The wrong email title, a car guitar, and a musical punchline.
2nd December 2024
« Previous | Index |
Hello!
Last week's newsletter title included the phrase "manic science". But there was no manic science in the newsletter! And
that's because, having found not the usual three YouTube links but five, I made the decision to bump one of them to this week... and then forgot to change the subject line of the email. As far as I can tell, no-one noticed, which means I might need to change my title strategy a bit.
But before we get to that video, there are three
brand-new Lateral players on this week's episode! Abby Cox, Matt Gray and Iszi Lawrence face questions about mendacious mugs, biblical blurting and nifty notes. This is a delight of an
episode.
And an announcement: if all goes well, the Technical Difficulties will return for a new season of four Reverse Trivia episodes starting this Thursday!
Here's the good stuff I've found on YouTube this week (or, in the first case, last week):
- Sage the Bad Naturalist spent 12 months trying to debunk a 30-second TikTok. (Very strong language.) This is incredibly engaging, partly because Sage is great at telling stories, partly because it's a YouTube video that's cut and performed at the almost-manic pace you'd expect from a short-form vertical video, but also partly because it's a self-deprecating tale that still manages good science communication. Recommended.
- Allelys, a company that provides specialist heavy-lift and transport services, documents their work with gorgeous, instrumental, drone-and-slow-mo videos. So far, so corporate. But I think it's a real shame that the most fascinating video on their channel has barely been viewed, likely because it's just called "Interview With The Team" rather than having a title that would encourage people to click. It's fascinating! There's the usual beautiful camerawork, but intercut with some of the staff talking about the actual challenges involved in their job. Road widening! Building a
bridge over a bridge! I would love to see something much more in-depth, this could easily be a half-hour documentary, but it's a great start.
- Jim Lill turned his car into a guitar. Which is a true, decent title that hopefully
encourages you to click: but the video is about so much more than that. This is three videos' worth of ideas combined into one, and I don't want to spoil what they all are. (Thanks to Ryan for sending this over.)
Other interesting links I've found this week:
- In 2003, there were between 50 and 100 people in the US who still had nuclear-powered pacemakers.
- One person invented a music genre in their
dreams, and the internet made it real.
And finally, on TikTok: how to get fired from a gig. For the ratio of "gag duration" to "laughter caused", this might be one of the most efficient jokes ever. (Alternate link; requires audio from the start.)
All the best,
— Tom
« Previous | Index |