Critique of Jubilee’s viral debate show "Surrounded," which thrusts controversial and extremist voices—sometimes even self-proclaimed fascists—into the spotlight

🎤 Let’s Give Nazis a Mic: How Jubilee’s Debate Game Shows Democracy is Just Content 🧨

Welcome to the arena where democracy, hate speech, and viral outrage collide—LIVE, with ad breaks! 📺⚡️

I. 🎪 The Clickbait Circus Is in Town 🎟️✨

Remember when political discourse meant, at the very least, pretending not to platform fascists? 🤔⛔ Nah, boring! It’s 2025 and Jubilee’s “Surrounded” show has cracked the code: gather 20 “far-right conservatives” 🧑‍🤝‍🧑, toss a renowned journalist in the pit 🎙️, mic up a self-described fascist (who straight-up quotes Nazi theorists) 🚨📚, and watch your subscriber count explode faster than the U.S. deficit during an election year. 🇺🇸📈💥

Did you want good faith, nuanced discussion? 😇🕊️ Sorry, they’re all out! But they’ve got plenty of rage 💢, applause 👏, and freshly-minted memes 😂. Vocabulary lesson of the day: “debate” is now a synonym for “rage-bait content farm.” 🐄🔥

“They’ve figured out how to monetize the very essence of the internet.” – actual media reporter, probably speaking through gritted teeth. 😬💸

II. 🔥 Rage-Bait Roulette: Spin the Wheel, Get a Soundbite 🎰🎯

The format is as subtle as a sledgehammer: 🛠️ one guest in the middle, a circling mob of ideological combatants 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️, a chair-grabbing free-for-all so violent even WWE took notes. 🪑🤼

Mix in a few fascists—who cheerfully admit it with all the glee of someone revealing their Hogwarts House 🎩✨—and you’ve cooked up a recipe for maximum moral panic and algorithmic delight. 🤯💻 Why settle for civil discourse when you can cut straight to Nazi applause lines editing perfectly into 45-second TikToks? 🎬📲🕑

On the show, Mehdi Hasan’s jaw actually drops 😲 when he realizes who he’s debating. It’s not just him—half the internet needs a neck brace after their whiplash from “maybe some civil dialogue” to “oh, he’s quoting Carl Schmitt and admitting to being a fascist.” 💥💭

Seriously, how do they find these people? 🔍🤷

There’s no need to dream up strawmen when Jubilee’s production team is happy to book the real thing. 👥✔️

III. 💰 Monetizing Outrage: Blood for the Algorithm 🩸🤖

Jubilee’s YouTube views are pouring in by the millions—millions!—as clips from the episode litter social feeds like empty Red Bull cans after a streamer marathon. 🚀🗑️ Far-right participants take victory laps on Twitter 🏁🐦, while liberal commenters wring their hands in horror 😱👐. Everyone’s sharing, dunking, or hate-watching. 🔁🏀👀 It’s a profitability feedback loop that would make Satan blush. 😈🌡️

Producer’s logic: “If a fascist says it, that’s problematic—unless it gets 4 million views and a fiery comments section, then it’s the price of good content.” 🎥🔥📝 Some even call for Jubilee to be demonetized for spreading Nazi propaganda 📴✡️; others thank the company for “finally exposing the real danger” by…centering it in the algorithm for a week straight. 🗓️⚠️

Who wins? 🏆 The extremist with a GoFundMe, a thousand new followers, and more job offers from the grifter podcast circuit than before. 💸🎙️ Who loses? 😞 Anyone who thought the lesson of history was “don’t give Nazis a standing ovation on camera.” 🚶‍♀️🚫👏

IV. 🌈 The Feel-Good Story for the End Times 🕰️🎉

Let’s state it plain: Jubilee isn’t “finding common ground.” 🌍🚫 It’s feeding the rage economy, and the house always wins. 🏚️💵 The show creators defend it as “modeling productive dialogue,” 👨‍💼💬 but the social media cut-ups make it clear: the only thing being produced here is ammo for everyone’s side. 🔫🍿 You want a civil society? 🤝 Sorry, that got voted off the chair after five red flags. 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

Far-right audiences get the clips they can gloat over 😏🎞️; leftists get their “look how bad it is!” reaction videos 😫📹; YouTube gets more ad revenue than from a PewDiePie livestream. 🤑🎮 The only thing left out is actual, functional democracy. 🚷🏛️

And remember: what’s more democratic than letting anyone in America try their hand at going viral with an unhinged take? 🤪🇺🇸 Why bother fixing polarization when you can monetize it instead? 💰🔌

“America is divided. It makes for tremendous content.” – Jubilee, probably, sipping algorithmic champagne. 🥂🍾

V. 🚨 The Real Winner is Outrage 🏅💢

So let’s all raise a glass 🥃 to Jubilee—the only debate moderator bold enough to ask, “What if we just invited fascists and called it free speech?” 🗣️🤦‍♂️ The outrage is the point. The clicks are the strategy. ⏰🖱️ In the contest between democratic values and dopamine hits, only one can be algorithmically recommended. 🧠❤️‍🔥

Enjoy the show. 🎬 Don’t forget to like and subscribe 👍🔔—for freedom, and for the next round of internet-raging content. ♻️🌪️

Follow Me on Twitter @Allen_Fried 🐦 for more spicy takes 🌶️ on the spectacle-industrial complex and why democracy’s only safe space is now the comments section! 💬🛡️