TikTok Stars on the Politicians Begging Them for Exposure (From Question Everything)

Today we’re sharing an episode from KCRW’s Question Everything.

What happens when TikTokers replace TV hosts and interviewers, and presidential candidates start begging to be on their shows?

Question Everything host Brian Reed sits down in a Brooklyn wine shop with four of the internet’s biggest creators: Caleb Simpson, who gets people on the street to take him up to their apartments; Julian Shapiro-Barnum who interviews kids on Recess Therapy; Anania Williams of the LGBTQ quiz show Gaydar; and Jack Coyne, host of the music game show Track Star. Their videos reach more people than many major news outlets. But who gets control over what they run? When is money changing hands? What do they do when politicians like Kamala Harris and RFK Jr. come calling?

A frank conversation about the blurry grey area between this new form of entertainment and journalism.

Check out the Substack, with more reporting on the war over truth, free speech, and tech’s role in it all.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory.

The Sam Sanders Show from KCRW is your guide to entertainment. Find out what makes your favorite artists tick, dissect the trends that shape our culture, or just make sense of that random meme you can’t stop thinking about. Join us every week to unpack the pop culture we love.

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Sam Sanders is an award-winning podcast and radio host. He’s been named best podcast host by both The Ambies and the iHeart Podcast Awards. He was one of the founding hosts of The NPR Politics Podcast and the host who launched both It’s Been A Minute from NPR and Into It from Vulture.