You were also very close with the late conservative Internet pioneer Andrew Breitbart.
Andrew had a whole different way of doing politics which influenced me in certain ways. Andrew embraced the notion that culture was an “upstream of politics” and therefore said that focusing on culture is not only not a waste of time but is actually the crux of the matter. In other words, people’s politics are defined by the culture, not the other way around.
On that note, you argued several years ago that religious Americans should try to shape popular culture rather than shun it. But you also said in an interview with Glenn Beck that the one time you tried writing a pilot for a TV show, Hollywood producers slammed the door in your face after a Google search revealed that you were a conservative. How can conservatives shape popular culture when Hollywood is overwhelmingly liberal?
We have to build alternative methods of distribution. This is something that folks on the right – forget religious or non-religious – have a deep problem doing. They don’t believe culture is important even though they participate in it by watching it. They would prefer to sign a check to a politician – even if the politician loses – than sign a check to invest in an entertainment property even though millions of people will watch an entertainment property and nobody will remember the candidate who lost in the first congressional district in Iowa.
So it’s imperative that people begin to understand the value of culture and understand they have to put their money where their mouth is. The problem is not lack of talent. There are talented people in the conservative and religious communities. It’s a problem of Republican and conservative funders sitting around all day twiddling their thumbs and wondering why they’re losing and then they dump another $400 million into Karl Rove’s latest idiotic Super PAC, as opposed to saying, “Okay, if we spend $400 million on making some movies, or making some TV programming, or buying up some media outlets, maybe we’d shift the culture and have a shot at actual victory.”
So you’re talking about bypassing Hollywood?
Yes, the Internet has changed everything. I mean, look at Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu. Look at all these various online distribution mechanisms. That means the necessity for a network is dropping rapidly. The only reason my wife and I have cable is to get Fox News. For a very long time we didn’t even bother with that. We had Hulu and Netflix and that was plenty for us. And that’s going to be increasingly the case.
As technology moves forward, bundled cable and satellite service is going to end. You’re going to be able to specifically pick which channels and programming you want to watch. You’re going to be able to watch it on demand and that means you don’t need to get green lit by a network. All you have to do is pay Netflix a carriage fee basically.
In an interview on Fox News last year, you condemned ethnic studies in college – Jewish studies, black studies, Latino studies, etc. Why?
Because they’re a waste of time and they fragment society along racial and ethnic lines. Most Jewish studies courses have nothing to do with the study of actual Judaism. Most Jewish studies courses tend to evolve into anything that anybody Jewish ever did at one point. I don’t find that valuable. I especially don’t find it valuable when these courses are funded by the state.
In general, Orthodox Jews are more politically conservative than non-Orthodox Jews. Why do you think that is?
