Neil Young Takes a Stand

And Spotify takes the money

THE WINNER

NEIL YOUNG

In a letter addressed to his manager and an executive at his record label, Neil Young, in protest over Spotify’s continuing to host Joe Rogan’s podcast despite the fact that Rogan* and his guests frequently spread COVID disinformation, asked that his catalog be removed from the streaming platform.

“I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” Young wrote. “Please act on this immediately today.”

Not surprisingly, Spotify acceded to Young’s request: they removed his music and kept Rogan’s show. The Joe Rogan Experience has been hosted exclusively by Spotify since 2020, after the streaming service made a deal with Rogan reportedly worth more than a $100 million. That might have something to do with it. And by “might” I mean “definitely does.”

Young writes further, “With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence. Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy. They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both."

Only a couple of weeks ago 270 doctors, scientists, and public health professionals wrote an open letter to Spotify about the dangers of Rogan’s efforts to discourage young people from getting vaccinated and of allowing his disinformation and to go uncontested.

Shortly after Spotify removed Young’s music, a spokesperson for the platform said, “We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.” I guess they don’t consider it disinformation if it makes them hundreds of millions of dollars.

You wrote:

“[I]t was absolutely BEAUTIFUL to see someone protect their life’s work … dedicated to love and beauty and truth …. against the horrific conspiratorial clickbait of fear and lies. I expect as much from Rogan. Sad but unsurprising to see Spotify pick its side.”

“[He] had the integrity this week to remove his art from a service that has no issue with letting detrimental misinformation flourish.”

“I think it's important for everyone, especially those with a wider platform, to speak up like this and I hope his decision spurs more to do so.”

In solidarity, Joni Mitchell also sought to remove her catalog. In a statement posted on her website she wrote, “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”

Yuzima Phillip announced his intention to follow Young’s lead in a facebook post:

Let’s hope it’s the beginning of an avalanche. But if your favorite artists don’t make the same move, remember that they may not have any control over which streaming services hosts their music.

* Let’s not forget that Rogan is a horrible racist which should have been enough to get him banished. On a recent a podcast episode with guest Jordan Peterson, a psychology professor (!) actually employed by the University of Toronto there was a bizarre discussion about the use of the terms “white’ and “black” to describe skin color. Rogan said that “unless you are talking to someone who is, like, 100% African from the darkest place where they are not wearing any clothes all day and they have developed all of that melanin to protect themselves from the sun, even the term Black is weird.” Eleven million listeners every week. Jesus Christ.

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RUNNER-UP

JUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER

Breyer’s decision to retire with slightly less than three years left in President Biden’s first term was met with almost universal relief on the left—and the usual hypocrisy and racism on the right. The idea that timing is everything was a major factor in your voting for him.

You praised him for making the move “before he dies on the Court and McConnell has power again to wreak havoc;” “for being a fair judge his whole career and for stepping down at a good time to give a democratic president and a democratic majority Senate a supreme court pick;” “for giving POTUS the ability to nominate an African American woman to the United States Supreme Court;” and for realizing “how fragile, and at risk our democracy has become; [he] is stepping down so the court stands a chance of being more reflective of the American people's values.”

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HONORABLE MENTION

ART SPIEGELMAN

This week a school board in Tennessee voted to remove Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer-prize winning graphic novel from its eight-grade curriculum citing “some rough, objectionable language” and the fact that it “shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids.” Silly, I guess, of Spiegelman not to tell a warmer, fuzzier version of—the Holocaust! The minutes from the board meeting are harrowing.

Some of your comments:

“I nominate [him] for drawing naked mice and getting modern day nazis tripping over themselves trying to ban anything that might teach a child empathy. And doing it in a way that still shakes me 20 years later.”

“I read Maus when it was published and made sure my 15 year old son read it when I homeschooled him. I hope all those who live where the book is banned get to read it anyway. (The church I was forced to go to as a child banned books which made me find them and read them.) It is important history told in an excellent medium.”

“Spiegelman . . . created a work of art that is an even more necessary read in our current moment. Bonus—his book is now an Amazon best-seller so the banning created a Streisand Effect.”

Thank you to anybody who went out and bought a copy of Maus, even if you already have one. I missed my opportunity and will have to wait until it’s back in stock.

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And thank you to everybody who shared poems and quotes. It was a wonderful way to spend a quiet, snowy day in New York City with Sebastian, Linden, Nemo, and Cap.