Hasan Piker: A swashbuckling Bromance
Decoding the Gurus
Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 13 March 2024
⏱️ 116 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Avast Ye Harties!
Yar! This week be the inaugural episode of a New Streamer/Academic Guru season. Join us as we set sail with a bang and embark on an adventure with the famous and controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker. Formerly of the Young Turks, Hasan has carved out a niche as a popular left-wing commentator. He is sometimes described as representing a new wave of political communicators who leverage social media and live streaming to reach new audiences, particularly disengaged younger viewers.
But how does he fare in these Decoding waters?
We take a look at his recent interview with Rashed Al-Haddad, a dashing Yemeni teenager (nicknamed Tim Houthi Chalamet), who recently found himself streaming video on an international transport ship hijacked by Houthi militants. But fear not! Hasan addresses this sensitive topic and the complex geopolitical issues involved with due diligence and care. Moreover, Rashed reports that all of the kidnapped crew are having a grand old time in Yemen! They are simply vibing with their captors, chewing khat, and have fully embraced the honourable Houthi perspective.
The Houthis' official slogan, "God is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse Upon the Jews, Victory to Islam", and reports of severe human rights abuses in their territory, might still give one pause... but as Hasan explains—drawing on his deep political and psychological insights—the Houthis are just like the heroic Straw Hat pirates in the popular anime One Piece!
So with that settled, we can focus on the more important questions like what videogames Rashed likes, if he has ever heard of Mr. Beast, whether he's eaten 'Western' food, what cartoons he watched growing up, and if there are KFCs in Yemen? Truly, this is a conversation for the ages, and Hasan is just the man for the job.
So join us for this week's episode as we ponder whether combining influencer culture with political analysis was a wise move and if there are any possible contradictions or minor ideological skews in Hasan's content.
Links
- Hasan Interviews Viral 'Hot Yemeni TikTok Pirate' | Hasanabi Reacts
- Atlantic article about the Houthis and the situation in Yemen
- Amnesty article on Houthi sentencing of stoning and crucifixion for crimes of homosexuality
- Human Rights Watch article on Houthi recruitment of child soldiers
- Human Rights Watch article on the al-Ahli Hospital Explosion
- Willy Mac 'drama' YouTuber collated episodes on Hasan (part 1 and part 2)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thank you. Oh, Hello and a psychologist listen to the greatest minds the world has to offer and we try to understand what they talk about. |
| 0:34.3 | I forgot to breathe there. Okay, deep breath. I'm Matthew Brown and with me is Chris Kavanaugh. |
| 0:39.7 | Gator Chris, how are you? |
| 0:41.3 | Hello, hello, you big psychologist you |
| 0:45.2 | I am professor of psychology when it comes to psychology there is very little I don know. You could write what I don't know on the back of a postage stamp. |
| 0:55.7 | It would be a very large one, but yes, that's probably true. |
| 0:59.2 | That's a lie. Yeah, I'm your prompt mat, you know, whenever you get through the introduction and I feel you've missed something important. I just, you know, give you a little nudge in the right direction and all few speed along your track. |
| 1:13.0 | Yeah, yeah, I forgot to, you know, mention a dynamic duo in you and I in that context. |
| 1:19.0 | Have I done Batman and Robin? |
| 1:20.0 | Have I done Winnie the Pooh? |
| 1:22.0 | You've definitely done Winnie the Pooh, that was like the last episode. |
| 1:25.0 | It's a Batman and Robin you must have done as well. |
| 1:30.0 | Come on, that is the most obvious. I buy Goku and |
| 1:33.9 | Vegeta. That's a cut that you won't get. |
| 1:37.1 | I don't get that. No. |
| 1:39.1 | No. I actually copy go, Matt, because we're looking at a |
| 1:43.4 | Twitch streamer this week, somebody who likes anime |
| 1:47.2 | and as we announced on the previous episode, |
| 1:50.2 | we've got a new format. |
| 1:51.6 | So we're diving straight into our decoding this week. There's not that much intro waffle. |
| 2:01.8 | No. You've had it. |
| 2:04.0 | It's calm. |
... |
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