Doomscroll: Hasan Piker

Welcome to Doomscroll. My guest is Hasan Piker. I think he plays video games or something? I’m not sure. I don’t really follow online politics tbh.

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I sat down with Hasan during his 24 hour ban from Twitch. This temporary suspension was a penalty for reading the manifesto of the alleged shooter who killed two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Jewish Museum in Washington DC. Hasan responds to Twitch’s inconsistent application of the terms of service and reads a misleading headline published in the New York Post.

After the 2024 election, legacy media and political institutions were forced to consider the influence of online content creators. Podcasters who interviewed Donald Trump, such as The Nelk Boys, Theo Von, Logan Paul and Adin Ross, were personally thanked on stage by the campaign.

Establishment Democrats began to say things like; we need a liberal Joe Rogan, a democratic confederalist Adam Friedland, or even a schizophrenic Tony Soprano. With 2.8 million followers on Twitch, Hasan Piker is among the most prominent independent political commentators today. He joins me to discuss:

• The state of the online left, its impact on Gen Z culture and the alt-media landscape.

• The seismic 15 point electoral shift of young men toward the Republican Party. What is the role of online media in shaping political outcomes?

• What does the word “socialism” mean in the 21st century? Are we doing revolution or healthcare? Which is more likely to succeed?

• And we solve the most urgent philosophical question of our time; does lifting weights make you right-wing? (Spoiler alert: it makes you gay.)

Hasan and I first got in touch back in 2019, shortly after I published Politigram & the Post-left. He was one of the first creators who recognized the significance of the memetic subcultures that I was writing about at that time. Our conversations centered around the need for an online left that could compete with the social media impact of the right. Six years later, we recount the successes and many failures of that project. The full episode is out today:

Hasan Piker: Online Politics and the Left | Doomscroll

In the second half of the episode, Hasan and I debate the possible paths to socialism (or even just social democracy) for America in the 21st century. We compare political economic models of the US vs China and explore the strategic options of a two party system. Superpower competition and friend-shoring will shape the politics of our new multipolar era. (“MAGA communism” is an IMF psyop from the 2010s.) Through all of these unfolding crises, there remains a glimmer of hope and a reason for left-wing optimism.

Of the numerous topics we cover, the lack of any significant reach for progressive voices in today’s alt-media landscape is perhaps the most important. In previous episodes, prominent alt-media figures have said that they either don’t feel qualified or do not want to offer serious commentary. If I’m being honest, this isn’t the job that I would have picked for myself. I’d be happier just quietly making art and reading books in the studio. Instead, I find myself on camera every week and I have an inbox full of messages from mentally ill political extremists. It’s a lovely work environment lol. But we all find ourselves in the strange and unique situation we are in. If you’d like to see this project succeed, you can help to boost us in the YouTube algorithm by dropping a like, comment, or subscribing to the channel today.

I don’t think that an artist’s perspective is necessarily the most valuable contribution to the discourse right now. But in a media environment that is overwhelmingly dominated by stand up comedians — it couldn’t possibly be worse. We started this show as a side project a little less than a year ago. It was supposed to be a brief 12 episode mini-series after which we would all go back to our normal routines. Now at episode #24, and given the momentum of the past few months, I am doing my best to rise to the occasion and see how far we can really take this. If I have your support, I think we can do it: Support the show.

In addition to this week’s public episode you can also find a bonus episode for subscribers only below. On the private episode, we recap Hasan’s upbringing in Turkey and his early origins at The Young Turks network. Later, he talks me off the ledge as I complain about how much it sucks to be on camera lol. We discuss media strategy, online debate and class consciousness. Most importantly, Hasan concedes that I am in fact more knowledgeable about exercise —I would like to enter this part into the public record— for all the academic study sessions of painfully long Marxist equations that derive the rate of extraction of surplus value, we cannot definitely prove that lengthened partials and stretch mediated hypertrophy actually result in more gains. We both admit to mirin’ Yung Chomsky’s peak physique. (This is not gay.) Finally, Hasan drops some revealing streamer drama that I did not yet know — yikes.

As the show continues to build a following, I feel most comfortable giving editorial input on the private feed. I think this makes for a better interview on the public episodes. For now, I will speak more candidly in private. You can watch part 2 and more below:

Doomscroll: Hasan Piker II

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Doomscroll: Jen Pan II

Doomscroll: Anthony Fantano II

Doomscroll: Vivek Chibber II

Doomscroll: Andrew Callaghan II

Doomscroll: Ezra Klein II

Doomscroll: Adam Friedland II

Doomscroll: Briahna Joy Gray II

Doomscroll: Quinn Slobodian II

Doomscroll: Will Menaker II

Doomscroll: Dasha Nekrasova II