Penske Media Corporation founder Jay Penske. (Photo by Simon Galloway/LAT Images for Formula E)
Earlier this year, the long-running Hollywood film and television awards show, the Golden Globes, announced it will present an inaugural Best Podcast award at the upcoming 83rd annual ceremony. Then, this month, the awards show—owned and operated by Penske Media Corporation—unveiled a slate of 25 podcasts eligible for the new honor. Helen Hoehne, the president of the Globes, celebrated the list, declaring that it reflected “the incredible depth, diversity and creativity thriving in the podcasting world today.”
Among the programs selected by Penske’s Luminate were podcasting mainstays such as “Call Her Daddy,” “The Daily,” and “The Bill Simmons Show.” But also included were some questionable selections, like those belonging to Joe Rogan, Megyn Kelly, and Theo Von. And, more surprising, were the inclusions of right-wing extremists Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, two figures who have built lucrative empires on polluting the information environment and attacking the very cultural institutions that the Globes purport to celebrate.
On its own, the fact that media mogul Jay Penske would allow his awards show to nominate figures who spend their days radicalizing audiences and inflaming the culture wars is troubling enough. But Penske has now gone even further. According to a pitch deck sent to at least some of the shows eligible for the awards and obtained by Status, Penske’s company is…
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