Who Is Clavicular (And Why Should You Care)?

Video Description

On this week’s Galaxy Brain, Charlie Warzel takes listeners deep into the internet’s fever swamps to examine how figures who once would’ve stayed on the fringes now dominate mainstream feeds. The episode charts the rise of Clavicular, a young livestreamer who’s gone from an absurdist curiosity to a fixture in the manosphere and its adjacent right-wing influencer culture. Using Clavicular as a lens—his extreme body modification, relentless self-documentation, and a willingness to do anything for attention—Charlie discusses the rise of nihilistic Zoomer influencers. Then Charlie is joined by the internet-culture researcher Aidan Walker, who helps situate Clavicular alongside figures such as Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate, revealing how the “looksmaxxing” movement collides with grievance politics and an anti-political, “algorithm-first” ideology. Together they explore what happens when the gatekeepers are gone, and when nihilism becomes a default way for budding attention hijackers to build an audience. Subscribe to the “Galaxy Brain” newsletter: https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/sign-up/galaxy-brain/?utm_source=podcast-warzel Subscribe to the “Galaxy Brain” podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/galaxy-brain/id1378618386 Subscribe to the “Galaxy Brain” podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/542WHgdiDTJhEjn1Py4J7n Follow The Atlantic on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theatlantic/?hl=en Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at https://accounts.theatlantic.com/products/?utm_medium=cr&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=apple_podcasts Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Meet Clavicular: The Rise of a Controversial Influencer 05:57 Conversation with Aiden Walker 07:09 What is Looksmaxxing? 13:56 The Intersection of Looks Maxing and Far-Right Ideologies 24:17 Shock Value and Racism 29:29 Algorithmic Ideology 32:21 Nihilism in Gen Z 38:14 Should We Pay Attention? 40:32 The Right-Wing Ecosystem