Let me set the scene: It’s December 2025, and you live in (Mamdani’s) New York City. You’re freezing 24/7 and the Vitamin D deficiency is hitting hard. The dating scene is unspeakable, (it’s performative males and finance bros galore, with not a true feminist in sight). South Asian culture is popping off (thank you, Mumbai baddies at the Tyla concert), but, then again, so is racism against South Asians. But at least you finally feel comfortable enough to wear your micro-jhumkas to work. Everyone around you is becoming TikTok famous, and you want that too - primarily so you can be friends with #BrownTok and make some extra cash to afford coffee and a sweet treat at Bolo Bolo. You know you have some hot takes - but what if you put them online and get cancelled? Or even worse, become a meme? 

Enter: Problematic, the YouTube mini-series you should binge watch right now. The show premiered on November 21st at BRIC House, and is a comedic, timely look at clout, media, and the purity tests we all fail as we trip over our own egos in the mad dash for relevance.

Problematic doesn’t just mock the clout economy. It comes from people who’ve survived it.

Still need convincing that Problematic should be your next Sunday-night binge? Hear more directly from the co-creators, family-friends Aditi Kini and Pranav Behari alongside Devyn Inez Fusaro, a triple-threat producer, actress and writer: 

What was the inspiration behind Problematic, and behind Twinkle’s character? 

Our co-creator, Aditi, is absolutely the inspo for Twinkle. We randomly met through family. I say random, but it's more like divine providence. Right after we met she moved down the street from me. Then we discovered that we worked across the street from each other. So every day we rode the train to work together, talked about the state of the world, laughed our asses off and decided we want to work on something together. 

Not long after that, she went viral from a hot take she published in Jezebel. Then she started speaking out about incel culture and the death threats started rolling in. 

I knew immediately that this is what the show should be about - to satirically document the process of a writer going viral and what could happen.

This show explores virality and cancel culture in the online desi community - something that is especially relevant right now. What do you have to say about virality and social media presence in the desi community today?

We're all chasing relevance, but I think virality is different from conventional fame because it comes so fast. Going viral today often happens from intentionally saying something inflammatory or provocative. In Problematic, we kind of show the arc of rapid ascent to precipitous decline. But Twinkle's viral moment comes after the antagonist hits her with a racial slur--and she doesn't realize her best friend is filming her, so in many ways it was a very pure and almost heroic act when she goes off on him. Twinkle herself is not really someone who respects viral online culture - she regards herself as a serious journalist who wants to make an impact and find relevance through her very serious work. But this is what she gets! Karma is funny like that. 

#WokeBrooklyn is practically a character in its own right in the series. Why set the story specifically in that world, and what makes it ripe for satire?

Because it's our world. I used to be heavily involved in left-activism in NYC, so a lot of the observations are from interacting in those spaces. I know the same goes for both of my co-creators. And this culture is now a dominant force on a national scale, and no longer a niche with inside jokes that only a few people would understand. So we're aiming to make fun of ourselves first and foremost, but from a place of love.

Desi representation in the media has skyrocketed in recent years. Where is representation today? How do journalists, and media more broadly, play a role in this?

I see a progression in the struggle for representation. It starts with work that introduces the broader population to who you are as a people, what you're about, our own distinct challenges and hilarious foibles - often caricatured for easy digestion. Then it becomes more complicated and nuanced. But for me the goal, ultimately, is to create jokes, shows, and movies that aren’t just about being seen as an Indian, but that have relevance and universality for all people. I'm not an Indian-American comedian, I'm a comedian who happens to be Indian-American. 

What does it mean to be desi in NYC today? How has this identity changed over time for you?

South Asians have been a vital part of New York City for decades - I didn't grow up here, but as a kid my parents would bring us to NYC every year to stockpile Indian groceries, window shop at Indian jewelry stores, and eat at some of the first Indian restaurants in Manhattan. It was the closest thing they could get to India. I think desi culture has been permanently woven into the city, and through various diasporas, including the Caribbean and African desi diasporas, which bring their own unique permutations on subcontinental culture. And now we have a Gujrati-Muslim-African mayor! And it's honestly shocking that it took this long. But it goes to show that we've reached a maturation point where we're not just behind the wheel of a cab or a bodega counter or a doctor or even a tech person, but also playing a meaningful role in civic life.

The show balances critique with empathy. How do you write characters who are problematic but still lovable?

By rooting them in our own experiences and working outwards from there - we're all problematic, and yet we're all worthy of love. 

Twinkle’s relationships with her boss, rival, BFF, and herself shift constantly. Which relationship was the most fun to write? Which was the hardest?

It's easiest to write about a boss - they're universally recognized as antagonistic. And it was really fun to write the character of Audra (her work rival) because in many ways she's an aspirational mirror of Twinkle and where she wanted to be in her own career. But it's more fun, and challenging, to write about a BFF, because the tension there tends to emerge from way way way below the surface, from a place of love. Writing about Bunny and Twinkle's fallout required looking into ourselves and our own flaws and deeply-buried resentments.

The show explores the 15-minute fame cycle. What does virality cost people emotionally and creatively?

I think it spiritually disfigures people and limits our creative potential. This answer is annoying, sorry!

If Twinkle had another 15 minutes of fame, what would she do with them?

She would probably start a podcast and say something inflammatory about Diwali.