Critical Support for the Twink Revolution: Podcast Review

Johnny O’Hagan Brebner | He/Him

RATING: ONE BIG RED STAR

“Doing an irony” is central to Twink Revolution. The hosts, Gian and Sam, admit the idea itself is a “shitty joke about who you would trust least to do political analysis… twinks are famously meant to be vapid and shallow.” Their love of irony expresses itself throughout the podcast, which uses a broad Marxist lens to create lippy and mocking commentary on the state of the world.

The show is recorded in San Francisco, the USA’s famous gay capital also home to the darling of modern capitalism, Silicon Valley. Appropriately, the hosts present scathing deconstructions of America’s political and economic landscape with enough homo stuff to keep it interesting. 

TwinkRev has also been quick to develop and expand. From their shitposting origins, they’ve hosted  “actual” political candidates and academics (recently Shahid Buttar and Howie Hawkins). Quarantine also saw some unique episodes, like their recording with “gay adult performer” Matt Muck ("Muckraking Sex Work Discourse"), and another where the twinks try out some new perfumes ("Sniffing Twinks"). 

The twinks also recently set up a new website for written work from paid contributors—“The idea with that is to do what awful gay online media has done for years, but with less basic bitch politics (but still with basic bitch aesthetics).”

But the podcast’s analysis will be the most interesting thing for New Zealand listeners. Thoroughly materialist, the twinks provide an alternative breakdown of the complex and surreal facets of US politics; the deficiencies of the Democrats, the troubles of the Trump administration, and the much-maligned Liberals are their favourite targets. They also jump into international affairs, overseas politics, as well as the heated discourses of the online world.

One of TwinkRev’s big concerns, which New Zealanders might also be worried about, is the leftist ‘grift’. US and UK commentators have noted the prevalence of political climbers utilising leftist rhetoric for personal gain. Rather than working to improve the lives of those they build their political careers on, the (well founded) charge from TwinkRev and others, is that this is all for hollow self-aggrandizement and to secure themselves spaces in the political elite. 

While the grifting leftist doesn’t seem to have a strong hold in New Zealand, it may not be long before it does. The Green Party candidate for Mount Albert was recently called out for falsely suggesting he was the leader of the School Strike for Climate marches—a particularly garish move, given an agreement not to use involvement in the movement for election campaigning. The Prime Minister herself, and current MP for Mount Albert, has been an established member of her party for decades with arguable material improvements so far despite her position and rhetoric. It’s worth watching out for as this grift is one of many TwinkRev apprehensions that could make their way over here.

However, the podcast has some problems. New Zealand listeners will likely struggle with more sensitive issues, given both the US-focus and intentional rowdiness. The discussions around identity politics are the most obvious examples. Using their standard cavalier style to address the apparently more Liberal and less grounded US Identity Politics™, the podcast can feel callous and dismissive towards the struggles of minority groups. The twinks appear to be aware of this, occasionally taking the time to flesh out their much more open ideas on identity politics and intersectionality generally.

Overall, Twink Revolution manages to be fun while presenting actual political analysis. As with anything, it can be challenging. Be wary of some of the commentary, but try to engage with it if you can. There will be something valuable in this podcast for everyone, whether you agree with them or not.

For a good introduction to the podcast, check out their Q&A episode, "Open Borders & Open Bottoms" from February 26.

Twink Revolution can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Play.