Jubilee Media is unique for their ability to reimagine conversations. Their creative, ambitious series “Surrounded” has made a real splash. In 2010, Jubilee was founded by Jason Y Lee as a non-profit. The organization really exploded after one of Lee’s charity busking videos went viral. In 2017, Jubilee took an exhilarating leap into the entertainment world. From dating shows to family feud games, in the years since, they’ve expanded production to an incredible range of content. It’s “Surrounded” that has become its most heatedly critical series, truly flipping the script on the norms of political conversation.
Surrounded SURROUNDED put one expert up against an entire panel of their peers in a head-to-head race to claim a metaphorical chair and defend their position on urgent political topics. This new, highly interactive format has generated a lot of discussion about the tone that public discussions should take. Lee emphasizes his vision for Jubilee, stating that he aims “to show what discourse can and should look like.”
The platform has effectively captured the attention of many younger users by turning serious and polarized discussions into short, digestible and shareable videos. Notable productions include “Flat Earthers vs Scientists: Can We Trust Science?” which exemplify the company’s commitment to exploring complex topics in an accessible manner. Jubilee’s unique format has a powerful impact on public discourse. This effect is magnified by our current age of social media and short attention spans and video binging.
Prominent journalist Mehdi Hasan, recently the host of a nearly two-hour debate on Jubilee. He is the founder of his own alternative news platform, Zeteo. This one event propelled Jubilee’s profile beyond the activist world and into mainstream media. Hasan’s performance was simultaneously celebrated and condemned, an example of the paradoxes of today’s political discourse on full display.
Hasan reflected on his experience, asserting, “I stand by what I said. I think I did a fair enough job as a debater.” He acknowledged the mixed reactions to his approach, with some progressives celebrating his rebuttals against far-right extremists while others questioned the effectiveness of such formats. “The bigger meta question is whether the format itself is a problem. Is there value in doing these debates? And I don’t know the answer to that: maybe ask me in five years,” he added.
Imani Barbarin, a social advocate and critic of the series, articulated concerns regarding the impact of Jubilee’s style on political discussions. “We live in a meme-ified culture of politics,” she stated, emphasizing how moments from debates are often isolated from their broader context. Those moments are much more literally being plucked out of space and time … the CONTEXT that surrounds the occasion of that moment no longer counts or goes unvalued.
Jubilee’s rise coincides with a growing appetite for free-speech absolutism and the internet’s shift toward social video content. This supportive environment has, in turn, been fertile ground for Jubilee, drawing millions of views and engagement from younger demographic groups. For instance, a video featuring Ben Shapiro faced intense scrutiny after a trans man confronted him on key issues, becoming one of the most-watched election-related videos on YouTube.
As Spencer Kornhaber noted, as much as Jubilee’s idealism seems authentic, it is always to some extent inescapably bound with ambition. The platform’s ongoing balancing act between censorship of harmful content and allowing anything to flourish on the service is critical as it further develops the field of public discourse. Hasan himself recognizes this balancing act, stating, “I do think it’s a balancing act between the two extremes. Between censorship and narrowing of opinion and no standards at all, no guardrails, just put out anything you like on YouTube as long as it gets clicks.”
Even as Jubilee Media itself changes, its effect on the practice of political debate is an issue of massive importance. The purpose of the company is to promote understanding and connection by encouraging empathy and curiosity about other people’s experiences. Lee encapsulated this mission succinctly: “Empathy, in the Jubilee context, is standing for voyeurism and curiosity about other human beings.”