So there has been a development; I now need to sign 250,000 times
to make sure every copy of the The Anthropocene Reviewed book’s
first printing is signed. I’m going to do that. I look forward to the challenge.
Thank you for preordering. Good morning Hank it’s Tuesday.
So not to sound like a hipster YouTube user or anything, but most of the
channels I watch on Youtube do not, like, regularly hit the trending page.
Like, my very favorite YouTube channel is DoctorBenjyFM, in which
a guy named Ben plays the video game Football Manager, imagining
a vast universe in which a fictional football team called AFC Thames
makes their way through the ranks of English football. It’s also a profound
window into how fandom works, about mostly I just root for the red
pixels on the screen. Another channel I love:
Curious Tangents, in which host Travis Gilbert models
inquiry-based learning by following curious tangents and seeing where
they lead. In a recent video, for example, he explores what kinds of stress can
be productive for humans, and what kinds are merely deleterious.
That’s one of those words that I know how to spell but I don’t know
how to say. In another video, he’ll explore, like, the history of dragons.
It’s wonderful. So a chunk of our ad revenue here at vlogbrothers
goes toward sponsoring educational video projects, and I often discover
new favorite channels in that process. Like, one recent grantee is
Soph’s Notes, which is very hard for me to pronounce. Soph’s videos
are hilarious, whether they’re about why I always have room for dessert
or the science behind hangovers or which planet would be the most fun
to party on--but they are also deeply informational. And because of the way
the information is presented, I remember more of it. So I watch them for fun
but then at the end I’m always like, ah man, they got me. I learned something.
Another channel that recently got a vlogbrothers grant is This Glorious
Clockwork, which features beautiful animations about biochemistry--
like this video about ATP Synthase. I didn’t even know I was interested
in biochemistry but it turns out that I am myself just a complicated series
of chemical reactions, and I would like to better understand those reactions.
I’m also a massive, massive fan of Karen Puzzles, a jigsaw puzzle
YouTube channel created by Karen Kavett, who has been a part of nerdfighteria since
2007. It’s so beautifully shot, and although I don’t have any capacity to do
jigsaw puzzles, it’s so satisfying to watch get completed.
Speaking of longtime nerdfighters, my producing partner Rosianna Halse Rojas
just celebrated her fifteenth anniversary on Youtube, meaning that she has now
been making videos for more than half her life. I love all of Rosianna’s
videos, but I’m especially fond of her travel vlogs where through unhurried
editing you can follow her as she for instance bicycles across England.
Lastly, ItsRadishTime has been uploading video postcards in 2021,
and they are stunning and poetic and brilliantly edited and unlike anything
I’ve seen on Youtube before, and I love them so much.
Hank, every year during the Project for Awesome, I discover new
channels to follow and love as people make videos about their favorite
charities. By the way there is still time to make a Project for Awesome
video this year; they have to be submitted by Wednesday at noon
Eastern time. More info below. Like it says on my 2021 vision board,
let’s have a beautifully foolish Project for Awesome this year.
Hank, even after fourteen years on YouTube, I’m still astonished
by the creativity in our community. Like, last week a Nerdfighter named
Julia took inspiration for one of my signing livestreams and created
an animated video called lo-fi lang syne beats to sign your name
250,000 times to. I think I’m going to leave you with a little of that today.
I’ll see you on Friday for the Project for Awesome!