Paid Protesters

Paid Protesters

From Reflector by Longview

March 3, 2026 · 41 min

About this episode

This episode explores the concept of paid protesters in American political movements through an interview with Adam Swart, CEO of Crowds on Demand.

From abolitionists to the Tea Party, accusations of “paid protesters” have shadowed American political movements for centuries. But what if the reality is more nuanced (and more interesting) than the talking points suggest? In this episode, Andy Mills sits down with Adam Swart, founder and CEO of Crowds on Demand, a company that quite literally pays people to demonstrate. Swart pulls back the curtain on an industry most people encounter only as a conspiracy theory, explaining how his business actually works. As you’ll hear, Swart makes his provocative case that the “astroturf vs. grassroots” debate is a juvenile distraction. He believes that most major movements, left or right, have big money behind them, and that his company is simply one of the more transparent players in the influence game. We’d love to hear if (and how) this interview shapes your thinking around the debate. Leave us a comment or send us an email: hello@longview.report CREDITS: This episode was produced by Andy Mills, Ethan Mannello and Matthew Boll Music for this episode was composed by ⁠⁠⁠Cobey Bienert⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Peter Lalish⁠⁠ Reflector artwork by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jacob Boll⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To become a Longview subscriber you can…

People in this episode

Hosts: Andy Mills, Cobey Bienert, Jacob Boll

Guest: Adam Swart

Topics covered

  • paid protesters
  • political movements
  • astroturf vs. grassroots
  • influence industry
  • American history
  • activism

Keywords

  • paid protesters
  • political movements
  • Crowds on Demand
  • astroturf
  • grassroots
  • activism
  • influence
  • Adam Swart

Sponsors

Ground News

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Crowds on Demand

More episodes of Reflector

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Reflector podcast page.