James Owens, also known as The Ayatollah is [one of Britain’s leading neo-Nazi YouTubers](https://archive.ph/LZ7lQ). An exposé of The Ayatollah [was published by *The Times*](https://archive.ph/VtmRn) in summer 2022. Owens livestreamed on YouTube as ‘The Ayatollah’ and was a former host of The Absolute State Of Britain (TASOB) podcast, published by the American neo-Nazi podcast network The Right Stuff (TRS).

As a UK-based TRS host, Owens acted as a notable node in the transnational Anglophone neo-Nazi network. Several leading TRS hosts appeared on Owens’ YouTube channel. Owens’ unmasking was reported internationally.

Owens had been involved in PA in its very early stages and was identified from attending multiple PA events which were under surveillance by [anti-fascist investigators Red Flare](https://redflare.info/). *The Times* produced a [two-part](https://podfollow.com/stories-of-our-times/episode/463e998313c9d12bdfc24de9f4622e5b786c0570/view) [podcast](https://podfollow.com/stories-of-our-times/episode/83b5af25855dac35391ca2f269a7fd2d89c1efd2/view) to accompany the exposé. Shortly after he was unmasked, [Owens appeared on Greg Johnson’s Counter-Currents](https://archive.ph/3QVNB) podcast.

TASOB’s involvement in creating PA helped to cement links with the US-based National Justice Party (NJP), which was launched by leading figures in TRS.