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Cities Without People25:08

Cities Without People

1.7M views • 6 years ago
Jacob Geller
Jacob Geller's video essay on empty cities and what they say about our relationship to places, using games, literature and aerial imagery. It touches on works such as Invisible Cities.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
Blade Runner 2049 | "Cells Interlinked" and Pale Fire (LITERALLY ME! INCELS INTERLINKED)19:42

Blade Runner 2049 | "Cells Interlinked" and Pale Fire (LITERALLY ME! INCELS INTERLINKED)

344K views • 4 years ago
Fallopium Films
A film-analysis video essay linking Blade Runner 2049's Cells Interlinked sequence to Nabokov's Pale Fire. It examines the poetry and meaning behind the film's references.
Topic match · Film analysis & criticism
This Is Phil Fish19:06

This Is Phil Fish

1.4M views • 12 years ago
Innuendo Studios
Innuendo Studios uses Phil Fish, creator of the game Fez, as a case study in internet celebrity. The essay argues that fame online works differently from traditional fame, and shows how audiences turn on the people they have elevated.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
Contrepreneurs: The Mikkelsen Twins1:15:38

Contrepreneurs: The Mikkelsen Twins

4.2M views • 4 years ago
Folding Ideas
Dan Olson of Folding Ideas investigates the Mikkelsen Twins and the ghostwritten-audiobook passive-income course industry, even playing along with the scheme. It is a long video essay on get-rich-quick publishing grifts.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
Why Are You So Angry? Part 1: A Short History of Anita Sarkeesian9:36

Why Are You So Angry? Part 1: A Short History of Anita Sarkeesian

1.1M views • 11 years ago
Innuendo Studios
The first part of Innuendo Studios' six-part video essay series on the online hostility around Anita Sarkeesian and GamerGate. It lays out the history and the motivations of the people involved.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
The Marvel Symphonic Universe13:35

The Marvel Symphonic Universe

8M views • 10 years ago
Every Frame a Painting
An Every Frame a Painting video essay asking why Marvel films lack memorable musical themes. It blames temp tracks and directors scoring to filler music.
Topic match · Film analysis & criticism
Gambling and the desire machine | Pay to Win1:09:54

Gambling and the desire machine | Pay to Win

222K views • 4 years ago
Jimmy McGee
A 70-minute video essay by Jimmy McGee on gambling, addiction and game design, tracing horse racing, slot machines and collectible card markets. It is the first in a series on making money from games.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
The Hobbit: A Long-Expected Autopsy (Part 1/2)36:49

The Hobbit: A Long-Expected Autopsy (Part 1/2)

5.9M views • 8 years ago
Lindsay Ellis
The first part of Lindsay Ellis's video essay series on the troubled production and critical reception of The Hobbit film trilogy.
Topic match · Film analysis & criticism
Games, Schools, and Worlds Designed for Violence16:38

Games, Schools, and Worlds Designed for Violence

3.1M views • 7 years ago
Jacob Geller
Jacob Geller's video essay examines how architecture in schools and in video games, such as cover shooters, is shaped by violence. It touches on brutalism, campus policing and protests.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
Gacha Drama and the Korean Gender War47:11

Gacha Drama and the Korean Gender War

987K views • 2 years ago
Moon Channel
A video essay from lawyer-turned-YouTuber Moon Channel on the South Korean gender war, tracing its historical roots and modern origins through the lens of a gacha game controversy. It is the first part of a two-part series.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
The Adorkable Misogyny of The Big Bang Theory21:10

The Adorkable Misogyny of The Big Bang Theory

9M views • 9 years ago
Pop Culture Detective
A video essay from Pop Culture Detective arguing that The Big Bang Theory normalizes sexism and toxic masculinity through its portrayal of nerd men. It analyzes recurring tropes in how the male leads treat women.
Topic match · Film analysis & criticism
The Alt-Right Playbook: Always a Bigger Fish21:46

The Alt-Right Playbook: Always a Bigger Fish

2.6M views • 7 years ago
Innuendo Studios
Innuendo Studios' Alt-Right Playbook episode, drawing on Corey Robin's The Reactionary Mind, argues that conservatism defends hierarchy and a shrinking in-group.
Manufactured Discontent and Fortnite21:19

Manufactured Discontent and Fortnite

1.7M views • 7 years ago
Folding Ideas
Dan Olson of Folding Ideas critiques Fortnite's monetization, arguing it uses manufactured discontent, such as shop design and skins, to push spending. The video dissects the psychological techniques behind the game's business model.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
My Octopus Teacher: The Greatest Horror Film28:31

My Octopus Teacher: The Greatest Horror Film

229K views • 6 years ago
Maggie Mae Fish
Maggie Mae Fish analyzes the documentary My Octopus Teacher as an eco-horror film, critiquing it as a story of a man projecting his own needs onto a wild animal.
Topic match · Film analysis & criticism
Ross's Game Dungeon: Deus Ex39:52

Ross's Game Dungeon: Deus Ex

1.5M views • 10 years ago
Accursed Farms
Ross Scott's Game Dungeon episode on Deus Ex, a long review of the game covering its narrative, politics and economic philosophy as well as its design.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
Game Critics8:53

Game Critics

17.7M views • 9 years ago
videogamedunkey
A videogamedunkey video essay on video game critics. It argues that a critic's taste and integrity matter as much as their score, and tries to explain why major outlets give such inflated ratings.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
The Next Major RTS Will Fail. This Is Why.25:09

The Next Major RTS Will Fail. This Is Why.

985K views • 4 years ago
GiantGrantGames
A video essay arguing that the next major real-time strategy game will fail unless it gets the fundamentals right. It covers the playerbase and demographics, what older RTS games did well, and the roles of the engine, spectacle, development tools and player-generated content.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
"You Couldn't Make Blazing Saddles Today!"28:15

"You Couldn't Make Blazing Saddles Today!"

468K views • 6 years ago
Infranaut
A long video essay arguing against the claim that Blazing Saddles could not be made today. It looks at the film as satire of the sanitized Western genre and what it did to that genre.
Topic match · Film analysis & criticism
Incels | ContraPoints35:05

Incels | ContraPoints

6.4M views • 8 years ago
ContraPoints
ContraPoints' 35-minute video essay on incels, examining the community, its worldview and how people get radicalized. It is delivered with theatrical style and an empathetic tone.
Canceling | ContraPoints1:40:28

Canceling | ContraPoints

6.3M views • 6 years ago
ContraPoints
A long video essay by Natalie Wynn of ContraPoints on cancel culture, drawing on her own experience of being pile-on targeted by other leftists. It is theatrical and discursive, mixing argument with performance.
J.K. Rowling | ContraPoints1:29:45

J.K. Rowling | ContraPoints

7.9M views • 5 years ago
ContraPoints
A roughly 90-minute video essay by ContraPoints on J.K. Rowling and the controversy around her views on gender. It examines why many LGBTQ people and allies soured on her.
DICKS: Do you need to be one to be a successful leader?34:50

DICKS: Do you need to be one to be a successful leader?

2.2M views • 9 years ago
Max Joseph
Filmmaker Max Joseph's 35-minute video essay asks whether you have to be a jerk to be a successful leader. It draws on Adam Grant's givers and takers, Robert Greene and famous demanding directors.
The Alt-Right Playbook: Introduction7:49

The Alt-Right Playbook: Introduction

1.5M views • 9 years ago
Innuendo Studios
The introduction to Innuendo Studios' video essay series on the rhetorical tactics of the alt-right. It examines how bad-faith debate and harassment work online.
GitHub Actions Feels Bad26:27

GitHub Actions Feels Bad

118K views • 2 years ago
fasterthanlime
A fasterthanlime video essay arguing that GitHub Actions is a poorly designed system, with a history of personal computing and CI, and a look at how it works behind the scenes. It is sponsored by Brilliant.
PAW Patrol's Dark Secret, Explained1:18:07

PAW Patrol's Dark Secret, Explained

944K views • 4 years ago
Skip Intro
A long video essay by Skip Intro asking what vision of policing the kids' show PAW Patrol suggests. It mixes comedy with serious critique and features guest voices.
The Alt-Right Playbook: The Card Says Moops18:16

The Alt-Right Playbook: The Card Says Moops

2.1M views • 7 years ago
Innuendo Studios
An Innuendo Studios video essay from the Alt-Right Playbook series that uses the Seinfeld 'the card says moops' scene to explain bad-faith argument tactics. It describes how reactionaries use sincerity and irony as shields in online debate.
Jordan Peterson | ContraPoints28:20

Jordan Peterson | ContraPoints

4.8M views • 8 years ago
ContraPoints
ContraPoints' long-form video response to Jordan Peterson, critiquing his ideas including his use of the term postmodern neo-Marxism. It is delivered in her theatrical essay style.
The Fake Futurism of Elon Musk27:15

The Fake Futurism of Elon Musk

1.8M views • 6 years ago
Tom Nicholas
A video essay by Tom Nicholas critiquing Elon Musk's futurism, covering SpaceX's Mars plans, Tesla versus Ford and the idea of a slow cancellation of the future. It asks whom Musk's vision of the future serves.
Data | Philosophy Tube26:14

Data | Philosophy Tube

876K views • 6 years ago
Philosophy Tube
A Philosophy Tube video essay on data, surveillance and the algorithms built on personal information, touching on Cambridge Analytica and the 'nothing to hide' argument.
Sexual Assault of Men Played for Laughs - Part 1 Male Perpetrators28:53

Sexual Assault of Men Played for Laughs - Part 1 Male Perpetrators

6.3M views • 7 years ago
Pop Culture Detective
A Pop Culture Detective video essay on how jokes about men sexually assaulting other men are common in entertainment media. Part 1 focuses on male perpetrators.
The Alt-Right Playbook: Never Play Defense12:17

The Alt-Right Playbook: Never Play Defense

1.9M views • 8 years ago
Innuendo Studios
Innuendo Studios' video essay in the Alt-Right Playbook series argues that bad-faith actors force opponents to defend their positions, so the way to avoid their trap is to never play defense.
Plagiarism and You(Tube)3:51:10

Plagiarism and You(Tube)

44M views • 2 years ago
hbomberguy
A nearly four-hour video essay by hbomberguy on plagiarism on YouTube, centered on specific creators who copied other people's work. It examines what plagiarism is and how it went unaddressed.
The Future is a Dead Mall - Decentraland and the Metaverse1:49:22

The Future is a Dead Mall - Decentraland and the Metaverse

8.2M views • 3 years ago
Folding Ideas
Dan Olson of Folding Ideas spends months in the virtual world Decentraland and delivers a long critique of the metaverse, NFTs and DAOs, and why virtual worlds fail as places.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
"Games as a service" is fraud.1:15:54

"Games as a service" is fraud.

1.1M views • 7 years ago
Accursed Farms
Ross Scott of Accursed Farms makes a 76-minute argument that selling video games as a service is a form of consumer fraud. He lays out legal arguments that games are goods, covers ownership and programmed obsolescence, and discusses game preservation.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
What Games Are Like For Someone Who Doesn't Play Games20:38

What Games Are Like For Someone Who Doesn't Play Games

16.9M views • 7 years ago
Razbuten
Razbuten has his wife, who has never played games, try a sampling of titles and shows where she struggles. It highlights unspoken game conventions that experienced players take for granted.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
The Fall of The Simpsons: How it Happened31:08

The Fall of The Simpsons: How it Happened

8.7M views • 9 years ago
Super Eyepatch Wolf
Super Eyepatch Wolf analyzes why The Simpsons declined after its golden age, pointing to changes in the writers' room and a shift in the style and complexity of its comedy.
Topic match · Film analysis & criticism
Space Station 13 Review | AHELP: Clown Grief Pls Ban He™22:03

Space Station 13 Review | AHELP: Clown Grief Pls Ban He™

10.2M views • 7 years ago
SsethTzeentach
SsethTzeentach reviews Space Station 13, the chaotic multiplayer game, by recounting absurd stories of singularities, malfunctioning AIs and plasma fires.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
TUN: Un-Ruining the MMO14:05

TUN: Un-Ruining the MMO

291K views • 13 years ago
MrBtongue
MrBtongue argues that modern theme-park MMOs lost what made earlier sandbox online games compelling, and that MMOs could be saved by returning to sandbox design.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
Slavoj Žižek on "They Live" (The Pervert's Guide to Ideology)6:01

Slavoj Žižek on "They Live" (The Pervert's Guide to Ideology)

427K views • 12 years ago
Christian G
A short excerpt from The Pervert's Guide to Ideology in which Slavoj Zizek analyzes John Carpenter's They Live. He uses the film's fight scene and sunglasses to explain how ideology works.
Topic match · Film analysis & criticism
Ross's Game Dungeon: Deus Ex - Human Revolution42:53

Ross's Game Dungeon: Deus Ex - Human Revolution

1M views • 10 years ago
Accursed Farms
Ross Scott's Game Dungeon episode critiques Deus Ex: Human Revolution, looking at its design, politics and visual style. It is part of his series of opinionated game reviews.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis