Dave Rubin

Rubin was born on June 26, 1976, in Brooklyn, New York, New York.[6] He grew up in a "fairly secular Jewish household on Long Island".[7] He spent his adolescence in Syosset, New York and then resided on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York, New York for 13 years.[8]

In 1994, Rubin graduated from Syosset High School. In 1998, he earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Binghamton University in Vestal, New York.[9]

Rubin during a taping of The Rubin Report at Politicon in 2015

In 1998, Rubin started his career in comedy doing stand-up and attending open-mics in New York City. In 1999, he became an intern at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.[10]

In 2000, Rubin continued his career at the New York-based Comedy Cellar.[11] Later that year he joined with other Comedy Cellar comedians to create a public-access television series, a news program parody called The Anti-Show which was secretly filmed at NBC Studios in 30 Rockefeller Plaza.[12]

In 2002, he co-founded several New York City-based comedy clubs including Joe Franklin's Comedy Club and The Comedy Company in Times Square where he continued to do stand-up until 2007.[8]

He was the host of the podcasts, Hot Gay Comics and The Ben and Dave Show, which were turned into a television series on the here! television network.[13] In May 2009, Rubin co-created and co-hosted the podcast The Six Pack.[14][15] From October 2011 to December 2012, The Six Pack was on Sirius XM Radio as a live talk show.[16] While a part of Sirius XM, Rubin created his own account on YouTube called Rubin Report in early September 2012.

Rubin describes himself as a classical liberal, which he has said basically amounts to conservatism or libertarianism.[1][2][3][4][5] He characterizes himself as a liberal because he favors same-sex marriage, criminal justice reform, marijuana legalization, a social safety net and public schooling, as well as conditionally supports abortion. In 2017, he starred in a video by the conservative YouTube channel PragerU where he explained "Why I Left the Left". He has characterized progressivism as a "mental disorder".[17][18] He has been described as part of the "intellectual dark web".[19]

Rubin frequently appears as a speaker at events hosted by Turning Point USA, a conservative student organization. When asked in July 2017 about Trump policies he disagreed with, he criticized Trump's use of executive orders but did not offer criticism of any other Trump policies. Asked in January 2018 about what he disagreed with the right on, he offered mild criticism of "a bit of a religious tone with the right" but did not mention other ideological differences.[18]

Critics have accused Rubin of providing a prominent platform to controversial alt-right and far right figures such as Paul Joseph Watson, far-right personalities Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux, and nationalist Tommy Robinson.[18][20] A 2018 report from Data & Society described Rubin as part of a network on YouTube that amplified far-right politics.[2][17][21] The report cited as an example an interview that Rubin conducted with Stefan Molyneux where Rubin asked Molyneux to elaborate on his views that races have different average IQ test results, and that these differences are genetic.[22] Rubin did not challenge Molyneux in any substantial way, leading the report to conclude, "By letting him speak without providing a legitimate and robust counterargument, Rubin provides a free platform for white supremacist ideology on his channel."[22][21] According to Anthony Fisher, a journalist at The Daily Beast, Rubin has implied or stated that alt-lite figures Paul Joseph Watson, Stefan Molyneux and Mike Cernovich are part of "a new political center", and, in a 2016 livestream, said "the alt-right as a shitposting, fun, call out the bullshit, mock-the-power thing is amazing", adding "there’s nothing funny coming out on the left now... [.]"[18]

Rubin's book, Don't Burn This Book, was published in April 2020 by Sentinel.[23][24][25]

The Rubin Report has an affiliation with the libertarian Institute for Humane Studies, a Koch family foundations-funded organization which sponsors an episode of his show per month.[31][19][32] Until late 2018, Rubin received much of his funding through Patreon,[33] a crowdfunding site on which Rubin said he received over $10,000 per month prior to deletion.[34] Rubin and Jordan Peterson announced their intent to leave the platform following Sargon of Akkad's ban, which they described as an assault on free speech. In a video shortly thereafter, the two announced their interest in developing an independent, free speech oriented crowdfunding site. Peterson started Thinkspot, on which Rubin was an early contributor.[35][36][37]

Rubin publicly came out as gay in 2006, which he has referred to as his "defining moment".[38][39] In December 2014, he became engaged to producer David Janet.[40] The couple married on August 27, 2015.[41] He once described himself as an agnostic[42] or an atheist,[43] but said that he was no longer an atheist and was open to Christianity in December 2019.[44]

• 2020: Don't Burn This Book: Thinking for Yourself in the Age of Unreason

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