Breaking Free From Alex Jones
4/17/202658 min
In this episode of Galaxy Brain, Charlie Warzel speaks with Josh Owens, a videographer and the author of a memoir about his years working for Infowars, the media company of the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Owens traces his journey from a film-school student who stumbled onto Jones’s radio show to an insider who spent four years filming, editing, and traveling for the organization. Owens describes how Jones’s conspiracy machine works, as well as how his own moral compass was scrambled by Jones’s manipulative management. The conversation explores radicalization, the conspiratorial media ecosystem Jones helped create, and how Owens was able to pull himself out. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at theAtlantic.com/listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Showing 10 of 11Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSterling Hayden· Soundbite0:00
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Speaker 20:07
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Sterling Hayden· Soundbite0:18
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Charlie Warzel· Host0:20
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Speaker 20:22
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Speaker 40:29
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Josh Owens· Guest0:59
Jones was n- not sitting there telling us to lie about things. He was making us question our own minds. After years in that environment, you stop even believing the fire alarms that are going off in your brain, saying, like, "This is insane. This is crazy. This is wrong." And you think, "Maybe there's something else that I'm not seeing."
Unknown speaker1:25
[pensive music]