Worst mid-life crisis ever

There’s something uniquely pathetic about a once-prominent national newspaper doing a PIVOT TO VIDEO in 2026:

The studio renovation reflects a much broader effort by O’Neal and owner Jeff Bezos to remake The Post’s opinion offerings into a more personality-driven and video-focused operation, one increasingly geared toward commentary that Bezos has described as centering on the twin issues of “personal liberties and free markets.” The transformation is unfolding after Donald Trump’s return to power and Bezos works to repair his strained relationship with the transactional president, a dynamic that has heightened anxiety inside the Matt Murray-led newsroom over the paper’s direction. O’Neal has dutifully carried out that vision, pushing aggressively into video, podcasts, and newsletters, while steering the section toward a more contrarian and conservative-friendly identity.

One current staffer questioned why O’Neal and the opinion section would need a makeshift version of Joe Rogan’s podcasting set. “It’s what the owner wants, I guess,” they sighed.

The investment in a new studio space for the opinion section’s “Make It Make Sense” podcast, hosted by O’Neal and other members of The Post Editorial Board, has raised eyebrows internally about Bezos’ priorities at the storied Washington newspaper of record after layoffs decimated the newsroom. The video gear alone cost the paper $80,000, according to a person familiar with the matter, although the official line is that the set was built in a cost-effective manner, with the opinion budget having already been cut by more than half.

But with only three people remaining on the video team, down from 60 staffers two years ago, some inside the paper are questioning how the efforts to embrace video will function logistically. One former staffer called the investments “haphazard,” telling Status, “No one is even there anymore to make sure things run properly.”

So far, the investment has produced an astonishingly small audience: just 182 YouTube subscribers, with many videos attracting only a few dozen views.

Pausing to say: LOL.

“It does feel like this is just for an audience of one,” one former staffer told Status, alluding to Bezos. “That audience of one is happy to put down money for a studio and programming that doesn’t serve any of the existing audience.” And while O’Neal has discussed making the paper’s editorials more appealing across the ideological spectrum, the former Postie added that the content being produced “isn’t something people on the right want either.”

Once again some people will insist that this is just pure sabotage, but that can’t explain why Bezos is actually setting money on fire for this. The much more plausible explanation is that some combination of Bezos and his top lackeys have convinced themselves that there’s an actual audience for this shit, despite it having been proven time after time that there is not. Anyway, Bezos should really consider a better use for his money, like buying a new IMAX yacht for his pet kitten or something.