This week on The Deep Dive: A case for melting The Bean, why YouTube thumbnails these days all look like…that, films about poor people that were made for (and by) rich people, an evolutionary explanation for why you cry every time you think about how much you love your dog, and the WWE Championship title that really matters.

Coming tomorrow on The Rabbit Hole, I interviewed video essayist emma in the moment, who covers craft-related drama. If you’ve ever wondered why there’s so much drama in the craft space, the answer Emma shared with me is fascinating. Last week, I wrote about Vanderpump Rules’s weaponization of 2010s pop feminism. Also, the Searchable Playlist!

I also have a favor to ask. Right now, it’s looking like the TikTok ban is going to pass. If you’re reading this, chances are you learned about The Deep Dive through TikTok, as that’s been the main way I’ve been able to reach fellow video essay lovers up to this point. If you have friends, coworkers, niche-interest group chats – anyone you think will enjoy The Deep Dive, please consider sharing your unique referral link at the bottom of this email. And in case I don’t say it enough, thank you so much from the bottom of my little rabbit heart for being here and enjoying these videos with me every week. ❤️

ART

How to Melt The Chicago Bean (and Why We Should) by Roughest Drafts (13:52)

According to my TikTok analytics, around 15 percent of you are based in Chicago – and this video gave me an idea. If we all plan a time and place to meet up at The Bean and bring our toasters, we could finally turn all the memes into reality…by melting it. I’m only half kidding, but after watching this video and learning more about the artist who created The Bean, I could be convinced otherwise. In this video, Roughest Drafts presents a possible blueprint for our villainous scheme as well as background on Bean Creator Anish Kapoor’s history of out-of-touch proposals, buying exclusive rights to colors (which is somehow allowed), and all-around trolling.

SOCIAL MEDIA

The YouTube Thumbnail Conspiracy by Scott Cramer (26:31)

Like it or not, YouTube thumbnails say a lot about the types of videos we enjoy watching and current internet trends. Once consisting of little more than a random still from the videos they represent, thumbnails have become a form of art in their own right – no matter how effortless they may seem. In this video, Scott Cramer breaks down the different types of today’s thumbnails, from orange outfits in distressing locations to yellow sans serif text to MrBeast-inspired airbrushed skin and facial expressions that can only be described as “uncanny valley.” How did we end up with the same thumbnails over and over? And despite the predictability of so many thumbnails on YouTube today, which creators have given the new-age art form some much-needed variation?

FILM

so, you want to cosplay poverty by Yhara zayd (26:38)

If Saltburn is a beautiful film about wealth with nothing to say, then Nicola Peltz-Beckham’s Lola is a beautiful film about poverty with nothing to say. The issue isn’t that she comes from generational wealth that’s so unfathomable for the vast majority of people that she couldn’t possibly make a real statement about poverty – at least that’s what Yhara zayd argues in this video. Sometimes, rich people can make good films about poverty and class inequality. Other times, they use them as an opportunity to dabble in heroin chic and sad girl aesthetics behind the front of a poorly told trauma porn story with no rhyme or reason. Here’s some advice on the off-chance there is a billionaire reading this who aspires to direct a film about poverty someday: if you can’t draw on personal experience, maybe try doing some research first.

SCIENCE

The STRANGEST Pair in Nature by Gutsick Gibbon (40:57)

If you’re lucky enough to have a dog for a best friend, have you ever considered how weird it is that you share a home with a carnivore? In this video, Gutsick Gibbon explains tens of thousands of years of theories around how wolves became domesticated dogs and why humans and dogs decided to evolve together, side by side. As it turns out, the history of the human-canine bond is quite controversial in the scientific world – from desperate lone wolves looking for scraps by human encampments to certain wolves being smarter, and therefore friendlier, than others. Along the way, you’ll hear heartwarming stories of homo sapiens and their furry pals, their love for them immortalized by burial sites nearby their humans, and even evidence of Paleolithic people nursing pups with distemper back to health. Great, now I’m crying.

ENTERTAINMENT

The WWE’s complex “Black” history by F.D Signifier (1:21:11)

One thing about these WWE video essays is that I’ll always finish them with tears in my eyes, swearing to myself that I’ll start watching the WWE from this day forward. Now that I finally have Peacock, that might just become a possibility – please feel free to hold me to that. In this video, F.D Signifier takes us through the history of Black wrestlers in the WWE, from representations of Black men as either infallible or embodiments of harmful stereotypes, to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s ethnically ambiguous marketing, to the crowning of a champion after a triumph that was undeniably real, especially when you consider the WWE’s predetermined outcomes. Even if Kofi Kingston’s reign as WWE Champion came to a disheartening end that took on a much larger meaning for Black audiences, the spirit of his win lives on today.

The Deep Dive’s Bonus Video of the Week

Shout out to Angela from Connecticut for the recommendation!

It’s as if Angela reached into my brain, pulled out my 2011 YouTube niche obsession, and found the perfect video for me. Not only is Cathy Mitchell an infomercial icon, she’s also the queen of a lost media empire and it’s just now occurring to me that she was an original foodie influencer far ahead of her time. I’m still dreaming of the endless meal combinations I could make with an Xpress Redi Set Go.

If you have a bonus video you want to share for a shoutout in an upcoming newsletter, check out the poll below – it doesn’t even have to be a video essay!

Share The Deep Dive 🎁

Got any video essay rabbits in your life who just don’t know it yet? Here’s your chance to start spreading the word to your herd! Just share your unique link below and unlock these rewards!

*US and Canada shipping only

Thanks for reading and happy watching! If you like what you’re seeing from The Deep Dive and want to support, consider upgrading to The Rabbit Hole 🐰