Western Standard - BC's Kid Carson on cancel culture, mainstream media & his new platform.

00:00:00.000 Hey there, how's it going Mr. Carson? How are you Corey? Nice to see you. Yes, good to see you.

00:00:04.840 I've been listening to your podcast but I get to meet you face to face here somewhat I guess

00:00:09.100 in a virtual sense. So welcome to the show. Thank you. What a time to be alive brother.

00:00:15.760 Oh boy, yeah well you know for a guy like me who makes a living out of ranting I mean they give me

00:00:19.580 lots of stuff to work with so I should be thankful for that but it's pretty miserable for the rest

00:00:23.840 of the people having to live through it. I feel the same way with content for my podcast. I'm

00:00:28.880 never gonna run out. We've got a little bit of a journey ahead of us I think. Yeah well and you've

00:00:34.080 sort of changed formats so I mean just to give some background to people who aren't familiar with you

00:00:38.560 you'd been in media for some time but you were with a music format station but you'd still speak

00:00:44.020 you know on issues and things in between right? Yeah I mean I introduce songs on the radio it's

00:00:48.260 not a very complicated job and you know part of my job is to to connect with the audience and

00:00:53.500 speak about things that are relevant and and but a lot of silliness as well as as the

00:00:58.700 stereotypical morning radio show DJ giving away money and you know playing fun contests

00:01:03.900 but you know part of connecting with your audiences is reflecting what's happening in the world

00:01:09.080 and it started to get to the point where you know I wasn't able to speak about the things

00:01:16.260 that were going on and at that point you start to feel like your audience is going to perceive

00:01:20.980 you as being disconnected or out to lunch or with your head in the sand and then I started to realize

00:01:26.920 the media landscape around me is like that and I didn't want to be a part of that so I'd really

00:01:32.920 hoped that I could sprinkle in a little bit of what we call the truth to my audience and anytime I did

00:01:38.920 the reaction for me personally in my Instagram with DMs and emails and messages and tweets

00:01:43.540 was phenomenal however it obviously uh didn't fly very well with the uh with the management

00:01:49.120 no and that story is common in a lot of areas and I mean uh you know and you didn't even go in my

00:01:54.620 view terribly deeply into issues in that you just you know express some things break up some shows

00:01:58.860 and we see that trend a lot like I I listen to a lot of music but I would talk radio listener or at

00:02:03.280 least I used to be a lot because that's right a lot of political things when I'd work I'd listen

00:02:06.580 and that's where you'd expect to hear that kind of discourse and and things and it has gone

00:02:11.240 to to crap to be blunt because talk show hosts are afraid of shaking things up I mean that used

00:02:17.420 to be the basis of things is is exploring concepts and policies and going into them and not necessarily

00:02:22.840 agreeing but we've see uh I don't know if you're familiar with Daniel Smith she was a host out here

00:02:26.760 in Alberta she ended up so many clashes with a station management she had to quit um she's on her

00:02:32.120 own and sort of podcasting now as well but it's those those pressures that keep coming on and and it's

00:02:37.200 unfortunate because we're getting a very uh dull vanilla world of discourse out there and it's to

00:02:42.200 our detriment it's a very strange time these last couple of years because you know as a as a media

00:02:48.800 personality you know we do have we have coaches and uh consultants that come in and and tell us how

00:02:53.920 we can grow our audience and one of the big big things that I was always told is yeah if you can

00:02:58.880 ruffle the feathers and get people uh to react you know if you can make someone laugh that's powerful but

00:03:05.660 if you can make someone cry or get angry that's also really powerful and so I always used I dipped

00:03:11.480 into those sort of uh bag of tricks when I'd be introducing uh you know sort of silly topics and

00:03:16.760 you try to divide the audience you try to polarize people so that they're intrigued and interested in

00:03:21.620 the conversation but suddenly these these topics that um have come up with with the um pandemic it's

00:03:29.040 like if you even go there if you ruffle those feathers you're shut down and it starts to make you

00:03:34.520 really feel uh uncomfortable in your in your stomach you think well why why why can't I engage

00:03:41.200 in these conversations people want to I mean we're all on Instagram we can see the conversations

00:03:46.560 happening we can see the mothers you know debating in their Facebook groups uh whether or not they

00:03:51.840 should get their kids vaccinated um you know I wanted to be able to present both sides of the story

00:03:57.120 and um but you're just not allowed to like that's it's almost creepy well it is I mean there's always

00:04:04.180 been a push I think there's always been human nature in some individuals that they would rather

00:04:07.320 just shut down contrary opinion than debate it and that's just natural but they never had so much

00:04:12.580 power it seems as they have today I mean before they could scream and try and shut people down but

00:04:16.700 it wouldn't happen but I mean the term is cancel culture and it's very real and it and it's it's

00:04:21.980 shutting things down I mean you don't have to agree with somebody you should be able to debate it I mean

00:04:25.960 if they're that far off the edge if they're that wrong talk about it don't shut them down

00:04:31.200 especially when there's so much evidence to show there's another opinion that's very valid

00:04:36.580 you know uh the cancel culture is not just for media personalities and and censoring people on

00:04:42.080 Instagram it's like doctors that are coming out scientists that are coming out they're being shut

00:04:47.360 down um you know it's it's a very I just uh interviewed a guy yesterday that's gonna be on my podcast uh

00:04:53.240 probably later today uh Dr. Steven Pellick from University of British Columbia this guy is like

00:04:58.800 I mean imagine a simpleton radio host trying to interview a scientist at a university um it's not

00:05:05.280 only intimidating but it was my mind was melting with what he's telling me and he's like these facts

00:05:11.220 that I'm sharing with you are out there everyone knows what's happening so him reading the mainstream

00:05:17.740 headlines I mean uh he's beside himself that you know this information is in front of uh Bonnie Henry

00:05:23.600 it's in front of all the other people making these decisions um yet they're choosing to hide it you

00:05:29.040 know bury it and um and ignore it so dude I don't know I don't know what's next but all I know for me

00:05:34.740 personally I couldn't just sit by and become the guy that uh is uh looks oblivious or up to lunch you

00:05:40.720 know um although I've been interpreted in a few different ways um I see that there is a an

00:05:47.320 insatiable appetite for just some authenticity for some truth and for being curious it's not like I

00:05:53.500 know all the answers but I'm curious like I want to know why it's so weird that I would want to present

00:05:59.240 another opinion why is that a bad thing so if we ask more questions if we get involved in just honest

00:06:05.000 mature adult debate I think I mean that's where we need to go well and you know as you pointed out

00:06:12.520 I mean there's an audience for it I mean I don't know how often I get it as well when I've gotten

00:06:16.160 a good guest on and they talk and people say oh I I am so happy I was able to hear that I can't hear

00:06:21.780 this person anywhere else I find them on YouTube I I see them on Twitter but you don't see them on

00:06:26.380 CTV or CBC or any of our main outlets anymore I mean the people want to hear it and it's showing

00:06:32.740 I mean it's giving me hope though that because we're finding ways to bypass it I mean to look at

00:06:36.680 the the the biggest example in North America has got to be Joe Rogan I mean there's people are livid

00:06:41.400 with him and you know Rogan himself is rarely actually said to too many controversial things it's

00:06:46.340 guests that he's brought on uh which again right or wrong he's there to ask them he's inquiring

00:06:52.620 and uh it's putting it out there but people don't even want that discussion to happen and that's

00:06:57.320 that's distressing Joe Rogan is arguably the the greatest content producer on the planet right now

00:07:04.060 his ratings are I think I don't know like 11 million a day 11 million people and just dominating

00:07:11.660 mainstream um the next guy to go solo will probably be Tucker Carlson you know I mean uh

00:07:17.480 because his ratings are and he's fantastic at what he does you know 3 million a night compared

00:07:23.400 to 11 million with Joe Rogan so it's only a matter of time before he goes independent more people end

00:07:28.540 up doing that it's disappointing though Corey because there's something about there's something

00:07:32.940 magical about mainstream I don't know if it's nostalgia you know the way we grew up with it and it was

00:07:36.900 always the truth um you it's frustrating to not see your your beliefs represented in mainstream media

00:07:46.840 because there's something to it almost validates it in some way validates it with your friends your

00:07:51.020 neighbors your your you know family members co-workers that that you that you matter that

00:07:56.000 your opinion matters and when it's not in mainstream media um you end up feeling like a crazy person

00:08:02.180 like I've looked at myself in the mirror going I wish I didn't know what I knew because now I'm like

00:08:06.900 a nut job I'm the mayor of nutsville so when you have someone and that's what really motivated me to

00:08:12.580 although it was short-lived to uh say something on the radio that's public that's mainstream

00:08:17.260 that's a pop music station uh playing Bruno Mars and all the rest is that for so many people it was

00:08:23.540 like oh my god this opinion was represented in the mainstream I'm not crazy um and of course now I'm

00:08:31.200 off in the corner doing a podcast but the way the people have found me and and reached out and said

00:08:36.280 yeah thanks for for at least it was even if it was one or two blurbs on the air um you gave me a little

00:08:41.140 bit of hope you know so yeah you're right though it's great that we can find ways around the

00:08:46.040 mainstream I think people are waking up especially after what happened in Ottawa we've the trust has

00:08:50.140 been lost and people are going to be seeking out uh truth tellers wherever they are yeah well and

00:08:56.100 and people are gaining a new audience and some commenters are already saying they'd listened to

00:09:00.420 your uh podcast with the accountant it was very widespread and appreciated by people I mean it sounds

00:09:06.480 like it'd be dry subject matter but no it's very actually engaging I mean if you're talking about an

00:09:11.360 audit of a downtown business or something maybe it'd be a little dull but we're talking about some big

00:09:15.640 dollars and some crazy stuff going on on the front and nobody else is talking about it uh and people

00:09:20.940 are happy to hear somebody is that's a great episode actually um even when I'm interviewing

00:09:25.940 these people sometimes I wonder oh is it going to be is it going to be dry that guy was great and the

00:09:30.180 episode is called what happened to the convoy money on my uh podcast channel but I mean this guy was in

00:09:35.760 the room he's describing how people are coming in with fists loads of cash after the uh GoFundMe and the

00:09:43.140 give send go accounts were shut down people were showing up in Ottawa and just throwing money on a

00:09:47.680 stage and volunteers are like picking up the cash coming in and that they they don't even want to

00:09:52.760 touch it because they they feel guilty or or they don't want to be there's just so much love in the

00:09:57.600 air so people come in and dump the cash on a table and then this accountant guy's like

00:10:00.980 okay um bundle up into envelopes let's hand it out to the truckers I mean what he saw behind the scenes

00:10:08.780 um is it's it's so interesting that's so far my most listened to episode people just uh love it

00:10:15.480 but he really gives an insight into uh Tamara and who is still I believe in jail um without bail

00:10:21.800 he gives a real insight into how she got involved and it wasn't really meant to happen that way she was

00:10:26.700 just starting a fundraiser to help the truckers because of her savviness on social media she 1.00

00:10:31.940 ended up becoming the face of the convoy which was never meant to be her thing um anyways it's a

00:10:37.240 it's a fantastic interview I'm glad that your uh your audience has has checked it out that's cool

00:10:41.700 absolutely and we're getting uh voices out that couldn't get there before uh and I think the

00:10:47.220 mainstream really overplayed themselves a lot over this whole convoy thing I mean it was actually I got

00:10:52.320 to admit in a self-serving sense for the western standard we gained more subscribers in this last month

00:10:56.340 than you know in in many months of effort before I mean we'd been doing well but it spiked us because

00:11:01.180 people and the same thing we're hearing from them oh I just can't turn the tv on anymore I can't open

00:11:05.520 the paper uh I mean I watched that ctv or no cbc one when when a host was implying that there was

00:11:11.840 russian involvement in the money going to the convoy like this is our our state broadcaster you guys I

00:11:16.640 mean come on it's become like tmz in a sense yeah and definitely an agenda I mean there's always been

00:11:23.880 some media bias that's reality there's leanings but to get so flagrant it really soured people I

00:11:29.880 think they overplayed their hand uh another area though that we see a lot in and now that you're

00:11:34.100 moving into that world with podcasts and things is uh you know they used to call them the intellectual

00:11:37.780 dark web and it's tied in with joe rogan and peterson and god sod and a lot of those uh professors

00:11:44.120 and such you know they're from universities they've been canceled in their own schools quite often and

00:11:48.200 that's a another disturbing area because this is the next generation coming up and they're getting an 1.00

00:11:52.940 incredibly slanted worldview as they go through higher education uh but at least these professors

00:11:58.520 aren't just canceled and shunted out they're actually getting out and bypassing the filters

00:12:03.080 of the mainstream media and the filters of their educational institutions and they're reaching a lot

00:12:06.540 of people it's shocking I've been a joe rogan fan for a long time and you know don't agree with

00:12:12.900 everything you don't ever agree with everything that someone says but I mean in my opinion that guy

00:12:18.060 always held his guests feet to the fire you know he's got to produce he's famous for his catchphrase

00:12:23.040 you know pull it up jamie on the screen or whatever he's got a producer in real time you know okay

00:12:27.680 you're saying that's a fact let's pull up the document where is it tell us the website they pull

00:12:31.680 it up they review it in real time I mean his interviews often go for you know two or three hours

00:12:35.400 long because he is fact checking as he goes um and I think a lot of his um apologetic tone lately

00:12:42.060 is because now that he's really moved into the mainstream with with the Spotify deal um you know

00:12:47.620 he's no longer on the fringe in the fringe you can pretty much do whatever you want once you're in the

00:12:51.480 mainstream now um people come after you so uh you know he's had to really lately in the last few weeks

00:12:58.020 be much more balanced and I can even hear the way his interview style is he's very very smart the way

00:13:03.320 he does it it almost seems like um he's arguing against his guest but to draw out more of the of the

00:13:09.320 facts you know so um he's he's a genius it's no it's no doubt no wonder that he's uh at the top of

00:13:14.820 his game and the number one broadcaster now in the world oh yeah I mean he's a great interviewer I mean

00:13:19.760 for people who haven't listened to his shows I mean part of it what's it what's subtle with it is is

00:13:23.640 he's genuinely engaged that's what's making it worth listening and he's not gonna overrun his guest

00:13:28.080 he's curious he's he takes his questions where they will take him because he's genuinely wants to get

00:13:33.460 an answer out of it doesn't mean he agrees with the guest but he he's pulling more information out of

00:13:37.860 them and he's very good at it and it makes it a good listen I mean I couldn't pull off a show for

00:13:41.880 three and a half hours I would bore everybody right to tears after uh you know after an hour and a half

00:13:46.780 they're already starting to drop off on me here so uh for for him to actually gain followers and make

00:13:51.660 such an engaging thing but and again these platforms didn't exist 20 years ago you know there

00:13:55.920 was no such thing as an independent show that could be so long and so in depth and uh like I said it's a

00:14:00.600 frustrating time but it's an exciting one I I mean the whole world is open to uh new new views now and

00:14:05.160 it's gonna be hard to stop us yeah even for myself I mean thank god technology is where it is now where

00:14:11.460 you know guys like us can can can reach the world and reach you know thousands of people um you know

00:14:16.780 a few years ago I would have been dead in the water um for expressing my views and and maybe I

00:14:22.020 wouldn't have had the courage to say something to be honest because you know I have three kids

00:14:25.720 I have a four-year-old I have an eight-year-old and a 17-year-old stepdaughter

00:14:28.620 and uh you know my number one job is to provide for them um but with people now I mean my Instagram

00:14:34.840 account has been steady around 30,000 people for for a while and then after this within less than a

00:14:41.220 week I jumped to you know I think I'm just I think I just passed 70,000 and for me I just I can't even

00:14:46.920 it's mind-boggling I don't know how real famous people do it with their millions of followers my 70,000

00:14:52.740 I'm trying to message people back and I'm trying it's just but and I had a basically a lump in my

00:14:58.080 throat for the first two weeks non-stop I mean legit like getting teary-eyed reading some of these

00:15:04.660 messages it has made me feel although I've lost my job and that's a whole another scary topic um it has

00:15:11.520 made me feel like I'm getting paid in love if that I know that sounds a little corny um I feel more

00:15:19.240 relevant now these last uh two or three weeks than I have for the last two years on on pop radio so um

00:15:27.060 I'm just going to take my run um yeah Joe Rogan's a huge inspiration um I I want to kind of follow in

00:15:34.720 his vein of of truth telling and curiosity like you mentioned interview some some voices that aren't

00:15:41.000 getting um exposure um so I I am revitalized in my passion for broadcasting I'm excited um and there's

00:15:52.240 a lot to cover there's a lot of territory and probably a lot of weird things are going to happen

00:15:55.700 over the next five years you know as I watch your show yeah you know what's up there's a lot of things

00:16:00.640 this the stage is being set for some weird stuff to go down and um I'm honored and and privileged now

00:16:07.740 to be one of the voices out there trying to spread um another point of view yeah well it's good to

00:16:14.080 hear from you and humanize I mean and make some people realize as well that not every person who's in

00:16:18.660 the mainstream media or was in the mainstream media is evil or infected or bad um you know

00:16:24.200 the institutions themselves I think are rotten to the core but a lot of people within them a lot

00:16:29.000 of the people who make up the western standard actually are former mainstream media writers and

00:16:33.320 and uh producers and such they've left that but landed here I mean uh there's some as you pointed

00:16:40.080 out I mean you've still got a fear for your own job you got bills to pay like everyone else we have a

00:16:43.600 talk radio show host in Calgary who I used to really really enjoy uh he's just really again gone so

00:16:49.580 flatline and dull I can't handle him anymore I know he hasn't changed but he needs to keep his job

00:16:54.460 yeah and he's got a young family and and you know he doesn't not everybody can necessarily make the

00:16:59.240 leap into a a new platform or format I mean social media it's a scary jump and then you've made that

00:17:04.720 jump and then so far so good yeah I mean a lot of the time it's station management they're just

00:17:10.780 they're terrified because the people who are loudest on the keyboard you know the keyboard warriors

00:17:15.280 you know I remember the first time I even mentioned that I didn't like wearing a mask now the full

00:17:21.080 conversation was I will wear a mask you know in the early days I'll wear a mask to protect my

00:17:27.440 neighbors I don't like it and the keyboard warriors came out and just my boss came in the next morning

00:17:34.500 with thousands of emails people were so upset and I thought wow that's crazy that now you can't even

00:17:40.820 express that you don't like wearing a mask like we're not supposed to like it we're not supposed

00:17:45.360 to rush out and get a a mask that matches our outfit like it's not supposed to be a fun fashion

00:17:50.900 accessory this is a crappy thing that we've got to cover half our faces but even expressing that you

00:17:56.560 don't like something like that gets a certain type of person really riled up and that really freaks

00:18:03.200 management out so then you know although they're not they're not bad people they don't want to lose

00:18:09.340 ratings and lose advertisers and sponsorships and money ultimately so then they end up telling everyone

00:18:15.680 to to shut up so you're right good people end up keeping their mouths shut for a variety of reasons and

00:18:20.640 my hope is that you know more people in mainstream will just start to stand up a little bit I don't

00:18:30.540 know if it's behind closed doors and try to talk to their managers and go guys like we're we need to

00:18:35.660 stay relevant here and the the people out there they they want to hear another side it's getting a

00:18:42.100 little tacky now that we can't stand up and have another point of view I don't know how that's going

00:18:46.780 to happen but um you know we can just hope well we'll see I mean a lot of the mainstream they're

00:18:51.720 not making a lot of money in those those organizations radio stations newspapers it's not

00:18:55.280 like it used to be so they got to start re-examining themselves the model isn't working uh you know

00:18:59.980 you're competing now with things like the standard like your podcast uh even rebel and other things

00:19:05.040 are coming out there there's substitutes and streaming music of course is really cutting into radio

00:19:09.120 stations so maybe shutting down uh you know discussion is the wrong way to go if you want to retain

00:19:14.620 audience with unique content but they they aren't ready to look that way yet maybe that'll come as

00:19:19.620 they get more desperate I think a lot of uh old school systems need to crash and burn before they're

00:19:26.360 rebuilt and um yeah I don't know what that looks like but and it's kind of a scary nerve-wracking

00:19:31.300 thought we all want to be comfortable but I think over the next uh you know five seven years

00:19:35.260 I think it could be very interesting lots for us to talk about most certainly well I'll let you get on

00:19:41.260 with it I I'm looking forward to seeing uh more of your podcasts and your interviews now that you're

00:19:45.720 unrestrained and and settling into the new world of alternative media uh you know it's it's as I said

00:19:51.320 it's a tough realm to get into but the world's your oyster right like you could uh I think somebody

00:19:56.040 else referred to you as perhaps the next Joe Rogan or the Canadian Joe Rogan I mean that's that's the

00:20:00.360 bar to aspire to for sure someone called me the Walmart Joe Rogan I'll just start hey there's a lot

00:20:08.320 of money in Walmart hey I was still flattered I'll take it man I'm not above buying stuff from

00:20:13.620 there now and then hey time's your time thanks for the time today man it was really nice to connect

00:20:18.200 with you great thanks so where can we find what you're doing what you're up to I saw some of that

00:20:21.860 in the background there just to remind everybody and the people listening on audio uh how can we

00:20:25.780 find Kid Carson and and your uh shows going forward you can connect with me at uh kidcarson.com

00:20:31.200 there's a link there with all my podcast episodes and ways that you can support and um yeah I mean

00:20:37.320 I'm just I'm I'm flattered by all the great response so far and uh yeah I'm on all the the

00:20:42.880 platforms Apple Spotify I am doing video podcasts I'm not like you you look very comfortable behind

00:20:48.500 the mic uh the camera um I've been a radio guy forever and never had to worry about what my face

00:20:53.860 looked like if I had my double chin exposed so now I've got the camera set up I'm doing these

00:20:58.560 podcasts and video which you can watch on Spotify and uh that's another whole thing I'm trying to

00:21:03.000 conquer well I'm certain you will I mean you get used to it more as you go with me it's just a

00:21:07.560 matter of age I'm not so worried about things like when I was in my 20s I'm happily married my wife

00:21:12.720 puts up with how I look now so uh the audience can uh deal with my shiny forehead and bad hair

00:21:17.620 yeah I'm just a little shine there see yeah it's easy style in there all right well no it was really

00:21:23.640 great I hope I get the chance to talk with you again soon down the road and uh I really want to see

00:21:27.220 your podcast take off I'm looking forward thank you so much

Western Standard - March 04, 2022

BC's Kid Carson on cancel culture, mainstream media & his new platform.

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