Katie Drummond

From Wired, this is The Big Interview, where we get to know the people beyond the headlines in conversations that explore the intersection of technology, power, and culture.

I'm Katie Drummond, Wired's Global Editorial Director.

That is not, believe it or not, far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

For a minute there, I thought it really was him.

It's comedian Tim Heidecker, who's been named the new creative director of Infowars, doing his best parody of its former owner.

Jones is notorious for using the Infowars platform to peddle his false theory that the deadly 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.

Sandy Hook families sued him for defamation, and Jones was ordered to pay them more than a billion dollars.

He had to file for bankruptcy, and that's where The Onion and Tim come in.

The satirical news publication first tried to buy Infowars at a bankruptcy auction back in 2024 with the support of the Sandy Hook families.

That deal didn't quite work out, but The Onion has a new plan and isn't giving up.

It's still trying to take over the site, and Heidecker and his colleagues are moving forward, confident they'll prevail.

Tim is here now to tell us more.

Welcome, Tim.

Oh, my God.

I can't even imagine.

Has that happened before?

I have to start by asking, what goes into that uncanny parody of Alex Jones?

How did you try to capture his id, if you will?

Oh, that's awesome.

It still exists.