Welcome to Doomscroll. Episode #14 with guest Will Menaker is out today. As we enter this new and historic era of Trump 2.0, we’re releasing a collection of episodes to debrief on the state of American politics.
Doomscroll is a podcast about internet culture and the “end of history”. This is an independent program and it only exists because of paid supporters. Seriously, every other show at this level is underwritten by criminal billionaires that literally drain the blood from young people in the vain attempt to extend their own lives. If you value this work, you can help us make new episodes by becoming a paid subscriber:
This week, my guest is Will Menaker, a host of the Chapo Trap House podcast and a co-author of The Chapo Guide to Revolution. We discuss:
The end of the left + liberal alliance in American politics and the failures of working within the Democratic Party
A certain state in a certain part of the world that did an internationally agreed upon thing and how the Biden administration chose not to react at all
The role of alt media today and in the past. Where can we find truth within the online landscape?
Will Menaker’s work has influenced my thinking for many years. I took special inspiration from his reading series episodes. Chapo Trap House allowed us to see what a culturally relevant and broadly appealing left-wing media project could be. Most impressively, they did this at a time when few of us could even imagine an alternative to the right-wing dominated social media ecosystem.
Having followed Will’s work for many years, his appearance on this episode is perhaps the most incendiary and antagonistic towards the Democratic Party that I have yet seen. I think this corresponds with a broader deflation on the left in respect to mounting an insurgent campaign within the structure of the DNC. My hope is that this necessary period of discussion gives us the opportunity to reformulate our strategies as needed.
Watch the full episode:
Will Menaker: The End of the Left + Liberal Alliance | Doomscroll
In addition to today’s public episode, part 2 of my conversation with Will Menaker is available for paid subscribers. Paid subscribers get access to the full catalog and all bonus episodes:
Doomscroll: Will Menaker II
This is a subscriber’s only episode. My guest is Will Menaker. We discuss “based populism”, the power of comedy in politics, and the realignment of counter-culture in America.
Doomscroll: Dasha Nekrasova II
This is a subscriber’s only episode. My guest is Dasha Nekrasova. We discuss Trump’s historic victory, counter elites, the class interest of precarious freelancers and the state of creative industries today.
I liked this episode, it was interesting, but I can't help but ask: is there ever going to be a guest that comes from poverty? From some rural nowhereplace whose politics come from lived experience as oppose to reading theory? It's not that I think that's a bad thing, even. And you get at this in a way with interviews with younger people who are radicalized via the internet, but is there any figure active and influential in politics who came from a background that isn't upper middle class? Growing up in a trailer in Oklahoma is what made me politically conscious pretty early on, and the free library internet was the place where I started to read and connect with other people. It makes me wonder if there isn't SOMEBODY who could speak to this topic of contemporary politics and shifting alliances through a different lens.
Brilliant, thought provoking interview.