Radix Journal’s managing editor Hannibal Bateman speaks with the alt-right YouTube troupe known as Murdoch Murdoch. In less than a year, their channel has grown from its humble beginnings to boast thousands of subscribers and hundreds of thousands of views.
This trio—comprised of Murdoch, Dr. Murdoch, and Murdoch-Chan—blends lo-fi graphic design, chan humor, and absurdist storytelling to critique the filth around us while inspiring our remnant to take action. In this conversation, the Murdoch Murdoch team hit on a variety of topics, including their own personal influences, the future of the alt-right, and the artistic symbolism of gassing Dr. William Luther Pierce.
Hannibal Bateman: How did you guys get started and what are some of your inspirations?
Murdoch Murdoch: It started out as just animated shitposting. Once the ‘migrant’ crisis started that caused us to start taking things more seriously. We never thought we’d gain much of an audience, but the Internet has a place even for autists like us.
As far as inspirations: South Park, Adult Swim, Akira, LotGH, Marcus Aurelius, Machiavelli, Donald Trump, various WWII documentaries, 80s pop culture, etc. And of course: Kubrick.
HB: Where do you see “alt-right” Internet culture going from here?
MM: That’s difficult to say with any certainty, but it’s definitely growing. As things get progressively worse in Europe, and as the media weaves a more tightly controlled narrative, people will have to create their own new culture that speaks to their needs.
HB: What was the impetus for your first video?
MM: Ahh, Episode 1. Reddit, in general, is cancer. There was alcohol involved as well as lots of /pol/ banter. When we woke up and saw how many views it had we freaked out and deleted the channel. We brought it back a few days later when we realized “What the hell do we have to be afraid of anyway?”
HB: Have your views evolved throughout the creation of your videos?
MM: Oh, definitely. We constantly debate issues from every side with each other. As new happenings occur, more information comes out, and we’re exposed to new ideas, we attempt to adapt to these circumstances.
HB: What have been some of the more fascinating outpourings of that interplay?
MM: Well, when we first introduced the Murdoch characters in ‘Back to the Faggot‘ they were just kind of gag characters. Then when we were writing ‘The Murdoch Diaries‘ we decided to have each one essentially portray a different aspect of alt-right thought, and show some of these contrasts within the episode.
HB: Should happas be allowed in the ethno state?
Murdoch: Yes!
Dr. Murdoch: Maybe…
Murdoch-Chan: No >:(
MM: But, seriously. This is a question we haven’t come to a consensus on.
HB: What did you make of the reaction to your videos “The Murdoch Diaries” and “Shills”?
MM: We knew that there would be blowback from ‘The Murdoch Diaries’ [in which the gang gasses WLP] but we felt it was important to show the generational divide between the current alt-right and its predecessors. We were a bit bummed out initially that so many people didn’t get the point, but in the long run, the overall reaction ended up being pretty positive. With ‘Shills’ we wanted to go meta and drive home the point that despite our disagreements we have to work together if we want to achieve anything.
HB: Oh yes, I think one of the differences I the younger generation of the “alt right” is our awareness of that sort of thing. How do you think meme culture has influenced this?
MM: The fact that meme culture operates so quickly requires it to get many ideas across very succinctly. Combine that with the anonymity allowed by the Internet and Malaysian basket weaving forums, you’ve got an efficient way for people to be exposed to new ideas very rapidly. The realization that all of the constituencies on the alt-right have common interests is the ties that binds us.
HB: What’s the future for your output?
MM: We have some ideas for later in the election season, but in the short term we’re going for a mix of our more ‘traditional’ episodes with some episodes of the Murdoch characters thrown in.
HB: Anything you guys would like to say about yourselves that we haven’t hit on?
MM: Not really, just would like to thank you for the interview and for what you guys do over at Radix Journal. Trump 2016 #MAGA
Be sure to check out Murdoch Murdoch’s latest videos here, and follow them on Twitter here.
