Behind MrBeast’s Cold, Dead Eyes
Twenty-five years ago, someone like Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson would have had little to offer the world. His rise to global phenomenon suggests that virality is emptier than even pessimists thought possible.
72 Article(s) by: Ryan Zickgraf
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Ryan Zickgraf is a journalist based in Atlanta.
America’s Holy War in Iran
For roughly half a century, a certain strain of American evangelical theology has taught millions of believers to read conflicts like Trump’s war with Iran not simply as geopolitics in action but as prophecy unfolding in real time. I was one of them.
The Class War on White-Collar Workers Is Just More Capitalism
Thanks to AI, white-collar workers are discovering what blue-collar workers learned a half-century ago: they’re disposable.
In Melania, the Emperor Has a Lot of Clothes
It’s hard to imagine viewers who end up tuning in to the new hagiographic Melania Trump documentary, Melania, having a reaction other than “time to sharpen our guillotines.”
Bryan Johnson Is Silicon Valley’s Sexless Vampire Future
Bryan Johnson’s sexless brand of “wellness vampirism” is the perfect metaphor for Silicon Valley. It’s a utopian promise of a limitless future disguising a brutal, extractive reality that leaves us all drained.
Whatever Happened to #Abolish ICE?
In 2018, #AbolishICE was everywhere. Seven years later, the agency is bigger than ever, yet the slogan’s champions are nowhere to be found.
The Rise and Fall of the Bob Ross NFT King
How one artist rode the NFT wave to fame — and then crashed with it.
“Pink Slime Journalism” Takes Aim at Greenpeace
The Dakota Access Pipeline company just won a landmark suit against Greenpeace worth over $660 million. At the heart of the case is a new and particularly sleazy form of partisan communications masquerading as journalism.
The Meaning of Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan built his empire by presenting himself as an entertaining, independent commentator. He gave it up for the 2024 election.
The Case for Social Drinking
Americans are trading bar culture for wellness apps and mocktails. But despite alcohol’s many shortcomings, our national sobering up is not a simple cause for celebration. We’re also losing social spaces and traditions in an increasingly alienated society.
Why Air America Failed
The liberal attempt to counter Rush Limbaugh on the airwaves was too little, too late.
Dems’ Glitzy Celebrity Strategy Was an Embarrassing Failure
Democrats had a billion dollars to pull off a Kamala Harris victory. They hurled much of that money at celebrities and designing lavish environments to say the word “joy” in. It was one big A-list party, and Americans didn’t feel invited.
Working-Class Men Are Not Okay
Working-class American men are getting lonelier and sicker, and their lives are getting shorter. It’s not just a sad state of affairs; it’s a full-blown crisis that demands policy solutions.
Justice Warriors Is Funny, but in a Way That Hurts
The indie comic Justice Warriors: Vote Harder is a heartening sign that genuinely subversive political satire remains possible, even in a world that feels like satire itself sometimes. And like the best of the genre, it hits a little too close to home.
The 2024 DNC: All Vibes, Little Substance
The DNC revealed a Democratic Party still in love with the Obamas. The fantasy is that Kamala Harris will be a reboot. Brat summer is cooling — are you ready for an Obama autumn, heavy on feeling good and light on political substance?
J. D. Vance’s “Forgotten” Ohio Hometown Is on the Upswing
J. D. Vance portrays his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, as a dying backwater with a culture of irresponsibility and laziness. It’s actually seeing a revival — thanks not to a mindset change but to massive public investment of the type the GOP opposes.
The Redneck Menace
White Rural Rage is another attempt to blame the Democratic Party’s decline in rural counties on mean and bigoted white Americans.
A Twenty-First-Century Horse Opera
Yellowstone sells a fantasy of rural America — and conservatism — no different from any other prime-time soap opera.
White Rural Rage Is Shallow Pandering to Elitist Liberals
White Rural Rage, full of tired tropes about the bigotry of rural white Americans, distorts more than it reveals about the growth of the Trumpian right. It’s a shallow exercise in pandering to the prejudices of liberals.
Airbnb Was Supposed to Save Capitalism. Instead, It Just Devolved Into Garbage.
In the early days of Airbnb, many predicted that the company and other sharing economy platforms would “disrupt” capitalism as usual, finally making it work for all stakeholders. But that’s not what happened. Instead, it got us all hooked and then got worse.