Natalie Wynn is an American cultural critic whose YouTube channel Contrapoints won a 2022 Peabody Award in the Immersive & Interactive category.
Background
Wynn was born on October 21, 1988 in Arlington, Virginia. Wynn’s parent William is a psychology professor at Georgetown, and parent Marian is a doctor. Wynn has two siblings who also went to Georgetown.
Wynn studied piano at Berklee College of Music, earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 2012, and a master’s degree from Northwestern University. Wynn did gig work before becoming a YouTuber in 2008. Wynn’s work is considered part of “BreadTube,” a loose affiliation of YouTubers who posted videos to challenge right-wing views on subjects.
In 2016, Wynn began the ContraPoints channel. In 2017, Wynn came out as trans and removed all pre-transition videos. In 2020 Wynn came out as lesbian.
Video essays
- The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling
- The Hunger
- Envy
- J.K. Rowling
- Voting
- Justice
- Cringe
- Shame
- Canceling
- Opulence
- Men
- “Transtrenders”
- Beauty
- Gender Critical
- The Darkness
- “Are Traps Gay?”
- The Apocalypse
- Pronouns
- The Aesthetic
- Incels
- The West
- Tiffany Tumbles
- Jordan Peterson
- What’s Wrong with Capitalism (Part 2)
- America: Still Racist
- Autogynephilia
- What’s Wrong with Capitalism (Part 1)
- Violence
- Degeneracy
- The Left
- Decrypting the Alt-Right: How to Recognize a Fascist
References
Robinson, Nathan J. (May 6, 2018). God Bless ContraPoints. Current Affairs. [archive] https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/05/god-bless-contrapoints
Cross, Katherine (August 24, 2018). The Oscar Wilde of YouTube fights the alt-right with decadence and seduction. The Verge. [archive] https://www.theverge.com/tech/2018/8/24/17689090/contrapoints-youtube-natalie-wynn
Marantz, Andrew (November 19, 2018). The Stylish Socialist Who Is Trying to Save YouTube from Alt-Right Domination. The New Yorker. [archive] https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/the-stylish-socialist-who-is-trying-to-save-youtube-from-alt-right-domination
N.B. (December 20, 2018). The transgender populist fighting fascists with face glitter. The Economist. [archive] https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/12/21/the-transgender-populist-fighting-fascists-with-face-glitter
Mark, Clifton (January 6, 2019). ContraPoints Is Political Philosophy Made for YouTube. The Atlantic. [archive] https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/01/contrapoints-political-philosophy-natalie-wynn-youtube/579532/
Fleishman, Jeffrey (June 12, 2019). Transgender YouTube star ContraPoints tries to change alt-right minds. Los Angeles Times. [archive] https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-st-transgender-youtuber-contrapoints-cultural-divide-20190612-story.html
McCrea, Aisling; Robinson, Nathan J. (June 9, 2019). Interview: Natalie Wynn of ContraPoints. Current Affairs. [archive] https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/06/interview-natalie-wynn-of-contrapoints
Nancy Jo, Sales (June 17, 2021). ‘The internet is about jealousy’: YouTube muse ContraPoints on cancel culture and compassion. The Guardian. [archive] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jun/17/contrapoints-natalie-wynn-youtube-interview
Peabody Awards (2023). ContraPoints: Natalie Wynn (YouTube) https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/contrapoints/
Resources
Contrapoints (contrapoints.com)
YouTube (youtube.com/)
Patreon (patreon.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)