Episode 191: Mass Shooters & the Chans

Just returned to this episode, and it is so very good. A+ for everyone.

Hanes Leyes

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Sneakaboard

This episode was a perfect articulation of something that has me deeply concerned about the turn our culture has taken over the past 15 years. For the most part, it is the central theme of QAA - the insidious nature of how internet conspiracies gain steam and eventually a facade of legitimacy through sheer volume. What follows is the slow-burn radicalization of a multitude of disempowered, anti-social, internet dwellers. First they are simply dabbling in seemingly harmless dark humor, but soon the “ironic” nature of the veneration for monsters like Elliot Rodger melts away. Then you are left with guys like War-Z referring to “St. Eliot”, extolling the ultimate value of “accelerationism”, and longing for societal collapse and the subsequent civil unrest to create an opportunity for him to find things like power and meaning that have seemed so elusive. I think it is time we recognize the danger of these sentiments, and show compassion for people like War-Z by helping them find meaning in a way that is peaceful and constructive. Anyway, fantastic episode - haunting, but extremely compelling and well-composed.

Logan Gee

Great episode, thanks for this one, it's nice to hear from people who were around on 4chan on boards like r9k that I was intensely familiar with but got ignored in favor of /b/ and /pol/ when it came to the atrocities despite how relevant and different the nihilistic miserable incel culture of r9k was compared to the out and out devoted fascism of other boards and how they intermingled

Kest93

Such a good episode, so well explained. Had to take a second to get myself together after it finished. Thank you all of QAA for holding this kind of nebulous stuff up to the microscope, it's absolutely vital work and you nail it every time. I live in the UK and saw an elderly British man with a Let's Go Brandon t-shirt on in a sleepy Welsh town yesterday, just surreal how far this stuff spreads.

Depressing but a good episode. It's difficult to articulate sometimes what 4chan was like back in the day. To be honest, 4chan now is a pale shadow of what it once was, and I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't survive another decade.

Samuel Brown

Excellent episode. Despite the disgusting and disturbing shit that comes out of these sites, I still have a tiny amount of sympathy for these disaffected and depressed people. It's too bad that the chans are just echo chambers for their collective misery which only serves to further isolate and radicalize them.

Vanessa Lucio

The interview portions with the frequent 4chan flier signify one of the saddest thing about all these angry dudes. Guy thinks being homeless is the worst thing that ever happened to him and somehow existing in a war torn nation would be better. Clearly he's never actually listened to any of the stories from people living that life. Despite being terminally online he's spent most of his time in an echo chamber getting but pats from people who if they knew he was black would make sure he was first in the ovens in their new world order. If he wants a purpose so damn bad why not actually try to find it? Instead he's decided it's easier to help a bunch of fascist edgelords tear apart society because any other path would require more thinking and action and self reflection and that stuff is just to hard I guess. I spent most of my formative years on 4chan but I never saw the appeal of the boards like /r9k where people just wallow in self misery or /b where everything is a joke but the jokes all just happen to be punching down instead of up. I'm glad teenage me, as depressed and isolated as I was, was able to see through all of 4chans "irony" to the gross shit it spawned from.

TalkieSoundBox

This episode was incredibly done. I’ve never heard such a thorough and precise description of Chan brain rot.

kk

Even though I was already familiar with Beran’s work (and others, like Coleman) on the ‘chans, this was a great episode because of the interviews and audio clips, which makes it essential listening for anyone who wants to understand the utter nihilism rotting at the core of contemporary capitalism. Beran and QAA are right that phenomena like 4chan and Q are not to be dismissed as “superstructure” or “ideology” in serious left circles. This internet bullshit is increasingly at the material centre of the global economy—it has become infrastructure, and that should worry us all.

John Harwood

Tough listen, but accurate. Something Awful forum goons represent. It's a problematic thing to be, but by god the forums are better than ever

Byron Lagrone

Well that was depressing.

Alannah Small

Love you guys so much- started listening at the beginning of Covid. I am really enjoying trickle down too. This episode was amazing- I will be picking up Dale’s book for sure. Such a succinct explanation of motivations behind recent events. I am going to share with my non-online friends so we all can have a better understanding of what’s been happening around us. OK HAVE FUN AND BE SAFE OUT THERE EVERYBODY.