Hey, it's Baratunde.

Thanks as always for reading my work here at Puck, our new media company covering the inside conversation at the intersection of Washington, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood.

Today, I'm sharing my thoughts about the Joe Rogan mess at Spotify—an entirely predictable media controversy that explains as much about the ruthless economic logic of the streaming industry as it does about our own consumption choices, let alone what it says about Rogan himself.

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My Joe Rogan Playlist

Nine thoughts on Spotify, “free speech,” deplatforming, and what the Rogan crisis really means.

It’s been a few weeks now, and I still don’t have a grand unified theory to explain Joe Rogan, misinformation, racism, and deplatforming. Instead, in the spirit of the platform on which this discussion is playing out, here’s my playlist of sometimes-contradictory thoughts about the entire situation.

1. This is not how I wanted to spend my Black History Month.

I usually look forward to Black History Month. It’s a time when companies try to flex their pro-Black bonafides by linking Civil Rights battles for freedom to our freedom to buy things we don’t need, or by making pledges to “elevate Black voices.” 

This month, however, many of us have been preoccupied by the decision of a company based in Sweden (very white) to invest millions in elevating an American podcaster (also very white) who has spread contrary takes on COVID-19 and used the N-word on multiple occasions over a multi-year period. The fact that this February is only 28 days long further heightens the misappropriation of these weeks. We have literally 11 other months to spend dissecting a white man’s potential racism, but no, we’re doing this now, apparently. 

2. The N-word is ours exclusively.

It should go without saying, but clearly we need to keep saying it: Unless you’re Black, you don’t get to say the N-word. Given the history of the United States, it’s especially fraught for white people to use this word, and anyone who pretends to not understand this is doing just that: pretending. I’m Black, and even I write and say “the N-word” much more than I would ever use the actual word. Yes, Black rappers say it a lot. No, that doesn’t mean you can. Haven’t Black folks given up enough to the broader culture? The Blues, barbeque, Barack Obama, and Kanye. We in the West collectively have let white people hold on to many things that weren’t theirs to take: indigenous lands, capital gains from slave labor, Brooklyn, and yoga. We’re holding on to this one word.

3. This isn’t about “silencing” ...

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