The Ethan Klein vs Hasan Piker 'Debate', Being Different, and Wartime Comedy
05-11th May 2025
Hello,
This week I discuss a debate that reminded me of a lot of other debates, reconcile with my uniqueness (IM A CREEEEP), and add a new comedy movie to my list of all time favourites.
Here’s a joke from a 1993 joke book:
‘I’m trying to write this drinking song but I can’t get past the first few bars.’
Happy reading!
Now That I Think About It
I don’t identify as queer in sexuality or identity, but I do identify as a bit of a weirdo. I have a daft personality that suffocates in ‘professional’ settings and I am not interested in things that women my age are supposed to be interested in (god forbid a girl wants to lie in the river for 12hrs a day). I once dabbled in investigating if I’m neurodivergent (ie. took a couple of online quizzes), but I’ve never found a diagnosis that fit. What is more likely is that none of this is that big of a deal and I’m overthinking.
While I agree it’s best not to chronically dwell on the exact details of who you are, some from of introspection on my part was healthy as it allowed me to salvage important aspects of my personality buried under years of conditioning.
Being a weirdo is a creative act, it causes the world to shift around you to make space. It is also a political act, as it pushes against the desire to conform. For that reason people existing successfully on the ‘fringes’ of society (ie anyone not working a 9-5 job) are comforting to me - they show me what’s possible to achieve with a little bravery.
Here’s to those who live differently.
A Debate that Defines the Times
This week I watched two friends-turned-foes Ethan Klein and Hasan Piker debate the topic that ended their friendship - the genocide in Gaza. The debate ran for almost five hours, unmoderated in front of 120,000 Twitch viewers, and was akin to watching two exes fighting over why it ended and who gets to keep the dog.
I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. Ethan Klein is an American-Israeli YouTuber and face of the H3 podcast, while Hasan Piker is a progressive, leftist streamer known for advocating socialist causes including Palestinian liberation.
The debate was a combination of personal beef and clashing ideologies, conducted in a space where TikTok clips are currency and fan bases are out for blood. A lot of it was petty. Ethan seemed more interested in trying to demonstrate why Hasan was a ‘bad person’ than in expressing his views on the genocide, while Hasan was constantly goading Ethan into showing logical fallacies.
The kicker came for me when Hasan brought up Ethan’s wife’s military conscription to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). When Ethan conceded the IDF could be considered a terrorist group, Hasan asked “so would you agree your wife is a terrorist?” To which he replied, after some complaint, “okay fine my wife is a terrorist bro lets move on.”
It was a poorly set up question built to make Ethan reactive, but responses like this (of which there were many) made me realise Ethan could not meet Hasan on his level. If he had engaged in a meaningful debate about what it means to be a ‘terrorist’ in a complex political world (something he has done in the past), it would invite a level of nuance that him and his audience are deciding more and more not to engage with.
People who adopt this mindset in debate are not respecting the discussion, they are playing a game. A game of click-baity rhetoric, straw manning, or just plain lies in order to be seen as ‘winning’. It doesn’t help their positions to be informed because being informed is not their goal.
Proper debate requires respect. For the topic at hand, for the factual integrity of the information provided, and for the person you are debating. Very little of that was seen during those five hours. However, it did give me a baseline with which to understand future debates. I’ll now look out for who is is taking the time to learn and who is following the herd.
This is the split that defines our times.
Art Corner
sugar and spice and all things unspoilerise-d
Pearl (2022, Ti West) ☆☆☆☆
A horror movie paired with the score of a Hollywood epic. The story of Dorothy if she was a homicidal maniac. Really good.
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964,Stanley Kubrick) ☆☆☆☆
A comedy movie works best when the normal is made absurd. This is one of the great examples. Particularly the drawn out superfluous conversations that are both funny and terrifying.
Peter Sellers !!!!
Weekly Stats
Old joke books found: 3
Celery juice bottles filled: 5
Percentage of the time it worked every time: 50
Tins of Sanpellegrino Pesca and Clementina Zero Added Sugar consumed: 4
Sunflower seeds grown: 2
Times I thought ‘aw man, i miss the old kanye’: 12
Next week on the rickleverse
Next week I have a few extra curricular activities planned so the newsletter should be extra hot and interesting.
See you next time.
Love,
Rachael
