Clip art! shoplifting! and a leak in the ceiling!

Hello!

It's strange to be putting weekly videos back in this newsletter, even if they're on someone else's channel! My third episode of Jet Lag: The Game is out on YouTube, with the fourth already on Nebula. And over on Lateral, Rowan Ellis, Dan Peake and Alec Watson face questions about street stones, European epithets and Lego logistics.

What good things have I found on YouTube this week?

"Where Did Clip Art Come From?" is a video from a small channel called "Ok, so...", and they're punching well above their weight. Actual interviews with actual clipart designers! For a moment I thought this might be one of those slop-channels that just regurgitates other people's work, and I worried that the slightly scratchy, retro-styled audio might be an affectation. But no: there's a comment from the video creator that says the interviews "sound like they're on a cheap phone because... they are on a phone. A few of the people I interviewed are in their 80s and 90s, Jeanne doesn't even own a computer." This deserves your time. (Thanks Izzy for sending it over.)
Jacob Collier improvising with the National Symphony Orchestra is stunning. An entire room of world-class musicians, working together to create something magical that even includes the audience. His performance of "Fix You" with Chris Martin and an entire arena crowd has the same sort of magic on an even grander scale: an incredible moment of human connection, and I can understand why there were tears in the crowd.
"On Ascent 3" is... well, on the face of it, it's a parkour compilation, but that's underselling it. Shane Griffin scrambles and climbs vertically, soaring up urban structures across Britain — and occasionally Europe — with a speed and agility that seems physically impossible. Combined with drone videography that can rise with him, this is almost hypnotic. (Thanks to Alan for the link.)

And how about away from YouTube? I'd recommend:

"Have you ever wanted to experience the thrill of shoplifting but hate the mundane side effects of being arrested and going to jail?" Everything in the store is free, but you've got to be absolutely silent and there's a strict time limit. Good luck. The date for this has already passed in Japan, but I strongly suspect this event format will be copied into London and New York very soon.
"Life in the tower" is a portrait of the people who control Seattle's drawbridges, and it successfully balances infrastructure stories with human stories.
And, back to the recurring segment of "bird news": kiwis are much bigger than I thought they were. And thanks to New Zealand's pest control program, unexpected encounters with them are becoming more and more common.