A pair of Chicago-based podcast hosts have spent the previous 5 years holding Jones and his Infowars community accountable. Their program, Information Combat, has produced greater than 700 episodes, and makes use of comedy to “minimize by loopy lies,” Stelter mentioned on Dependable Sources Sunday.
Hosts Dan Friesen and Jordan Holmes traveled to Texas to witness Jones’ trial first hand. Friesen mentioned essentially the most highly effective second contained in the courtroom was watching Jesse Lewis’ mother Scarlett Lewis give her testimony and communicate on to Jones.
“I believe it’s going to stick with just about everybody there for the remainder of their lives,” Friesen mentioned.
The co-hosts have been overlaying Jones since 2017, watching his transformation from a seemingly untouchable determine to at least one that’s now in severe authorized and monetary jeopardy.
“Throughout this entire stretch of time, his content material itself has been primarily hole,” Friesen mentioned. “Watching him from my perspective has gotten rather a lot much less fascinating.”
However regardless of Jones’ authorized woes, Holmes mentioned that the tradition he is helped engender has gotten rather a lot greater.
“Conspiracy tradition is one thing that’s created by the cracks of our common society,” Holmes mentioned.
And though their podcast focuses on scrutinizing Jones and his ways, Holmes mentioned the trial was actually concerning the victims.
“Individuals wish to deal with Alex being form of a bombastic character that we are able to mock and make enjoyable of, however this is not about him,” Holmes mentioned.
The podcast format permits the hosts to transcend Jones as a personality and dive into the mechanisms of what he is doing and why these conspiracy narratives exist.
“We method it with the understanding that it is a severe matter,” Friesen mentioned. “But additionally that so as to make it fascinating for anyone to hearken to, we’ve got to make it make one thing entertaining.”
Friesen has listened to numerous hours of Jones’ program, and calls it an “extremely boring expertise.”
“The explanation that I do it’s because I can abdomen that boredom,” Friesen mentioned. He endures the duty so as to assist others get insights into the misinformation phenomenon. “So that they might be in a spot the place they might higher perceive what Alex is doing and what he brings to the desk.”
Many hope that the authorized and monetary jeopardy Jones’ is now dealing with will assist curtail misinformation and conspiracy tradition. However Friesen is not satisfied it will likely be a extreme blow.
“The conspiracy producers and individuals who interact within the types of conduct that Alex does find yourself turning into somewhat bit savvier,” Friesen mentioned. “They find yourself studying the place the traces are … of what they’ll do and what they’ll get away with.”
