On Sunday, The New York Times ran a bouncy profile of an online influencer who has made millions telling Gen Z that socialism rocks. His name is Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker, and he has 2.8 million followers on the livestream platform Twitch, where he broadcasts live from his West Hollywood home for eight hours every day, commenting on everything from the latest Supreme Court ruling to his workout regimen. The Times’ headline initially described him as “A Progressive Mind in a MAGA body”—it later changed to “A Progressive Mind in a Body Made for the ‘Manosphere’ ”—and spilled much ink analyzing his sex appeal.
Buried in the prose is a passing acknowledgement of a far darker side of Piker’s appeal.
