Which Way, Western Man? A Right-Wing Guide to Podcasts
You are in an information war, frens.
If you're reading this, it's very likely that you find yourself somewhere on the libertarian spectrum - many of us here populate the extreme edges of weewoo, but you may not. Depending on your progress in your jou*ney (too close to jou*nalist, I censored out of habit. I will attempt to refrain from using slurs here!), you may benefit from certain podcasts over others to help you along your path. No matter your or the recommended podcast's precise position on the spectrum, the common thread with every show found in this roadmap is that they all diverge from establishment and progressive thought. As an added bonus, these personalities also occupy space outside of establishment conservative thought.
Let this be our welcome to guide you to your destination! I'm coming up with descriptors for types of pods on the fly, please clap and laugh along with me.
Tom Woods - THE TOM WOODS SHOW
Tom Woods has been a longtime Mises Institute contributor, as well as a multiple-time bestselling author. What brought him to prominence in this field was his work with the Ron Paul presidential campaigns - as a semi-official propagandist and ghostwriter for Ron and libertarianism more generally, Tom decided to start a podcast shortly after Paul's 2012 campaign ended. Tom went from neoconservative GOP in college to paleoconservative in the 90s to anarcho-capitalist in the early 21st century, and the evolution he went through shines in his work, allowing him to speak to conservatives as one of their own, so to speak. With a massive catalog of nearly 1900 episodes, Tom has covered almost every topic libertarianism could touch with nearly all of its heaviest hitters. He provides a pithy episodes link at the top of his feed, allowing you to browse for a topic of interest and click to your heart's content.
If you are prone to liking ~30 minutes of largely educational material, his show is a must. Frankly, I could end this whole concept here thanks to the incredible amount of content he's released. For those of us who enjoyed stacking cans, counting trains, pouring over sports statistics, and listening to the same song for hours, days, weeks, or months on end, check out the now defunct Contra Krugman podcast he did with Robert Murphy (who has a show of his own! Search through if you want longer, more in-depth discussions of many issues pertaining to libertarianism, new and old).
Michael Malice - YOUR WELCOME
Fan favorite of the Tom Woods Show, Michael Malice is an author in his own right - starting as a ghostwriter for Matt Hughes and DL Hughley, he was an early adopter of crowdfunding, utilizing Kickstarter to self-publish Dear Reader. He has since gone on to write another book, The New Right, as well as appear on myriad Fox News programs and the Joe Rogan Experience an impressive five times. He's built a very strong Twitter following, amassing over 196k followers on the platform, and one-upped Tom Woods (and many others!) by having been granted a podcast interview with Hans-Hermann Hoppe.
If you're looking for a show that focuses on pop culture and ideas outside of politics rather than a purely political enterprise, let this be your invitation to his show - he had astronaut Clayton Anderson on a recent episode. Malice expresses admiration for political figures as disparate as Emma Goldman to Ayn Rand to Hoppe, and does so as a troll and trickster. Call him the Willy Wonka of politics, and delight in that he pulls no punches in verbal battles with the literal demons ruling over us.
As a bonus, Malice's twitter feed is amazing. If his show is not to your liking, give his twitter account a spin. He deconstructs progressive thought patterns and ideas effectively and efficiently, cutting through the veneer of altruism and concern for their fellow man and revealing progressivism for the vile and pernicious ideology it is.
Dave Smith - PART OF THE PROBLEM
Dave is a child of the Ron Paul rEVOLution, and is currently spearheading a movement to take over the Libertarian Party via the Mises Caucus and mold the party in the fashion of the rEVOLution, making the LP a home for principled and populist messaging. He's made frequent guest panel appearances on CNN, HNN, and Fox News, and made yet another appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience last week.
He's a comedian, but POTP isn't a stand-up routine - expect commentary on current events, frequently through a libertarian lens. He's commonly joined by co-host Robbie Bernstein, and will on occasion have an interview guest. If you want to know the ideas that libertarians will be discussing in the near future are, listen to what Dave is covering on his show right now.
Clint - LIBERTY LOCKDOWN
Liberty Lockdown is a newcomer to this space, with host Clint having started his show in the shadow of the COVID lockdowns in April of 2020. Like Dave Smith, Clint is an elder millennial and a student of the rEVOLution, with an assist from his libertarian father. What separates Clint from many of his peers in the newer class of libertarian podcasters is his entrepreneurial success - he's moving himself into self-chosen retirement at 38 years old. His business success seems obvious when you listen to an episode and hear how he reacts to his guests, asking questions in response to something they've said and engaging in conversation and discussion, rather than having a set of questions at the ready that he works through during the interview. He'll occasionally have a shorter episode breaking down a current event or breaking news situation, too.
He started his show as a way to shout into the void and warn as many people as possible about the impending impact of the lockdowns, and his early guests included his dad, longtime friends, and even me (episode 48, on Spotify, Apple, Stitcher, etc). Since having Pete Quinones on episode 47, which eventually led to reciprocal appearances on Part of the Problem with Dave Smith, Clint has had several more heavy hitters in our space on his show. I'm a friend, consider everything I've said here to be biased. I still feel it's a worthwhile use of your time to give his show a whirl.
Pete Quinones - Free Man Beyond the Wall
Pete Quinones started out anonymously under the pseudonym of Mance Rayder (and thus, the Free Man Beyond the Wall title), and has worked his way up the ranks of managing editor of the Libertarian Institute and a co-executive producer job in The Monopoly On Violence. Pete has a hefty catalog of episodes in his own right, nearing 600, which allows for looking through the breadth of content he's produced, from current events to theory to historical events and more.
One of the best qualities about Pete is his willingness to discuss edgy ideas and trade in crass humor and topics. Looking for an interview with a survivor of the Waco massacre? Deep dives into the ideas and tactics of Marxists? Investigations into ways to dismantle the government and the apparatuses that hold it up? Pete's your guy. He posts content not suitable for print at the Libertarian Institute on his Substack, replete with biting commentary.
Scott Horton - THE SCOTT HORTON SHOW
Since the passing of Justin Raimondo, Scott Horton has become the torchbearer of libertarian foreign policy and the editorial director of Antiwar.com. He recently surpassed the 5000 episode milestone, and Scott is also the author of multiple books, most recently Enough Already: Time To End the War On Terrorism. He's also the director of the Libertarian Institute, and the brains behind the Libertarian Party Mises Caucus.
If you are at all sympathetic to opposing the empire on a moral or ethical level, Scott will be a life raft in an ocean of blood. Prefer a pragmatic or realist understanding of foreign policy, and base judgment on the information of each event independently? Scott will sate your thirst for context and knowledge regarding the history, faction breakdown, and cultural and religious practices involved with all sides of the situation. If your intellectual lodestar is foreign policy, Scott will be your shepherd.
Stephen L. Miller - VERSUS MEDIA
If you're looking for someone who can dissect the inner workings of our corporate media and predict where the progressive agenda will move next, there is nobody better than writer and podcaster, Stephen L. Miller (no, not THAT Stephen Miller). On Twitter, Miller is a master at highlighting trends in progressive corporate media, documenting the standards set by jou*nos, and then using those standards against them to drive the blue-checks mildly insane. On his Patreon podcast, Versus Media, Miller delves deeper into the media topics of the day, provides an in-depth autopsy on how corporate news is made and offers listeners the information needed to take the fight to them.
At his heart, Miller is somewhat of an old-school internet troll who isn't afraid to share a spicy meme or two and is willing to get his hands dirty with the rest of us dregs. It's a big reason why he's developed such a devoted following.
Miller releases some episodes of his podcast for free, but if you're willing to spend a dollar a month, you'll get one episode a week. If you're willing to contribute three dollars a month - you'll get four episodes a week, which is a pretty good value for the content he provides. Miller is also a regular columnist for Spectator.
QUICK HITS
Thaddeus Russell's Unregistered is a podcast that will have both entertaining guests as well as touch topics that many content creators will shy away from. His postmodernist perspective will lead to conclusions or thought patterns that are fairly unique for thinkers in our segment of society, and it will be well worth your time to have him occasionally challenge your premises. The wife of Daniel Shaver, killed by Arizona police while on his knees in 2016, will be a guest next week. That will be a must see. He also created Renegade University - you'll be better for having taken some time for Thaddeus to be in your life.
If you're a shitposter and enjoy fun and chaos, both Not A Podcast and Timeline Earth are for you. The former is the home pod of Twitter legend Neoconremover and pal El Pulpo, with a revolving guest in the third spot. Timeline Earth has a main show in addition to several of its members hosting a show of their own, covering myriad topics, under the TLE banner.
Click like and subscribe if you enjoy - Flappr, that is. Give these guys the same courtesy!
