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nathangrayson.bsky.social
Nathan Grayson
@nathangrayson.bsky.social
20K followers 710 following 2.3K posts
Co-founder and reporter @aftermath.site. Beats: labor, livestreaming. My book about Twitch, Stream Big, is available now. Formerly: The Washington Post. Send tips to [email protected] or nathangrayson.666 on Signal
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nathangrayson.bsky.social
Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · Oct 17
I’m nathan

website: @aftermath.site (please subscribe)

book about twitch: www.simonandschuster.com/books/Stream... (please preorder)

cat: biscuit (please appreciate)
gray cat (beautiful) sticking tongue out
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
thejenna.bsky.social
A few recs:
@404media.co for tech news
@rascal.news and @aftermath.site for gaming culture
@butwhytho.net for media criticism
@theflytrapmedia.com for intersectional journalism
@propublica.org for hard-hitting investigative journalism.
Or your local NPR! Get invested in local politics in 2026!
thejenna.bsky.social Jenna Stoeber @thejenna.bsky.social · 10h
today is a GREAT day to subscribe to some reliable independent media! clean up your information streams by getting your news from journalists instead of second-hand on social media!
December 1, 2025 at 8:27 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
it's the final week of our $1 sale, and we're under 20 subs away from hitting 5,000! help us finish out the year strong (with a nice round number)

aftermath.site#/portal/signup
aftermath.site Aftermath @aftermath.site · 6d
Exciting news! Thanks to our sale, we've rocketed all the way up to over 4,900 paying subscribers. This means we can cross another goal, a regular columnist, off our list. We plan to sort out the exact specifics in our own time, but for now, who do you think would be a good fit?
4,800 - We can pay somebody to write a regular column for the site. 4,900 - Where we're at now! 5,000 - Most of us can do this full-time, with the caveat that budgets and business structures are complicated, and we're still figuring out all the costs that go into receiving livable pay from a business. A year from now, we'll probably know if we estimated this one correctly or not (lol). 5,200 - We can bring on people to help us with more specialized tasks (a dedicated businessperson, someone to focus on our social media accounts and promotion, etc). 5,500 - More merch drops! 5,800 - We can bring on another regular contributor to keep Isaiah company. (We decided to allocate funds for this one a little earlier than planned to bring on Nicole, an excellent decision on our parts if we do say so ourselves.) 6,000 - A second party, and we can cover Luke’s travel costs (unless he decides he never wants to set foot in America again, which would be totally understandable). 6,300 - We can travel to and cover events more regularly. 6,500 - We can hire another full-time staff member!
December 1, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
alicemiranda.bsky.social
Exciting news: my union @pen-guild.bsky.social won our fight to hold management accountable for rolling out AI tools with no notice & for failing to hold the bots to the same standards all of us humans must follow — in violation of the contract they agreed to. A neutral arbiter said we were right!
PEN Guild wins landmark arbitration on AI protections - Washington-Baltimore News Guild
This marks one of the first major labor-arbitration rulings on the impact of AI on journalism, setting an important precedent for the U.S. news industry.
wbng.org
December 1, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
jbenmenachem.com
Air travel is going to get worse, fast, with the introduction of dynamic pricing. Difficult to imagine the status quo being worse but the corporations will deliver hls.harvard.edu/today/how-de...
November 16, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
michaelhobbes.bsky.social
This is a huge part of why so many people think we're in the middle of a widespread "anti-woke backlash": Small movements opposed to social progress are collected into trend stories by conservative media. Far larger movements that want more diversity are ignored or cast as threats.
jamiehurlburt.bsky.social Jamie Hurlburt (he/they) @jamiehurlburt.bsky.social · 1d
"Woke is ruining D&D". Meanwhile Dimension 20, one of the wokest real play shows around, just sold out Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl for live shows and brings armies of new players to RPGs.
November 30, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
papapishu.bsky.social
Can someone ask Bong Joon Ho if he would like a free shirt. aftermath-shop.fourthwall.com?ref=aftermat...
The destroy AI shirt we made featuring art by Kim Hu
November 29, 2025 at 6:08 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
btw we are now at 4,960 subscribers. just 40 more until we hit 5,000!
aftermath.site Aftermath @aftermath.site · 6d
Exciting news! Thanks to our sale, we've rocketed all the way up to over 4,900 paying subscribers. This means we can cross another goal, a regular columnist, off our list. We plan to sort out the exact specifics in our own time, but for now, who do you think would be a good fit?
4,800 - We can pay somebody to write a regular column for the site. 4,900 - Where we're at now! 5,000 - Most of us can do this full-time, with the caveat that budgets and business structures are complicated, and we're still figuring out all the costs that go into receiving livable pay from a business. A year from now, we'll probably know if we estimated this one correctly or not (lol). 5,200 - We can bring on people to help us with more specialized tasks (a dedicated businessperson, someone to focus on our social media accounts and promotion, etc). 5,500 - More merch drops! 5,800 - We can bring on another regular contributor to keep Isaiah company. (We decided to allocate funds for this one a little earlier than planned to bring on Nicole, an excellent decision on our parts if we do say so ourselves.) 6,000 - A second party, and we can cover Luke’s travel costs (unless he decides he never wants to set foot in America again, which would be totally understandable). 6,300 - We can travel to and cover events more regularly. 6,500 - We can hire another full-time staff member!
November 28, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
No thoughts, just fish
aftermath.site/tiny-aquarium-...
Tiny Aquarium
November 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
marisakabas.bsky.social
today instead of buying barely discounted crap, get a paid subscription to an independent media outlet! a little $ goes a long way towards supporting a free press. 🗞️

drop links to your own or your faves in the replies so ppl can easily sign up (bonus if you add a couple words about why it’s good!):
November 28, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
lukeplunkett.com
5000 is such a psychological barrier, breaking it is gonna rule.

thanks to everyone who has subbed so far, I hope you're enjoying it all, but also if you haven't, a reminder that we're running a $1 sale at the moment!
November 27, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
We're (still!) having a sale: Get your first month of our Reader tier for just $1! Support worker-owned media and get access to all our blogs!
aftermath.site/aftermath-vide...
Aftermath
November 28, 2025 at 7:13 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve seen:

the callous daoboys (nyc, 2024)
the callous daoboys (chicago, 2025)
the callous daoboys (nyc, 2025)
the callous daoboys (coheed cruise, 2025)
the callous daoboys (coheed cruise again, 2025)
stephensmith.bsky.social Stephen R. Smith @stephensmith.bsky.social · 4d
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen:

Bowie *
Roger Waters
July Talk *
Metric *
Alice Phoebe Lou *

* multiple times
foxylustygrover.bsky.social Foxy Santa @foxylustygrover.bsky.social · 4d
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen:

Faithless
Chemical Brothers
Shapeshifter
The Killers
The Exponents
(Coldplay)
November 28, 2025 at 3:48 AM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
taking the 7 home from thanksgiving dinner, which is fitting because I 8 enough to feed 9 people
November 28, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
Hi! We're Aftermath, a worker-owned, independent video games and internet culture website. We're entirely supported by reader subscriptions, so if you enjoy what we do, please (if you don't already!) consider subscribing:

aftermath.site#/portal/signup
November 27, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
genericsoda.bsky.social
A float of Goku from Dragon Ball Z, smiling and holding his hand to his head with two fingers extended. There is a caption that says [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] overlaid on top of him.
November 27, 2025 at 3:48 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
warframe marketing is getting out of hand
a tombstone that reads “balas” (yeah I know it’s spelled “ballas” in the game, but this still works if you just go with it)
November 27, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
mjgault.bsky.social
All your worst cousins the moment you say you're gonna take a walk
Todd Howard, Elon Musk, Geoff Keighly
November 27, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
nathangrayson.bsky.social
this week indie studio santa ragione announced that it's on the verge of closure after steam blocked the release of its upcoming provocative art game, horses. valve, despite all of its algorithms and purposefully vague policyspeak, is once again telling us exactly where it stands
Steam is a relentlessly well-oiled machine optimized for the purpose of pushing products – games that adhere to well-worn themes, structures, and strictures. It recommends games along genre lines; it tries to algorithmically match you with games similar to what you last played at every turn. It is deeply traditional – conservative, even – in its construction. Sometimes art that seeks to provoke or unsettle gets through, but this is closer to a happy accident than the purpose of Steam’s design. Valve has built a machine that cannot challenge the status quo, where rare human decisions must reinforce that ethos to avoid upsetting the immensely profitable apple cart. This should no longer surprise us; Valve drew its line in the sand years ago. But it’s important to remember where the company and the people running it stand – and to recognize that their decisions reverberate through the industry, deciding what does and does not constitute commercially viable art. Such a lofty position necessarily confers responsibility, but Valve refuses to accept it, and I do not imagine it will change its mind anytime soon. This is not to say the larger game development community should take pressure off Valve, but it’s also time to consider alternatives, to build spaces for and unabashedly by human beings. I know it’s far easier said than done, especially when you’ve still got to put food on the table, but what other choice is there?
November 26, 2025 at 11:49 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
guy who accuses everyone they see in videos and streams of being paid actors, but also advocates for them: “they should really be getting paid more imo. I hope they unionize”
November 27, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
Open thread: Thanksgiving

aftermath.site/open-thread-...
estelle from trails in the sky eating what is actually a chicken, rather than a turkey, but I won’t tell anyone if you won’t
November 27, 2025 at 4:03 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
this week indie studio santa ragione announced that it's on the verge of closure after steam blocked the release of its upcoming provocative art game, horses. valve, despite all of its algorithms and purposefully vague policyspeak, is once again telling us exactly where it stands
Steam is a relentlessly well-oiled machine optimized for the purpose of pushing products – games that adhere to well-worn themes, structures, and strictures. It recommends games along genre lines; it tries to algorithmically match you with games similar to what you last played at every turn. It is deeply traditional – conservative, even – in its construction. Sometimes art that seeks to provoke or unsettle gets through, but this is closer to a happy accident than the purpose of Steam’s design. Valve has built a machine that cannot challenge the status quo, where rare human decisions must reinforce that ethos to avoid upsetting the immensely profitable apple cart. This should no longer surprise us; Valve drew its line in the sand years ago. But it’s important to remember where the company and the people running it stand – and to recognize that their decisions reverberate through the industry, deciding what does and does not constitute commercially viable art. Such a lofty position necessarily confers responsibility, but Valve refuses to accept it, and I do not imagine it will change its mind anytime soon. This is not to say the larger game development community should take pressure off Valve, but it’s also time to consider alternatives, to build spaces for and unabashedly by human beings. I know it’s far easier said than done, especially when you’ve still got to put food on the table, but what other choice is there?
November 26, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
techworkerscoalition.org
NYC 🌆 Protest at Rockstar’s NY offices next Friday, Dec 5th with us! We will be there with organizers across the industry — let’s make the fight against their illegal union-busting international ✊

🗓️ Friday, December 5th
⏰ 5PM onwards
📍 622 Broadway, New York, NY 10012
November 26, 2025 at 7:50 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
I sort of stopped talking about mine after the initial launch window bc there wasn’t a ton of excitement around it, an anticlimactic conclusion to years of hard work (that I saw coming bc of course twitch streamers/viewers don’t read). but anyway here it is

www.simonandschuster.com/books/Stream...
the cover of my book, stream big, surrounded by lightsabers for some reason
November 26, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
airbagged.bsky.social
Destroy All Private Equity Firms
November 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
Our $1 subscription sale continues for another week and a half! Help us hit 5,000 before it's over!
aftermath.site Aftermath @aftermath.site · 15d
We're having a sale! Get your first month of Aftermath for just $1.

aftermath.site/aftermath-vide...
November 25, 2025 at 9:12 PM