The week on The Deep Dive: Analyzing the accent I get ripped apart on TikTok for having, revisiting another classic children’s book, Amazon won’t stop until we have floating blimp fulfillment centers, Matt Rife had a Beatles-level audience and then just gave it all away, and trains don’t stop for anyone – not even Ethan Hunt.

EDUCATION

What does a California accent sound like? by Dave Huxtable (10:28)

Everyone loves the experience of having an accent expert pick apart their accent that they never thought was unique – that’s why I clicked on this video. I’ve long been (correctly) accused of speaking with vocal fry on TikTok, and no matter how many user8347852093s want to believe that it’s an affectation, it’s also deeply ingrained in my brain and vocal cords because I’m from ✨California✨. In this video, Dave Huxtable taught me a little bit about why I speak the way I do, even though it sounds normal to me? Aside from that, this video was delightful, mainly because Dave might have the best comedic timing on YouTube – skip to 1:36 and 4:58 if you don’t believe me. Does this count as a video essay? Probably not, oh well.

MEDIA

Revisiting Where the Wild Things Are as an Adult by Roughest Drafts (25:37)

As a child, I was highly sensitive to the animation and illustration styles that I found scary. I vividly remember having nightmares about the cover art of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, Bluth movies gave me the heebie-jeebies for reasons I still don’t understand to this day, and Where the Wild Things Are scared me so much I memorized where it was located on my first-grade classroom bookshelf so that I wouldn’t accidentally pick it up. While my art style fears may have been irrational, I wasn’t the only kid who was afraid of Where the Wild Things Are. And now that we’re all grown up, it’s time to take another look at the children’s classic. In this video, Roughest Drafts explores the book’s underlying themes, from the overt to the possible, and what it means to learn from our mistakes and to be loved best of all. 

BUSINESS

Amazon's Patents: A Dystopian Nightmare by slow start (34:04)

It isn’t just drone deliveries and Alexa maybe-or-maybe-not listening in on your conversations. Unsurprisingly, Amazon has a history of filing patents designed to control every last movement of its employees and even thought we wouldn’t notice when it had the idea of creating a tiny little robot on wheels that follows us around in our own homes to collect all the information it can about us…until it eventually faces a flight of stairs it doesn’t know how to navigate. In this video, slow start investigates every concerning patent in Amazon’s past, present, and future – including the ones the company probably really hopes everyone forgot about. Just think, all this effort to sell you one more thing that you don’t need and will inevitably show up in a blue-and-white bubble-wrapped package at your front door only for you to look at it and go, “Hm, I don’t know what this is. I don’t even remember ordering anything.”

CULTURE

Matt Rife, The Patriarchy Won't Save You by Shanspeare (45:00)

Alright, I’ll admit it – I was late to this one. But Shanspeare’s videos are just too good, and I can’t just keep recommending them on a bi-monthly basis. There was something about this video, though, and its title hasn’t left my mind since it flashed across my recommended page a month ago. So I did it. I had to watch it. In this video, Shanspeare reads Matt Rife to absolute filth in a way that makes me hope he hasn’t seen it yet because…ouch. Matt Rife isn’t just a comedian for the girls who wanted approval from the boys so badly that he was willing to blow up his promising career, he’s yet another victim of the patriarchy. He eventually got what he wanted, alienating his female audience and leaving them for their boyfriends until he eventually ended up seated across from Jordan Peterson.

FILM

Why Are Movies So Obsessed With Trains? by Patrick (H) Willems (48:52)

For anyone unlucky enough to live in the (mostly) train-less United States of America, get ready to be even more envious of people who can romanticize train life thanks to film. And I’m not just talking about old movies – modern-day films also regularly feature trains. In fact, movies about trains have been a thing for as long as film has been a thing. In this video, Patrick (H) Willems explores the timeless train movie and why film audiences of yesterday, tomorrow, and forever will always love a train scene. It might have something to do with trains being big, filled with shared space, isolated when traveling through rural routes, and unable (or unwilling) to stop for anyone, no matter who you are and how much you love the person getting on the train. 

The Deep Dive’s Bonus Video of the Week

It’s been a long day of watching video essays, and whenever I reach the end of a long day of watching video essays, all I want to do is curl up and put on a video by a former Viner turned YouTuber and have myself a laugh. Luckily, this week’s subscriber recommendation (shoutout to Bella from Kentucky!) is exactly what I needed. And with more than 7 million views, if you’ve already seen it, here’s your chance to watch it again. 

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!

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