Doomscroll with Joshua Citarella

My guest is Grimes, an artist and musician. We discuss the profound impacts of social media and AI, her new album and the role of art during periods of political transformation. In the 20th century, artists served as an avant-garde. Movements on both the left and right, such as the Bauhaus or Italian Futurism, offered radical new visions for a modernizing society. In the 21st century, we see a sim...

Dr. Mike joins me to explore the “enhanced games”, a Peter Thiel backed Olympic-style competition that allows athletes to use performance enhancing drugs. We discuss tariffs, US competition with China and Dr. Mike’s philosophical background and influences.

My guest is Dr. Mike Israetel, a PhD in Sport Physiology and a co-founder of ‪Renaissance Periodization‬. We discuss RFK, seed oils, endocrine disruptors, xenoestrogens and every other “based” twitter health meme in your news feed. We explore Dr. Mike's background growing up in the crumbling Soviet Union and his life-changing encounter with libertarian philosophy. Later, we investigate the so-call...

We explore Taylor’s background, how she became politicized and her vision for a free and open internet. I am playfully trolling about the techno-deterministic teleological inevitability of StateBook — its monarchy vs WeChat and there’s nothing in between. I don’t make the rules.

My guest is ‪TaylorLorenz‬, a journalist and content creator. She is the author of “Extremely Online”. We discuss social media influencers, the Democratic party and dark money. How does today’s memetic landscape help to shape real world politics? Can we preserve freedom of speech in an increasingly authoritarian environment? You can get access to the full catalog for Doomscroll and more by becomin...

We discuss the darker elements of the New Right and a variety of niche thinkers and ideologies. We explore the woke black lash, tariffs and the brewing conflict between crypto and nationalism. Later, we speculate about 21st century exit politics and the “internet driver’s license”.

My guest is Emily Jashinsky, a political commentator and a co-host of Breaking Point s. We discuss the shifting factions of the America right; Fusionism, Populism, Monarchy, Trad, MAHA, Catholicism, Crypto-anarchy and more. Many viewers will be familiar with the infamous “Bernie to Trump” pipeline but less will be aware of the Trotskyite origins of certain canonized thinkers on the New Right. You...

We discuss Kyle’s early origins on YouTube, the New Atheism movement and his formative encounters with the work of Noam Chomsky and Richard Dawkins (this is real). Later, we explore the peculiar landscape of YouTube and how platforms shape political factions today.

My guest is Kyle Kulinski, a YouTuber and political commentator. He is the host of the Kyle Kulinkski show. We discuss the success of the online right and ask what the left might learn from right-wing shitposters. We explore the breakdown of liberal norms and the shattering of the Overton window. American politics has become increasingly radical in the last eight years. We ask; what new formation...

We explore the looming threat of AI, transhumanism and solve “the Elon Musk situation”. We ask; what is the left-wing version of tariffs? And why should the left support economic protectionism? You can get access to the full catalog for Doomscroll and more by becoming a paid supporter: www.patreon.com/joshuacitarella

My guest is Krystal Ball, a political commentator and a co-host of ‪ Breaking Points. We discuss the seismic shift of American politics and our hard breaks to the right and left. We explore Zohran Mamdani's historic win in NYC and the ways in which the internet become real life. How do online audiences correlate to real world political coalitions? You can get access to the full catalog for Doomscr...

My guest is Ana Kasparian. We dive into Ana’s background and formative experiences on TYT. We discuss the horseshoe theory meme and I float a strategic argument: “the neoliberal case for single payer healthcare” lol. You can get access to the full catalog for Doomscroll and more by becoming a paid supporter: www.patreon.com/joshuacitarella

My guest is Ana Kasparian, a host and executive producer of ‪ The Young Turks. We discuss her political journey from progressive to "independent and unaligned". Last year, Kasparian’s commentary took an editorial turn away from left echo-chambers and towards a generalized populism. We pay respect to the political genius and lasting influence of Michael Brooks. You can get access to the full catalo...

My guest is Yancey Strickler. We discuss the theory and practice of content moderation on big platforms. Today, the “terms of service” also necessarily set the parameters of debate and have profound downstream effects on political reality. Later on, we discuss Yancy’s background as a music critic, his early online record label and his unconventional path to becoming a co-founder of Kickstarter. We...

My guest is Yancey Strickler, an author and former music critic. He is a co-founder of Metalabel as well as a co-founder and previously the CEO of Kickstarter. We discuss the new shape of online culture. Dark Forest spaces are gated digital communities, often curated around a specific niche or field of expertise. They represents a retreat from open social media into private spaces, where users may...

This is a subscribers only episode. My guest is Tim Heidecker. We discuss his background in music and DIY creative scenes as well as our shared admiration for artist and documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis.

My guest is ‪ Tim Heidecker, a comedian, musician and actor. He is a host of Office Hours. You can find him performing live music as 'Tim Heidecker and The Very Good Band'. His video work pioneered the style, affect, and genre of new media alt-comedy. We discuss how online irony became today's real world politics. We explore the shift from legacy TV to streaming platforms. How did our media ecosys...

My guest is Aella. We discuss the psychological and social origins of sexual fetishes, the dark side of internet pornography, and we bring clarity to the online debates around race and IQ. Due to TOS, some of these topics can’t be included on the YouTube episode. Other topics are better kept off of public channels.

My guest is Aella, a writer, blogger and sex worker. She writes the highly popular blog Knowingless. She is a member of the online community LessWrong. We discuss the emergence of AI, the sex industry (online and offline), robot gfs and libertarian transhumanism. Aella describes her evangelical religious upbringing and how she learned to navigate the secular world. We explore the overlap of niche...

My guest is Francis Fukuyama. We discuss the research background of Doomscroll and competition between the United States vs China in the 21st century. You can get access to the full catalog for Doomscroll and more by becoming a paid supporter: www.patreon.com/joshuacitarella

My guest is Francis Fukuyama, a scholar and political scientist. He is the author of many books. He is most well known for his 1992 work, "The End of History & the Last Man". Drawing on Hegel and Marx, Fukuyama explores the concept of teleology — the idea that history is a linear process where human societies progress through sequential socioeconomic forms. As Marx famously wrote, Feudalism wa...

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. 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 — yike...

My guest is Hasan Piker‬, a live streamer and political commentator. We discuss the state of the online left and the massive rightward shift of young men toward Donald Trump and the Republican party. I sat down with Hasan during his suspension from Twitch. He reads a misleading headline published in the New York Post. Later, we discuss the strategic possibilities of a two party system and explore...

My returning guest is Catherine Liu. We discuss the crisis of elite academies, the influence of Foucault, a certain Twitter controversy, Thomas Piketty’s concept of the Merchant Right, the transformation of the artworld under neoliberalism and much more. You can get access to the full catalog for Doomscroll and more by becoming a paid supporter: www.patreon.com/joshuacitarella

My returning guest is Catherine Liu,‬ a professor of film and media studies at UC Irvine. She is the author of "Virtue Hoarders: the Case Against the Professional Managerial Class". We explore the psychological significance of “trauma” and “care” within the liberal discourse today. Liu describes a moral panic among elites where the language of personal therapy attempts to right social and historic...