Rosie Cima as Rockstar: The Interview. Part 1

We made it to Sunday!

Because even I can't write about Nazis all the time, here's something a little more fun: an interview with long-time friend, ex-roommate, journalist, and band leader Rosie Cima. There are lots of interviews with Rosie out there, but I think this one is the best.

Rosie Cima as Rockstar: The Interview. Part 1 - The Most Important Podcast

Finally, some rock and roll! I talk to my old friend and ex-roommate Rosie Cima about her band, her songs, and her love of songwriting workshops. We learn about whether you should tell your band about your breakups, and I get some of the best advi…

Buzzsprout

And you can (and should) check out the band, too.

Rosie Cima & What She Dreamed

Official website of Rosie Cima & What She Dreamed -- four-piece rock band based in Washington, D.C. Songwriter and frontwoman Rosie Cima combines forces with Steven Burch (The Sock Market (PGH)), Barrett Browne, and Mashaal Ahmed to create original folk-inspired indie rock in the vein of Big Thief, Angel Olsen, and Hop Along.

Rosie Cima

I think that rock and roll speaks for itself, but there's more reason to talk about it than that. You may have read this recent piece by Media Matters, which describes the truly ludicrous degree to which online media on the Left are outgunned by online media on the Right; it's worse than 2:1. It's pretty disheartening – but there's also a lot of strategy implicit in it. Namely: nobody has the ability to listen to "politics" all the time. But just about any content can be "political" – and it's actually the non-political subjects on which the Right really excels.

The right dominates the online media ecosystem, seeping into sports, comedy, and other supposedly nonpolitical spaces

As Americans increasingly get their news from online shows and streamers, the influence of this media ecosystem becomes more prominent — and Media Matters has found that the most popular of this content is overwhelmingly right-leaning.In a new study, Media Matters assessed the audience size of popular online shows — podcasts, streams, and other long-form audio and video content regularly posted online. To do so, we gathered data on the number of followers, subscribers, and views across streaming platforms (YouTube, Spotify, Rumble, Twitch, and Kick) and social media platforms that are used to amplify and promote these shows (Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok). Apple Podcasts does not publicly provide follower counts on its platform, so it was not included in the audience data.This analysis was based on 320 online shows with a right-leaning or left-leaning ideological bent. We found that right-leaning online shows dominate the ecosystem, with substantially larger audiences on both politics/news shows and supposedly nonpolitical shows that we determined often platformed ideological content or guests.Key findings:We found 320 online shows — 191 right-leaning and 129 left-leaning — that were active in 2024 and covered news and politics and/or had related guests. These shows had at least 584.6 million total followers and subscribers.We found substantial asymmetry in total following across platforms: Right-leaning online shows had at least 480.6 million total followers and subscribers — nearly five times as many as left-leaning.Across platforms — YouTube, Rumble, Twitch, Kick, Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok — right-leaning online shows accounted for roughly 82% of the total following of the online shows we assessed.Comparatively, left-leaning online shows had nearly 104 million followers and subscribers across the eight platforms — nearly five times less.Nine out of the 10 online shows with the largest followings across platforms were right-leaning, with a total following of more than 197 million. The only left-leaning show among the top 10 was What Now? with Trevor Noah, which had 21.1 million total followers and subscribers across platforms.Our analysis — which looked entirely at shows with an ideological bent — found over a third self-identify as nonpolitical, even though 72% of those shows were determined to be right-leaning. Instead, these shows describe themselves as comedy, entertainment, sports, or put themselves in other supposedly nonpolitical categories.Out of 320 online shows, right-leaning programs categorized as comedy — 15 shows in all — had 117.5 million followers and subscribers, or 20% of the total following of all programs we assessed. This category included The Joe Rogan Experience, This Past Weekend with Theo Von, and Full Send Podcast.Right-leaning shows accounted for two-thirds of the total YouTube views on videos from channels affiliated with the shows we assessed — 65 billion views in total. Comparatively, left-leaning online shows totaled 31.5 billion total views.Right-leaning shows use Rumble to expand their audience — gaining millions of subscribers and billions of views for their content.

Media Matters for AmericaKayla Gogarty

What I mean is, in terms of shows that MM categorized as "Society and Culture," which is the biggest for both sides, the Left is only behind by a bit: 16% of the total shows counted, vs 21% of the total, on the Right. But it's when the other categories start getting added in too that the Right really pulls ahead. Shows that carried Conservative stories (like the idea that Masculinity is in danger) were categorized as things like Gaming, Sports, Health+Wellness, and Religion+Spirituality – every one of which aren't topics that even register on the Left side. In particular, politically Right shows on Religion+Spirituality take up almost 10% of the total of the entire ecosystem – and the Left doesn't even have enough to show up on the piechart.

I believe the true lesson of course is that the Left needs to sell itself, and its ideas, which are better, dramatically more, at every opportunity, with everyone pitching in, all the time. And that getting over a discomfort or distaste with this is a critical, and often very personal, challenge.

There's also an important lesson about the distinction between Messages, which are specific collections of words that the Left loves to research and hone and test and fine-tune, and Stories, which are basic ideas about the world that can be expressed in personalized and context-dependent ways by anyone who agrees with them. They are stronger, deeper, more lasting, and ultimately more influential. For the Right, "Men are under attack" is a story. For the Left, I foundationally believe that "Progressive values makes life better" can be, and should be, one of those stories that we work to embed in the culture, in every place we can squeeze it.

But the most important lesson may also be, it's ok to have fun in the process! The Right has been successful with creating not just a large number of broadcast channels, but a series of communities where people come to enjoy themselves, not just to Advance the Cause – which, we all know, can just be exhausting. So as I introduce interviews with musicians, share my own musical journey, and maybe even get into some of my more questionable hobbies like knife throwing, I hope you'll see the broader picture: that Making the World Better is not just a newsletter but a way of life, and that life has to have some fun. (So of course, if you do not find this fun, please actually let me know.) It's all part of The Plan.

And of course, thank you for doing your part:

If you made it this far, and you haven't subscribed yet, I'd like to ask as a personal favor that you please subscribe, and share the newsletter with people you know. If I don't know that someone is listening, I have no reason to keep writing – and if I can't pay my rent, I have no ability to keep writing. With my profound gratitude to everyone, both paid and free.

If we make it to Tuesday, I'll see you Tuesday.