video
10:50How Primitive Building Videos Are Staged
24.3M views • 4 years ago
SunnyV2
A video debunking popular primitive-building YouTube channels, arguing that their digging, concrete and construction are staged. It uses the Primitive Technology channel as a baseline for what is plausible in a natural setting.
35:52Pentagon officially released 'UFO' videos: BUSTED (Part 3)
331K views • 6 years ago
Thunderf00t
Thunderf00t goes through the three UFO videos released by the Pentagon and offers mundane explanations for each. He treats the footage as sensor artifacts, parallax and camera effects rather than alien craft.
34:13The Addictive Cost Of Predatory Videogame Monetization (The Jimquisition)
1.3M views • 7 years ago
Stephanie Sterling
A Jimquisition episode examining the human cost of predatory videogame monetization, focusing on loot boxes and microtransactions. It features testimonials from people harmed by gambling-style game mechanics.
14:24Weird Kids' Videos and Gaming the Algorithm
1.3M views • 8 years ago
Folding Ideas
Folding Ideas examines weird, algorithm-gamed children's content on YouTube, from automated toddler videos and educational spam to exploitative prank channels. It looks at how autoplay and recommendation systems reward this material.
21:39I Confronted the People That BLOCKED My Video (Rant)
1.9M views • 6 years ago
Rick Beato
Music YouTuber Rick Beato describes confronting the people behind copyright blocks on one of his videos. The video is a rant about how takedowns and demonetization hit music education channels.
13:50What 40,000 Videos Tell Us About The Trending Tab
1.6M views • 7 years ago
Coffee Break
Coffee Break analyzes about 40,000 videos from seven months of YouTube's trending tab. It examines whether trending is biased toward mainstream media and late-night shows.
2:42Gmail Man! (Microsoft's anti-Google video promoting Office 365)
54K views • 15 years ago
Rishabh Singla
A 'leaked' Microsoft video shown at its 2011 MGX conference that mocks Google's Gmail and Apps to promote Office 365. It attacks Google over email scanning and privacy.
5:21warner music claimed my video for defending their copyright in a lawsuit they lost the copyright for
2.7M views • 6 years ago
Adam Neely 2
Adam Neely explains that Warner Music claimed his video, which defended their copyright in a lawsuit, over a work whose copyright they had lost. He calls it an ironic and absurd claim, and the claim was later released.
9:32How my video with 47 million views was stolen on YouTube
7.3M views • 7 years ago
TheFatRat
Musician TheFatRat describes how his video with 47 million views was claimed by another party through YouTube's copyright system and how he got it back.
20:53Pentagon officially released 'UFO' videos: BUSTED (Part 1)
395K views • 6 years ago
Thunderf00t
Thunderf00t argues that the Pentagon's officially released 'UFO' videos have mundane explanations such as birds, parallax and sensor artifacts.
23:43My Video Went Viral. Here's Why
5.6M views • 7 years ago
Veritasium
Veritasium's Derek Muller explains his hypothesis that YouTube's algorithm, not viewer preference, drives views, and that click-through rate has become the key metric. He argues this pushes creators toward clickable titles and thumbnails and leads to burnout.
1:00:28that dark matter video aged like milk
404K views • 2 years ago
Angela Collier
Angela Collier, a physicist, revisits her earlier dark matter video, explaining dark matter as a set of observations rather than a theory and discussing MOND comments.
6:10Can You Trust Kurzgesagt Videos?
7.1M views • 7 years ago
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Kurzgesagt addresses whether viewers can trust its videos, describing its research process and how it handles older videos with errors or overstated claims.
7:26This Video Is Sponsored By ███ VPN
5.9M views • 7 years ago
Tom Scott
Tom Scott writes a more honest VPN ad, with the sponsor's name redacted, and explains why the typical claims in VPN advertising are misleading. He notes the sponsor was not happy about it.
57:39Debunking Dr. Robert Lustig's Claims from The Huberman Lab Podcast | Educational Video | Biolayne
261K views • 2 years ago
Dr. Layne Norton
Dr. Layne Norton critiques claims made by Dr. Robert Lustig on the Huberman Lab podcast, going through them against the nutrition research with cited sources. It covers topics like sugar, calories and fruit juice.
5:02How Facebook is Stealing Billions of Views
10M views • 11 years ago
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Kurzgesagt argues that Facebook's claimed 8 billion daily video views are inflated by freebooting, meaning re-uploads of creators' videos. It describes how this harms independent creators.
Topic match · Internet culture & memes
25:08Cities 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
8:53Game 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
19:42Blade 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
8:34Facebook Freebooting - Smarter Every Day 128
905K views • 11 years ago
SmarterEveryDay
Destin Sandlin of Smarter Every Day explains 'Facebook freebooting', where Facebook users re-upload YouTubers' videos natively and the original creators lose views and revenue. He describes his own attempts to get Facebook to act.
Topic match · Internet culture & memes
12:28What kids really do on Musical.ly
5.1M views • 8 years ago
PaymoneyWubby
A commentary video by YouTuber PaymoneyWubby reacting to children's content on the Musical.ly app, which became TikTok. It highlights the child-safety concerns of young kids dancing on a public social platform.
Topic match · Internet culture & memes
1:15:38Contrepreneurs: 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
9:36Why 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
35:05Incels | 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.
Topic match · Internet culture & memes
21:19Manufactured 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
13:35The 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
1:40:28Canceling | 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.
Topic match · Internet culture & memes
1:09:54Gambling 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
36:49The 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
16:38Games, 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
47:11Gacha 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
18:16The 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.
Topic match · Internet culture & memes
21:10The 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
3:51:10Plagiarism 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.
Topic match · Internet culture & memes
21:46The 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.
19:06This 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
42:53Ross'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
28:31My 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
41:02The Witness - A Great Game That You Shouldn't Play
6.2M views • 10 years ago
Joseph Anderson
Joseph Anderson's long critique of Jonathan Blow's puzzle game The Witness, covering its gameplay, its hundreds of puzzles and its philosophical pretensions. He argues it is a great game that he nonetheless advises against playing.
Topic match · Gaming culture & analysis
2:27Fauci in the Hall of the Mountain King
128K views • 5 years ago
A Dishwasher at Google
A two-minute remix-style video set to Hall of the Mountain King that mocks Anthony Fauci's Covid pandemic statements. It circulated widely among vaccine and mandate skeptics.
Topic match · Satire & parody