Conor Friedersdorf

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@AnotherSFwriter @valerioalarie @VT_Duffman Wait until you discover the lyrics that Spotify streams! — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

Recently, Whoopi Goldberg said something that was, I think, incorrect, but that others surely believed too. And that caused lots of people to write thoughtful and informative analysis of why she was wrong. That all seems useful to me, unlike punishing her, which was useless. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@Michilines1 @JamesSurowiecki How did I disparage the Biden administration? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@AnotherSFwriter @valerioalarie No, it doesn't. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki On this I agree with you--he could and should do better than he has in the past. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

That is to say, this effort is both ineffective and fuels downside consequences, including polarization and certain kinds of backlash, that I dislike. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

It's partly intellectual: I value both pluralistic conversation and liberal science highly and believe others underrate it. It's partly psychological: I have the typical anti-authoritarian psychological response to those trying to enforce sameness. & it's partly practical (1/2) — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

A world where Joe Rogan didn't exist would feature — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@PropterMalone @JamesSurowiecki That isn't at all clear to me. I'm open to the conclusion but it hasn't been established — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@ThinSkinFatDude @JamesSurowiecki @carney What is the misunderstanding? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@jandersen @jazzscribe I'm saying that if I were Neil Young, and deciding who, among all the people in the world I could take a stand against with my fame, Joe Rogan would be a really bad choice. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki @carney Okay, if that's the claim then I want some quantification of the alleged harm. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki @carney I'm just trying to be clear in this conversation about whether the claim is *the interview was low quality* or *the interview caused many people to die who otherwise would have lived* because those are very different conversations — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki @carney Substantively, I agree on the flawed performance of the interviewees. But I thought *disaster* implied some *awful real world consequences*, and I do not think the facts in evidence are sufficient to show that. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@DanielleMisiak @JamesSurowiecki @carney ? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki @carney *Disasters* defined how? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki 63 percent. But if we're talking about the effect of anti-vaxxers isn't *not vaccinated* the relevant group, not *partially vaccinated* which seems like a different failure? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki World in Data shows share of partially vaccinated in the US to be the same as the EU and Germany at 75 percent. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki I am not a regular listener, so I don't know if he's had anyone on since @joshzepps (which I didn't hear). I did hear Christakis and don't recall any fact checks. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@PhilConnorsNNJ @JamesSurowiecki Not sure exactly, but the youth of Rogan's audience and the oldness of Covid deaths definitely makes it less likely that absent his show there would be significantly fewer deaths — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@PhilConnorsNNJ @JamesSurowiecki Skews young and make compared to overall population — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki In doing so, it seems to me that they presume a fantasy baseline of a society where there is no disagreement on this matter--that pro vaccine consensus is the natural state of things, and only people like Rogan ruin what would otherwise be universal uptake. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki I say "impossible to know," very clearly. Rogan exposes people to vaccine skeptics... but also to vaccine proponents. His critics act as though the former definitely persuade lots of people but that the latter don't. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@bendreyfuss I think boycott psychology often winds up being more about purity than effectiveness. There are exceptions and boycotts that I support, but usually not. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki Compared to a world where it didn't exist, do you think the overall effect of The Joe Rogan Experience is a) more people getting vaccinated b) fewer people getting vaccinated c) impossible to know? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@bendreyfuss For example, a series of free concerts for vaccine holdouts who get the jab would almost surely do more than leaving Spotify on Covid. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@MichaelDavSmith @Spotify I don't think your decision was unethical. I do think that your framing is misleading and that your action was both ineffective and likely to have unfortunate downside consequences. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@JamesSurowiecki I think that there is a demand for vaccine-skeptical voices, that no free society can suppress diversity of opinion on this matter, or the problem of people being wrong about important stuff generally, and that it is irrational to pin causality on any one interviewer. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

More broadly, if more individual humans getting vaccinated is one's goal, cancelling your Spotify subscription is an utterly ineffective way of advancing that goal. But there are other ways of advancing that goal. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

Nonsense. Neil Young (say) has many ways of effecting change. He is rich and famous. Many people will consume any art he creates. Of the many ways of effecting change at his disposal, he chose one that is utterly ineffective and that has many downside externalities. — PolitiTweet.org