would be “examining whether what is happening in the Gaza Strip is compatible with international humanitarian law,” he continued. “Further arms deliveries will be authorized based on the outcome of that review.”
Spain and Ireland are among the countries in Europe that have threatened or taken steps to limit arms deals with Israel, while others such as France have threatened unspecified harsh measures against the Jewish state.
According to the Israeli defense ministry’s report, since the outbreak of war on Oct. 7, 2023, after the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, the operational successes and proven battlefield performance of Israeli systems have fueled strong international demand for Israel’s defense technology.
Last year, the export of missiles, rockets, and air defense systems reached a new high, making up 48 percent of the total deal volume — up from 36 percent in 2023.
Similarly, satellite and space systems exports surged, accounting for 8 percent of total deals in 2024 — quadrupling their share from 2 percent in 2023.
While Europe dominated Israel’s defense export market in 2024, significant portions also went to other regions. Asia and the Pacific made up 23 percent of total sales — slightly lower than in previous years, when the region approached 30 percent.
Exports to Abraham Accords countries fell to 12 percent, down from 23 percent in 2022, while North America remained stable at around 9 percent.
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