The Ben Shapiro Show — "Promiscuity, Newsom’s DEI Insanity & Conspiracy Nuts"

Date: March 24, 2026
Host: Ben Shapiro (with Michael Knowles, Drew, and guest Christopher Ruvo)
Podcast Theme: A spirited, conservative roundtable tackling viral cultural controversies, political corruption (focusing on California), concerns about DEI and media manipulation, and the dangers of sensationalism in right-wing media.

Episode Overview

This episode is a wide-ranging "Friendly Fire" panel featuring Ben Shapiro and colleagues as they dissect recent viral online debates (promiscuity and discretion), expose alleged corruption and DEI excesses in California politics, discuss 2026’s political climate (including the Iran war and midterms), and offer a candid, sometimes humorous critique of the right’s own media ecosystem and its susceptibility to conspiracy thinking.

Key Discussion Points & Major Segments

1. Viral Debate: Promiscuity, Redemption, and Public Overshare

[02:12]–[06:41]

• Context: The panel discusses a viral tweet (27M views) from a man about his wife's past "promiscuity" and religious redemption, exploring whether such personal confessions belong on the internet.
• Cultural Analysis: The merits and pitfalls of public repentance vs. the grace of private discretion. Jewish law on converts and discretion around people's pasts is highlighted.
• Memorable Quotes:
  • "Should you really call your wife a whore? Tell everybody who your wife slept with?" — Drew [03:43]
  • "You owe each other the grace of moving on sometimes... Isn't there almost greater sanctity in just carrying some of these crosses privately?" — Ben Shapiro [05:05]
  • "You're not allowed to talk about their past before they were Jewish unless they want to talk about it..." — Michael Knowles [05:55]
• Notable Moment: The panel humorously compares oversharing to admitting to past crimes: "My wife used to sell drugs to kids..." [04:27]

2. California Corruption & "DEI Insanity": The Chris Ruvo Report

[09:10]–[16:38]

• Guest Segment with Christopher Ruvo: Ruvo reports on ongoing investigative efforts into waste and corruption in California, particularly massive spending on ineffective or ideological projects.
• Key Details:
  • Example: $114 million “wildlife bridge” for cougars and butterflies, framed as performance art with "sacred indigenous rituals” and elaborate environmental theatrics [11:51].
  • DEI-captured spending: San Francisco giving public money to nonprofits for "massage therapy for black criminals."
• Political Impact: Can this investigative work (as in the Minnesota Somali fraud case) damage Newsom’s image ahead of the midterms?
• Memorable Quote:
  • "My own personal goal...is to do to Gavin Newsom in California what we did to Tim Walls in Minneapolis. I think it’s possible." — Christopher Ruvo [11:24]
  • "They're letting these cougars into this neighborhood filled with pets and children and elderly people—it’s like some environmentalist version of The Purge." — Ruvo [13:44]
• Political Analysis: Newsom’s "Teflon" quality, the challenge of denting a charismatic, well-presented front-runner, and the mechanics of how corruption money “disappears” into unions, fraud, and political machines [17:07].

3. AOC, Gambling, and the “Wedge Issue” Game

[19:00]–[27:54]

• Discussion: AOC criticizes gambling and betting markets—a position the panel sees as inconsistent with her support for other forms of “vice,” but potentially shrewd for splitting the right.
• Motive Analysis: Is AOC sincerely concerned, or just using a wedge issue to attack right-linked industries and spark infighting on the right?
• Quotes:
  • "She does not like the idea of young white men, founding companies, making money, having some cultural prestige. She wants to shut it down." — Christopher Ruvo [21:19]
  • "Wedge issues are a lot of fun, and we all love playing with them. What’s weird today is that like every issue seems to be a wedge issue." — Ben Shapiro [27:54]
• Broader Critique: Democrats, according to the panel, are only prohibitive on vices when they intersect with rightward interests or offer an opportunity for wedge politics.

4. The Iran War, Trump’s “Brave” Gamble, and Political Risk

[29:11]–[38:22]

• War Assessment: Panelists consider the Iran war—US public support is “soft,” and even those on the right want it wrapped up quickly.
• Political Stakes: A war dragging into the midterms would be a political “time bomb” for Trump and the GOP. What constitutes “victory”—and will the public accept anything less than dramatic regime change? ["What does victory look like? How do we know when we’ve won? And what do we get if we’ve won?" — Ruvo, 29:11]
• On Trump’s Motives:
  • "What Trump is doing is a thing that nobody has recognized in American politics for literally decades. He is doing a politically brave thing—even if it costs him at the ballot box." — Michael Knowles [36:19]
  • "There is literally no war you can fight—short of a full-scale regime change war—that resonates as victory." — Ben Shapiro [36:19]
• Potential Outcomes: The war needs to end swiftly, or the left/liberal media will be able to pin defeat on Trump regardless of facts ("if we get that 75% scenario...that’s what’s best for America, even if it’s not what’s best for the Republican Party in the midterm elections" — Ben Shapiro [36:19]).

5. The “America Last” Right & Rise of Conspiracism

[40:10]–[43:36]

• Critique of Conspiracy Culture: Ben, Michael, and Drew lament a growing “America last” sentiment, even infecting the right—citing Tucker Carlson having Chinese propagandists as guests and right-wing influencers embracing conspiracies about foreign powers, Israel, etc.
• Quotes:
  • "I don’t know what else to call it when Tucker Carlson is having on full scale Chinese propagandists…" — Michael Knowles [40:10]
• Reflections on Foreign Policy Restraint: Is any “restraint” view sincere, or is it all about stoking the anti-establishment/anti-American narrative?

6. Media Structure, Podcast Wars, and Incentives (Right-Wing Media Critique)

[51:29]–[66:09]

• Panel turns inward: They discuss structural problems in conservative media—the way algorithms reward sensation, conspiracy, and “black-pilling,” creating an incentive for more outlandish, anti-institution narratives.
• Quotes:
  • "The media apparatus [is] oriented towards money, monetization, audience...the incentive systems are not overlapping and integrating in a way that advances the public good." — Christopher Ruvo [51:29]
  • "If you are the person who exposits the insanity, you will get exponentially more traffic than the person who debunks the insanity." — Michael Knowles [56:52]
  • "What's really selling is people saying even the institutions you used to trust, they're lying to you...the only person you can trust is me." — Knowles [57:52]
• Danger of “Algorithmic” Media: The right’s media ecosystem now reflects the incentives of digital platforms (X/Twitter, YouTube), exacerbating conspiracy trends and anti-institutionalism.
• Solutions & Hope: The need for institutional standards, fact-based journalism, and a return to rational, solution-oriented conservatism. (Ruvo and Drew are optimistic that eventually, gatekeeping and fact-based reporting will reassert themselves.)
• Memorable Moment:
  • "There's no such thing as an establishment anti-establishment coalition. It doesn't work that way...you're seeing a lot of the chaotic ideological breakdown that you're watching right now." — Michael Knowles [66:09]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:12–06:41 — Promiscuity, online confession, and public discretion
• 09:10–16:38 — Chris Ruvo exposes California corruption, DEI excesses, and the challenges of exposing Democrat machines
• 19:00–27:54 — AOC, gambling, wedge issues, and vice politics
• 29:11–38:22 — Iran war analysis, political risk, and “winning” definitions
• 40:10–43:36 — "America last" sentiment, conspiracies, and right-wing fracture
• 51:29–66:09 — Conservative media, the "podcast wars," algorithms, and institutional challenges

Notable Quotes

• "You owe each other the grace of moving on sometimes... Isn't there almost greater sanctity in just carrying some of these crosses privately?" — Ben Shapiro [05:05]
• "If the premise is false, the conclusion is impossible. Every media cycle dominated by the interpersonal tabloid drama or just the kind of brain addled conspiracy is directly harming the Trump administration's ability to succeed." — Christopher Ruvo [53:08]
• "What's really selling is people saying even the institutions you used to trust, they're lying to you...the only person you can trust is me." — Michael Knowles [57:52]
• "There’s no such thing as an establishment anti-establishment coalition. It doesn’t work that way..." — Michael Knowles [66:09]

Tone & Style

The episode is fast-paced and full of banter, mixing outrage and principle with pointed humor. The conversation is deeply self-referential and meta, as the hosts analyze both the left and their own movement’s weaknesses. The tone is irreverent, sardonic, and openly combative toward leftist narratives, conspiratorial influencers, and mainstream media—while also attacking right-wing excesses and the dangers of unserious, incentive-driven punditry.

Bottom Line

The hosts warn about the right’s growing infatuation with conspiracism and anti-institutionalism, blame digital media structures for rewarding sensationalism, and recenter the importance of truth, discretion, and institutional standards—taking aim at both left-wing “insanity” and failures of their own side. They urge renewed focus on real reporting (a la Chris Ruvo’s investigative work), practical policy, and honest public conversation, all while bracing for the chaos of upcoming elections.