Jimmy The Giant is a popular YouTuber who did what many would consider to be beyond the pale - he changed his mind about politics. Jimmy went from heading down the right wing pipeline of self improvement gurus to U-turning and becoming, dare we say, ‘woke’.

In today’s episode Aman Sethi talks to Jimmy about how and why he changed his mind about the political landscape and together they examine the changing online landscape that is making it all too easy for mainly young men to slip gradually into the world of alt-right politics.

Jimmy the Giant: @JimmyTheGiant

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In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. It’s hosted by openDemocracy editor-in-chief Aman Sethi, an award-winning journalist and author of A Free Man. Support the show by visiting openDemocracy.net/donate.

Credits:

Presented by Aman Sethi

Edited and produced by Nandini Archer, James Battershill & Ayodeji Rotinwa

Theme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela

Featuring audio clips from CSPAN, Jimmy The Giant and Rebel News.

00:00 Introduction

03:32 Jimmy's history

08:30 The rightward turning point

13:22 The popularity of Elon Musk

15:17 The need for hope

17:23 Ad - The World Unspun Podcast

18:48 Disillusion in young men

24:11 How do we get people thinking about the world again?

27:47 Are algorithms actually the problem?

30:13 Understanding online culture

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