This week on The Deep Dive: It’s time to bring back automats, why some human life is deemed more valuable than others, MrBeast is constantly being chased down by smaller YouTubers who want to give him a gift for content, Sisyphus 55 might have cured my imposter syndrome, and what Taylor Swift securing her place as a cultural icon says about you.

Also, The Rabbit Hole has a brand-new podcast format! Upgrade today to get new episodes every Monday. As always, don’t forget to catch up on The Deep Dive’s YouTube playlist and shop The Deep Dive merch here! 🐰

FOOD

What happened to cheap food? Diners, Automats, and affordable eating by Kendra Gaylord (17:01)

No but really, where did all the cheap dining options go? And why are cafeterias today limited only to schools, tech companies with subsidized lunches, and IKEA? In this video, Kendra Gaylord taught me that there used to be cafeterias (called automats) in major cities that people could just go to for a quick, tasty, and cheap meal – all for the equivalent of 10 dollars or less today, depending on how much you could spare. Why don’t these exist anymore and why are so many diners closing? Hint: it’s probably the same reason your rent has gotten so expensive.

PHILOSOPHY

creating homo sacer: life that can be “killed” but never “murdered” by oliSUNvia (20:52)

In a time when the question of what type of human life is worth preserving feels so topical, it’s crucial to understand the ways in which some human life becomes the exception to the rule. In this video, oliSUNvia frames the concept of naturally valueless “bare life,” which exists outside of our structures of humanization and dehumanization, from a philosophical perspective. Leave it to oliSUNvia to be able to explain philosophical theories to even the most clueless of people (me). Are human rights really natural? Who decides which human life is valuable? And why do the moments people need to invoke their human rights most become the moments when they’re unable to do so?

This issue of The Deep Dive is sponsored by:

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