“Almost Unlistenable” Bannon’s War Room Becomes Top Apple Podcast

By David Andrew Stoler, February 21, 2023

Anyone who’s been paying attention – or reading the New York Times – knows by now that Steve Bannon is a black hole of paranoia, conspiracy theories, and what some refer to as “misinformation,” a.k.a. lies. But to give his War Roompodcast a listen for any amount of time is to enter a Mxyzptlk-world that is frankly awe-inspiring in its commitment to the obsessions that marked the Trump presidency: China Bad, Biden Bad, Left Wing Media Traitorous.

Bannon, who as you no doubt know rose as far as White House Chief Strategist under President Trump, and who is now in ever-deeper hot water for cheap tricks ranging from basic charlatanry to (alleged) outright theft, cut his teeth inspiring a proto-Trump movement as Executive Chairman of Breitbart News. But if you think his influence flat-lined when he left the White House or became a Wanted Man, think again: Bannon’s War Room – which publishes new episodes multiple-times per day – rank’s fourth this week in Apple’s political podcast list according to Chartable.

The Song Remains the Same

For such a prodigious podcast, it is also almost unlistenable, filled with non-sequiturs, twisted metaphors, and seemingly random sound bites. For example, Episode 2511(!), “Closing In On 1 Year Of The War In Ukraine” begins with what is presumably the sound of Ukrainian machine guns and soldiers, punctuated not by Bannon’s explanation but long bouts of dead air. Why? Unclear, as it segues directly into a long outtake of an MSNBC interview of former U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke discussing the recently shot down air balloon. Bannon at least references this in a long diatribe about the imminent “conflagration” with China. In doing so, however, he again fills his tirade with lies – that Joe Biden’s IQ is under 100, that China builds 50 coal plants every month, that six million illegal immigrants entered the U.S. in the last year alone, to name a few.

More than anything, though, what strikes one about Bannon is how trapped in the past he seems to be. Other episodes from earlier this month read like a catalog of greatest hits circa 2016:

Episode 2496: Capitol Hill Is in Bed with the CCP: “Do you think it’s random that the House inquiry into Hunter Biden’s laptop starts on Wednesday morning…before Blinken was to kowtow to Xi?”

Episode 2498: The Breakdown of the Next World War: “Why did they suppress the laptop from hell with Twitter?”

Episode 2508: First-Hand Reports of FBI Corruption: “What people forget is that the McCarthy hearing and the House Un-American Activities [Committee] were quite productive in terfing out communists…. It should have gone further.”

Episode 2509: Rico Cases Against Twitter’s Influence: Laura Loomer “is going to prove collusion and working together [of Twitter and the U.S. Government] to suppress the reality of the 2020 presidential election.”

And that’s just a few of the 20 episodes released during the week of February 6.

Steve Bannon: Prom King

Ultimately, Bannon is like the guy who was Prom King in 1988 and hasn’t done anything since. When he announces the date at the beginning of every episode it sounds like he’s surprised. He then spends most of his time hammering the same points that steered his Trump-era platform: we are about to enter World War III with China; Ukraine – led by “the poison dwarf” (Ep. 2497) – has no hope of winning against Russia and is also leading us into World War III; and his own Twitter banishment is proof of a government conspiracy to keep the people down…and will likely lead to World War III.

Laugh if you will at this weary list of Trumpian obsessions, but the podcast remains extremely influential. Bannon claims it has been downloaded 135 million times, believe it or, well, not.

David Andrew Stoler’s writing has appeared in the Guardian, Politico, and McSweeney’s, among many others. He is the founder of misanthropictures, an independent film company whose award-winning work tells the stories of the traditionally underrepresented.

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