Conservatives withdraw suit against liberals, their podcast
Over the past four years, the podcast “Know Your Enemy” has built an avid following with its learned, irreverent promise to guide listeners “through the swampy morass of the American right.”
But in recent months, Matthew Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell, the two self-described “leftist bros” who host it, had been embroiled in a behind-the-scenes legal battle with another imperative: Know your litigant.
It started in February, when Young America’s Foundation, a conservative youth organization, filed a trademark infringement complaint against the two hosts, claiming that the podcast’s use of the phrase “Young Americans for Freedom” to describe one of its subscription levels was “likely to cause confusion” and “deception,” leading people to think the podcast is sponsored by the conservative campus group founded in 1960 by William F. Buckley.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, was not publicized by the foundation, and drew little notice. Then, shortly before the podcast’s lawyers were to file a response, the group voluntarily withdrew it.
The foundation, through a spokesperson, declined to comment on the complaint, which was withdrawn without prejudice, meaning the group has not disavowed its legal claims and can refile the complaint later.
But Brian Hauss, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Speech, Privacy and Technology Project and the lead attorney for the defendants, said the complaint — which requested damages as well as “the transfer of any and all internet domains and social media accounts” using the trademarks — was an “absurd” and “half-baked” effort to cripple the podcast.
“I don’t think it’s possible people are genuinely confused about whether Young Americans for Freedom sponsors the ‘Know Your Enemy’ podcast,” Hauss said. “What this really is, is bullying people who are commenting critically on the conservative movement, and using the cost of litigation to do that.”
Hauss said the complaint fell short on First Amendment grounds, citing what he said was “robust” case law protecting satirical or artistic use of trademarks. He also asserted that the foundation, which is incorporated in Tennessee, does not in fact own the trademark in question, which is registered to Young Americans for Freedom, Inc., an entity incorporated in Delaware in 1995 and later dissolved for failure to pay state taxes.
The legal drama was a strangely meta twist for “Know Your Enemy,” which is sponsored by the democratic socialist magazine Dissent (which was also named in the complaint). According to its Patreon page, the podcast has more than 5,000 subscribers, who collectively contribute more than $25,000 a month.
Those who sign up as “Young Americans for Freedom,” for $5 a month, get access to bonus episodes as well as reassurance that Adler-Bell “doesn’t subsist exclusively on hot dogs.” (The other subscription levels are “West Coast Straussians” or “John Birchers.”)
With its cheeky humor and voluminous research, the podcast — whose promotional image is a toothy young Buckley — has attracted more than a few conservative followers, whether as hate-listeners or enthusiastic guests.
Its roughly 150 episodes have included discussions of current politics, as well as deep dives into intellectual history and portraits of figures like Allan Bloom, Frank Meyer and Joan Didion (a Barry Goldwater supporter in her youth).
And it isn’t all criticism. “I have come to begrudgingly admire the tenacity, creativity and moral seriousness of many rightwing thinkers and activists,” Adler-Bell said via email, adding: “For our liberal listeners, we can
sometimes be too sympathetic to our subjects.”
Sitman said he saw an irony in being sued by a group that has been a prominent champion of free speech on campus.
“For decades the American conservative movement has campaigned under the banner of freedom while attacking the liberties of others,” he said. The lawsuit, he said, had been an attempt “to ruin us financially and destroy our ability to offer commentary critical of organizations like theirs — all because they can’t take a joke.”
Young Americans for Freedom was founded in 1960, at a student gathering at Buckley’s house in Connecticut. Its purpose was to promote the principles in the so-called Sharon Statement, which united libertarianism, anti-communism and social conservatism in a philosophy known as “fusionism.”
In 2011, it became a chapter of Young America’s Foundation, founded by conservative students at Vanderbilt University in 1969. Currently led by former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the foundation has its headquarters in Reston, Va., but also operates the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif., as an educational center dedicated to “individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values.”
“Know Your Enemy” has featured only fleeting references to Young Americans for Freedom or Young America’s Foundation, which is a sponsor of the first Republican presidential debate on Aug. 23. But the hosts said that will change.
“We absolutely intend to use our free speech rights to inform our listeners about YAF’s history and explore whether its present-day priorities reflect its founding principles,” Adler-Bell said.
“Say what you will about Bill Buckley,” he added, “he was not humorless.”