This week on The Deep Dive: The mediocre boxers who made a career out of being bad at boxing, that time Puss in Boots almost poisoned millions of kids thanks to a Happy Meal, Jim Carrey is everything and nothing, the optical illusion of old-timey women’s shoes, and a look back at terrible crowdfunding campaigns that could have only existed in the 2010s.

Don't forget to check out all the newsletter-recommended video essays to date in The Deep Dive’s YouTube playlist!

SPORTS

Why this pro boxer loses all his fights by T1J (12:35)

Is it possible to be a professional athlete with only a handful of wins to your name? I mean, sure, if you’re really that bad at what you do for a living. But for a select few boxers with abysmal records, there’s more than what meets the eye. In this video, T1J uncovers the story of boxing’s journeymen, who have built a career off of reliably losing matches. So much so, that one with the title of “worst boxer of all time” wears the nickname “Mr. Reliable” proudly. Who are the journeymen of boxing? How did they land such a gig? And does being bad at boxing require you to actually be kind of good at it?

NOSTALGIA

The Most Dangerous Happy Meal Toy by fern (15:53)

Is it that surprising that McDonald’s once offered a toxic product alongside its Happy Meal? Not really, but that doesn’t make the story behind it any less shocking. Back in 2010, Shrek was well into its sequel era and McDonald’s was along for the ride for a mutually beneficial partnership – until a glass featuring a certain cat threatened to cause long-term harm to its child fans. In this video, fern tells the story of how one over-protective and science-savvy mom found cadmium on a Shrek-themed glass her son had gotten with his Happy Meal. How did millions of children end up with these poisonous glasses without ringing any regulatory alarm bells? After watching this, you might want to double-check the glasses in your cabinets, too.