MrBeast: Should we panic about YouTube’s biggest influencer?

Jimmy Donaldson – aka “MrBeast” – has taken YouTube by storm, amassing more than 330 million subscribers with his cleverly edited videos of stunts ranging from performative philanthropy to stunts Fear factor-like challenges. He has also founded a burger chain, a chocolate and snack brand, and is currently working on a reality competition series with Amazon. At just 26 years old, MrBeast has built a brand worth $1.5 billion.

“Should we be outraged by its existence?” asks Ryan Broderick, creator of the Garbage Day newsletter and host of the new podcast Panic world. In this episode, Ryan tells Ben and Amory all about MrBeast’s unpleasant past, controversial present and uncertain future.

Show notes:

• Panic worldis MrBeast episode with Ben and Amory
• Garbage Day, the newsletter
• “In the Belly of MrBeast” (Time)
• “I’m Willing to Die for MrBeast (and $5 Million)” (The New York Times)
• “From Baking to MrBeast: Meet the YouTuber Taking on the Biggest YouTuber on the Platform” (NBC News)

This content was originally created for audio. An automatically generated transcript is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Please note that some elements (e.g. music, sound effects, tones) are more difficult to translate into text.