Doomscroll: Kyle Kulinski

Last week’s horrific events have sent a shock wave through our politics, media and culture. We want to acknowledge the tragic murder of Charlie Kirk. He is mentioned briefly in this episode that was recorded at an earlier date.

---

Kyle Kulinski was among the very first alt-media content creators on YouTube. His channel, Secular Talk, has over 1.5 billion views and is one of the largest sources of independent political commentary that exists today.

In 2008, Kyle started making videos in his grandma’s basement. In dim lighting and through crunchy audio, he desperately pleaded for Hillary Clinton to drop out of that year’s Democratic primaries. At the time, it had already become mathematically impossible for her to win. Eight years later, Clinton once again refused to drop out—but this time her actions doomed the country and caused us to branch us off into an alternate timeline in the multiverse where Donald Trump might now be on a path to reinstalling monarchy in the United States? If the Democrats had only listened to young Kyle in 2008, perhaps all of this could have been avoided.

From these humble beginnings, we can already see the core dynamic of alt-media vs the liberal establishment; a refusal to take independent commentators seriously, followed by a rejection of their policy platforms and then a begrudging admission that they were indeed correct.

Meanwhile, on the right, alt-media and political establishment spheres have co-evolved into a powerful symbiotic relationship. Podcaster Dan Bongino is now the deputy director of the FBI. Influencers serve as the popular mouthpiece of the administration on television and socials. RFK is lurching after every viral health trend on X and the official White House account posts grotesque and stylized memes to promote their radical new policies.

In the time-honored tradition of young men in their grandma’s basement criticizing Hillary Clinton, Kyle has adopted his social media strategy from the proven and successful tactics of the online right. As we discuss in this week’s episode, when he first started out, he sought to create a left-wing answer to Rush Limbaugh. I think he’s met his goal. We explore:

• What the online left can learn from right-wing shitposters. (Kyle’s posts on X make the app worth opening.)

• Systemic breakdown and the erosion of liberal norms. Is the Trump administration a rogue regime?

• The radicalization of American politics and the shattering of the Overton window. What new formation of the DNC might follow?

In addition to his daily news coverage, you can find more of Kyle’s work on his weekly show with partner Krystal Ball: Krystal, Kyle & Friends.

On year two of Doomscroll, you’re going to hear a bit more from me. Kyle is a blast and we’re having a lot of fun on this episode. I hope you enjoy it:

Kyle Kulinski: Capitalism & the Brosphere | Doomscroll

On this week’s bonus episode we talk about Kyle’s early origins on YouTube, the New Atheism movement and his formative encounters with the work of Noam Chomsky and Richard Dawkins (this is real). Later, we explore the peculiar landscape of YouTube and how platforms shape political factions today:

Doomscroll: Kyle Kulinski II

Doomscroll: Krystal Ball II

Doomscroll: Hasan Piker II