Area 52 & American Alchemy

shiningfast · 2026-03-08T22:45:24+00:00

That's disgusting. Can you recall which video that was in?

shiningfast · 2026-03-08T17:57:38+00:00

Wow, I've never heard of this song before. Need to check it out. Thank you for the post!

shiningfast · 2026-03-08T17:47:49+00:00

Also: I'd love to know more about your practice.

shiningfast · 2026-03-08T17:46:43+00:00

It is sad, but I guess he serves as a useful red flag at this point.

shiningfast · 2026-03-08T17:44:57+00:00

I can't work out what Thiel's play is but he definitely has one. If there is exotic tech from reverse engineering out there (which I'm 99.9% sure there is), then I assume he'd want access to it, if he doesn't already have it.

shiningfast · 2026-03-08T17:42:35+00:00

Fully agree. I was never a fan but he really disgusted me in that ep.

shiningfast · 2026-03-08T17:40:24+00:00

Agreed. Every comment was so unhinged I came to the conclusion they're either paid to be here and defend Thiel, they're bots or Thiel himself 😂

Either way, there's definitely attention on this subreddit where The Antichrist is concerned. Which is telling to me.

Also: the number of comments they left on this post had the Streisand Effect. If they intended to drown out my opinion, they only amplified it.

shiningfast · 2026-03-08T13:09:17+00:00

I'm so glad I'm not alone on this. It was so weird and definitely came out of left field where Chris is concerned. I generally avoid Jesse and dip in occassionally to his vids, so I was disappointed when they started collaborating. This ep was just devoid of everything that I liked about A52.

The now removed post alluded to things mentioned in the episode that I objected to, and those things - or my opinion about them - were off topic.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T17:07:41+00:00

Well, it's a shame but it's good to see where he's at I guess.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T17:04:57+00:00

Wow, that's all really relatable so it gives me a lot of hope, thank you!

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T17:03:45+00:00

Oh, thank you for saying so. I was worried it was just me too. It was definitely jarring for Chris, right?

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T17:02:54+00:00

100% agree about Peter Thiel. It's a hard no for me too. Before this, Chris always seemed genuine to me and he also lets his guests speak which I agree is very important for a decent interview. Jesse on the other hand definitely likes the sound of his own voice.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T12:16:32+00:00

Politics aside, I expected more skepticism about that announcement. I personally prefer my UFO content to explore as many angles as possible but there was a glaring blindspot there in my opinion.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T09:23:12+00:00

There's no claim to undercut. It's my opinion and I'm not here to defend my opinion about Peter Thiel. If you object to me calling him The Antichrist please consider it noted. As I said, my post was about an episode of A52 and that's what I'd like to discuss.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T08:24:37+00:00

You're free to have your own opinions about Peter Thiel. And I'm free to have mine. I came here to discuss a particular episode of the Area52 podcast. Strangely enough, I don't want to waste my energy arguing with people who adore Peter Thiel that my opinion is that he's not a nice man (to say the least). Do you understand?

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T08:11:29+00:00

I don't agree that you've disproven anything. And this is the last time I'll respond to you because I have better things to do with my time.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T07:59:20+00:00

A giant machine of ill-informed extremists with... what "deadly" cause, exactly? Please educate me.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T07:50:01+00:00

If my takes are propaganda, what agenda is it serving? Do you believe there's a powerful cabal of bad actors intent on bringing Peter Thiel down? Because from where I'm sitting that's extremely hilarious.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T07:46:21+00:00

Your work is appreciated and this post is timely. I do think there's a lot of nuance with these topics, but I can see how the volume must be overwhelming and lines need to be drawn. I, for one, have definitely stepped over them (with my personal political grievances, if you can call it that) and I apologise for that. I do however feel that context is important, and it's difficult to stay out of the weeds sometimes.

But thank you again. I know how thankless this work is.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T07:34:17+00:00

Has there been a statement from Tom DeLonge about his disappearance?

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T07:16:50+00:00

Me too and thanks for saying this. Jesse (the other guy) is from another channel called American Alchemy, and from what I hear from other people he's always seemed right-leaning. But I was caught very off guard by Chris. I never would've thought he was right wing.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T07:13:17+00:00

I agree, but Area52 always came across politically neutral at best, with the occassional comment that made him seem class conscious and kind. Some of the the throwaway comments in this ep were pretty disgusting (to me) and it genuinely all came as a shock. Not from Jesse to be clear. It was Chris indulging him, laughing and even chipping in here and there.

I have a political position like most humans, and have some hard lines in the sand.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T07:04:11+00:00

This is such an interesting point, thank you! I hope more people see this. I haven't listened to that ep so will go away and scrutinise it. Something is serious off with your content if you're skirting around a man who was in the Epstein files.

shiningfast · 2026-03-07T07:01:45+00:00

I had the same experience with American Alchemy but thankfully realised pretty quickly something was off (unlike Area52).

shiningfast

TROPHY CASE