Rising young talent in writing
contra Marko
The sentiment is accurate: young talent is getting funneled into audiovisual mediums like podcasting, youtube, and social media — not writing. Increased wokeness among the youth also means that most of the talented political writers in my generation will be functionally useless. I also forecast that future generations will become more anti-intellectual and maintain the risk aversion of zoomers and late millennials, which will bode poorly for their prospects as writers.
Given my age, I am more in touch with the talent of my generation than Marko, and can definitively say that he is wrong about there not being rising zoomer writers. Not just in terms of quality, but in terms of following as well. Among them, I count:
Cremieux. I’ve met him in person: he’s a 6 foot tall blonde who likes to dance tango. I humbly declined his offer to have me (5’7’’, 145lb, feminine appearance) stand in to play the role of a female dancer, which seemed to upset him a little. Based on his appearance, I would estimate him to be 22 to 29 years old. (Edit — I’ve been told he is actually a bit older than that: early thirties. I guess I am not as good at estimating age as I think I am).
Freya India: quillete/right-adjacent poster on social issues and sexuality. 33k on substack and 16k on twitter. 25-26 years old.
Charlotte Fang: more of a founder than a writer, but a valid candidate in his own right. 50k on twitter, a semi-active blog, and comes across well in interviews. 25-26 years old.
Jash Dholani: guy who writes about older thinkers in history, politics, and philosophy. 100k on twitter and 3.7k on substack. Also does well on interviews. 27 years old.
Ruxandra Teslo: PhD student who writes on genetics, current events, and politics. 10k on substack and 20k on twitter. 27-28 years old.
Leopold Aschenbrenner: guy who writes a lot about AI and economic growth. Blogging presence and 65k on twitter.
Joseph Bronski: he and I are not on good terms, but in terms of reach he is on par with the other names on this list: 15k on twitter and 3k on substack. I would view those figures with… uh, healthy skepticism. 22-24 years old.
Bentham’s Bulldog: another person I have mixed feelings about. In terms of size, he’s consistent with the other people on this list: 4.4k on substack and 800 on twitter. 20-21 years old.
Masaki: not a writer per say, but a translator who focuses on Yukio Mishima’s works. 2k on substack and 3k on twitter (due to getting repeatedly banned). Not sure about his age, but I would guess 20-28 based on personal conversations and vibes.
Worst Boyfriend Ever: guy who wrote about cheating on his girlfriend in excruciating detail, now lives as a homeless person in a van and is trying to write a book. 1.6k on substack. 25-26 years old.
Mikka: founded J’accuse, a DR-adjacent British magazine with 3.7k subscribers. Not sure about when he was born, but on twitter he behaves like somebody between the ages of 18 and 26.
Arctotherium: writes on race and politics. 6k on twitter and 1k on substack. Also not sure about his age, but I would guess 20-25.
Sectionalism Archive: DR-adjacent politics writer. 1k on substack. Based on voice and vibes, he is about 20-25 years old.
Norman Angleson (aka wehrkat): writes on race, intelligence, heredity, and politics. 1k on substack and 500 on twitter (due to getting repeatedly banned). 21-23 years old.
Nuance enjoyer: dating writer with 300 on substack and 3k on twitter. Not sure what his age is, but he gives the vibe of a younger writer.
Uncorrelated: friend of mine who started writing recently, and posted the best quantitative deep dive into incels that I have seen as of now. 20-26 years old based on appearance.
Werner: Curtis Yarvin’s ex-intern. Has only written one article, but I suspect he will be doing more in the future. Right now, he’s more active in terms of going to events and meeting people. 20-23 years old.
It’s worth mentioning that most future writers will not start writing until their late 20s or early 30s; the oldest person in this list is Ruxandra Teslo, who is 27-28. Although I follow a ton of people (176 on substack and ~1.5k on twitter before I got nuked), I do not have an all seeing eye, and it is likely that I missed a lot of names especially in fields and communities that I am not as privy to.
Edit — forgot Leopold Aschenbrenner
Point of advice for everybody on the list. You shouldn't want to be "good for your age." Some day you'll age out of that, and then you'll be the home alone kid living in a crack den. You should want to be good period.
RE: "young talent is getting funneled into audiovisual mediums like podcasting, youtube, and social media"
This is an issue of skill, not environment. The written form is the one most convenient for documenting one's thoughts whereas the others are most convenient for a viewer to digest the thoughts of somebody else. Anybody who deals in ideas will naturally be attracted to writing.
Part of the issue for/with Zoomers (Gen-X here) is that the kids are NEVER all right. People who don't pay attention to Substack or X now, in 20 years will be complaining it's all crap.