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--:-- Host, John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: Calls for censoring Joe Rogan have ratcheted up yet again. After coming under fire for questioning mainstream COVID messaging, the podcaster is now taking heat again for what critics say are offensive past comments.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: How have Rogan and Spotify responded? And what does it mean for the power struggle between new and legacy media?
--:-- Host, John Bickley: I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, February 7th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: China's use of a Uyghur Muslim as an Olympic torchbearer has sparked comparisons of communist China with Nazi Germany using oppressed minorities as human shields. We'll discuss the latest controversies out of Beijing.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: And COVID cases are plummeting nationwide. We'll look at the latest numbers and talk to an expert about the role of natural immunity.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Host, John Bickley: A week after dominating headlines following calls for censorship from singers, TV hosts, and even the White House, Joe Rogan, the world's most famous podcast host, is again under fire. This time after old clips were reposted showing him using racial slurs and other language deemed offensive on his show.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: Here to discuss is Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So, Cabot, we've talked about Rogan a few times over the last week because, well, he's a massively influential figure. Right. This whole conversation touches on massively important issues, censorship and the new media versus the legacy media, among others. So get us up to speed here.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, there's definitely a lot going on here. So quick recap, last week, a number of artists, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, removed their music from Spotify because the platform allowed Joe Rogan to post interviews with scientists and doctors who questioned the mainstream narrative on COVID, as well as the government's COVID response.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Even members of the Biden administration appeared to call for Spotify to censor Rogan. But Spotify stood firm for the most part, saying they'd keep the show but would be adding a content advisory to any episodes that discussed COVID.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But there's new pressure now. Right. There's a new wave of people calling for the show to be removed for different reasons. After a video was posted on Twitter showing Rogan using the N-word throughout the last decade as part of his comedy routines and other segments on the podcast.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And Rogan has now responded. Tell us about that.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, 70 episodes of the podcast were quietly removed on Friday, and some reports said that Rogan himself requested they be taken down. And others said Spotify removed them for what they deemed, quote, offensive content.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Rogan for his part did post a five video on Saturday addressing the situation Now I know that to most people there no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word nevermind publicly on a podcast. And I agree with that now. I haven't said it in years, but for a long time, when I would bring that word up, like if it would come up in conversation and instead of saying the N word, I would just say the word.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing. He then goes on to say that he only ever used the word when quoting others or impersonating movies or stand-up bits. But he was very clear that he feels quite differently now. So he expressed some regret there.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah. What kind of response did Rogan's statement trigger?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So as you can imagine, the responses varied quite a bit. Detractors of Rogan say the apology wasn't enough and that there's never an excuse for a white person to use that language, even if they're a comedian.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And many equated his words with violence and white supremacy. Supporters, on the other hand, said an apology wasn't even necessary to begin with. They say the comments might be considered offensive by some, but that the point of comedy is to push boundaries, and that sometimes that results in people being offended.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They view the calls for Rogan to be removed as more of an excuse to censor his opinions on other issues, like COVID and transgenderism, and less about them actually being offended by what he had to say in those old clips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It's worth pointing out also, many supporters have noted that the artist boycotting Spotify over Joe Rogan didn't seem to have a problem with the platform hosting music from convicted rapists like R. Kelly or domestic abusers like Chris Brown. So pointing out some hypocrisy there.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: Now, has Spotify responded?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Spotify has yet to comment on the latest dust-up, but earlier in the week, Chief Executive Daniel Ek did tell employees during an internal town hall that they do not and will not pre-screen Rogan's guests or shows before publication, but will, quoting here, enforce our policies on even the loudest and most popular voices on the platform.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: A lot of people were pretty surprised by their decision to stick with Rogan, even if it does turn out to just be temporary.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So look, this taps into a much more expansive issue, the state of the media. Yeah, definitely. What does all this say about the state of the media, the legacy media versus alternative media?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, it definitely highlights the differences between new and old media. If a network anchor had a video like this come out, they'd almost certainly be fired. The fact that Spotify is standing by Rogan, for now at least, shows the shift in power dynamics for this new media landscape, where the hosts and personalities themselves really control a lot more of the leverage.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Keep in mind, Rogan has 11 million listeners per episode. That's more than double the primetime broadcasts of CNN, MSNBC, and Fox combined. It's really a stunning amount, 11 million. It's huge. And that sort of audience gives him and others like him a lot more room for grace.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And it's also indicative of how the media has shifted over the last few years. And given that shift, it's not really a surprise that people like Rogan are seen as a threat by the legacy media. And a lot of people say that's influencing their coverage of a situation like this.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: It makes sense. Meanwhile, we're seeing yet more calls for censorship, which is always concerning.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It is. Cabot, thanks for the update.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: That's Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips. Coming up, more controversy in Beijing over China's oppression of the Uyghur Muslims. And COVID cases plummet.
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--:-- Host, John Bickley: Amid international criticism and accusations of human rights abuses, China reportedly enlisted a Uyghur Muslim to light the 2022 Olympic torch. The move prompted comparisons to the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: Here to discuss is Daily Wire's Virginia Kruta.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: So, Virginia, Jake Tapper made some headlines on Sunday when he compared China to Nazi Germany. So what did he say exactly and what was the context for it?
--:-- Virginia Kruta: Well, he wrapped Sunday's broadcast of State of the Union by comparing Nazi Germany in 1936 when the Olympics were held in Berlin and communist China in 2022. And he pointed out the fact that China had brought a woman who they said was a Uyghur Muslim to help light the Olympic cauldron.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: And he said that Germany had effectively done the same thing in 1936. This is Helena Meyer, one of the greatest fencers who ever lived, though her athletic dreams were compromised after Adolf Hitler came to power in her home country, Germany, and the anti-Semitic Nuremberg laws were passed.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: As a movement spread throughout the world to boycott the International Olympic Games in 1936, the head of the American Olympic Committee, Avery Brundage, had an idea involving Helena Meyer. Here's an Associated Press story from March 1936 that shows the successful results of Brundage's plan.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: Quote, despite a tendency in some quarters to rock the boat, official Germany has banned racial or religious discrimination in athletics. The famous girl fencer of Jewish extraction, Helena Meyer, has been welcomed back home and named to represent Germany in the Olympics.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: Visiting Jews, whether athletes or spectators, will be safer from indignities here than they would be on any New York subway during rush hour. Now, meanwhile, we have American athletes who are in China now, and some of them have been warned not to speak out.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: So tell us about that.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: Right. Well, the Chinese Olympic Organizing Committee warned them about a month ago that they needed to keep their comments within the Olympic spirit, which the implication there is obvious that they should not be saying anything that might offend the Chinese communist government.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi followed that with two warnings to American athletes saying that they should not be tempted to speak out and that they should just compete and come home because she was afraid that the brutal regime in China might do something to them or their families.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: So athletes were warned not to speak out against human rights abuses.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: Oh, yeah, for sure. Anna Navarro said on The View that it was un-American, that if they had the courage to speak out, they should be allowed to do so.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: And the context there is that Anna Navarro's family actually fled oppression in Nicaragua when Noriega was the dictator. Al Sharpton also said that he normally supports Nancy Pelosi, but he said on Morning Joe that telling the athletes not to say anything was kind of a de facto normalization of China's behavior. and he didn't believe that that was okay.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: All right, well, this is just one of many controversies going on with this year's Olympics. So we're going to be keeping an eye on this stuff.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: Virginia, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Virginia Kruta: Sure, anytime.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: That was Daily Wire's Virginia Kruta.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: After reaching an all-time high on January 14th, Omicron cases are steeply declining in the U.S. Now, new research suggests the Omicron wave may have moved us closer to more widespread immunity Georgia you talked with some experts on this First what do the numbers look like here in the U
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, so according to the latest official data the U.S. saw its record high in new cases in mid-January. But since then, they've been dropping pretty precipitously. It's welcome news.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. And for context, at the peak, we were seeing about 800,000 recorded new cases per day. But by February 4th, that number was down to about 300,000.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, for comparison, in 2021, the high mark was at 250,000 per day, and that was at its highest point. And what do the numbers look like worldwide? Are we seeing declines everywhere?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yes. So judging by some recent analyses, the U.S. curve is about 10 days ahead of the worldwide infection curve, but cases are dropping in almost every region.
--:-- Georgia Howe: At its peak, the U.S. and Canada region was showing the highest per capita case rate in the world at about 228 per 100,000. So again, that was January 14th. And then the next highest was Europe, which peaked at about 207 per 100,000.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And that's according to a graph that was published by the New York Times. And just anecdotally, it does seem like everyone was getting COVID about a month ago. So that seems to check out.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: Right, exactly. Us both. We've also heard that there may be a silver lining to all this and that the massive Omicron wave could actually help us get closer to something like herd immunity, though most people think that will never fully happen, right?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yes. So at this point, several doctors have pointed out that because Omicron is extremely infectious, but also very mild, that it may have the effect of inoculating millions of people against future waves, or at least partially inoculating them.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And some new research actually suggests that those natural antibodies could actually be very long-lasting.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: Well, that's definitely good news.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It is.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: Last week, I spoke to Johns Hopkins Dr. Marty McCary about his recent article in JAMA about natural immunity. Here's what he had to say.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So my research team at Johns Hopkins undertook this study. And what we found is that their antibodies were present in 99.3% of people who had COVID. These were only unvaccinated people. So it was a pure study of just natural immunity.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And we found that their protection was still strong against Omicron. That is, it prevented severe illness and it prevented getting the infection with a 50% efficacy, which is not perfect, but it's certainly better than vaccines.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So overall, natural immunity has been shown now in several studies to be stronger than vaccinated immunity by three times to five times a difference.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And our study found that antibodies were present for nearly two years after infection.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: Now, one of the main criticisms of the vaccine is that while it prevents severe illness, it does not prevent the spread of COVID.
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to Dr. McCary, people with natural immunity may be less likely than vaccinated individuals to spread the infection. But he also said that distinction may actually be kind of missing the point.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The real issue is and always has been, according to Dr. McCary, preventing hospitalizations and severe disease. And it looks like both natural immunity and vaccine immunity can do that.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: Well, it'll be interesting to see if the medical community starts to, you know, change some of their recommendations as we learn more about natural immunity.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. Georgia, thanks for the reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, always a pleasure.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: If you like this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and give us a five-star review.
--:-- Host, John Bickley: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
