人兽性交

Throughout the Trump era, the white nationalist media network The Right Stuff (TRS) was at the forefront of white nationalist organizing. However, the Southern Poverty Law Center鈥檚 analysis of cast member appearances on the show reveals that the network has lost much of its momentum.

人兽性交 analyzed cast member appearances from TRS鈥檚 flagship podcast, 鈥淭he Daily Shoah,鈥� from the show鈥檚 inception in 2014 to 2020. It found that the podcast鈥檚 ability to attract or retain broad spectrum of guests has diminished alongside the collapse of TRS鈥檚 domain popularity. Between 2014 and 2018, 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� featured more than 100 different guests from across the far-right movement. However, between January 2018 and March 2020, it featured fewer than 25 new guests. Between 2017 and March 2020, its average monthly domain rank declined from 520,000 to 975,000 out of 1 million sites.

鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥檚鈥� trajectory is reflective of an extensive shift within the white power movement away from traditional organizing structures and toward more diffuse systems of decentralized radicalization. Members of 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� and TRS more broadly were key figures in the 鈥�alt-right鈥� 鈥� a broad consortium that included an array of digitally savvy far-right organizations and leaders.听 In the run-up to and the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump鈥檚 2016 election as president, alt-right leaders staged dozens of rallies, including the deadly 2017 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. However, the legal and civil consequences of numerous acts of violence at these events, combined with infighting, caused the coalition to collapse in early 2018. Around the same time, TRS鈥檚 popularity declined precipitously and a new generation of white power activists, ones who eschewed traditional organizing methods in favor of terroristic violence, rose to prominence.

This is part three of the 人兽性交鈥檚 report examining 15 years of podcasting data across 18 different shows produced by far-right extremists. Through this analysis, the 人兽性交 aims to document the ways in which podcasts have shaped the far-right movement, encouraged networking among extremists, and fueled the emergence of some of its key leaders.

The history of 鈥楾he Daily Shoah鈥�

Mike 鈥淓noch鈥� Peinovich and a cadre of writers from the racist libertarian blog The Right Stuff (TRS) founded 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� in August 2014. The show debuted roughly two years after Peinovich, a former tech worker who wrote under the pseudonym 鈥淢ike Enoch鈥� online, had launched the site in 2012.

鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� established TRS as a brash, irreverent outlet among the white nationalist blogosphere. The name was an antisemitic riff on Jon Stewart鈥檚 popular comedy program, 鈥淭he Daily Show.鈥� Its hosts, known as the 鈥淒eath Panel,鈥� used a roundtable format and featured a variety of talking heads. Its hosts included Peinovich and contributors to TRS鈥檚 website, including (known as 鈥淪ven,鈥� 鈥淪eventh Son,鈥� and 鈥淏jorn鈥�), Cooper Ward (as 鈥淕houl鈥�) and Van Bryant II (as 鈥淏ulbasaur鈥�). Peinovich, who grew up listening to shock-jock hosts such as Opie and Anthony, injected the radio hosts鈥� same comedic style into 鈥淭he Daily Shoah,鈥� albeit drenched in racism and bigotry.

鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� runs at least twice per week. Some of its episodes are available for free, while others require a paid monthly subscription. Episodes run between two and three hours, and feature commentary, sophomoric musical numbers and recurring segments mocking Jews and racial minorities.

Owing to its long tenure and prominence, the show has popularized an extensive list of symbols, memes and jokes now used by other far-right communities online. In June 2016, for instance, the Google App store removed an extension for the Chrome web browser, called the Coincidence Detector, from its site. The app added triple parentheses, , on any website around names that were pulled from a user-generated list of Jewish last names. The meme was meant to be a visual representation of a sound effect featured in 鈥淭he Daily Shoah,鈥� where hosts would add an echo sound effect while referring to Jews.

TRS鈥檚 evolution from book-burning racist tastemakers to burned out

Although the 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� and other shows on the TRS network were places for far-right extremists to 鈥渟ee and be seen鈥� well into the first half of the Trump administration, the network鈥檚 popularity has suffered as a result of infighting, legal action and changing dynamics within the white power movement. As subsequent sections will show, both 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥檚鈥� ability to attract new guests and the popularity of the TRS network have suffered as a result of the collapse of the alt-right in early 2018.

The alt-right, short for 鈥渁lternative right,鈥� was responsible for much of the far right鈥檚 on-the-ground activity in 2016 and 2017, including 鈥淯nite the Right.鈥� However, these acts of mass mobilization came with a cost. Following a slew of rallies and university speaking events in Michigan, Florida, Tennessee and elsewhere in late 2017 and early 2018, the coalition began to fracture. The movement was split between dueling wings, with one side prioritizing street action, while the other worried that high-profile confrontations between its members and antifascist activists would damage the movement鈥檚 image. In the case of TRS, these issues came to a head in March 2018, when 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� host Jesse Dunstan announced he intended to remove podcasts from the Traditionalist Worker Party, after several of its members and leaders were reportedly involved in a series of street brawls outside of an alt-right event at Michigan State University.

Even before the post-鈥淯nite the Right鈥� fallout, TRS had started to take a darker turn, in part due to longtime Daily Stormer contributor Joseph Jordan鈥檚 (aka 鈥淓ric Striker鈥�) growing involvement with the network. In mid-2017, Peinovich hosted a Nazi-style book-burning ritual, where he, Jordan and others threw up Hitler salutes, according to leaked footage later published by Hatewatch. One former member听described the atmosphere around such events to Hatewatch as that of 鈥渁 cult.鈥� TRS鈥檚 association with white nationalist shock jock Christopher Cantwell contributed to further rifts between TRS hosts and other white nationalist organizers. On Sept. 14, 2019, Daily Stormer editor Andrew Anglin wrote in an article for his website that he had stopped sharing TRS podcasts in fall 2018, due to the network鈥檚 association with Cantwell. Cantwell, one of the organizers of 鈥淯nite the Right,鈥� came under fire from some in the white power movement in spring 2018, after he told Daily Stormer webmaster Andrew 鈥渨eev鈥� Auernheimer that he had chosen to cooperate with police and federal officials.

鈥淚 have always liked Mike Enoch [Peinovich]. I think he is a borderline genius. There was a time when I wished he would have been the spokesman of a pro-white movement,鈥� Anglin wrote in a June 1, 2019, blog post. 鈥淏ut this is the path he鈥檚 chosen. He鈥檚 chosen to betray the trust of the people, to give his approval to known, proven and self-admitted fed snitch.鈥�

The Right Stuff鈥檚 own efforts to engage in real-life outreach and recruitment also were crumbling, as its nationwide network of in-person meetup groups, known as 鈥減ool parties,鈥� dried up around 2019.

鈥楾here is no political [podcasting] solution鈥�

TRS鈥檚 decline is emblematic of wider trends within the white power movement away from traditional organizing and propaganda structures and toward more diffuse, decentralized systems of radicalization.

Following the intense scrutiny from media after 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� and the collapse of the 鈥渁lt-right鈥� coalition in early 2018, many in the white power movement began to question whether participation in politics and mass mobilization were outdated. Groups such as the Atomwaffen Division promoted an alternative known as white supremacist accelerationism, wherein terroristic violence is deemed the sole means of ushering in a whites-only fascist society. Eventually, a growing subset decided that even self-styled accelerationist groups such as Atomwaffen and The Base, another white power organization, were too institutionalized.听

While Peinovich and his co-hosts on 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� dismissed the promise of public events altogether by spring 2018, calling rallies 鈥渄irectly counterproductive,鈥� he and others within TRS鈥檚 inner circle distanced themselves from the accelerationists.

However, these efforts caused uproar among other members of the white power community, including lesser-known TRS hosts. In 2019, TRS prevented a host by the name of 鈥淟arry Ridgeway鈥� from hosting guests such as , a proponent of white supremacist terrorism who went by the name 鈥淰ic Mackey鈥� online. Casarez鈥檚 supporters dubbed themselves the 鈥淏owl Patrol,鈥� referring to the white supremacist mass murderer Dylann Roof鈥檚 鈥渂owl cut鈥� hairstyle. In one of 鈥淩idgeway鈥檚鈥� podcasts aired in September 2019, after he was booted from the network, he and his fellow hosts accused TRS of failing to stand up for white supremacist mass murderers out of fear of losing access to their online payment processor.

Tracking cast members on 鈥楾he Daily Shoah鈥�

Between 2014 to 2018, 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� show featured numerous prominent white supremacist leaders as guests. Guests on the podcast used the platform to interact with one another and inject new ideas into a growing ecosystem of far-right extremists online. However, the 人兽性交鈥檚 data reveals that this once-central propaganda hub鈥檚 average monthly cast count has declined 50% since 2018.

The count of new cast members 鈥� meaning those who have not appeared on the show before 鈥� is even more striking. The bar graph below shows a count of the new cast members who appeared on 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� each month from August 2014 through March 2020. In its early years, the show attracted an average of between three and six new cast members per month. However, after the alt-right collapsed in spring 2018, cast appearances became increasingly sparse and infrequent. From April 2018 to February 2020, 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� featured no more than one or two new cast members per month, even though TRS has continued to publish multiple episodes per week.

New cast member appearances per month on 鈥淭he Daily Shoah,鈥� 2014-20

The drop in the number of guests on the show is not limited to new cast members. In fact, returning guests have largely disappeared as well. The plot below shows each 鈥淒aily Shoah鈥� cast member and their appearances over time. Cast members are numbered on the vertical axis in order of their first appearance on the show (line 1 is Peinovich, line 2 is Dunstan, and so on), and each of their episode appearances is shown as a dot. The original hosts, located at the bottom of the y-axis, have the most dots, indicating that they have appeared on the largest number of episodes. Thus, while the original hosts of 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� have remained frequent, stable presences on the show, the majority of guests have not.

Cast member appearances on 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� over time

This decline in guests means that even as the movement has become more diffuse and less personality-driven, 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� has become more reliant on its three remaining hosts 鈥� Peinovich, Dunstan and Alex McNabb. The show鈥檚 role in the movement has changed dramatically as well. While it was once a hub for crucial information for white power activists about on-the-ground rallies and discussions of strategy, today鈥檚 episodes are largely limited to analyzing the news from a white nationalist perspective and miscellaneous griping about the state of the movement.

The decline of 鈥楾he Daily Shoah鈥� parallels TRS鈥檚 domain popularity

Peinovich trumpeted TRS鈥檚 listenership in early 2018, claiming that his audience 鈥渋s always growing 鈥� [and has] never declined.鈥� However, data reviewed by the 人兽性交 reveals that TRS鈥檚 domain popularity has declined 87.5% since 2017. This general drop in traffic to TRS鈥檚 website coincided with the decline in the number of cast members appearing on 鈥淭he Daily Shoah.鈥� 听

听The 人兽性交 analyzed TRS鈥檚 web domain ranking using historical data from the which tracks the top 1 million domains each day through passive DNS usage. DNS, or 鈥渄omain name system,鈥� refers to a protocol that allows computers to translate human-readable domain names, like splcenter.org, to IP addresses, so browsers can find internet resources. While Cisco Umbrella鈥檚 data only goes back to January 2017, that year marked a watershed moment for far-right organizers. As an August 2020 report from the 人兽性交 noted, of the 125 rallies, marches and protests organized by far-right extremists, 74 of these events occurred in 2017 alone. Several hosts from the TRS network, including Peinovich himself, were instrumental in planning, promoting or executing these events. These include, but are not limited to, 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� and Spencer鈥檚 college tour, as well as a handful of smaller rallies.

The graph below shows 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥檚鈥� declining total cast count (red) and the concurrent declining web site rank (blue).

The Daily Shoah's decline in domain rank and cast count, 2017-20

Traffic to the TRS website peaked in spring 2017, after Trump鈥檚 inauguration. There was another small increase during August 2017 in the run-up to and aftermath of 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally, though traffic was on the decline the rest of the year. These changes in early 2017 do not necessarily correlate to a lack of on-the-ground activity, however. The decline in site rank could have been a result of TRS鈥檚 own efforts to monetize the network. In July 2017, roughly a month before 鈥淯nite the Right,鈥� the site introduced a paywall structure, limiting access to some of its multimedia offerings to paid subscribers only. As a result, the domain, which at its height was ranked as high as 179,468 out of 1 million domains, has only cracked the top 500,000 domains once since 2017, in March 2018.

Peinovich lent credence to these findings from the civil case against 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� organizers. (Peinovich has since been dropped from the lawsuit. He did not respond to 人兽性交鈥檚 requests for comment on the matter.) Blaming the court鈥檚 effort to subpoena data regarding TRS鈥檚 web traffic, TRS had 鈥渓ost regular listeners,鈥� he claimed, and many users had 鈥渃ancelled their accounts and stopped visiting the site.鈥�

By then, TRS鈥檚 domain rankings had dropped to a monthly average of over 900,000 out of 1 million. Meanwhile, 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� welcomed only 13 different individuals as guests on the show throughout 2019. Neither 鈥淭he Daily Shoah,鈥� nor the number of visitors to TRS鈥檚 domain, have recovered to their pre-鈥淯nite the Right鈥� popularity.听

Other extremist podcasts have failed to attract new cast members

鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� is far from the only far-right podcast that has failed to attract new cast members over time. Indeed, by comparing 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥檚鈥� cast with the other 17 podcasts in the data set, the 人兽性交 found that the average number of unique cast members per episode is mostly inversely proportionate to the total number of podcast episodes of any given show.

The data shows that even though podcasts with high episode counts, such as 鈥淭he Political Cesspool鈥� or 鈥淭he Daily Shoah,鈥� have a higher total cast member count (3,409 and 1,609 respectively, during the period analyzed by the 人兽性交), these shows have a low number of cast members per episode (2.69 and 2.68). The number of unique cast members 鈥� meaning cast members who had not appeared on other episodes of that podcast 鈥� was low as well. A little less than one out of three episodes of 鈥淭he Political Cesspool,鈥� for instance, featured a new cast member. Meanwhile, one in five episodes of 鈥淭he Daily Shoah鈥� featured a new guest.

Shows, episodes, and unique cast members, in order of Cast Count Per Episode