February 9, 2022

In The New York Times on February 4, the podcaster and author Roxane Gay goes to great lengths explaining why she has removed her popular podcast from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. The great Canadian musicians removed their music from the world’s most popular streaming service in protest over Spotify’s continued support for “The Joe Rogan Experience,” another podcast that has promoted Covid misinformation through its giving a forum to vaccine deniers and others whose harmful ideas can lead to preventable illness and death. Spotify and Rogan have countered with pledges to make sure accurate information is posted prior to the airing of misinformed views and to include more varied opinions. The question is: is that enough? Young and Mitchell think not. Neither does Gay.