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Robert Madison Evans (born March 22, 1988) is an American author, journalist, and podcast host who has reported on global conflicts and online extremism. A former editor at the humor website Cracked.com, Evans now writes for the investigative journalism outlet Bellingcat while working on several podcasts, including Behind the Bastards, Behind the Police, Behind the Insurrections, It Could Happen Here, The Women's War, and Worst Year Ever. In 2021 he published his first novel, After The Revolution, in a serialized podcast.

Career

Early career

Evans worked at the humor website Cracked as an editorial manager. In that position, Evans led a team that published "personal experience" articles. These articles fell into two main categories: journalistic pieces involving a variety of sources, and personal narratives.

In 2016 Evans published his first book, A Brief History of Vice, about the formative effects of narcotics on the development and history of civilization.

Journalism

Evans has done reporting for the investigative reporting outlet Bellingcat between 2018 and 2021. He has reported on conflicts in Iraq, Ukraine, and Rojava, as well as on far-right extremists in the United States.

In the late 2010s and early 2020s, Evans produced a variety of content about 8chan, an anonymous message board, as well as the Gamergate controversy movement, a movement he describes as largely organically generated, with some direction given by white supremacists and extremists with long experience in radicalizing people on internet forums.

Following the March 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, news outlets including Rolling Stone, Vox, and The Atlantic referenced Evans' warning about the nature of the shooter's manifesto. Evans argued that the manifesto was merely a red herring, full of references and memes meant to distract observers. Following the 2019 Poway synagogue shooting, Vox relied on Evans' work to explain how the shooter's manifesto again constituted a 74-page in-joke meant to further radicalize other 4chan /pol/ users.

In a 2020 Bellingcat article, Evans discussed the emergence and qualities of the boogaloo movement, a loose-knit group of individuals who express interest in fomenting American civil unrest. Evans says that he became aware of the boogaloo movement when he observed members at 2020 Virginia Citizens Defence League Lobby Day.

Portland George Floyd protests

Starting in late May 2020, Evans covered the George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon. He began reporting in the first days of the protests by taking footage of protesters, counter-protesters, and police. His reporting on the protests was highlighted in the New York Times opinion section, which published an interview with Evans after the 50th day of protests about covering the events.

In July, Evans joined a class-action lawsuit against the City of Portland for police use of force at the protests. The suit is non-monetary, seeking instead "declaratory and injunctive relief — asking the court to find the plaintiffs within their rights and to order police to stop brutalizing and unlawfully arresting protesters." Evans joined freelance journalist Bea Lake and housing services specialist Sadie Oliver-Grey as a plaintiff. The suit alleges that police officers were unlawfully violent, stopped journalists from reporting, and interfered with the right to free speech. The suit describes incidents that occurred to Evans including the "police allegedly threatening him with arrest if he did not leave the area, shooting him in the foot with a tear gas grenade and spraying him, and repeatedly shoving him".

On Saturday, August 22, a right-wing protester wielding a baton broke Evans' hand while he was filming. In an interview with The Guardian, Evans said the right-wing counter-protesters "absolutely came prepared to fight", were "very aggressive from the jump", and were equipped with "knives, guns, paintball guns with frozen pellets, batons".

Podcasting career

Evans is the host of the podcast Behind the Bastards and one of three co-hosts of the podcast Worst Year Ever. In 2019, Evans completed the podcast series The War on Everyone, a podcast about how white supremacy and fascism have developed and spread into the American consciousness in the modern age, as well as It Could Happen Here, a podcast about the possibility of a Second American Civil War. Evans published a new podcast series titled The Women's War in March and April 2020 about the primarily Kurdish autonomous region in Syria known as Rojava. Evans also published a Behind the Bastards podcast miniseries titled Behind the Police in June and July 2020, covering the history of policing in the United States to inform the present time of civil unrest. Behind the Police was co-hosted by Jason Petty. In November 2020 through early 2021, Evans published Uprising: A Guide From Portland, a podcast detailing first-hand accounts of the 2020 George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon.

Cool Zone Media

In August 2021, iHeartMedia announced a launch of a new podcast network "Cool Zone Media" helmed by Evans, who would become its head of content. The network would unite under one umbrella both existing and upcoming podcasts from Evans and his frequent collaborators such as Jake Hanrahan and Jason "Propaganda" Petty.

Podcasts

• After The Revolution (2021): An audiobook version of Evans' debut fiction novel
• Assault on America (2021): A mini-series that examines the events around the January 6th U.S. Capitol attack
• Behind the Bastards (2018–): Evans' flagship podcast series, featuring biographies of "the worst people in all of history", varying from Adolf Hitler to Scott Adams.
• Behind the Insurrections (2021): A mini-series detailing several historical coups, released following the 2021 United States Capitol attack
• Behind the Police (2020): A mini-series on the history of American police, released in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests
• Cracked Gets Personal (2017): Short lived show Evans co-hosted with Brandon Johnson while they worked for Cracked.com
• It Could Happen Here (2019, 2021–): Originally a mini-series about the possibility of a Second American Civil War, later relaunched as a daily podcast
• Uprising: A Guide From Portland (2021): A first-hand report and background on then-ongoing Protests in Portland, Oregon
• The War on Everyone (2019): An audiobook where Evans details how white supremacy and fascism have developed and spread into the American consciousness in the modern age
• The Women's War (2020): Evans details his experience visiting the Autonomous Administration of Rojava
• Worst Year Ever (2019–2022): A joint project with Katy Stoll, and Cody Johnston; originally started to discuss then-upcoming 2020 United States presidential election which with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic pivoted to a general topic weekly series

Bibliography

• Evans, Robert (2016). A Brief History of Vice: How Bad Behavior Built Civilization. Penguin Random House. ISBN 9780147517609.
• Evans, Robert (2022). After The Revolution. : AK Press. ISBN 978-1-84935-462-2. OCLC 1267687454.

References

1. "Evans, Robert, 1988-". LC Linked Data Service. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
2. Tushnet, Eve (July 31, 2014). "From Boob Jokes to Ukraine: A Talk With Robert Evans of Cracked.Com". The American Spectator. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
3. Evans, Robert (August 9, 2016). "There's Science Behind Why Humans Love Drinking". Esquire.
4. Warzel, Charlie (April 3, 2020). "Opinion | What We Pretend To Know About the Coronavirus Could Kill Us". The New York Times. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
5. Evans, Robert (April 29, 2019). "8chan's Ties To Shootings Renew Debate Over Internet's Role In Radicalizing Extremists". All Things Considered (Interview). Interviewed by Jasmine Garsd. NPR. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
6. "Robert Evans, author at bellingcat". Bellingcat. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
7. Harris, Bridgett (March 25, 2020). "Four Ways To Enjoy Spending Time At Home This Week". Colorado Springs Independent. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
8. Romano, Aja (January 20, 2020). "What We Still Haven't Learned From Gamergate". Vox.
9. Evans, Robert (March 15, 2019). "Shitposting, Inspirational Terrorism, and the Christchurch Mosque Massacre". Bellingcat. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019.
10. Dickson, E. J. (March 15, 2019). "Why Did the Christchurch Shooter Name-Drop YouTube Phenom PewDiePie?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
11. Coaston, Jane (March 15, 2019). "The New Zealand Shooter's Manifesto Shows How White Nationalist Rhetoric Spreads". Vox. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
12. Lorenz, Taylor (March 15, 2019). "The Shooter's Manifesto Was Designed To Troll". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
13. Stewart, Emily (August 5, 2019). "8chan, a Nexus Of Radicalization, Explained". Vox Recode. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
14. Evans, Robert (April 28, 2019). "Ignore The Poway Synagogue Shooter's Manifesto: Pay Attention To 8chan's /pol/ Board". Archived from the original on April 28, 2019.
15. Bloom, Mia (May 30, 2020). "Far-Right Infiltrators And Agitators In George Floyd Protests: Indicators Of White Supremacists". Just Security. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
16. Weissmueller, Zach (October 16, 2020). "The Complicated Truth About the Boogaloo Movement". Reason.com.
17. Evans, Robert; Wilson, Jason (May 27, 2020). "The Boogaloo Movement Is Not What You Think". Bellingcat.
18. ^ Ramakrishnan, Jayati (July 9, 2020). "City Of Portland Now Faces a 3rd Class-action Lawsuit Over Police Use Of Force At Protests". The Oregonian. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
19. Sykes, Tom (July 21, 2020). "Federal Agents 'Beaten Back' Into Courthouse In Portland By 2,000 Protesters". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
20. ^ Wilson, Jason (August 28, 2020). "Portland Suffers Serious Street Violence As Far Right Return 'Prepared To Fight'". The Guardian. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
21. Warzel, Charlie (July 17, 2020). "Opinion | 50 Nights of Unrest In Portland". The New York Times. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
22. ^ DeVega, Chauncey (April 3, 2020). "Investigative Reporter Robert Evans: 'We're On the Edge Of an Authoritarian Nightmare'". Salon. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
23. Moon, Carter (February 8, 2020). "WORST YEAR EVER and Furries Fighting Fascism". Merry-Go-Round Magazine. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
24. "Critical Reads for Covering Extremism". electionsos.com. Election SOS. January 29, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
25. "Meet the Syrian Women Fighting For a Better, Fairer Future In iHeartRadio's New Original Podcast, "The Women's War"" (Press release). iHeartRadio Blog. April 25, 2020.
26. Gravano, Izzy (June 22, 2020). "Listen to These 15 Racial Justice Podcasts". Minnesota Monthly. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
27. Staff, Ledger (June 1, 2021). "Podcasts to tune into this summer". The Tacoma Ledger. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
28. "8 Podcasts to Help You Imagine a World Without Police or Prisons". Podcast Review. August 18, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
29. "What's New In Podcasting This Week". Insideradio.com. June 19, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
30. "NEW: Behind The Police". Podcast Business Journal. June 18, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
31. Silverman, Julia (July 23, 2021). "5 Great Portland-Made Podcasts for Summer Listening". Portland Monthly. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
32. "iHeartMedia Announces "Cool Zone Media," A New Progressive Podcast Network From Investigative Journalist And Star Podcaster Robert Evans" (Press release). iHeartMedia. August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
33. Grove, Rashad (August 17, 2021). "iHeartMedia Premieres 'Cool Zone Media' A Progressive Podcast Network From Investigative Journalist Robert Evans". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
34. Drolet, Gabrielle (January 4, 2022). "5 podcasts on culture wars, conspiracies and extremist ideas". The Globe and Mail.

External links

• What You Need To Know About The Battle of Portland, a Bellingcat article by Robert Evans highlighted in various news outlets
• The War on Everyone, transcript of the podcast series available at the Anarchist Library

• Living people
• American male journalists
• American political podcasters
• Historians of fascism
• IHeartRadio digital channels
• Journalists from Texas
• American war correspondents
• War correspondents of the Iraq War
• University of Texas at Dallas alumni
• Sam Houston State University alumni
• Novelists from Texas
• 1988 births
• 21st-century American historians