On the Media

The UK’s Violent Riots Were Stoked by Elon Musk and a Global Far-Right Network

Samstag, 13. Juni 2026 · 51 min

MP3

Shownotes

This week, a mob attacked immigrant communities in Northern Ireland after Elon Musk fomented anger on X. On this week’s On the Media, hear how a group linked with a global neo-Nazi movement organized the riots. Plus, what the recent upheaval at 60 Minutes tells us about the state of TV news.

[] Micah speaks with David Gilbert (wired.com/author/david-gilbert), a reporter at WIRED covering disinformation and online extremism, about the anti-immigrant riots that exploded across the UK and more recently Northern Ireland, and how Elon Musk stoked violence on X. Plus, the racist ideology behind the attacks.

[] Micah sits down with Oliver Darcy (bsky.app/profile/oliverdarcy.bsky.social), founder of Status (status.news)and co-host of Power Lines (status.news/power-lines), to discuss the turmoil at 60 Minutes since Bari Weiss fired about half a dozen staffers.

[] Brooke talks with Maria Kuznetsova and Dan Storyev, the authors of the upcoming book How to Survive Authoritarianism: A Russian's Phrasebook for Everyday Life in America (wwnorton.com/books/how-to-survive-authoritaria…), about how Russian words and phrases can help Americans understand what's happening in their country today.

Further reading:

• “A White Supremacist Youth Group Helped Orchestrate the Belfast Riots,” (wired.com/story/a-white-supremacist-youth-grou…)by David Gilbert

• “Elon Musk and America’s Far Right Stoke Anger Over Murder of UK Teen, (wired.com/story/elon-musk-and-americas-far-rig…)” by David Gilbert

• “Bari in the Bunker and Ellison at the Gates,” (status.news/p/bari-weiss-david-ellison-lesley-…)by Oliver Darcy

• “Pelley’s ‘60 Minutes’ Revolt,” (status.news/p/scott-pelley-60-minutes-nick-bil…) by Oliver Darcy

• How to Survive Authoritarianism: A Russian's Phrasebook for Everyday Life in America (wwnorton.com/books/how-to-survive-authoritaria…) by Maria Kuznetsova and Dan Storyev

On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram (instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en), Bluesky (bsky.app/profile/onthemedia.bsky.social), TikTok (tiktok.com/@onthemedia) and Facebook (facebook.com/OnTheMedia) @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

0:00 / 0:00