Dan Carlin

[heydaralon]

We fight about everything on this board, but damn near all of us agree that Dan is a shadow of his former self.

Here is a question for the board:

Do you guys think that Dan's apparent shift politically is the result of Trump and Dan's apparent disgust to him, or do you guys believe that the beliefs he espouses now were always with him, but the relative calmness of the political status quo of the last 10 years allowed him to keep them hidden? I'm on the fence about this. The Dan Carlin nature vs. nurture debate.

[Okeefenokee]

Probably always who he was.

By the time he shuttered us, we already knew what was up, or at least had suspicion.

After the decision to shut down the forum, I don't see any reason people shouldn't understand.

[heydaralon]

Probably always who he was.

By the time he shuttered us, we already knew what was up, or at least had suspicion.

After the decision to shut down the forum, I don't see any reason people shouldn't understand.

I think he used to protest Reagan's foreign policies in the 80's with a bunch of pothead liberal types in college, so you may be on to something. It did seem like some of his shows on public unions and stuff like that made it seem like he was on the right of some economic issues though.

[heydaralon]

To Dan's credit, he used to complain about Bush and Obama with equal fervor. Despite his radio silence during the election and non-martian MSM analysis after 2016, he did release a quality product during the Bush and Obama presidencies.

[Okeefenokee]

One thought I had many years ago listening to him when I was first tuning in to political speech.

This dude's gonna get arrested.

That's how outside the box he was.

Now look at him.

[heydaralon]

My gripe with Dan is not his dislike of Trump. There are plenty of reasons to dislike Trump. I'm just irritated at how uninspired his latest shows have been. It really just seems like he doesn't give a shit, like he's just reading slate.com or cnn and not doing any critical thinking. He's been picking the low hanging Trump fruit. Or he's just wringing his hands saying: "There is all this hate and discord in the country. People are sending me angry emails. Folks, we are in a bad way." Gee thanks Dan. This aint worth a buck a show partner. Also, the gap between his shows is not justified by the sheer blandness of the finished product.

[Hanarchy Montanarchy]

When there is so much fruit at arms length, why bother with a ladder?

Plus, it is no fun being anti-establishment when anti-establishment is the current establishment.

[Ex-California]

My gripe with Dan is not his dislike of Trump. There are plenty of reasons to dislike Trump. I'm just irritated at how uninspired his latest shows have been. It really just seems like he doesn't give a shit, like he's just reading slate.com or cnn and not doing any critical thinking. He's been picking the low hanging Trump fruit. Or he's just wringing his hands saying: "There is all this hate and discord in the country. People are sending me angry emails. Folks, we are in a bad way." Gee thanks Dan. This aint worth a buck a show partner. Also, the gap between his shows is not justified by the sheer blandness of the finished product.

I agree. This is why he's right to just hang up the Common Sense at this point.

[SuburbanFarmer]

He’s just a regular moderate, imo. He might have been a little bit more edgy years ago, but he’s speaking to millions of people now. I agree with 90% of what he says, it’s just not as interesting because he’s not pushing the envelope at all.

Worth noting that his tone shifted considerably after he was actually invited to a big political/military conference a few years ago, tho.

[DBTrek]

First and foremost he’s a man with a family who has to pay down a mortgage like everybody else. As he grew in popularity and fame he had to make that choice between rocking the boat or maximizing his audience.

We can all see his decision.

Unfortunately, it was a bad call because once you’re serving the same, bland, mass appeal fare that all the other major chains serve, the masses have no reason to pick your offerings over any others.

But I bet he can pay his house off, so it’s not a total loss. He still has HH which was always a stronger program, and will leave a worthy legacy. He’s just never going to be a political game changer, the voice of a generation, or the spark that ignited a movement. Politically he’s going to be what most of us are - a big, fat, zero. He just put in a hell of a lot of work to be a zero.