#online-subcultures

#online-subcultures

Halkias doesn't know why he, of all people, was cast in Bugonia, but he's aware that his presence offers some semiotic weight to the film's exploration of lost men who fall down the rabbit hole of dark online subcultures and conspiracy. In the film, Jesse Plemons plays Teddy, a young man whose life was ruined by capitalism and the pharmaceutical industry and who turns to YouTube with his questions; in real life, Halkias makes his living trying to offer such guys answers.

For a moment, the fatal shooting of conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk last week pushed an already divided nation to its brink. Members of Congress screamed at each other on the House floor: Democrats blamed Republicans for fostering gun culture and mass shootings, while Republicans blamed Democrats for branding them "Nazis" and "fascists." MAGA influencers posted calls to rain retribution and vengeance on the left, citing dubious reports that the bullets had been carved with "pro-trans" messages.