Alex Jones Like You’ve Never Heard Him Before, New Podcast By UT Students
Talk show host Alex Jones did not rise from a local Austin TV personality to a right wing influencer overnight. His entrance into fame has two University of Texas students committed to telling the story of how Jones carved his path in the far-right media landscape, transforming from a fringe figure to wildly popular media personality.
Alexandra Currie-Buckner and Libby Cohen are wrapping up their fourth year at UT while simultaneously embarking on an audio journey that captures the life of a key figure from their college town. To many local Austinites, Jones is the guy from public access, a late night TV show popular in the 1990s. While to the world, Jones is a key perpetrator of far-right conspiracies and friend of former President Donald Trump.
Jones hosts his far-right radio show “The Alex Jones Show” on his site InfoWars. Here, with his booming voice, he convinces his “Info Warriors” of anything from Hillary Clinton eating children to the Sandy Hook Shooting not happening.
Jones has been a furious supporter of Trump throughout his presidency. Though Jones is a self-described libertarian, his support for Trump and his willingness to support Trump’s expansive reaches of government power complicaties this identification. For example, Jones backs the former President’s his executive orders like the Muslim travel ban to the border wall.
The new podcast intends on showing just how a complicated Austin man became a Trump guard dog and major peddler of misinformation.
Buckner and Cohen come from different backgrounds, but share a sense of duty to tell the story of Jones and his viral impact.
Buckner is an English and journalism double major with an interest in the social and psychological appeals of conspiracy theories and extreme political ideologies. She hopes to explore the evolution of Jones’s career and the reasons his conspiracy theories have garnered him millions of dedicated listeners.
Cohen studies journalism, business and Spanish. But, her passion for online conspiracies was motivated by her time reporting for The Daily Dot. As a tech and policy reporter, Cohen surveys the internet to uncover how the far-right exists and spreads. It is where she became fascinated with Jones.
She recently published an extensive post on the relationship between Jones, ex-advisor Roger Stone and Trump for The Daily Dot’s Trump Misinformation Project. She says she is excited to turn his research into an audio story.
So far, the duo has begun researching Jones and compiling the best clips the internet has stored away. For example, the shocking interview Jones conducted with Trump in 2015 speaks for itself.
The two audio reporters say they are very interested in having Jones himself on the podcast. They also say they are brainstorming the idea of expanding the podcast into a series with other right wing figures such as Fox News host Tucker Carlson or Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio.
For now, Buckner and Cohen have their eyes on Jones and his impact on the internet.
The first episodes are expected to air May 2021.
