Surrounded (web series)
| Surrounded | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 15 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 20-118 minutes |
| Production company | Jubilee Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | YouTube |
| Release | September 8, 2024 – present |
Surrounded is an American web series hosted by political YouTube channel Jubilee Media. In the series, a prominent figure or individuals of specific beliefs are asked to debate against several opponents.
Premise
[edit]The series puts one notable figure against several people who disagree with them about various political topics and has the others take turns debating the notable figure. A person can be stopped from debating if enough of the people who agree with them raise a red flag.[1]
Participants do not know who they are going to debate with before the day of filming, and the featured person is asked to present several topics ahead of time.[2] Moderators are rarely present in these debates, and when they are tend to only do so lightly.[3]
History
[edit]As political tensions increased in the United States, it became a popular practice to hold debates on the Internet, particularly among conservative pundits such as Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, and Charlie Kirk, the latter's debates having been published on YouTube in the past on accounts such as the one run by Turning Point USA. Progressive commentators such as Destiny and Hasan Piker had done this for some time as well.[4] Jubilee Media was founded with the stated intention of finding common ground between debaters, and published various videos in which people were put in situations where they were in the same room with someone they disagreed with, including video in which a scientist debates several flat Earthers, and a vegan debates several meat-eater, and the Surrounded series.[2] According to founder Jason Y. Lee, Jubilee Media was intended as a media empire teaching people how to connect and disagree. The focus of Surrounded was to center the debate of "the many versus the mighty."[3]
The first video published in the series was one in which Kirk debated twenty five college students. Later that month, their video "Can 1 Woke Teen Survive 25 Trump Supporters?" went viral, in which Dean Withers was pit against twenty five individuals who supported Trump after having been in Kirk's episode.[5] Withers, who had been in other Jubilee videos prior, argued regarding various political topics such as reproductive rights, including abortion and IUDs, and Kamala Harris' merits as a presidential candidate.[4] Withers was invited to the White House following the release of the episode.[3]
A later episode titled "1 Republican vs. 25 Kamala Harris Voters" featured Ben Shapiro, who debated topics such as DEI initiatives, the Gaza war, benefits for asylum seekers, Trump's apparent non-committal to a peaceful transfer of power, and the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[6] In the episode, Shapiro is confronted by a transgender man named Shane who asks about his views on transgender rights and abortion. Shane explained his history as a transgender man, and Shapiro refused to acknowledge his gender. According to PinkNews, Shapiro became flustered at Shane's question about why he should not live American freedoms as a man, adding that he was using Shapiro's own tactics against him. After four and a half minutes, Shane was voted out of the debate and refused to shake Shapiro's hand. Footage of this portion of the episode gained popularity on TikTok and X, where people voiced agreement with Shane, including Alejandra Caraballo.[1] At the end of filming, Shapiro referred to the process as "fun" and complimented some of the people he debated.[6] This episode was the fifth-most watched YouTube video related to the 2024 United States presidential election,[3] getting 5.1 million views.[7]
Other videos were published featuring similar debates, including one which is a police officer debates several criminals. Vulture described the website as "the studio’s most head-turning effort for politically explosive bookings," as they had gotten political commentators such as Shapiro, Michael Knowles, and Lila Rose.[2] At one point, Jubilee Media talked to both Trump's and Harris' presidential to have them on Surrounded, but neither ended up being on the show.[7]
Former United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was featured in an episode in which he debated undecided voters, urging his debaters to vote for Harris as opposed to Trump. He answered various questions from his debaters in an attempt to demonstrate that Harris was the best option for President of the United States. Buttigieg was able to convince some of his debaters to vote.[8]
One episode featured Alex O'Connor, an atheist, debating twenty-five Christians. The Atlantic described a tense mood at the beginning as the Christians would rush up to debate O'Connor, although debates were largely technical and focused on interpretations of various Bible verses. Episode director Suncè Franičević attempted to create more heated debates by encouraging the participants to share personal stories. After filming, O'Connor and the others went to a pub and had what O'Connor referred to as "a wonderful conversation," which O'Connor suggested was evidence that Surrounded was successfully teaching people to be better thinkers and speakers.[3]
In another episode, "20 Trump Supporters Take on 1 Progressive," Sam Seder debated various conservatives on issues such as social security, gender-affirming care for minors,[9] and the wealth gap. Seder said that his goal was to correct misinformation and have more policy-oriented conversations than he had seen in the past.[2] In the video, Seder debates people who express a lack of belief in science and in a pluralistic society. Throughout the video, claims made were fact checked. One debater stated a belief in an establishment of Christian nationalism as an alternate to the "liberal world order," and another claimed that xenophobic nationalism is better for Americans.[9] Another claimed that government agencies received tax breaks for hiring diverse employees.[2] The video became popular and the subject of many Internet memes.[9] Seder was later interviewed on the experience, where he said that when dealing with people who acknowledged being theocratic and white nationalist, he would simply "let them espouse their agenda and allow the audience to decide if that’s the vision of America that they want."[2]
The series has been very popular, earning 50 million views on YouTube by November 2024.[7]
A later episode featured Jordan Peterson debating various atheists, in which a video clip went viral as Peterson reportedly did not answer a question about whether or not he was Christian.[10]
Episodes
[edit]As of May 2025, Surrounded has a total of sixteen episodes.
| Title | Featured Debater | Date Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Can 25 Liberal College Students Outsmart 1 Conservative?" | Charlie Kirk | September 8, 2024 | |
| "'Trump was a great president' | Charlie Kirk Debates Parker" | Charlie Kirk Parker Short |
September 12, 2024 | This episode is excerpted from the long episode "Can 25 Liberal College Students Outsmart 1 Conservative?" |
| "Can 1 Woke Teen Survive 20 Trump Supporters?" | Dean Withers | September 20, 2024 | |
| "Can 1 Cop Defend Himself Against 20 Criminals?" | Kevin Donaldson | October 6, 2024 | |
| "1 Republican vs. 25 Kamala Harris Voters" | Ben Shapiro | October 24, 2024 | |
| "'Kamala Harris is a threat' | Ben Shapiro debates Parker" | Ben Shapiro Parker Short |
October 24, 2024 | This episode is excerpted from "1 Republican vs. 25 Kamala Harris Voters." |
| "1 Democrat vs 25 Trump Voters" | Destiny | October 31, 2024 | |
| "1 Politician vs 25 Undecided Voters" | Pete Buttigieg | November 3, 2024 | |
| "Can 1 Pro-Lifer Survive 25 Pro-Abortion Activists?" | Lila Rose | January 12, 2025 | |
| "1 Atheist vs 25 Christians" | Alex O'Connor | January 26th, 2025 | |
| "1 Conservative vs 25 LGBTQ+ Activists" | Michael Knowles | February 16, 2025 | |
| "20 Trump Supporters Take on 1 Progressive" | Sam Seder | March 9, 2025 | |
| "Doctor Mike vs 20 Anti-Vaxxers" | Doctor Mike | March 30, 2025 | |
| "1 Sports Analyst vs 25 NBA/NFL Fans" | Skip Bayless | April 13, 2025 | |
| "1 LGBTQ+ Activist vs 25 Conservatives" | Zander Moricz | May 11, 2025 | |
| "Jordan Peterson vs 20 Atheists" | Jordan Peterson | May 25, 2025 | This episode was originally titled "1 Christian vs 20 atheists".[10] |
Reception
[edit]Vox described the series as a satire of what they believe Donald Trump had turned political discussions into, "extremely competitive, theatrical, and unbalanced." They described the series as a stunt, comparing it to videos by MrBeast. They criticized the series as rage bait and for using what they described as unchallenging prompts such as "trans women are women" and "Kamala Harris is a DEI candidate." However, they also noted intelligence in the way it attracts an audience of people who will simply believe that the person they agreed with won each debate.[4]
Vulture was skeptical of the casting, particularly in the episode featuring Sam Seder, where they noted that the conservative debaters were all cast as a diverse group who were significantly younger than Seder, suggesting that Jubilee Media were trying to tell a story of youth and diversity within conservative movements.[2]
The Daily Beast writer Michael Ian Black expressed disappointment with the claims made by conservative debaters in Seder's episode, suggesting that it was evidence that people who supported Donald Trump did not have ideologies grounded in reality.[9] However, others viewed it more positively and spread videos online when they believed Ben Shapiro had lost a debate to a transgender man on the show.[1]
In reflecting on his episode, Seder was asked if he believed it was dangerous to allow people who believed in theocracies and white nationalism to share such beliefs on a large platform. Seder simply responded that he did not care if those portions were spread as clips and if he was criticized for not being as rational as his opponents. He noted that his goal was successful based on the comments under Michael Knowles' response video to the episode being critical of Knowles. Despite this, he described the episode as "disturbing."[2] He added in another interview that Surrounded's methods were better than those of Gavin Newsom, who he viewed as purposefully attempting to create division.[11]
Research came to find that setups such as the one in Surrounded could in fact be more harmful than neutral. It said that such a debate style makes political appear more common than they are, whereas the average American tended to debate these topics "infrequently." Research showed that when one was asked to defend their political stance, it led to increased feelings of anxiety, which researcher Erica Bailey said was the reason for the popularity of Surrounded, as it allowed people to live vicariously through the debaters.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Theil, Michele (25 October 2024). "Right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro 'eviscerated' by trans man's questions on Surrounded debate show". PinkNews. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Quah, Nicholas (13 March 2025). "Sam Seder Knows His Viral Debate Was 'a Little Bit Disturbing'". Vulture. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Kornhaber, Spencer (23 January 2025). "America Is Divided. It Makes for Tremendous Content". Jubilee Is Like Gen Z's 'Jerry Springer Show' - The Atlantic. The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ a b c d Cunningham, Kyndall (10 October 2024). ""1 woke teen vs. 20 Trump supporters": The new age of viral political videos". Vox. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ Lindsay, Kate (13 November 2024). "'Woke Teen' Dean Withers Debated 20 Trump Voters at Once. Now He Has a Message for Liberals". GQ. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ a b Adolphus, Emell Derra (25 October 2024). "How Ben Shapiro Was Silenced by Harris-Supporting Trans Man". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ a b c Shanfeld, Ethan (4 November 2024). "Jubilee Is Making America Debate Again: How YouTube Hit 'Surrounded' Landed Pete Buttigieg and Ben Shapiro — and Why Its CEO Wants to Get In On the 2028 Election". Variety. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ Boykin-Patterson, Eboni (4 November 2024). "Pete Buttigieg Systematically Schools 25 Undecided Voters". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ a b c d Black, Michael Ian (12 March 2025). "The Viral 'Debate' Video That Proves Most MAGA Voters Are a Lost Cause". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ a b King, Jordan. "Testy Jordan Peterson Exchange During Christianity Debate Viewed 3.4M Times". Newsweek. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
- ^ Wilstein, Matt (26 March 2025). "What Shocked 'Surrounded' Star Sam Seder Most About His MAGA Opponents". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 10 April 2025.