Understanding the Far-Right Podcast Ecosystem: Production, Politics, and Rhetoric

While podcasting is often praised for amplifying marginalized voices and fostering democratic discourse, it can also be a key tool for political indoctrination. This study explores the ways that the medium’s hallmarks – intimacy, reflexivity, and personal storytelling – have been strategically co-opted by extremist ideologues of far-right perspectives to spread conspiracy theories, hate speech, and exclusionary rhetoric. Analysis of two representative case studies that appeared at the top of a 2023 Brookings Report on false and unsubstantiated claims in podcasts illustrates how narrative conventions facilitate conspiracist ethno-populism in the far-right podcast ecosystem. Compared to centrist and progressive counterparts, far-right podcasts operate at a markedly higher volume and frequency, underscoring their growing influence within the conservative media sphere.