Mucbir Sebepler: Turkey’s Talk Show for COVID-19 Lockdowns

During the early days of the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, indie scenesters Bartu Küçükçağlayan and Melikşah Altuntaş began hosting Mücbir Sebepler, Turkey’s first Instagram talk show. The show ran for 84 episodes, ending on 25 June 2020. Some of the show’s more popular episodes were watched live by more than 140,000 Instagram users. This article is dedicated to understanding how Mücbir Sebepler constitutes a shift in the paradigm of Turkish entertainment culture. The first section situates the show within the history of broadcasting, focusing on the factors that differentiate Mücbir Sebepler from more conventional late-night shows in Turkey. The second section concentrates on the show’s relationship with Instagram. We argue that the allure of watching Mücbir Sebepler stems from the possibility of simultaneously experiencing two separate media logics. Finally, we discuss the hipster subcultural paradigm and how it can be applied to understand the show’s culture. We argue that the hipster subcultural attitude is best revealed in the host’s contradictory behaviour towards guests-they are simultaneously presented as objects of derision as well as fascination. © 2024 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.