The Matt Walsh Show – "Bad Bunny. Bad Culture."

Podcast: The Matt Walsh Show
Host: Matt Walsh (with Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles, Drew Holden, Allie Beth Stuckey)
Date: February 12, 2026

Overview

This episode dives deep into the cultural controversies surrounding the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show featuring Bad Bunny, the state of American culture and conservative responses, and several recent social and political trends, including the rise of nihilistic and “slop” internet celebrities, and a mass shooting in Canada. The panel debates the role of pop culture, the reaction of conservatives, changing gender dynamics, celebrity culture, and spiritual disillusionment among young people. The tone is lively, irreverent, and at times combative, with each co-host vying for the "best take."

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Super Bowl Halftime Show Controversy

(03:30–12:59)

• Drew Holden opens by stating he refuses to watch the halftime show, seeing it as a “setup” to antagonize the main football audience (conservative white men), which is designed to provoke complaints from them.

  “My comment on the Super Bowl halftime show every year is the same. I don't watch it…it's a setup where they put on some stupid left wing thing, dissing the audience…” (03:42)

• Matt Walsh argues the halftime show’s embrace of Hispanic and Puerto Rican culture, led by Bad Bunny and performed in Spanish, is deliberately intended to be inaccessible and to antagonize traditional American football fans.

  "You might as well have a halftime show that's devoted to celebrating women—women who represent zero percent of the rosters." (06:16 – with Ben Shapiro's interjection)

• Walsh also rejects the idea that conservatives shouldn't “get mad”:

  “If that doesn't matter, then...why are we talking about anything like the...This is one of our preeminent cultural events...when they turn that into this celebration of...a foreign culture that has nothing to do with football...it's meant to be offensive to the actual fans of the game because it's inaccessible, it's in a language that we don't speak.” (05:01)

• Michael Knowles eviscerates establishment Republicans like John Kasich for applauding the performance:

  “…this guy gets up there, a Puerto Rican transvestite, sings exclusively in Spanish. Finally at the end, he says, God bless America...and you think...at America’s preeminent sporting event you can't even say God bless America without throwing shade at this country that you manifestly hate.” (07:00)

• Ben Shapiro notes the “gaslighting” by media and the left—making the event a major cultural signal, then pretending critics “shouldn’t care.”

  “They do a thing. They call it extremely important. And then when you say, oh, I agree, it's important and bad, they go, why are you even noticing it's not important? Right?” (10:29)

• Shapiro also comments on the production value and acknowledges the show included a traditional (straight) wedding element, which he appreciated as a “small win.”

  “...I did appreciate that they actually held a straight wedding on the field. Right. I mean. I mean that.” (10:30)

Notable Quote

“...the game was to try and get the right to sound off...so then they can go back to Latino voters...and say...the thing that [the right] really hate about you is that you're Latino. And that's the game the media are playing now.”
— Ben Shapiro (12:09)

2. Conservative Counter-Programming: TPUSA Halftime Show

(08:05–18:11)

• The panel analyzes Turning Point USA’s alternative halftime show featuring Kid Rock, noting its high viewership and unexpected success.

  “By the way, the TPUSA halftime show was a huge gamble...I was wrong. Was a huge success.” — Matt Walsh (08:08)

• Michael Knowles details the show's artistic choices and emotional moments, especially when Kid Rock transitioned from his persona to a more serious, faith-based performance.

  “He added this verse...and it was about Jesus...There are actually eternal consequences of our actions...and it had this beautiful tie-in...” (15:53)

• Matt Walsh criticizes conservative infighting, where instead of celebrating the win, the movement nitpicks or undermines success.

  “And then immediately what do you have on the right...is all these conservatives that...have to start...picking holes in it...It's just competitiveness...they went out and did something, were successful, and I wasn't a part of it. So I have to find a reason to pick holes in it.” (18:11)

3. The New Internet Nihilism and "Slop Celebrities"

(22:56–35:40)

• The panel discusses the case of “Clavicular,” a young influencer whose fame stems from streaming his life, radical body modification, substance abuse, and general nihilism.
• Michael Knowles explains his fascination with Clavicular as an emblem of a generation raised entirely online, living in a “hyperreality” with values of appearance/vitalism over substance and purpose.

  “He is a symptom specifically of our age...He was raised entirely on the Internet...every aspect of his life...is because he was raised on the Internet in a way that none of us were.” (27:59) “He's one of our first true...brain rot celebrities...stars of this generation are people who, unlike previous generations, they don't do anything...he doesn't have an art...he's not even a compelling, charismatic figure.” — Matt Walsh (29:38)

• Ben Shapiro argues these trends point to unprecedented “utter nihilism...that's different of the moment," referencing related figures like Andrew Tate.

  “...people latching on to the fact that young people particularly are feeling unmoored...their civilization has somehow betrayed them...there is no recipe for success...the people who are finding success...are selling you a black pill in order to sell themselves.” (31:39)

• Debate follows on whether Clavicular is a nihilist, a vitalist, or an absurdist (with Nietzsche and Bronze Age Pervert invoked as cultural reference points).
• Allie Beth Stuckey highlights the disturbing reality of young people consenting to a non-real, performative existence.

  “He actually is consenting to his life not being real and just being a part that he is portraying and performing for an audience. And there's something that is much darker about that to me than the whole...superficial part of his worldview.” (35:40)

Notable Quote

“There's a whole generation of people that grow up on that. They like to watch other people exist. And I don't know what to say about that exactly, but I think it's...not a good thing.”
— Matt Walsh (29:38)

4. Canadian Mass Shooting & the Media's Narrative

(38:58–49:12)

• Panel discusses a recent mass shooting in Canada, media refusal to report motive, and evidence shooter was trans and possibly radicalized online:

  "Trans people account for more mass shootings than anyone per capita over the last couple of years...by definition, if you are a trans identified person, then you are divorced from reality by definition..." — Matt Walsh (39:52)

• Drew Holden and Ben Shapiro tie the story to broader social atomization, spiritual disintegration, and societal betrayal:

  “...the feelings of lack of choice are real. I'll say the lack of choice itself is not real. I think people do have choice, but…the feeling…has become all pervasive.” (44:36)

• The Internet’s role as a radicalizer and echo chamber is stressed. Shapiro references Dostoyevsky to illustrate the nihilism born from comfort and lack of purpose.

5. Loss of Purpose, Identity, and Gender Roles

(47:21–54:33)

• Allie Beth Stuckey discusses the spiritual, philosophical roots behind young people losing their sense of self and telos (purpose), drawing on Nancy Pearcey’s work on body/soul dualism.

  “…there is a purpose in masculinity and being able to procreate and protect and to work hard. There is a purpose in womanhood and being a female that a man can never fulfill.” (48:25)

• Panelists debate the breakdown of gender roles, the confusion about biological sex, and how this erodes healthy relational and social norms.
• Ben Shapiro offers a blunt biological definition:

  “The answer to Matt's question what is a woman? Is a large egg producing...specimen of the human species...this is how you define biological sex” (53:15)

6. Christian Rhetoric and Political Manipulation

(50:04–51:54)

• Discussing politicians like Andy Beshear and Gavin Newsom, who blend leftist social views (particularly on gender ideology) with Christian rhetoric, Allie Beth Stuckey rebukes their “toxic empathy.”

  “...they exploit your compassion by telling you that you can only be a good person by affirming these destructive policies and validating lies and affirming sin. Or else you're not compassionate..." (50:12)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “No, shock me, Matt.” — Ben Shapiro, dryly anticipating Walsh’s critique (04:59)
• “It was John Kasich...clapping like a seal saying, please get another three pointer, fellas.” — Michael Knowles, mocking centrist Republican reactions (07:00)
• “TPUSA did that. You had this transition with the cello and the violin...it actually really struck a chord with me.” — Michael Knowles on the alternative halftime show (15:53)
• “Women will never frame MOG men because women have smaller frames. And that's just a fact of biology, you know.” — Michael Knowles, lampooning “mogging”/body hack culture (54:14)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Super Bowl Halftime Show begins: 03:30
• On TPUSA Halftime Show: 08:05
• On Internet nihilism and “Clavicular”: 22:56
• Canada mass shooting and the trans narrative: 38:58
• Deep dive into lost purpose/Gender Roles: 47:21
• Andy Beshear, Christianity, and the left: 50:04

Final Thoughts and Flow

Throughout the episode, the hosts maintain a mix of jest, bombast, and sharp cultural commentary—an insider’s critique of both the left and the weaknesses of conservative reaction. The panel’s tone oscillates between outrage, sarcasm, and genuine worry about the direction of American and Western culture, especially regarding how internet-driven trends are shaping young people's vision of purpose, body, and morality.

The overall takeaway:
The hosts see the current American cultural moment as marked by deliberate provocation (e.g., the Bad Bunny halftime show), institutional betrayal, loss of telos (purpose), and a generation’s slide toward nihilism and performative unreality—while also warning against conservative apathy and infighting. Calls to restore substance, community, and a vision of higher meaning punctuate their conversation.