In this episode David and I chat with videogame enthusiast and expert, Alfie Bown. Alfie is a lecturer in media at Royal Holloway University London and author of The Playstation Dreamworld, published by Polity in 2017.

Truthout YouTubers Play a Key Role in Far-Right Extremism of Online Forums

He writes for the Guardian and other places, and tweets at @leftist_gamer.

This is text from Alfie’s most recent piece: "To understand what is really at play here, we need to think not about whether PewDiePie himself is to blame for the massacre in New Zealand, but about what ingredients combine to produce such horrific results. We know that PewDiePie was not directly responsible for the mass shooting, just as we know that games themselves do not cause violence or school shootings (as Donald Trump claimed, along with many ’80s parents). Nevertheless, there is a connection between gaming, far-right extremism and the “mainstream” influencers with whom their jokes and arguments intersect.

In fact, this so-imagined blurred line between supposed humor and serious fascism is far from an excuse.”

LinksTruthout YouTubers Play a Key Role in Far-Right Extremism of Online Forumshttps://truthout.org/articles/youtubers-play-a-key-role-in-far-right-extremism-of-online-forums/

Alfie Bown on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/leftist_gamer

PlayStation Dreamworldhttps://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-Dreamworld-Theory-Redux/dp/1509518037