The Rubin Report

''The Rubin Report'' is a conservative political news talk show hosted by Dave Rubin, airing on BlazeTV and YouTube. The full audio of each episode is additionally available for download as a podcast. In the show, Rubin interviews authors, activists, journalists, comedians, actors, and professors.

As of March 2021, ''The Rubin Report'' YouTube channel had more than 340 million views.

History

Dave Rubin left ''The Six Pack'' radio show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio in New York City in 2013 to launch a political talk show called ''The Rubin Report'' in Los Angeles, California. His show was originally syndicated on The Young Turks Network, where he was also a frequent stand-in host and commentator. In 2014 he began to have a fall-out with The Young Turks after they began criticizing Sam Harris and Bill Maher after Maher and Harris had gotten into a tense exchange with Ben Affleck about the relation between terrorism and Islamic doctrine.

On October 23, 2014 Sam Harris sat down for three hours of debate with Cenk Uygur, the founder of The Young Turks. Rubin described some of his frustrations with that exchange as follows: "The way he (Uygur) became the leader of the group just relentlessly lying about Sam, and then to sit there for three hours with the guy and just double down on every lie—it showed just such a flaw in character." Rubin subsequently left The Young Turks in March 2015. Harris was the guest on the first full-length episode of ''The Rubin Report'' in September 2015.Rosen, Armin (June 20, 2016)
"Dave Rubin, the Voice of Liberals Who Were Mugged by Progressives"
''Tablet''.

In 2015, the show briefly moved to RYOT News. In August 2015, Larry King's Ora TV picked up the show which debuted on September 9, 2015. ''The Rubin Report'' became the network's third political commentary show alongside '' PoliticKING with Larry King'' and Jesse Ventura's ''Off the Grid''.

On June 13, 2016, Rubin announced in a YouTube video he and his crew were leaving Ora TV and founding his own independent production company to continue ''The Rubin Report'' on YouTube.

In May 2018, ''The Rubin Report'' received funds of more than $30,000 per month on Patreon.

In 2019, ''The Rubin Report'' became available on BlazeTV, a conservative subscription video service run by Glenn Beck.

In 2020, Rubin moved the site to Locals, a crowdfunding platform he cofounded.

The show is partially funded by George Mason University's Institute for Humane Studies.

Format

From 2013 to 2015, ''The Rubin Report'' featured a panel of two guests and covered weekly news stories. After launching on Ora TV in 2015, the show shifted to discussing ideas relating to politics and religion through one on one interviews and monologues from Rubin. ''The Rubin Report'' consists of three segments: Direct Message, The Sit Down, and The Panel.

* "The Direct Message" segment is a monologue delivered by Rubin that opens each episode. The segment features Rubin's personal views on the topic that will be discussed with the guest or panel in that episode.
* "The Sit Down" segment features a one-on-one interview between Rubin and the guest. Guests are usually authors, journalists, comedians, or professors.
* "The Panel" segment features a panel of two guests and focuses on a theme within current events.

Politics

On ''The Rubin Report'', Rubin identifies as a conservative. Rubin previously identified as a classical liberal and as a progressive while he was affiliated with The Young Turks.

The show often focuses on criticizing elements within the progressive movement, which he refers to as the "regressive left", a term coined by activist Maajid Nawaz. Rubin has stated that "regressives are the left's version of the tea party", and has characterized progressivism as a "mental disorder." According to Rubin, his show "has become a hub for misunderstood or canceled people or to-be-canceled people to express themselves honestly".

Reception

In August 2016, an article in ''The Daily Telegraph'' said ''The Rubin Report'' "understands the importance of open debate", had a "rebellious appeal" and "outspoken-but-interesting" guests such as John McCain, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Tommy Robinson. Fans of the show support Rubin for his willingness to have open dialogue with academics, ex-Muslims, disaffected progressives, as well as fringe alt-right figures.

According to an article in ''The Daily Beast'', Rubin has "positively platformed and appeared with bigots, ultra-nationalist identitarians, and hoax conspiracy theorists". An article in ''Der Spiegel'' said Rubin's show "provides a platform for alt-right voices in a pseudo-credible setting." Guests on ''The Rubin Report'' have included alt-right figureheads such as Stefan Molyneux, Milo Yiannopoulos and conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson.

An article in ''Tablet'' said Rubin "almost never tries to convince his guests that they're wrong". Journalist Cathy Young, who has been a guest on ''The Rubin Report'' and praised Rubin's interview with James Damore, said Rubin's style of "asking his guests sympathetic questions, almost never challenging them, and often reinforcing their answers with enthusiastic agreement" was unsuccessful when interviewing guests who were unreasonable or misrepresented themselves. Young gave the example of Stefan Molyneux who, despite his "long record of misogyny and racism", "masquerades as a rational 'new centrist'."

According to ''The Daily Beast'', Rubin's show hosted an "uncritical" interview with Lauren Southern where she accused the Canadian Nazi Party of being "backed up and egged on" by a Jewish organisation that wanted more "hate crimes to point out".Fisher, Anthony L. (May 18, 2018)
"Free-Speech True Believer Dave Rubin, the Top Talker of the ‘Intellectual Dark Web,’ Doesn’t Want to Talk About His Own Ideas"
''The Daily Beast''. ''The Daily Beast'' article said "at its worst moments, 'The Rubin Report''is essentially a re-packaging of reactionary disinformation in a shiny, smiling, high-definition talk show pageant." Political commentator Nathan J. Robinson in a ''Current Affairs'' article described ''The Rubin Report'' as "Dave Rubin’s slobbering sycophantic interview show".

Rubin said his non-confrontational interviewing style was inspired by Larry King. King said Rubin was "smart and passionate" about politics but he had a different style since Rubin was more "open to giving his opinions".

Sam Harris has indicated to Rubin that he believes ''The Rubin Report'' has not devoted enough criticism to Trumpism.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin Report
English-language television shows
2013 American television series debuts
2010s American television news shows
2020s American television news shows
American non-fiction web series
Web talk shows
Libertarianism in the United States
Conservative media in the United States