MEMES, Pt. 5: The President of Kekistan

Endless Thread

WBUR

Reddit, Technology

4.2 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2021

⏱️ 45 minutes

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Summary

He is known by several names, but Gordon Hurd is the one this man-turned-meme adopted when he fled Cameroon for the UK more than two decades ago. Gordon eventually found the app Fiverr and started making videos for anonymous benefactors on the internet.

That’s how Gordon adopted another name, Big Man Tyrone, and became a viral video meme who gives scripted testimonials and has been named the leader of a fictional alt-right country called Kekistan. But there’s a lingering question: Is Big Man Tyrone in on the joke? What happens when an African immigrant in the UK becomes the leader of a group of Trump supporters? We explore the complexities of the Big Man Tyrone meme and our own expectations of the responsibilities of Gordon Hurd.

Transcript

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0:18.9	Hey, just a heads up.
0:20.9	This episode briefly mentions the concept of pedophilia.
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0:27.9	episodes.
0:28.9	Produced by the ILAB at WBWR Boston.
0:38.4	We want to introduce you to a man who at minimum has two identities.
0:44.1	One of them is a semi-famous person on the internet, a guy named Big Man Tyrone.
0:49.4	Big Man Tyrone, yeah.
0:51.1	This man's other main identity is a mild-mannered guy who at home goes by Gordon Hurd.
0:57.5	How similar is Big Man Tyrone to Gordon Hurd?
1:02.8	Very dissimilar.
1:03.8	Very, very dissimilar.
1:05.8	It's a night and day.
1:08.2	Gordon came first, and his story starts in his native country of Cameroon, where Gordon
1:13.6	lived and tell you was a young man.
1:15.6	I had worked at the Presidents of the Republic as a translator interpreter, into French and
	...

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