This week on The Deep Dive: An explanation of Charli XCX vs. Lorde and why the internet did in fact go crazy, love as attitude vs. love as action, how HGTV dealt with the recession (by ignoring it while flipping countless foreclosed homes), Mythbusters was pure magic on television and nothing like it will ever exist again, and (500) Days of Summer doesn’t have an unreliable narrator, it has an unreliable writer.

Let’s help Fadi AbuTaqiya and his family evacuate Gaza. We’re so close to the goal! The offer still stands – if you donate at least $10, reply to this email with your receipt and a video essay category of your choice, and I’ll send you a personalized recommendation from The Deep Dive’s archive!

Also, there won’t be a newsletter next week – I’ve been on vacation for the past two weeks, and it’s been much harder to keep up while traveling than I anticipated, but The Deep Dive will pick right back up on July 17 with more video essays! In the meantime, take this time to catch up with the searchable, sortable, and filterable playlist with every recommendation from The Deep Dive ever. Don’t forget about the YouTube playlist too!

MUSIC

THE LORE BEHIND GIRL, SO CONFUSING. by ViDEOGiRL (12:53)

As an intrigued millennial who had no idea there were any comparisons floating around the music industry between Charli XCX and Lorde until very recently, this is the exact explanation of the lore that I needed. In this video, ViDEOGiRL injects a whole new level of appreciation into “Girl, so confusing” on Charli XCX’s most recent internet sensation of an album, Brat – specifically the version featuring Lorde. The song is an ode to how difficult it is just being a girl and how we never truly know what’s going on in someone else’s head, no matter how awesome their life may seem. Celebrating our similarities and differences is so much easier outside of the systems that capitalize on animosity, which is why I’m so happy these two worked it out on the remix.

PHILOSOPHY

it's okay to love bad people. by oliSUNvia (24:23)

If every person is worthy of love, does that include bad people, too? And if a good person loves a bad person, does that make them a bad person? In this video, oliSUNvia explores the ideas of love as attitude and love as action in both equal and unequal forms while making it clear no specific definition of “bad” will be provided and that this is in no way advice on any personal dilemmas you may have around bad people in your life (your ex included). If love isn’t necessarily as love does, it might have more to do with love being as love is cultivated. So, is it okay to love bad people? Regardless of the morals and implications attached to that question, it certainly is very human. And as is the case with so many of oliSUNvia’s videos, I’m going to have to watch this one at least twice to really understand it.

This issue of The Deep Dive is sponsored by Matter:

I’ve been thinking a lot about happiness lately – specifically about our tendency to believe that once we achieve that one milestone that’s just up ahead, we can finally be happy. So this video by Max Joseph about the science of happiness couldn’t have crossed my path at a better time.

This video frames the biological basis for human happiness as the six neurotransmitters, or the six cups that we have to fill, which include social interactions like connecting with family and friends.

One of the experts highlighted in the video is the creator of the Matter app, which allows you to collect your favorite memories to help you understand the neurotransmitters behind your experiences and do more of the things that make you feel good.

As part of Matter’s #DoWhatMatters campaign, I’ve been challenging myself to step back from social media and instead collect my favorite memories in the Matter app. This has helped me better understand and reconnect with what makes me truly happy.

Because those of us who live in achievement-focused cultures need a serious paradigm shift in how we see happiness.

Download the Matter app and reconnect with what makes you happy.