I could ask 100 people and less than 10 would know Nick. I could ask the group about Joe and Maddow and 90 would know.
i think based on who you ask you'd be wrong about both Nick and Rachel. but correct about Joe Rogan.
90% of people 35 and older likely know who Maddow is
90% of people 25 and younger likely know who Fuentes is.
refining "mainstream" to the non-twitter crowd seems too reductionist. i think cable news and print media are still comfortably in the mainstream, so i wouldnt say Maddow is kicked out, but online media has been added into the mainstream, so by proxy so has Fuentes.
really tho i think Andrew Tate is the best comparison. my grandpa had no clue who Tate was, nor my mom. but every person 20 and under knew him and what he thought.
we really have like the 3 ghosts of mainstream currently, mainstream past (legacy media and print media), mainstream present (large podcasts, large news like today show, national publications like the times, and big network news like fox and primetime CNN. MSNBC, etc) and mainstream future (2nd tier podcasts, alternative print media, and off-primetime cable news).
This post was edited by thesnipa on Dec 3 2025 12:46pm