Nathan Grayson
LightNews LightNews
banner
nathangrayson.bsky.social
Nathan Grayson
@nathangrayson.bsky.social
19K followers 700 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
Posts Replies Media Videos
nathangrayson.bsky.social
last week, fired rockstar workers, IWGB — the union helping them organize — and allies protested outside rockstar and take-two offices. they’re far from finished
Now, as IWGB and fired workers go on the offensive against Rockstar, Kelmore believes the Game Workers Union is entering a new phase of its relatively young life. "Prior to this happening, we haven't ever really had people standing outside of companies with IWGB banners and organizing in a very visible way,” he said. “But this has changed that. When companies do something like this, you can't just slink away and hide anymore. It's a very public thing. It helps give people confidence that they can stay, because they have nothing to lose. They've already been fired. So they can be very public and organize and fight back. I think we are slowly starting to go over the curve of completely hidden to more public actions, and I anticipate more of these in the near future, too."
November 10, 2025 at 6:42 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
stream big is so good that it causes cool people like @maxscoville.bsky.social and @garfep.bsky.social to spontaneously fall to their knees pose in front of it (photo by @lucyjames.games)
max scoville and andrew goldfarb clasping hands in front of a copy of stream big in powell’s (portland)
November 7, 2025 at 9:49 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
the gang's all here
ALL of us, live
November 6, 2025 at 9:32 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
why are you booing me? I'm right
November 6, 2025 at 6:29 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
ok fine, just a little more libbing out, as a treat
Under FTC chair Lina Khan, nominated by Biden in 2021, the regulatory body fought to ban non-compete clauses, launched a lawsuit against Amazon, sued healthcare companies engaging in sketchy behavior, and blocked a record number of mergers in an attempt to stem the tide of monopoly power in the United States.
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
now the real work begins
This does not, however, mean that Mamdani has Aftermath’s unilateral support in perpetuity. Even with a winning grin and the miraculous ability to, for example, talk with their hands endlessly and somehow not annoy me, politicians are not our friends. The second they take office, it is our job to hold them accountable. If they step out of line – if they go against the will of the people who elected them – they should not know a moment’s peace. Inevitably, because our political system is little more than a series of corrupt backroom handshakes, Mamdani will fail us one day. Maybe it will be over something relatively small, or maybe he’ll reveal himself to be a different person than we all thought he was. Regardless, while it will be tempting to parasocially leap to the defense of the nice man from all the videos, that won’t help anybody. Politics is neither a game nor a popularity contest; it’s a fight. Know your allies and know your enemies.
November 5, 2025 at 2:45 AM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
I'm sure, though, that the US' sturdy, consistent regulatory institutions will make sure nothing fishy's going on here

aftermath.site/ea-saudi-ara...
Of course, Trump’s FTC is different from Biden’s FTC, which, under now-former-commissioner Lina Khan, blocked a record number of mergers in an attempt to stem the tide of monopoly power in the US. On top of that, it is impossible to ignore the fact that another member of the consortium purchasing EA is Affinity Partners, an investment firm formed by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. Trump has also done ample business in Saudi Arabia since he won the 2024 presidential election. Now, with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman set to visit the White House later this month – seemingly to discuss a nuclear deal and a defense pact – the odds seemed stacked against those who’d rather not see the EA sale sail right on through.
November 4, 2025 at 12:03 AM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
companies will say anything to get mergers approved! and how can current leadership guarantee anything when they're about to be under new leadership! it's always placative nonsense
The driving message underlying the FAQ is more of the same – literally, with EA saying that management, HQ, AI usage, and other staples will remain exactly as they are now. That would be great if big companies had given us any reason to believe them in circumstances like this, ever. Bungie leadership told employees that Sony’s purchase of the studio wouldn’t result in layoffs or restructuring back in 2022. Look at Bungie now: It’s a husk of itself, dragging new Destiny expansions across the finish line while betting big on Marathon, a game whose lunch may have just been preemptively devoured by Arc Raiders. Or consider everything Microsoft said in its attempts to avert the regulatory Eye Of Sauron while its purchase of Activision Blizzard was still pending. The deal will be super worker-friendly? Uhhh. Game Pass prices won’t skyrocket? Hmmm. The latter comparison is especially apt when taken alongside the growing chorus of voices calling for greater regulatory scrutiny of the EA deal. In the immediate aftermath (dot site) of the sale’s announcement, US senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal sent letters to US Treasury Secretary and Committee Of Foreign Investment chair Scott Bessent and Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson warning of risks that include "surveillance of Americans, covert Saudi propaganda, and selective retaliation and censorship of persons disfavored by the Saudi government."
November 3, 2025 at 11:55 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
it’s a me
it’s a me mario (the return of my sexy mario costume from a year ago, comprised of a red crop top and short jean shorts + mario’s signature hat and gloves)
November 2, 2025 at 2:52 AM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
November 1, 2025 at 12:39 AM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
Pour ce qui viendront après
me as gustave from clair obscur (holding tiny bread) me as gustave from clair obscur (holding large bread) me as gustave from clair obscur (doing karaoke with gita)
November 1, 2025 at 12:37 AM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
we're live!
us, live
October 30, 2025 at 8:50 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
today the vice president of the united states weighed in on collargate, a widespread lie about a twitch streamer being a secret dog torturer. with each passing day, we become even more 12 years old
"You don't have to zap him like Hasan [Piker]?" asked the show’s host, Miranda Devine. "Not like Hasan Piker?” Vance replied in a voice that anyone should be disqualified from running for public office simply for possessing. “ No. No electrocution of dogs here." "How disgusting is that? What does that tell you about a person?" said Devine, whose unquenchable appetite for boot needs to be studied. "Well, I think that tells you that they're bad people,” said Vance, 12, who nonetheless possesses the baby brain of someone who was born yesterday. “If you can actually cause suffering to an innocent animal, you're probably the kind of person who doesn't worry about suffering in people as well. And that's been my experience: If you mistreat dogs, that's almost 100 percent a sign that you're gonna be a really terrible person." Tell that to the 40 million low-income Americans about to lose SNAP benefits. I’m sure they’ll agree with you that the truest measure of a man is his dog, rather than his proclivity for aiding and abetting mass immiseration. Also, I bet JD Vance’s dog hates him, too.
October 29, 2025 at 9:49 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
update: it’s good
a partially eaten slice of aftermath birthday cake
October 29, 2025 at 1:45 AM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
come to our party NOW and help us eat this

partiful.com/e/obXNAopqmb...
the poster for our party, which is taking place at tv eye in ridgewood ny RIGHT NOW
October 28, 2025 at 11:09 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
hearing that a certain website just turned two
a “happy birthday aftermath” cake
October 28, 2025 at 11:05 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
if you go to the boston public library, you can admire and perhaps even check out stream big (via @carlivelocci.com)
my book, stream big, on display at the boston public library
October 28, 2025 at 12:11 AM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
we're live!
us, live
October 23, 2025 at 8:30 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
I simply could not imagine anything worse
Asmongold and Adin Ross are planning to collaborate on a streamer award show "We gotta figure out categories, hosting, presenting, getting people there, incentivizing people to go there"
October 23, 2025 at 6:31 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
cuomo and curtis look like some cursed alternate universe mario and luigi
October 22, 2025 at 11:22 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
twitchcon was the algorithmically driven, out-of-context clip-obsessed online world descending on a single IRL location. it was a grim preview of what's to come if this version of the internet continues to dictate how we perceive and interact with each other

aftermath.site/twitch-twitc...
What we’re experiencing is the logical endpoint of other, much more algorithmic platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter prioritizing dramatic, controversial, and generally negative clips – the kind that generate engagement by making people mad. Platforms have been doing this for a few years now, but we’ve reached the apotheosis of the form. Creators, who’ve optimized their content to appeal to algorithms, have transformed themselves into vessels for the sort of smirking sociopathy that reliably reaps sweet, sweet views. They do it naturally and shamelessly. The machine is so well oiled that, at this point, slamming the brakes would be much harder than just letting it continue to plunge off a cliff. That’s this whole meta of clip farming. That’s the kind of stuff that pops on other platforms: that short-form content. IRL streamers are far from the only ones leaning into this meta. Most recently, CollarGate was rooted in a similar sort of amoral cynicism and, again, was ginned up entirely via a series of out-of-context clips. Countless other online controversies and nontroversies have taken on a similar shape. TwitchCon 2025 was this terrible, multifaceted fly-eye lens applied to the outside world, as opposed to the online one. What happens when people look at IRL existence as nothing more than a staging ground for an endless feed of disingenuous clips? TwitchCon was a glimpse of the grim future that awaits us, or perhaps just another angle on the present we’re already inhabiting.
October 22, 2025 at 8:36 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
twitchcon employed checkpoints, guards, and surveillance to a theatrical degree, but that often caused accessibility issues instead of helping people. it had the means to prevent IRL streamers from harassing people, but that didn't seem to be a priority

aftermath.site/twitch-twitc...
October 22, 2025 at 8:30 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
following the assault of emiru, a popular streamer, many have claimed that twitchcon had no security. that's not true. but security and safety are not the same thing, especially when the people who need protecting are women in a community steeped in clip-hungry online misogyny
"The truth is, TwitchCon was probably the most surveilled, security rich, and filmed event in the [San Diego] convention center all year," Bret "Cinemarxism" Hamilton said on Twitter. "Surveillance and buff dudes just don’t prevent cultural issues like misogyny from causing harm to vulnerable people. Could more be done? Of course. I wish harassment and misogyny [were] taken 100x more seriously by the platform, but the problems that actually cause these people to behave this way are so deep and wider in scope than the platform of Twitch. As evidenced by this weekend, cops, surveillance and other forms of security theater can’t and don’t actually keep us safe. Only we keep us safe, and a lot of us are not doing nearly enough to counter misogyny and online harassment." Surveillance and buff dudes just don’t prevent cultural issues like misogyny from causing harm to vulnerable people. "A lot of male streamers participate in [the culture of misogyny] without maybe understanding that this is all part of a larger problem,” said Kwan. “They go 'Well, I would never assault a woman or say that was OK. And in fact, I'm condemning what happened to Emiru, and if I were there, I would have protected her.' ... When we call women whores, when we say these really misogynistic things and normalize it, and then we have these audiences comprised of very impressionable, vulnerable young men who are learning from this, not every one of them is going to do something like the guy did to Emiru, but it's all part of a broader systemic issue."
October 22, 2025 at 8:20 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
heavy rain developer quantic dream’s new game, spellcasters chronicles, has a big presence at twitchcon. attendees… do not seem very interested
two people talking on the spellcasters chronicles stage empty seats more empty seats
October 17, 2025 at 11:28 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
got to twitchcon, immediately encountered twitch ceo dan clancy playing music on the show floor
October 17, 2025 at 11:18 PM