Rogan, Maus, and the rightwing weaponization of “cancel culture.”

What Joe Rogan and "Maus" teach us about who’s really doing the canceling — and why.

Last week, Neil Young, the legendary singer/songwriter, stepped into the ring with Spotify over vaccine disinformation. It was either Neil Young’s music, or Joe Rogan, the UFC commentator-turned-podcaster, who routinely disinforms his 11 million listeners. 

Spotify chose Rogan. After all, they bet $100 million on him.

Meanwhile, at a school board meeting in Tennessee, 10 board members voted unanimously to ban “Maus” from its classrooms. The Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel recounts the experience author Art Spiegelman’s parents during the Holocaust, using animals to depict the events — Jews as mice, Nazis as cats. 

Parents had objected to the graphic novel over “rough, objectionable language” (the word “damn” is used), and a depiction of a naked character (a mouse). In an interview with the New York Times, the book’s author, Art Spiegelman, sums up the absurdity: it’s like they’re asking “Why can’t they teach a nicer Holocaust?” 

A shock jock parroting vaccine disinformation during a pandemic keeps his platform. A book about one of history’s greatest atrocities gets banned. Just another day of “cancel culture” in America. 

Let’s dive in.