Hasan Piker for the SS23 RE Issue 15.

Hasan Piker is one of the most subscribed and watched commentators on Twitch. Left wing and no stranger to controversy, he makes his mark by speaking up and talking loud when things need to be said. In conversation with novelist Alex Kazemi, they discuss and dissect the Schein und Sein of liberalism and sexual politics with some bloody photo images to give a face to the words on the page.

“People have a genuine sense of despair right now –– everything is out of their control. There’s this daily attitude towards life that nothing we do is ever going to change. People feel powerless over the institutions and inherently oppressive structures that we exit under, but it’s not like people directly recognize what the cause is and can associate or can point out and identify the villain –– they can’t. But they still feel the impact of it. When you don’t have an actual productive outlook that could give you some fulfillment and you don’t find anything that is genuinely interesting… everything is just constantly watching Instagram, watching TikTok, watching other people that are better looking than you, living better lives… their lives are fucking dog shit, too. But they present an insane, unattainable life. You’re looking for any kind of exit strategy you can.”