Endless Thread

Credits:

Episode producer: Grace Tatter

Co-hosts: Amory Sivertson and Ben Brock Johnson

Show producers: Samata Joshi, Dean Russell, Katelyn Harrop, Frannie Monahan, Paul Vaitkus

Mixer and sound designer: Emily Jankowski

Every day, seven days a week, for eight hours or more, Hasan Piker is live on the video game streaming platform, Twitch. This is where he shares his political commentary with a dedicated community of viewers — many of whom fall into a particularly sought-after electoral demographic: young men.

One of the dominant theories about the re-election of President Donald Trump in November 2024 was that it was aided by commentators like Piker: brash and bro-y. But Piker is a Socialist, considerably to the left of the mainstream Democratic Party. He gets into streamer beefs, but he also talks a lot about empathy and bringing a spirit of charitability to political discourse. What kind of effect does he have on his community and their political activism? Who's tuning in 50 hours a week to get their news from one guy (spoiler: it's not just twentysomething men), and really — who's that guy?

Endless Thread talks to Hasan Piker and his fans.