podcast friday
May. 22nd, 2026 07:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabbyI kind of struggled deciding on an episode this week, but I'm going to go back to one from a couple weeks ago that I'm still thinking about a lot, A Bit Fruity's "Clavicular Is a Symptom, Not The Cause (with F.D. Signifier and Kat Tenbarge)." I love it when F.D. Signifier guests on podcasts; I would watch his YouTube but I don't really watch a lot of YouTube so it's nice when he does a thing I can listen to on the subway.
Anyway if you've been under a rock or don't have this shit forced on you, Clavicular is a 20-year-old influencer who promotes young incels hitting their face with a hammer (here is a quick explanation from mainstream media describing how most of us olds learned about him). It's kind of amazing just how completely far-right internet memes have made it into pop culture; like, I will say things like "[blank]maxxing" ironically despite being a normie old. This kid was one of the high school students who graduated under covid lockdown, if you want to know how recent all of this is.
Oh, he also has an eating disorder and is autistic. Things I didn't know. Apparently at least some of the appeal for viewers is watching this kid navigate social situations and failing miserably. Which is fucking gross and awful.
Looksmaxxing and Clavicular are things I learned about against my will, which is the case for everyone in this episode. The whole trend is weird and gross and misogynistic and racist and awful. Which is why the compassion and analysis that Matt, F.D., and Kat bring to the discussion is so important. They have compassion for Clavicular, who may be a terrible person but is also barely out of his teens and needed help and didn't get it. They have more compassion for the boys who follow this kind of content. This is a look into the nihilism of young men, and the degree to which it's an understandable reaction to a world that basically gaslights them.
Anyway, if you have kids in your life, it's definitely worth a listen.
Anyway if you've been under a rock or don't have this shit forced on you, Clavicular is a 20-year-old influencer who promotes young incels hitting their face with a hammer (here is a quick explanation from mainstream media describing how most of us olds learned about him). It's kind of amazing just how completely far-right internet memes have made it into pop culture; like, I will say things like "[blank]maxxing" ironically despite being a normie old. This kid was one of the high school students who graduated under covid lockdown, if you want to know how recent all of this is.
Oh, he also has an eating disorder and is autistic. Things I didn't know. Apparently at least some of the appeal for viewers is watching this kid navigate social situations and failing miserably. Which is fucking gross and awful.
Looksmaxxing and Clavicular are things I learned about against my will, which is the case for everyone in this episode. The whole trend is weird and gross and misogynistic and racist and awful. Which is why the compassion and analysis that Matt, F.D., and Kat bring to the discussion is so important. They have compassion for Clavicular, who may be a terrible person but is also barely out of his teens and needed help and didn't get it. They have more compassion for the boys who follow this kind of content. This is a look into the nihilism of young men, and the degree to which it's an understandable reaction to a world that basically gaslights them.
Anyway, if you have kids in your life, it's definitely worth a listen.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-22 12:38 pm (UTC)Viewers also like to point out whenever an interviewer, or the judge sentencing him for shooting an alligator, or some other middle-aged man who's probably never done homebrew plastic surgery on himself, is handsomer than he is. Which, given the kid's self-proclaimed obsession with looks, *is* understandable mockery, but likely doesn't help him reassess his values.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-22 01:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-05-22 01:16 pm (UTC)I'd probably have forgotten it, if "-maxxing" didn't become a thing. I assume you'd have found it harder.
Anyway, if you have kids in your life, it's definitely worth a listen.
I lament, I must co-sign this. None of this makes sense to me. And I was already confused by Andrew Tate.