People Who Kill Over Opinion Have No Faith in Their Own

0:00You're listening to Newsweek Radio. Irreverent news talk and opinion without agenda. From the 72nd floor of One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. This is Newsweek Radio. with your host, Jesse Edwards. So Charlie Kirk's alleged killer is now in custody, but I don't need to tell you that because you listen to this program and you're already knee-deep in this stuff like the rest of us. And props to this little bastard's own father for handing him over to the authorities. Not an easy thing to do, I'm sure. And at least this will give us a little bit of closure. Yes, it's been absolutely disgusting to see people cheering this insanity by celebrating the violence.

0:38I've certainly lost a few friends and connections because of it over the last 24 hours, And I don't feel bad about it because the backlash to people making comments in support of a fellow American being gunned down for his opinions is a beautiful thing. Nut jobs are losing their jobs all over the country for celebrating this publicly. And at the same time, I believe we're witnessing a genuine come together moment with the so often too silent middle majority who might have been playing around the edges of the moderate to extreme part of the political spectrum. the truth is that everybody has entertained extremist thoughts on occasion or been tempted to agree with somebody so far off the reservation that you know better.

1:16Don't pretend like you haven't. All have fallen short of the glory of the court of public opinion at one time or another. So why don't you get off your high horse for just a second and quit pretending that any of us are not susceptible to propaganda misinformation and downright lies. Most of us agree that political violence is indefensible. The next step for us all to realize is that the healthy response is open, fearless dialogue, real free speech, not censorship, conspiracy chasing, or kill the messenger thinking. And man, did I do a deep dive down the conspiracy rabbit hole about this assassin that made me feel like someone put LSD in my tea last night.

1:55Take a moment to reflect on all the batshit crazy conspiracy theories about this shooter that we were just absolutely drenched in online. People claiming that the shooter was an Israeli Mossad agent who escaped on a private jet and turned off the transponder to make a quick getaway. Yeah, that's just the mild stuff I saw, and I'm sure some of you have seen it too. Or the idea that Trump was somehow behind this to get the Epstein files out of the headlines? You must be out of your frickin' mind, because the Epstein files aren't going anywhere. And we will return to our regularly scheduled programming on that topic next week, to be sure.

2:27But I do believe that a moment like this calls for some real pause to reflect on this entire media hate machine that's got us running around like chickens with our heads cut off every single time something bad happens. Breaking news, everything is bad. It's just as terrible as you imagined and probably worse. With more, we go to Tom Lee Cruz. Tom Lee. We're all in danger, Dan Lee. Jesus Christ, what can we do? Absolutely nothing. It was good knowing you, Tom Lee. I can't say the same. That was unnecessary. We're just now getting in reports that all the children have exploded. They will be missed.

2:55Let's check in with Olivia Lee Rodrigo. Olivia Lee. Where are you? That's none of your business. Do you hear that? Cut the music. Do you hear that? What do you hear? That's the sound of us slowly dying. But it's not all doom and gloom. There's also been an equal and opposite reaction to all of this chaos in our news cycle. And it's starting to look like the rise of a distinctly moderate chorus of people on both sides of the spectrum coming together to denounce not only the violence itself, but calling out a lot of these folks who either intentionally or inadvertently try to rationalize this somehow as making sense.

3:27Bernie Sanders came out swinging. Jimmy Kimmel came out swinging. real liberals are furious, as they should be, because real liberals don't roll like this. Charlie Kirk said some crazy things, but it just doesn't matter. Say some crazy things back if you don't like it, which is what Charlie Kirk was actually doing by giving his opposition a platform. I should say that again. Charlie Kirk's main gig was giving voices of his opposition a platform to speak. That's a rare thing. The only other place that practices this level of free speech in the mainstream would have to be somebody like Bill Maher on real time, because at least their people are allowed to speak freely without adhering to everybody else's preferred manner of communication.

4:06Which leads to a much bigger concept that I was not planning on talking about here and now, but why not? I'll use this diversion to prove my point. And that it's my professional observation after working in the highest levels of talk radio strategy for the last 25 years, that there's a reason why right-wingers generally dominate the world of spoken word content over their liberal counterparts. That right-wingers tend to speak from the gut with trained instinct, where liberals bring a much more cerebral and data-based approach to conversation and debate. And let me tell you something, a cerebral and data-based approach to conversation and debate is never, never going to be a fan favorite with the general population.

4:42Sure, there's absolutely an audience for that, but it won't be the biggest one. Because the right-wing approach to talk radio is much more water-cooler talk, shooting from the hip, sharing your mind, making broad generalizations, much like I am right now, and cutting through a lot of the old school devices that while for official communications are vital, they're absolutely detrimental to the limitless boundaries of free expression and honest thought. Lefties have tried talk radio many times and it never really worked. Look at Air America. They lost 50 million bucks over six short years. And what a lot of media institutions fail to realize even today is that corporate jargon isn't how the world communicates, as they're now being overtaken in the ratings by people on YouTube live streaming in their pajamas.

5:25It's like every mainstream news outlet acts like they're reporting from behind a typewriter in the 1940s when they don't realize that their gatekeeping is meaningless when less restrictive forms of communicating with the public are producing more lucrative results. Translation, it's all book smarts and no street smarts. And news organizations wonder why nobody on the street actually trusts them anymore. Thankfully, Newsweek isn't one of them because we truly publish a wide scope of news, thought, opinion, and everything in between. I mean, they're allowing somebody like me to spill my guts with you here on this podcast.

5:56That signals to me and a whole lot of other folks that they've got nothing to hide. And that's the main reason I love working at Newsweek. They don't endorse or condemn anything I say, and I say a lot of crazy stuff. Because this is a thought experiment. Free association like you're my best friend who just got out of prison sitting in the passenger seat and I gave you my hot take on what a messed up life it is here on the outside. That's how conservatives approach talk radio, and that's why they're better at it than progressives who take the bean counter approach sitting around, worried about backing every single definitive statement they make with a bibliography and citations.

6:30It's not how people talk. But I'm also not going to glorify the conservative approach to free speech entirely either, because even though I agree with it and will always practice this gonzo-esque style, it does have its downsides. And we're seeing that play out in a lot of ways in the conspiracy videos we've seen online over the last 24 hours surrounding the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Because that's all street and no book smarts, the exact opposite. And make no mistake, the younger generation is all about speaking freely and they couldn't care less about the guardrails of responsible journalism when it comes to this TikTok mentality that we're seeing making a major impact on how all of us consume infotainment, which is what all of this is.

7:08Every TV news show, every single podcast, every newsletter, newspaper, news magazine, any other source of information that sells advertising is first and foremost designed to entertain your eyeballs just long enough to turn you into somebody's customer. You shouldn't trust any of us because if you do, you've missed the point entirely. That goes for every YouTuber, vlogger, you name it, we're all journalists now. The stuffy high-end models need to come down to earth a little bit so that everyone can hear them more clearly to understand their ideas better. And the street-level variety, such as myself, need to step up our credibility game so that people can trust us more.

7:42That's all. I mean, at least it's a great first step, I think. No, I didn't go to college, and that's one of the things I liked about Charlie Kirk and how he wore that like a badge of honor, as he should have. I can relate to that because I'm good at talking to regular folks and turning big ideas into small, digestible snacks. That's what makes people like me an artist or an entertainer first, because I'm not a journalist, and I don't know if I'd ever feel comfortable calling myself one. I mean, it could be argued that what you're listening to now is a very public journal, and in that case, sure, but I'm not here to share information.

8:11I'm here to share thoughts and fears and inspirations and disappointments and revelations and flaws and insecurities and strengths and the entire human experience, which is the only thing that us human beings ever truly relate to. Incidentally, and you've probably heard me mention a few times at the end of these podcasts that Newsweek Radio is a member of the Trust Project. Yeah, I can't exactly say that I'm a huge fan, but I'm playing along when it comes to podcasting. They just want to make sure that whomever is listening to this podcast is fully aware of the situation they're getting themselves into by listening to it.

8:43So that's why you hear our announcer, Billy Black, and the show opening say that Newsweek Radio is news talk and opinion without agenda. I say without agenda because I really don't believe in any of this. Sure, you could say that I've got an anti-Trump agenda, but I can assure you that I've got a deeply rooted mistrust of anyone on this planet who claims authority over large groups of people. And we're supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people, but I think most of us see the writing of the wall at this point. Good leadership is hard to find in Washington. And most of the time, I think we would be better off dismantling our allegedly representative government and replacing it with a system of licensed individual citizens so we can represent ourselves without this ridiculous middleman constantly standing in our way, stealing our money, and starting wars for profit.

9:27But there I go daydreaming again. Seriously, aren't you tired of the status quo? We could do better, couldn't we? Speaking of the Trust Project, they do want me to add another disclaimer to the opening of this program just to make sure that everybody listening realizes that I dabble in satire, which is fine, whatever. I'm more than willing to add that to the show opener. So somebody out there doesn't get their wires all tangled up because some idiot was bouncing around from news to opinion to satire and back around again over at Newsweek. And I'm sure there are a lot of folks out there that just don't understand what I'm trying to do here, but so far they've kept their distance and let me do my thing.

10:02And surprisingly, it's led to more and more downloads every month. So I'm not complaining. I've got your attention and the next phase is to build this show out into video. And just like what happens to most shows that generate some sort of buzz, I'll be cleaned up and polished a little bit. I'll always have my irreverent take. But I can see where this is going and if I'm ever going to be taken seriously, I can't just sit here and bash Donald Trump all day long. It's fun. It's easy. And I'm always going to talk trash about the guy, but I think he's dominated the program long enough and I'm getting a little bit bored with it so I can only assume you are too.

10:33I think the point is that this horrific tragedy and the assassination of a freethinker like Charlie Kirk is that it's time for all of us to grow up a little bit. Nobody is perfect, and we need to seriously act that way if we're going to ever fix any of our problems together. The left needs to stop acting so aloof by hiding behind their precious facts to the point where they're incapable of communicating with right-wingers. And right-wingers need to shore up their rhetoric game just a bit to do a little bit more homework and to bring it to the conversation a little bit more often. It's not too much to ask, is it?

11:03One more quick little point before I sign off for the weekend here at Newsweek Radio, and that's to remember to try, at least try with all your might not to get offended when somebody else is just saying something that you strongly disagree with. They're not attacking you, and if they're feeling comfortable around you enough to share an opinion that you don't agree with, just take it as a compliment and move on if you lack the skill sets required to engage in discourse without getting emotional. Recuse yourself from the conversation if it's not something you're vibing with. Nobody is going to hold that against you.

11:34Be the change you want to see in the world and any other platitude that will get you to the point where you're willing to quit acting like it's okay to permanently silence somebody for sharing their thoughts with the world. Only someone with absolutely zero faith in their own ideas would feel so justified in killing somebody else for theirs. Because the people who possess the courage of their own convictions do not find the need to share them with the rest of us. At gunpoint. It's been a really long week. I hope you all have the chance to chill with your families this weekend. And until we can do it again, it's Newsweek Radio.

12:07I'm Jesse Edwards. Catch you next time. Bye. And we say bye-bye. Newsweek Radio is a member of the Trust Project. Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? You better believe we are next week. Brace yourself, buster.