scripod.com
#1032 - Joshua Citarella - The Dark Subcultures of Online Politics

Overview

Shownote

Highlights

Transcript

Chapters

Pins

#1032 - Joshua Citarella - The Dark Subcultures of Online Politics

Modern Wisdom

2025/12/13
Modern Wisdom

Modern Wisdom

2025/12/13
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

Joshua Citarella is an artist, writer, and cultural researcher focused on internet subcultures and online politics. We’ve all doom-scrolled our fair share of online politics, some of it funny, some unsettling, and some surprisingly insightful. But which i...

Highlights

In this conversation, Joshua Citarella unpacks the complex relationship between internet culture and political evolution, focusing on how digital spaces have become incubators for new ideological formations. Moving beyond surface-level interpretations of online behavior, the discussion reveals how memes, irony, and subcultural experimentation are reshaping political identity—especially among Gen Z.
08:27
15-year-olds had foresight in recognizing technological, political, and economic transformations
19:48
Mainstream media misuses the 'pipeline' metaphor to falsely link podcasts to extremism.
26:18
Online communities can shape policy, not just aesthetics
35:40
Memes are transmittable units of cultural information that shape worldviews.
51:16
Eco-extremism may be the endpoint of left-wing radicalization.
57:55
Young men are increasingly shifting support to Trump and Adams due to anti-establishment appeal.
1:06:20
Two New York guys just chatting
1:11:45
Damaging public art to protest climate change is morally wrong.
1:20:08
Young men are being pushed away from the left due to casual misandry and lack of inclusion.
1:25:52
Social-democratic models like the NHS are more competitive than neoliberal economies.
1:32:17
Nationalized healthcare is barbaric to lack in a developed nation
1:41:20
Repeated setbacks can either break or strengthen resilience

Chapters

How teenage meme culture predicted today’s political upheaval
00:00
Why Gen Z treats politics like a mix-and-match ideological lab
14:31
When online communities turn into real-world political forces
26:18
Who shapes political memes—and how stories beat facts online
35:40
What happened to the left after it abandoned economic justice
47:35
How environmental fear is fueling strange bedfellows across the spectrum
54:42
Can a meme become a movement? The power of vibe over policy
1:00:46
Do soup-throwing protests help—or hurt—the climate cause?
1:11:45
Why performative activism loses ground with young men
1:17:43
From self-help to populism: the changing dreams of young men
1:22:55
How illness and inequality reshaped one person’s political views
1:29:06
Why struggle, not success, earns trust in divided times
1:38:12

Transcript

Chris Williamson: I really love what you do. I think it's very interesting, very unique. Joshua Citarella: That's incredible. High praise from the greatest cinematic podcast that I think exists. I mean, there's only so many people in the game that produce...