If you have been unnerved by the shifts in the current political climate and are racking your brain asking why is Trump president? Why is Britain leaving the EU? Why are more people becoming conservative? Chances are you are either asking these questions in order to signal to everyone that you are not a racist deplorable or, you genuinely have no idea and therefore have sought out answers by tuning into political discussions on YouTube channels like “The Rubin Report.”

Dave Rubin invites reputable guests on his show in order to discuss current affairs, feminism, cryptocurrency, postmodernism, abortion, LGBTQIA, academia, freedom of speech, values, religion, and culture.

Some of his guests include human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, clinical psychiatrist Jordan Peterson, conservatives Lauren Southern, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Ben Shapiro and the award-winning, unbiased journalist Tim Pool.

The popularity of the show

The channel currently has over 600,000 subscribers. Viewers praise Rubin’s likable personality that fosters friendly debates in a mature and civil environment. His aim is to expose his audience to a wide variety of viewpoints that challenge ideas as opposed to a bias, indoctrination-style echo chamber. This approach is appreciated by his audience, as it respects their critical thinking capability.

Another reason why it loved is due to the abundance of diversity.

However, it is unlikely that this result has been achieved deliberately, as Rubin is not a supporter of identity politics. He urges people to truly embrace Martin Luther King Jr’s message and judge people by "the content of their character" and ideas, instead of labels. He quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in a tweet (Jan 15). This is an admirable position to uphold and it is clear that equal treatment is given to every one of his guests regardless of disagreements.

The problem with the show

Unfortunately, it is diversity in the form of thought that has made “The Rubin Report” subject to demonetization on YouTube. This year has not gotten off to a great start.

His first interview of the year with conservative Ben Shapiro was demonetized (Jan 4).

The second video was demonetized when Rubin outlined his concerns about Oprah becoming president in 2020 (Jan 9).

Later that day, YouTube struck again and demonetized a third video involving an interview with NY Times bestseller Michael Shermer.

They discussed skepticism, abortion, and morality (Jan 9).

The trend continued when he uploaded a video criticizing socialism (Jan 18).

Twitter and Google may be guilty of political and economic censorship on their platforms over the past year.

Hope is not lost

Regular guest Gad Saad, who specializes in evolutionary behavioral science, predicted that shows like Rubin’s would eventually become mainstream. As mainstream media becomes unpopular a gap in the market is imminent. What better way is there than to fill it with a diverse, open-minded, and progressive show that bridges gaps between political polarisation?

If this is part of an evolutionary process, then perhaps the future is not all doom and gloom. Hopefully, demonetization is only a momentary setback for the talk show.
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