For this interview I spoke to Joshua Citarella (@JoshuaCitarella on social media), an artist, researcher, and Twitch streamer who studies niche online communities. He authored the book the Politigram and the Post-Left exploring esoteric online political beliefs. He has done a lot of work exploring various "e-deologies" and the very online young people who create and subscribe to them.

During the interview we discussed the pros and cons of e-deologies, how gamer guilds practice market socialism, and the need to contest spaces, even if they are aestheticized as being right wing. We also spoke about the current problems facing leftwing media and how we have so far settled with allowing platforms like Patreon to essentially be our shared infrastructure rather than creating our own.

“E-deology” is an internet slang term used to describe the overuse of prefixes and suffixes to generate complex ideological labels. These hyper-specific categories serve as a gamified form of identity play and niche personal branding in the chaotic landscape of online politics.

More from Joshua Citarella
DKP is Market Socialism Video
Yung Chomsky on Physical Fitness and the Left Podcast
Joshua Citarella's Patreon

If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit and Discord to join the discussion.

Send me your questions or comments about the show and I'll read them out sometime.

Support the show

ICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking.

The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.