The mainstream media failed to hold Alex Jones accountable for more than 30 years. A satire company is poised to do what journalism wouldn't.

Ben Collins knows why. As a former far-right extremism reporter inside mainstream media, he watched newsrooms normalize and platform Alex Jones' conspiracy theories in the name of "both sides" journalism. Now he's chief executive officer of The Onion's parent company, Global Tetrahedron — the company poised to turn Infowars into the joke it's always been.

Infowars founder Alex Jones owes more than $1.4 billion to Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting families after years of defamation and harassment. In 2024, a bankruptcy court thwarted The Onion's winning bid to buy Infowars and share proceeds with the Sandy Hook families.

Last month, The Onion reached a deal to license the Infowars website and its intellectual property for six months. Then Jones won an appeal to stop the process. But the appeal could be overturned at any moment, allowing The Onion to finally have the last laugh over Infowars.

This week, Katelyn and Christine discuss the evolving situation with Collins. Why did it take a satire company to defeat Infowars? His answer is a structural indictment of journalism itself.

Cancel Me, Daddy is a progressive media criticism show hosted by journalists Katelyn Burns and Christine Grimaldi. New episodes every other week.

Links:

- Grab a discounted bundle subcription to Katelyn’s and Christine’s newsletters at their TrustFnd collab!

- Elizabeth Williamson for The New York Times: Here’s what Jones has said about Sandy Hook.

- Benjamin Mullin and Elizabeth Williamson for The New York Times: The Onion Has a New Plan to Take Over Infowars

- Pablo Torre for Pablo Torre Finds Out: How The Onion Finally Shut Up Alex Jones for Good (ft. Ben Collins)

- Tovia Smith for NPR: The Onion's bid to take over Infowars moves to the Texas Supreme Court

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Tech billionaire Sam Altman positions his company’s artificial intelligence, including ChatGPT, as humanity’s savior. But the human race can’t trust the OpenAI CEO, according to a recent New Yorker Sam Altman profile.

From his earliest days in the tech industry, Altman has toggled between exaggerations (at best) and lies (at worst) about AI’s world-changing potential. When his optimism turned apocalyptic, he argued that only he could be trusted with the technology.

“Maybe this was a premeditated masterstroke. Maybe he was fumbling for an advantage. Either way, it worked,” the New Yorker reported.

This week, Spitfire News independent journalist Kat Tenbarge returns to the pod for a deep dive

on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Katelyn, Christine, and Kat use The New Yorker Sam Altman profile as a springboard for a discussion on truthfulness and technology. As Altman lobbies against the safety measures he once supported—in name only, it seems—it’s time to question the narrative he’s built about himself and for us all.

Stream on our YouTube channel—remember to ring the bell! Listen via Apple or Spotify. Be sure to check out the merch store—Merch Me, Daddy!

Links for Apple:

- Grab a discounted bundle subscription to Katelyn’s and Christine’s newsletters at their TrustFnd collab!

- Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz for The New Yorker: Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?

- Oli Coleman for Page Six: Jeremy O. Harris drunkenly called OpenAI’s Sam Altman a Nazi at the Vanity Fair Oscar party

- Buy Karen Hao’s Empire of AI at The Flytrap Media Bookshop

- Eddy Burback for YouTube: ChatGPT made me delusional

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“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling’s trans persecution feeds off her vast fortune. Rowling uses her estimated $1.2 billion net worth to directly fund anti-trans causes.

As executive producer of the upcoming Harry Potter HBO show, Rowling will make even more money that she can funnel into what she calls “women's and girls' sex-based rights.”

Early media criticism of the Harry Potter reboot is just starting to contend with Rowling’s commitment to erasing trans people from public life.

This week, Jessie Gender returns to the podcast to discuss HBO’s Harry Potter show with Katelyn and Christine. The three discuss the shortcomings of nostalgia with the HBO reboot and how media criticism must include J.K. Rowling’s trans obsession. It is not possible to separate this artist from her art.

Stream on our YouTube channel—remember to ring the bell! Listen via Apple or Spotify. Be sure to check out the merch store—Merch Me, Daddy!

Links for Apple:

- Subscribe to YouTube’s Jessie Gender and Jessie Gender After Dark

- Stream Jessie Gender’s Frak This Podcast - A Battlestar Galactica journey

- Katelyn Burns for MS NOW: A new trans character doesn’t fix ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ transphobia

- Charles Pulliam-Moore for The Verge: There is no ethical consumption of HBO’s Harry Potter series

- Ryan Adamczeski for The Advocate: J.K. Rowling uses Harry Potter wealth to fund anti-transgender organization

- Samantha Riedel for Them: John Lithgow Says J.K. Rowling’s Trans Views Have Been “Twisted and Misrepresented”

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.