Logo of the YouTube channel donoteat01, styled after a SEPTA transit token

Justin Gibs Roczniak[1] (/ˌrɑːzniːæk/), also known through his YouTube alias donoteat01, is an American structural engineer,[2] YouTuber and podcaster. He is known for his political commentary through the video game Cities: Skylines and as the co-host of podcast Well There's Your Problem.

Personal life

Roczniak is a structural engineer and lives in Philadelphia.[2] He considers himself to be a socialist.[3][4]

He is part of the Philly Transit Riders Union.[5]

YouTube career

On his YouTube channel donoteat01, Roczniak uploads videos on Cities: Skylines, using the game to explain the politics and power behind the construction of American cities.[3] In the videos, he constructs case studies of urban development, discussing topics like public housing, slum clearance, and parking minimums.[6] His main YouTube series is Franklin, where he discusses the historical development of cities through the fictional city of Franklin.[7][8]

He co-hosts the engineering disaster podcast Well There’s Your Problem, which was initially an offshoot of his YouTube channel. It has been characterised by Hyperallergic magazine as exposing "the darkly humorous side of capitalism destroying bridges, dams, and more"[2] and was praised by Patrick Yocum of the Boston Ballet as being a "sarcastic and dry conversation about some of the most ridiculous and occasionally tragic accidents, blunders, miscommunications and societal failures that make the world of big engineering projects so fascinating and scary".[9]

Although Roczniak initially intended for his videos to focus on the history first and foremost, rather than be political, he has stated that it would not be possible to discuss history in an apolitical manner, as he considers it an "absurd standard" to hold history to.[3]

Advocacy

Throughout his works, Justin Roczniak has advocated for many positions, such as increasing unionization,[10] changes to urban design,[3] rent control,[3] and railroad nationalization.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Roczniak, Justin [@who_shot_jgr] (July 20, 2023). "i am still not entirely certain my middle name (gibs) was given in tribute for an actual family member" (Tweet). Retrieved December 9, 2023 – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 3 Schindel, Dan (27 June 2020). "The Darkly Humorous Side of Capitalism Destroying Bridges, Dams, and More". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Kunzelman, Cameron (24 September 2018). "The Socialist YouTuber Using Cities: Skylines To Explain US Politics". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  4. ↑ Coleman, Lucia (23 September 2018). "Youtuber explains the problem of American urban areas through video game". Research Snipers. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Philly's entire fleet of battery-powered buses has been MIA since February". WHYY. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  6. ↑ Knoop, Joseph (24 September 2018). "YouTuber uses Cities: Skylines to illustrate politics' power over cities". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  7. ↑ Yelland, Tannara (2 October 2019). "Unmaking the Real Estate State". Los Angeles Review of Books. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  8. ↑ Schindel, Dan (16 January 2019). "A YouTuber Illuminates the History of American Urban Development". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  9. ↑ Raczka, Rachel (10 April 2020). "'Well There's Your Problem' will take your mind off our current problems". Boston Globe. Retrieved 25 October 2021. It's sarcastic and dry conversation about some of the most ridiculous — and occasionally tragic — accidents, blunders, miscommunications, and societal failures that make the world of big engineering projects so fascinating and scary. Plenty of leftist social commentary here.
  10. ↑ Cities: Skylines | Franklin, Episode 9: Organized Labor. join the IWW, unionize your workplace, join the one big Union, organize, just organize, organize, one big Union, join the IWW!
  11. ↑ Roczniak, Justin (2022-10-09). "Opinion | Mismanagement and 'Monster Trains' Have Wrecked American Rail". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
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