Hated By All the Right People

By: Jason Zengerle

Narrated by: Beth Hicks, Jason Zengerle

From a seasoned political journalist, an eye-opening examination of Tucker Carlson’s rise through conservative media and politics, and his ideological transformation over the past thirty years, tracking the concurrent shifts in the political and media landscapes which have both influenced and succumbed to the hyperpartisan politics of today.

To many, Tucker Carlson is synonymous with modern conservative politics. Carlson has been present on our screens for almost three decades and is as infamous for his bow tie as he is for his increasingly extreme right-wing views. But those who knew Carlson in his earlier days in political journalism remember a very different man—a serious and gifted writer and commentator who enjoyed debating with liberal friends and calling out conservative failures in equal measure. Now after watching Carlson turn away from measured reporting, while simultaneously gaining unparalleled power in Donald Trump’s Republican Party, most are left asking, What the hell happened to Tucker?

New York Times Magazine writer Jason Zengerle’s rich and evocative character study of Carlson tells the story of how the former Fox News talking head rose through the ranks of conservative media, from his early days as a young writer at The Weekly Standard to his current perch as one of the most powerful voices in right-wing politics. Through deep reporting and a sweeping view of the political and media landscapes over the past thirty years, Zengerle reveals how Carlson’s career offers a unique lens into the radical transformation of American conservatism and, just as importantly, the media that covers and ultimately shapes it. As conservative news outlets fight daily over who can report the most disreputable stories, and clicks and views take precedence over facts and substance, Carlson’s evolution tells the larger story of how the right has radicalized and taken the media with it.

More insight desired

Tells a lot. Says very little. Wish there was more attempt to understand Carlson’s many re-inventions, and not just plow through events, many of which are already well-documented.

Tuckers Genius

A brilliant profile of a brilliant man. Came away with a respect I’d not have wagered Tucker would ever earn.
Enough said.

Great story

This book is about so much more than Tucker Carlson. it's an interesting history of poiitics and journalism over the last few decades, and it helps explain how we got here.

Meager info about post-Fox Tucker, but still good!

I enjoyed this book and think it's worth a read, even though it doesn't focus much on Tucker's most recent incarnation (post Fox News). If you were hoping to read about present-day Tucker, that period is only squeezed in at the end of the book. Still, it's a good chronicle of Tucker's career and focusses on how he evolved (for the worse) as the media business transformed from the mid-90s to the present.

I also appreciated that Zengerle mostly refrains from doing commentary on Tucker's character -- I don't need to be told he's a bad, bad man over and over again. In fact, you get the sense that Tucker was a liberal's kind of conservative for the better part of two decades, and hence a lot of his contemporaries (like Zengerle) have some residual fondness and respect for him. Obviously, the book is nonetheless critical of the choices Tucker made -- especially in the past decade -- and seems to suggest that his mutation into the figure he is today stems from his need to chase an increasingly radicalized and unhinged conservative audience.

I despise Ticker Carlson

I have never liked him from the early days at Crossfire. He was a pompous ass then and nothing has changed. I am glad I read this book because it really helped me understand a lot of what has happened in the last ten years. He is an opportunist more than anything. I don't think he has any real beliefs, other than his own greatness, just what gets him the most attention. I guess in many ways he is just like Trump only more articulate.