Omnishambles

The Memes Made Us Do It

Feb 25, 2026
Giorgio Angelini, filmmaker and architectural designer behind Feels Good Man and The Anti-Social Network, talks meme culture and platform dynamics. He traces Pepe’s transformation, explores meme magic and online radicalization, and sketches odd intersections like Epstein, hackers, and 4chan. Short, sharp conversations about aesthetics, nihilism, protest repurposing, and a strange, hopeful look at where attention politics might lead.
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INSIGHT

How Pepe Became A Mutable Political Symbol

  • Pepe's transformation shows how internet symbols mutate beyond a creator's control into political tools.
  • Giorgio Angelini traced Pepe from Matt Furie's indie comic to 4chan/alt-right appropriation and later Hong Kong protest reclaiming the frog.
ANECDOTE

From McMansion Photos To Pepe Documentary

  • Giorgio's film path began photographing abandoned McMansions and led to a documentary about housing policy, which connected him to animator friends and eventually Feels Good Man.
  • A travel grant to photograph an abandoned development during the housing crisis became Owned and introduced him to Matt Furie's circle.
INSIGHT

Meme Magic Explains Online-To-Real World Effects

  • Meme magic works as a kind of sympathetic cultural force: focused online attention can produce real-world effects.
  • Angelini highlights John Michael Greer's meme-magic idea and how Q and Pepe functioned as concentrated attention that warped reality.
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