Grab Your Tin Foil Hat for The Onion's Takeover of Infowars

11 snips

Apr 24, 2026

Guest

Amy Goodman

Guest

David Gilbert

Amy Goodman, veteran independent journalist and Democracy Now! co-founder, reflects on four decades of investigative reporting. David Gilbert, Wired reporter on disinformation, unpacks MAGA backlash to Trump’s AI image and online conspiracy trends. They dig into religious politics, shifting loyalties, and The Onion’s takeover of InfoWars, plus plans to repurpose the site into comedy.

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INSIGHT

Trusted Rightwing Figures Fuel Butler Staged Theory

A narrative reversal made once-loyal figures now push conspiracies that the 2024 assassination attempt was staged.
Tucker Carlson, Joe Kent, Alex Jones, Candace Owens and Marjorie Taylor Greene amplified doubts, accelerating belief in a cover-up.

ANECDOTE

What Pushed The Onion To Buy InfoWars

Ben Collins recounts deciding to pursue InfoWars after hearing Alex Jones spread lies about Renee Good’s death, which galvanized him to act.
He negotiated with a state receiver to pay studio rent to preserve assets until acquisition.

ADVICE

Repurpose Toxic Brands By Owning And Redefining Them

Tim Heidecker recommends using InfoWars as a platform to both parody and repurpose the brand into a home for individual-voiced comedy.
He plans initial satire then long-term redefinition so Infowars becomes associated with films and comedy, not conspiracies.

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Earlier this month, Donald Trump posted an AI picture that seemed to depict him as Jesus Christ. On the week’s On the Media, why the image drew so much ire from Trump’s own followers. Plus, why The Onion, a satirical newspaper, is taking over the website of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with David Gilbert, reporter at WIRED covering disinformation and online extremism, to discuss the backlash among MAGA supporters to some of President Trump’s recent Truth Social posts, and how he is seeing more anger toward Trump in rightwing media spaces.

[15:49] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Ben Collins, CEO of Global Tetrahedron–the parent company of the satirical newspaper The Onion–about the long saga of trying to buy right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones’ media empire, InfoWars. Then, Micah chats with Tom Heidecker, newly named creative director of InfoWars, about how he plans to turn the website and studio into a place for comedy.

[30:55] Micah talks with Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, about “Steal This Story, Please!,” a new documentary about her forty-year career as an investigative journalist, radio host, and trailblazer of independent media. Plus, they discuss the often-blurred lines between activism and journalism, and why she prioritizes truth over access in her reporting.