Tom Nicholas

Non notée

Année : 2017

Nombre de saisons : 5

Durée moyenne d'un épisode : 27 minutes

Genre(s) :

Hi! My name's Tom. I make videos which explore the intersection between politics and culture. Currently, my work can be divided into two main categories: my What the Theory? series, in which I aim to provide engaging introductions to key theories and concepts in cultural studies and the wider humanities, and my Video Essays, in which I more broadly prod and poke at the world we live in today. Expect a mix of videos which enquire into contemporary society and culture and, usually, foster some fascinating conversations down in the comments. Find me in the following places: Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf

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Épisode 28 - Literary Texts: WTF? Introduction to Cultural Texts and Roland Barthes' From Work to Text

30 décembre 2017

Roland Barthes' From Work to Text is a seminal essay which lays out why, in the humanities, we have come to refer to pieces of literature, films and many other things using the catch-all term "text". Because, we refer a lot to reading a text or interpreting a text. But what do we mean when talk about a literary text? The use of the term text in English Literature and literary studies might seem fairly straight-forward, but, across the wider humanities, we also often hear references to artistic texts, filmic texts and performance texts. On the face of it, these things may not seem like texts at all. So, what do we mean when we use the term text in film studies, for example, and how is that similar or different to our use of the term text in literary studies? Starting from Roland Barthes' From Work to Text, in which he first employed the concept of the text to provide a new method for the analysis of literary texts, I seek to explore how the term has become used as a starting point for analysing culture more broadly. Anyone interested in having a look at From Work to Text by Roland Barthes can find it here: http://www.d.umn.edu/~cstroupe/handouts/8500/barthes_work_to_text.pdf In researching this video, I also found Peter Childs' book Texts extremely useful which, if you have institutional access to JStor, can be found here: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1r1zbd Finally, the full text of Literary Studies: An Introduction can be found on the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/stream/LiteraryTheoryAnIntroduction/literary-theory_an-introduction_terry-eagleton_djvu.txt If you've enjoyed this video then please do check out the rest of my channel where I put out a whole range of videos discussing theatre and playwriting from the perspective of an aspirant and (some might say) emerging playwright and theatre maker as well as reflecting on my experience as a PhD Student. Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com Thanks for watching!

Épisode 8 - How Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt deconstructs the Millennial myth | Tom Nicholas

3 juillet 2018

For the first "proper" episode of my Politix series, we're diving in to Tina Fey's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Aziz Ansari's Master of None in order to explore how each show represents Millennials, or the Millennial generation. This video essay asks what it is that differentiates Millennials from previous generations (particularly Baby Boomers and Generation X) and analyses how these differentiations play out in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Master of None. Particularly, we take a look at how the practices or behaviours of Millennials (such as a reliance upon technology and a tendency to have children or buy a house later) have been used as a marker for pointing out Millennials' supposed flaws. Following this, we see how both shows problematicise these accusations. As I've said before, this video essay format is something of a new experiment for me so, if you have any thoughts, please do let me know in the comments. And, here's some references to some of the books and studies I refer to throughout the video (not alphabetised I'm afraid...): de Certeau, Michel (1984 [1980]) The Practice of Everyday Life. London: University of California Press. Strauss, W. and Howe, N. (1991) /Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069/. New York: Harper Perennial. Strauss, W. and Howe, N. (2000) /Millenials Rising: The Next Great Generation/. New York: Vintage Books. http://genhq.com/delayed-adulthood/ http://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/NCFMR/documents/FP/anderson-families-households-boomers-millennials-fp-17-07.pdf https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-property-poll/u-s-house-prices-to-rise-at-twice-the-speed-of-inflation-and-pay-reuters-poll-idUSKCN1J20G3 https://www.brickunderground.com/blog/2015/11/master_of_none_apartment Thompson, Derrek (2012) ‘Adulthood, Delayed: What Has the Recession Done to Millennials?’. /The Atlantic/. [Online] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/02/adulthood-delayed-what-has-the-recession-done-to-millennials/252913/ [22nd June 2018]. #KimmySchmidt #MasterofNone #Millenials

Épisode 10 - Colonialism: WTF? Introduction to colonialism and imperialism

29 août 2018

In this month's episode of What the Theory?, we take a look at colonialism and imperialism. More specifically we look at the politics of colonialism and the appearance of colonialist ideology in culture. As a primer for my upcoming video on postcolonialism, we here take a potted look at the process of colonisation (or colonization for our American friends) before examining the historical justifications for both colonialism and empire. I then give an outline of how this ideology manifested itself within education under direct rule in India. Next time, we'll draw upon some of these observations in order to look at the legacy of European colonialism in the present day and at how postcolonial authors, filmmakers, artists and theorists have engaged with this context. Further Reading Empire: A Very Short Introduction by Stephen Howe US: https://amzn.to/2C3HEIh UK: https://amzn.to/2NBw8bG Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire US: https://amzn.to/2XzgeTC UK: https://amzn.to/2SDWHOm [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] Bibliography Hulme, P. (1998) ‘Introduction: The Cannibal Scene’. in Barker, F., Hulme, P. and Iversen, M. [eds] /Cannibalism and the Colonial World/. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kohn, M. and Reddy, K. (2017) 'Colonialism'. /The Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy/. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/colonialism/ [26 August 2018]. Mills, J. S. (1885) /Principles of Political Economy/. Abridged. New York: D. Appleton and Company. Page 163. Mitchell, Jean Brown (2018) 'European Exploration'. /Encyclopaedia Britanicca/. https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-exploration/The-Age-of-Discovery [26 August 2018]. Mookerjee, S. P. (1944) ‘Education in British India’. /The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science/. 233. pp. 30-38. If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 11 - How BoJack Horseman Critiques the 1990s | Tom Nicholas

26 septembre 2018

With BoJack Horseman Season Five being released on Netflix a week and a bit ago, I thought I’d add to the avalanche of BoJack Horseman analysis videos already on YouTube by tackling how the series critiques our relationship with the recent past. In particular, the role of Horsin’ Around (the "very famous TV show" in which BoJack once starred) in informing the protagonist of the show’s identity has always fascinated me. And so I thought I’d explore how BoJack Horseman subverts and critiques our memory of what culture really was like "back in the 90's". I'm particularly interested in the narrative of Bojack, Mr. Peanutbutter and Sarah Lynn's own trajectory between the 90's and today as well as the career struggles of Todd and Diane in the present. Mostly, however, I'm interested in what all of these, taken together, might tell us about 90's culture and that of today. As is perhaps clear in the video, I was particularly inspired by Lindsay Ellis' video on Stranger Things, It and the Upside Down of Nostalgia from December of last year. However, here, I primarily draw on the work of Frederic Jameson on parody and pastiche. So, I hope this video essay adds something new to the videos already existing which interogate the philosophy of BoJack Horseman and other angles of analysis while also adding to my own Politix series. Further Reading BoJack Horseman: The Art Before the Horse by Chris McDonnell and Lisa Hanawalt US: https://amzn.to/2SFooGI UK: https://amzn.to/2T9Zofu Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory: Stories by Raphael Bob-Waksberg US: https://amzn.to/2tMs2Eq UK: https://amzn.to/2EFiGk9 [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] References Chater, A. (2015) ‘From Real Housewives to The Brady Bunch: Bojack Horseman Finds Its Place’. /Kino: The Western Undergraduate Journal of Film Studies/. 6(1). Available at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/kino/vol6/iss1/3 Ellis, L. (2017) ‘Stranger Things, IT and the Upside Down of Nostalgia’. /YouTube/. [Online] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Radg-Kn0jLs [Accessed: 19 September 2018]. Jameson, F. (1991) /Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism/. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 17. Pappenheim, J. (2018) ‘Why “13 Reasons Why” fails at portraying mental health where “BoJack Horseman” succeeds’. /Shortlist/. [Online] https://www.shortlist.com/news/opinion/13-reasons-controversial-suicide-mental-health-depression-anxiety-bojack-horseman-netflix/358519 [Accessed: 19 September 2018]. Weinstock, J. A. (2008) ‘Simpsons Did It!’. in /Taking South Park Seriously/. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 88. If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 13 - Postcolonialism: WTF? An Intro to Postcolonial Theory

24 octobre 2018

In this month's episode of What the Theory?, we're diving into postcolonialism with an intro to postcolonial theory in literature, film and culture. We'll be looking at the ideas of Edward Said (as laid out in his book Orientalism), Gayatri Spivak (Can the Subaltern Speak?), Homi Bhabha (The Location of Culture) and Stuart Hall (The West and Rest). In particular, this postcolonialism crash course hopes to give you an insight into how some of these core ideas of post-colonialism can be used to analyse cultural texts through the critical lens of postcolonial theory. As such, we'll put these ideas into action in discussing James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar and Ryan Coogler's 2018 film Black Panther. Further Reading Orientalism by Edward Said US: https://amzn.to/2EEviba UK: https://amzn.to/2Vx1PFW Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction by Robert J.C. Young US: https://amzn.to/2VvIg0C UK: https://amzn.to/2NzCgRC Postcolonial Theory and Avatar by Gautam Basu Thakur US: https://amzn.to/2TaCkgZ UK: https://amzn.to/2NBe9SG [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com References Barry, P. (1995) Beginning Theory. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Eligon, John (2018) /Wakanda Is a Fake Country, but the African Language in ‘Black Panther’ Is Real/. The New York Times. [Online] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/us/wakanda-black-panther.html [18 October 2018]. Hall, S. (1996) ‘The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power’. in S. Hall and B. Gieben [eds] Formations of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press. pp. 275-331. Sanginga, N. A. (2018) A Portion Of Pan-Africanism In “Black Panther”. The Mac Weekly. [Online] https://themacweekly.com/2018/03/a-portion-of-pan-africanism-in-black-panther/ [20 October 2018]. Said, E. (1978) Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books. Spivak, G. C. (2010 [1988]) ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’. in R. Morris [ed] Can the Subaltern Speak? Reflections on the History of an Idea. New York: Columbia University Press. Wong (Omowale), D. (2018) The Black Panther: An Anti-Colonial Pan-African Superhero. Huffpost. [Online] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-black-panther-an-anti-colonial-pan-african-superhero_us_5a539948e4b0f9b24bf3195e [20 October 2018].

Épisode 3 - Society of the Spectacle: WTF? Guy Debord, Situationism and the Spectacle Explained | Tom Nicholas

7 février 2019

Need The Society of the Spectacle explained? Well, in this episode of What the Theory?, we’re doing just that. The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord (a key member of the Situationist International) argues that contemporary capitalist society has become obsessed with images and appearances over all else. Debord argues that “the spectacle” has invaded our everyday lives not just in the form of image-based advertising but also in the way that we interact with one another. In this Society of the Spectacle summary video, I provide a brief introduction to Debord’s concept of the spectacle, taking a brief look at the context in which the book was written (including both situationism and the May ’68 Paris uprisings) and unpacking the key arguments included within. Further Reading Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord US: https://amzn.to/2BWg9jO UK: https://amzn.to/2SBnzOP Comments on the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord US: https://amzn.to/2IJvt9i UK: https://amzn.to/2NJJvqx The Gulf War Did Note Take Placeby Jean Baudrillard US: https://amzn.to/2HaOGyi UK: https://amzn.to/2NAGjNA [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] Bibliography Debord, Guy (2004 [1967]) The Society of the Spectacle. Translated by Ken Knabb. London: Rebel Press. Available online: http://rebels-library.org/files/society_of_the_spectacle.pdf Debord, Guy (1988) Comments on the Society of the Spectacle. Translated by Malcom Imrie. [Online] https://libcom.org/files/Comments%20on%20the%20Society%20of%20the%20Spectacle.pdf [5 February 2019]. Marx, Karl (1867) ‘Chapter One: Commodities’. in Capital: Volume One. [Online] https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch01.htm [5 February 2019] The Editors of Encyclopedia Britainnica (2019) ‘Situationist International’. Encyclopedia Britannica. [Online] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Situationist-International [2 February 2019]. Wark, McKenzie (2011) The Beach Beneath the Street: The Everyday Life and Glorious Times of the Situationist International. London: Verso. If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 5 - The Good Place: Ethics and Class in the Afterlife | Tom Nicholas

6 mars 2019

Fuelled by my impatience for the release of The Good Place Season 4, today’s episode of Politix takes a look at the moral philosophy of The Good Place (created by Michael Schur for NBC) in order to consider what the show might reveal about classism in contemporary society and our tendency to conflate morality and class. In this The Good Place analysis, we’ll particularly look at how, in The Good Place Season 1, Eleanor Shelstrop (Kristen Bell) and Jason Mendoza (Manny Jacinto) are often cast as working-class stereotypes who are not so much immoral as simply lacking in what Pierre Bourdieu refers to as cultural capital. If you’ve enjoyed this The Good Place Video Essay then please do check out the rest of my Politix series in which I’ve undertaken critical analysis of BoJack Horseman, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and more. Further Reading The Forking Trolley: An Ethical Journey to The Good Place by James M. Russell US: https://amzn.to/2Um0JN2 UK: https://amzn.to/2H4naTJ Distinction by Pierre Bourdieu US: https://amzn.to/2Uiv9zE UK: https://amzn.to/2EQfSRg [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you’ve enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com The Sun is Scheduled to Come Out Tomorrow by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license ( [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ) Source: [http://chriszabriskie.com/honor/](http://chriszabriskie.com/honor/) Artist: [http://chriszabriskie.com/](http://chriszabriskie.com/) #thegoodplace #goodplace

Épisode 8 - Society of the Spectacle (Part 2): WTF? Recuperation and Capitalist Realism | Tom Nicholas

15 mai 2019

In my previous video on the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord, I focussed on creating a summary of the Society of the Spectacle, explained in a fairly general sense, particularly placing within the context of the Situationist International, May 1968 and Debord's wider work on situationism. In today's follow-up, I focus on a specific aspect of Debord's concept of the Spectacle: récupération (sometimes translated into English as recuperation and sometimes as cooption) with reference to "simulacra" as defined by Jean Baudrillard and "capitalist realism" as defined by Mark Fisher and explored through Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits and the Alfonso Cuarón film Children of Men. In particular, I discuss the manner in which Debord suggests the Spectacle interacts with radical or subversive ideas and movements and how the Spectacle might work to protect late stage capitalism from critique. As I mention in the video, if you'd like to download a free copy of the script for today's video complete with references and footnotes, you can do so for free over on my Patreon page (and, while you're there, I would really appreciate you considering supporting my work): https://www.patreon.com/tomnicholas Further Reading Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord US: https://amzn.to/2BWg9jO UK: https://amzn.to/2SBnzOP Comments on the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord US: https://amzn.to/2IJvt9i UK: https://amzn.to/2NJJvqx Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher US: https://amzn.to/2HkwEt2 UK: https://amzn.to/2Jm1jIR [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] Bibliography Jean Baudrillard. "Simulacra and Simulations." Translated by Paul Foss, Paul Patton and Philip Beitchman. In Jean Baudrillard: Selected Writings, edited by Mark Poster, 169-87. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. Bernie 2016, "America | Bernie Sanders." 2016, accessed 14 May, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nwRiuh1Cug. Cuarón, Alfonso. "Children of Men." 1:49Universal Studios, 3 September 2006. Guy Debord. Comments on the Society of the Spectacle. London: Verso, 1998. 1988. ———. "Report on the Construction of Situations and on the International Situationist Tendency’s Conditions of Organisation and Action." Edited and Translated by Ken Knabb. In Situationist International Anthology, 25- 43. Berkeley: Bureau of Public Secrets, 2006. ———. Society of the Spectacle. Translated by Ken Knabb. London: Rebel Press, 2005. 1967. Mark Fisher. Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Alresford: Zero Books, 2009. "M&S Launch Lgbt Sandwich and It’s Dividing Opinion." Pink News, 2019, accessed 13 May , 2019, https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/05/02/marks-and-spencer-lgbt- sandwich-dividing-opinion. Ken Knabb. "Notes." In Situationist International Anthology, edited by Ken Knabb, 479-92. Berkeley: Bureau of Public Secrets, 2006. 17 Guy Debord, Comments on the Society of the Spectacle (London: Verso, 1998), 19. Horacio N. Roque Ramírez. "Gay Latino Cultural Citizenship: Predicaments of Identity and Visibility in San Francisco in the 1990s." In Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader, edited by Michael Hames-García and Ernesto Javier Martínez, 175-97. London: Duke University Press, 2011. Charlie Brooker and Konnie Huq. Black Mirror, Season 1, episode 2, "Fifteen Million Merits." Aired 11 December 2011, 2011, on Channel 4. If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 10 - Foucault: WTF? An Introduction to Foucault, Power and Knowledge

13 juin 2019

In this introduction to Foucault, we consider the relationship between knowledge and power through looking (primarily) at three books by Michel Foucault: Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, The Order of Things and The History of Sexuality (as well as, very briefly, History of Madness—sometimes published as Madness and Civilisation—and The Birth of the Clinic). We unpack some of the terminology central to Foucault's philosophy such as episteme (and the shifts between epistemes), archaeology and genealogy. Finally, we look at how Foucault uses the panopticon—a plan for a uniquely utilitarian prison designed by Jeremy Bentham—in order to consider how discipline and punishment might have become a part of our everyday lives. If you're look for the work of Michel Foucault explained simply and engagingly then, hopefully, this might be the video you're looking for! If you'd like to get your hands on a copy of the script to this video with footnotes and references to pour over to your heart's content then check out my Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Further Reading Foucault: A Very Short Introduction by Gary Gutting US: https://amzn.to/2IFTx9E UK: https://amzn.to/2KN2ocj Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault US: https://amzn.to/2XIPrUA UK: https://amzn.to/2Ke4TFj The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1: An Introduction by Michel Foucault US: https://amzn.to/2MJ6G7f UK: https://amzn.to/2KKGUwN [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 12 - Catch 22 by Joseph Heller | How to Read It

14 juillet 2019

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (recently the subject of a television adaptation with George Clooney in the role of the ruthlessly ambitious Colonel Cathcart for US streaming service Hulu) is one of the classic books of the twentieth century. In this Catch 22 summary and analysis video, I take you through a book report which outlines some of the background and context surrounding the book (and its author Joseph Heller) as well as discussing its style and (without spoilers) providing a brief plot summary. A biting satirical novel set in the Mediterranean theatre of the Second World War (yet more accurately approached as a response to the Korean War and Vietnam War), I moreover unpack the absurdist influences behind Catch 22 such as the Czech author Franz Kafka whose novel The Trial bares numerous similarities with Heller's novel. My initial plan had been to stick with slightly older works of literature for my How To Read It series and so I'd be interested to know what you think of me covering twentieth century novels such as Catch-22. A well as wanting to tie in with the Hulu series, however, I was keen to cover something slightly more accessible for Episode Two having looked at Ulysses in the last! If you'd like to support my channel and my efforts to create high-quality, humanities-based educational content here on YouTube then please check out my Patreon page at https://patreon.com/tomnicholas Further Reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller US: https://amzn.to/32x4fJ0 UK: https://amzn.to/2NYNTW2 The True Story of Catch 22 by Patricia Chapman Meder US: https://amzn.to/2xMDhyA UK: https://amzn.to/2NQ4ziK The Trial by Franz Kafka US: https://amzn.to/2Y101tB UK: https://amzn.to/2XFCdY9 [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 13 - Structuralism and Semiotics: WTF? Saussure, Lévi-Strauss, Barthes and Structuralism Explained

25 juillet 2019

Structuralism is a form of literary theory which, inspired by semiotics and the linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure, emerged in France in the 1950s. In this week’s episode of What the Theory?, we take a look at how structuralism and structuralist theory enable us to identify the underlying structures which inform how literature, film, performance, visual art and all other forms of cultural text are created and read. If you’re look for semiotics and structuralism explained simply and engagingly then, hopefully, this might be the video you’re looking for! Also, if you’d like to get your hands on a copy of the script to this video with footnotes and references to pour over to your heart’s content then check out my Patreon at [http://patreon.com/tomnicholas](https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fpatreon.com%2Ftomnicholas&v=9045I_p45XU&event=video_description&redir_token=4zUaqQOVf-pAkqVbD1TqPqrOSup8MTU2NDA4ODM4MEAxNTY0MDAxOTgw) We begin by looking at genre as a form of structuralist analysis before taking a brief overview of Saussure’s notion of diachronic and synchronic linguistics and his suggestion that it is only possible to understand an individual use of language (which he calls parole) by understanding the wider linguistic system of which it is a part (something Saussure calls langue). We then take a look at how various literary theorists including Claude Levi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, Vladimir Propp and (very briefly) Michel Foucault have taken used structuralist linguistics as a basis for literary and cultural analysis. Distinguishing between “high structuralism” and “low structuralism”, we take a look at poetics and the pursuit of a consistent narrative structure of myth as well as looking at Roland Barthes’ notion of cultural codes and cultural myths as he outlines them in his 1957 book Mythologies. Further Reading Structuralism and Semiotics by Terence Hawkes US: https://amzn.to/2JRlCgd UK: https://amzn.to/2ykzh9b Mythologies by Roland Barthes US: https://amzn.to/2YhNnTc UK: https://amzn.to/2Mda7kI Myth and Meaning: Cracking the Code of Culture by Claude Levi-Strauss US: https://amzn.to/2y8cJYO UK: https://amzn.to/2K00dAb [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you’ve enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 14 - Millennial Socialism and Centrist Dads: Political discourse after neoliberalism | Tom Nicholas

9 août 2019

As my Society of the Spectacle videos have been so well received, I thought I'd try out a slightly more overtly political video, putting ideas such as episteme (explored in my What the Theory video on Michel Foucault), Spectacle and Capitalist Realism (a concept developed by Mark Fisher and discussed in my second video on Guy Debord). Here, then, I take a look at the idea of "Millennial Socialism", a phrase which has been used to describe the politics of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) as well as that of Bernie Sanders (presumably due to his support amongst millennials rather than his own age...). I then contrast this with a meme which appeared on left-wing Twitter in the UK a few years back: that of the "Centrist Dad" to consider why we might be so interested in this idea of generational political differences and whether such an analysis holds any water. I'm particularly interested in how the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis might have shifted popular perceptions of capitalism and engendered what Jurgen Habermas refers to as a legitimation crisis in neoliberal capitalism. Bringing Gen X into the "millennials vs baby boomers" discourse which seems to dominate popular discussions of generation differences, I consider how our present political discourse might be a result of that legitimation crisis and where we go from here. Further Reading Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher US: https://amzn.to/2Ti4Nhu UK: https://amzn.to/2Yx3b9w Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord US: https://amzn.to/2GUKyle UK: https://amzn.to/2M8LSVP Archaeology of Knowledge by Michel Foucault US: https://amzn.to/2YS1SkW UK: https://amzn.to/33mjyVg [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 15 - Neoliberalism: From Ronald Reagan to the Gig Economy | Tom Nicholas

12 septembre 2019

Neoliberalism (or neoliberal capitalism) is a term which gets thrown around a lot in cultural and political discourse. Is it often used to describe the policies of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s and 1980s and the subsequent premierships of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair and the adjective "neoliberal" continues to be used as a derogatory phrase in the ongoing Democratic debates in the US. Yet it is also used with reference to the "gig economy" and services such as Uber, Deliveroo and Airbnb. Is neoliberalism, then, simply a synonym for capitalism or is there more to it than that? In this "neoliberalism explained" video, I aim to answer just that. In this month's episode of What the Theory, I unpack what we mean when we talk about neoliberalism. From the early work of economists such as Milton Friedman (author of Capitalism and Freedom), Friedrich von Hayek (author of The Road to Serfdom) and the Mont Pelerin Society, through its implementation by Reagan and Thatcher to its infliction upon countries in the global south as described in The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, I undertake a brief history of free-market capitalism and consider some of its consequences. Support me on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Further Reading A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey US: https://amzn.to/2O4dD21 UK: https://amzn.to/2ZSygoR The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein US: https://amzn.to/32Hgxhg UK: https://amzn.to/2Q6Fnp5 [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com #neoliberalism #Reagan #gigeconomy

Épisode 16 - Should We Abolish Copyright? | Tom Nicholas

2 octobre 2019

Copyright and Intellectual Property are issues that have prompted a number of controversies recently. The Dark Horse vs Joyful Noise court case in which Katy Perry was found to have infringed on the intellectual property rights of Christian rap artists Flame, for instance, recently provoked a great deal of astonishment online (and inspired a fantastic video by musicologist Adam Neely on the flaw in copyright law as it currently applies to music). Beyond this, the "fair use" or "fair dealing" doctrines which essentially allow for legal copyright infringement for the purposes of parody, commentary and critique regularly draw the frustrations of YouTube creators hit with a copyright claim (see, for instance, Nintendo's copyright policy which, until it was recently changed, was seen as somewhat draconian). In today's video, then, I wanted to ask whether we should abolish copyright and intellectual property altogether? I begin by giving a bit of a copyright and intellectual property crash course before continuing to look more broadly at forms of property ownership such as the distinction between personal property vs private property, all to inform a slightly more in-depth discussion of the inconsistencies in the law surrounding forms of intellectual property. If you like what I do here then please do consider checking subscribing and/or checking out my Patreon page at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Further Reading Intellectual Property: A Very Short Introduction by Siva Vaidhyanathan US: https://amzn.to/2mWYp3G UK: https://amzn.to/2nAOEsi Theft! A History of Music by James Boyle and Jennifer Jenkins US: https://amzn.to/2mNBAiC UK: https://amzn.to/2nJsWSQ Capital: Volume One: A Critique of Political Economy by Karl Marx US: https://amzn.to/2phGlSB UK: https://amzn.to/2piL06V [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 17 - Donald Trump and the Society of the Spectacle | Tom Nicholas

20 octobre 2019

The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord has been drawn upon frequently in recent years, particularly as a way of explaining the politics of Donald Trump. As “fake news” and “alternative facts” have dominated our political discourse, many have sought to see whether Debord’s concept of the spectacle and his other situationist writings might offer some insight into a world which has seemed to have lost sight of what is real and what is not. Following on from my two episodes of What the Theory in which I took more of a “Society of the Spectacle Explained” approach, in this video, I consider whether the work of Guy Debord really does offer such insight into the politics of Donald Trump. I take a look at propaganda and political lying through the lens of 1984 by George Orwell as well as Veep, The Thick of It and House of Cards and consider how Trump’s outrageous and obvious lies have different ramifications than those which dominate our current popular conception of why politicians lie. Faced with the spectacular politics of Donald Trump, liberal media outlets such as the New York Times and Politico have largely focussed on “debunking” each falsehood as it is uttered. Here, however, I’m interested in the deeper effects that the emergence of “fake news” and “alternative facts” as rhetorical turns and as actually existing disinformation tactics might be having on our political discourse. Further Reading Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord US: https://amzn.to/33LMvZZ UK: https://amzn.to/2VWHivO The Spectacle 2.0: Reading Debord in the Context of Digital Capitalism by Emiliana Armano and Marco Briziarelli US: https://amzn.to/2BuSm9W UK: https://amzn.to/2VY2wJA Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky US: https://amzn.to/33OrNc5 UK: https://amzn.to/2MyvP2t [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. And, if you really like what I do here then please do check out my Patreon page where you can get your hands on copies of the scripts to all of my videos at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 18 - Poststructuralism: WTF? Derrida, Deconstruction and Poststructuralist Theory Explained

3 novembre 2019

Derrida, deconstruction and poststructuralism can all be sources of much confusion. In today’s episode of What the Theory?, I provide an overview of poststructuralism including the work of Jacques Derrida, Roland Barthes, Judith Butler and other key figures in poststructuralist theory. I begin by comparing structuralism and poststructuralism to see how structuralist modes of literary and cultural analysis might have informed poststructuralism. Where structuralism recognised that language was a human invention and thus flawed, it tended not to question this fact too much. Poststructuralism, however, is expressly interested in how the flaws and biases in language itself might effect our analysis and interpretation of literary, filmic and other cultural texts. By look at the essay The Death of the Author by Roland Barthes, I explain how this notion came to be central to poststructuralism and then explore how a similar observation came to inform the work of Jacques Derrida and deconstruction, his methodology for analysing literary and philosophical texts which seeks to draw out the binaries of meaning on which they rely in order to “deconstruct” them. After seeing how deconstruction (which, in short, might be considered “poststructuralism in practice”) can be used to analyse a film with reference to Get Out by Jordan Peele, I finally take a brief look at poststructuralist feminism to see how the work of Jacques Derrida and deconstruction in particular has informed, for example, the work of Judith Butler in her book Gender Trouble. Further Reading Of Grammatology by Jacques Derrida US: https://amzn.to/2C4oxxu UK: https://amzn.to/334eILS Literary Theory: An Introduction by Terry Eagleton US: https://amzn.to/2WzdBRR UK: https://amzn.to/2PF6aai Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction by Catherine Belsey US: https://amzn.to/36oN5ze UK: https://amzn.to/2oBpjPf [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. And, if you really like what I do here then please do check out my Patreon page where you can get your hands on copies of the scripts to all of my videos at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 20 - The Gig Economy: WTF? Precarity and Work under Neoliberalism | Tom Nicholas

30 décembre 2019

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-the-gig-economy-wtf-precarity-and-work-under-neoliberalism Unlike most developments in the employment market, the Gig Economy has received a great deal of press attention and established itself firmly as a point of reference in the popular consciousness. In recent years, increasing numbers of people have turned to services such as Uber, Lyft, Deliveroo, Just Eat, TaskRabbit and Fiverr as either a side hustle or their main source of income. Following on from my video on neoliberalism and neoliberal capitalism, in today's episode of What the Theory?, we look deeper into how the gig economy (or sharing economy) works and what differentiates it from the rest of the economy. We ask whether the gig economy is truly an opportunity for those wanting a more flexible work arrangement or whether it is simply a means for multinational corporations to circumvent hard-won workers rights and labour laws. Finally, we also consider whether there might be some historical precedents to the sharing economy in the early industrial period and look at some of the challenges facing those attempting to organise Deliveroo riders, Uber drivers and other gig economy workers into trade unions in order to negotiate for better rates of pay and conditions. If you'd like to support my channel then please do check out my Patreon page at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Further Reading Riding for Deliveroo: Resistance in the New Economy by Callum Cant US: https://amzn.to/2F1MKGb UK: https://amzn.to/2SCR1aZ Humans as a Service: The Promise and Perils of Work in the Gig Economy by Jeremias Prassl US: https://amzn.to/2rDIjhx UK: https://amzn.to/2SABp7M Hustle and Gig by Alexandrea J Ravenelle US: https://amzn.to/359evHo UK: https://amzn.to/2sAxw8e [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 1 - Little Women (2019): How (and why) Greta Gerwig changed the ending | Tom Nicholas

19 janvier 2020

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-little-women-2019-how-and-why-greta-gerwig-changed-the-ending Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation of Little Women is an engaging interpretation of the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott. Featuring mesmerising performances from Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen (among others), it is a brilliant introduction to the story of Jo March and her sisters for those who have yet to encounter the story of the March sisters before. Yet existing fans of the book (or one of the seven previous film adaptations of it) will notice that Greta Gerwig also takes some liberties with the original text. Most notably, Little Women 2019 plays with the novel's timeline, beginning the action partway though the action of Part Two of the book. In tandem with this, the movie introduces a new framing device for the story which collapses the distance between Jo March (who Louisa May Alcott based upon herself) and the author of the novel as she existed in real life. The result is a distinctly feminist, postmodern adaptation of Little Women which makes the material and economic workings of the literary industry which Alcott was forced to navigate to publish the novel an active presence in the film itself. In this Little Women video essay, I draw on ideas surrounding postmodernism, feminism and materialism in order to unpack how and why Greta Gerwig might have made some of these bold directorial interventions. Further Reading/Watching The Trouble with the Video Game Industry by Oliver Thorne / @PhilosophyTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYkLVU5UGM8 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott US: https://amzn.to/2tsy14T UK: https://amzn.to/2uVOJKm Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field US: https://amzn.to/2svVPV3 UK: https://amzn.to/3alMT5R [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. And, if you really like what I do here then please do check out my Patreon page where you can get your hands on copies of the scripts to all of my videos at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com #LittleWomen #LittleWomenMovie #GretaGerwig

Épisode 2 - The Frankfurt School: From a Failed Revolution to Critical Theory | Tom Nicholas

7 février 2020

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-the-frankfurt-school-from-a-failed-revolution-to-critical-theory The Frankfurt School get mentioned a lot on this website. Alongside being celebrated for their contributions to philosophy, sociology and political science, however, Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and the various other scholars who worked at what was (and is) officially known as the Institute for Social Research, are the target of a lot of vitriol. Commentators on the political right including Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro will often invoke the Frankfurt School as a group of intellectual bogey men and the progenitors of political correctness, cultural marxism, postmodernism or whatever else they seek to porn scorn on that day. In today's episode of What the Theory?, I seek to provide some insight into what the Frankfurt School actually was (and is). Beginning with the perceived failure of the German Revolution, I track the history of the Frankfurt School through formation, exile in the United States during the Second World War and up to the student revolts of May 1968. Alongside this institutional history, I also provide some insight into the work of the Frankfurt School, introducing ideas such as critical theory and the culture industry as well as touching on seminal texts such as Dialectic of Enlightenment, The Authoritarian Personality, One-Dimensional Man and more. If you'd like to support me to make more videos like this then I'd be very grateful if you'd check out my Patreon page at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Further Reading Grand Hotel Abyss by Stuart Jeffries US: https://amzn.to/2UwcjrU UK: https://amzn.to/2SmepYC Critical Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Stephen Eric Bronner US: https://amzn.to/2SjEjfw UK: https://amzn.to/3b9GkDA Dialectic of Enlightenment by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer US: https://amzn.to/31t8h51 UK: https://amzn.to/31xgbKD [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Épisode 3 - The Weird British-American Setting of Sex Education (Netflix)

28 février 2020

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-the-weird-british-american-setting-of-sex-education-netflix Sex Education Season Two landed on Netflix recently. The show, which follows teenager Otis Milburn (played by Asa Butterfield) as he sets up a clandestine sex therapy clinic in his high school has been a hit both in the UK and the US. But the show's aesthetic, which borrows heavily from the high school comedies of John Hughes (such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club), has caused some confusion. Faced with English accents yet American-style lockers, jackets and landscapes, many of the show's viewers have found themselves asking: where is Sex Education set? In this week's video essay, I set out to explore this very question. Rather than merely picking through the show frame by frame in order to highlight each and every geographical incongruity, however, I instead seek to ask what this mashing together of British and American culture does to our experience of watching Sex Education. Primarily, I take a look at the show through the lens of reader-response theory and, in particular, the concept of the "intended reader" as articulated by Wolfgang Iser to consider whether Sex Education was created with specifically to be watched by an American audience or whether the cultural dominance of the USA in the present day and the success of films such as Mean Girls, High School Musical, Heathers and many more has simply encouraged us to view the American high school experience as a kind of universal school experience. Finally, I consider how Sex Education's setting might impact upon its ability to comment upon the state of sex and relationships education in the present day. Support me to make more videos like this on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Instagram: @TomNicholasWTF Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com #sexeducation #netflix #sexeducationnetflix

Épisode 5 - Psychoanalysis: WTF? Sigmund Freud and the Oedipus Complex Explained | Tom Nicholas

17 avril 2020

The first 1000 people who click the link in the description will get 2 free months of Skillshare Premium: https://skl.sh/tomnicholas This video was sponsored by Skillshare. Developed by the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, psychoanalysis argues that the human mind contains within it three opposing forces, the superego, the ego and the id. Through the interpretation of dreams, Freud believed that we could access repressed thoughts, feelings and traumas which we like to think we have purged ourselves of but which, in fact, remain in our unconscious mind. Todd Phillips' Joker (2019) is not a high-minded conflict between good and evil like many other comic book to film adaptations but a psychological drama focusing on a marginalised working-class man suffering from mental ill health. This makes it a useful object of study for exploring a school of psychiatric thought known as psychoanalytic theory or psychoanalysis. In today's episode of What the Theory?, I use Joker (which stars Joaquin Pheonix and Robert De Niro) in order to introduce some of the key concepts of psychoanalytic theory and psychoanalysis. As well as Freud, I also take a brief look at the work of Jacques Lacan and Slavoj Žižek (although I hope to cover these more extensively in a future episode of What the Theory?). We'll be taking a look at Freud's "topographical" model of the mind (consisting of the preconscious, conscious and unconscious mind) as well as his model of personality (consisting of the superego, ego and id) as well as the Oedipus Complex. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Instagram: @TomNicholasWTF Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com Stock footage provided by Videvo, downloaded from https://www.videvo.net Additional stock footage provided by Videezy, downloaded from http://www.videezy.com #Freud #Psychoanalysis #Joker

Épisode 6 - How the "War on Terror" shaped Harry Potter

8 mai 2020

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-how-the-war-on-terror-shaped-harry-potter A lot has been said and written about the politics of Harry Potter in recent years. Comparisons between Donald Trump and Voldemort, for instance, have become somewhat tiresome. In these attempts to draw on the wizarding world of Harry Potter as a lens through which to view contemporary politics, however, the actual political commentary which exists in the series by JK Rowling (particularly following The Order of the Phoenix) gets lost a little. In this Harry Potter video essay, then, I (Tom Nicholas) seek to recontextualise the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione within the societal context in which these books and films were written and released: that of the War on Terror. For, the latter books, not only including The Order of the Phoenix but also The Half-Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows contain some very direct parodying of the "war on terror" and, in particular, the responses of the UK government and US government to the increased threat of terrorism after the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon building on 9/11. In particular, in characters such as Delores Umbridge and Rufus Scrimgeour, JK Rowling uses the Harry Potter books to parody laws such as the USA Patriot Act which allows the US Government the ability to spy on its own citizens with greater ease. Where Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is often given the credit for making the Harry Potter films "darker", then, in this video essay, I argue that it is in the later books and films that the series really grows up. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Instagram: @TomNicholasWTF Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com #HarryPotter #PatriotAct #Authoritarianism

Épisode 7 - The Neoliberal Economics of Animal Crossing

26 mai 2020

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-the-neoliberal-economics-of-animal-crossing Animal Crossing: New Horizons has well and truly captured the zeitgeist. In a world of lockdown, quarantine and shelter-in-place, Tom Nook, Isabelle, Timmy and Tommy, the Able Sisters and whatever neighbours you've managed to attract to your island have, if you're anything like me, provided an important escape. In this Animal Crossing video essay, I (Tom Nicholas) dig into the economics of Animal Crossing. In particular, I look at Turnips and the Stork Market and how these reflect real-world trends towards financialisation and neoliberalism in economics (if you want to read more about this then Stolen: How to Save the World from Financialisation (Grace Blakeley) is well worth a read). Of course, a lot has been said and written about the politics of Animal Crossing (which might be somewhat surprising given that it is a game nominally meant for children...). While I've seen a lot of "Tom Nook is good" and "Tom Nook is bad" videos dissecting the predatory lending practices of Nook Inc, however, I've not seen much about the Stork Market and Turnips which, to my mind, are one of the most interesting aspects to the game. So, if you're a fan of Animal Crossing, hopefully you'll come away from this video essay with some knowledge of political economy, financialisation and neoliberalism. And, if you're a politics and economics buff, maybe you'll come away wanting to play Animal Crossing. Or maybe it'll fall weirdly between the gaps, haha! Stock footage provided by Videvo, downloaded from https://www.videvo.net If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tom_Nicholas Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com #AnimalCrossing #acnh #NintendoSwitch

Épisode 8 - Whiteness: WTF? White Privilege and the Invisible Race

23 juin 2020

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-whiteness-wtf-white-privilege-and-the-invisible-race An introduction to Whiteness, Race, and White Privilege. Timestamps: 0:00 Whiteness 02:45 The Invention of Race 07:34 Whiteness is (in)visible 12:27 White Privilege 19:00 White $uprem@cy 25:00 Conclusions In this month's episode of What the Theory?, we're taking a look at whiteness. We'll be looking at how Anglo-American culture generally frames whiteness as invisible and white people as "the norm" or "the default". This often allows white people to view ourselves as race-less in a manner unafforded to Black people, Indigenous people and people of colour. It also allows us to ignore the ways in which whiteness structures our lives and our complicity in racist structures. We'll be taking a look at numerous different approaches to foregrounding and critically discussing whiteness, some of it drawing on the academic field of Critical Whiteness Studies, and some of it drawing on the broader field of Critical Race Theory. We'll look at some commonly discussed concepts surrounding whiteness including white privilege, white guilt and white fragility as outlined in the work of Peggy McIntosh and Robin Diangelo as well as taking a brief look at the "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" workshop devised by Jane Elliot. Then, we'll proceed to consider some more critical takes on whiteness as developed by scholars including Sara Ahmed and Charles W. Mills. As mentioned in the video, I'm going to donate any ad revenue that this video generates to The Free Black University Fund which is working to support decolonisation efforts in UK Universities and to more generally support Black scholars. If you'd like to join me in supporting their work then you can do so here: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/the-free-black-university Select References Ahmed, Sara. "Declarations of Whiteness: The Non-Performativity of Anti-Racism." borderlands 3, no. 4 (2004). http://www.borderlands.net.au/vol3no2_2004/ahmed_declarations.htm. Diangelo, Robin. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Boston: Beacon Press, 2018. Du Bois, W.E.B. Black Reconstruction in America. New York: The Free Press, 1998. 1935. Dyer, Richard. White. London: Routledge, 1997. Hartigan Jr., John. Odd Tribes: Toward a Cultural Analysis of White People. Durham: Duke University Press, 2005. Ignatin, Noel. "Letter to Progressive Labor." In Revolutionary Youth & the New Working Class: The Praxis Papers, the Port Authority Statement, the Rym Documents and Other Lost Writings of SDS, edited by Carl Davidson, 148-63. Pittsburgh: Changemaker Publications, 2011. McIntosh, Peggy. "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." Peace and Freedom, July/August 1989 1989, 10-12. Mills, Charles W. "Racial Exploitation and the Wages of Whiteness." In What White Looks Like: African American Philosophers on the Whiteness Question, edited by George Yancy, 25-54. London: Routledge, 2004. ———. "White Supremacy as Sociopolitical System: A Philosophical Perspective." In White Out: The Continuing Significance of Racism, edited by Ashley “Woody” Doane and Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, 35-48. London: Routledge, 2003. Saini, Angela. Superior: The Return of Race Science. London: 4th Estate, 2019. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com/

Épisode 10 - The Fake Futurism of Elon Musk

9 août 2020

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-the-fake-futurism-of-elon-musk A video about Elon Musk and the future. Timestamps: 0:00 SpaceX Mars 01:49 Introduction 05:35 Tesla, Ford and A Tale of Two Cars 08:53 Futurism 13:00 The Slow Cancellation of the Future 17:53 Back to the Future 21:31 Muskian Futurism for Whom? There's perhaps already a distinct "Elon Musk Video Essay" genre here on YouTube. Hopefully, though, this takes a different approach to those which are already out there. Rather than focussing on I take a look at why Elon Musk has become such a revered figure in recent years and why so many people have embraced Elon Musk's Loop, Tesla, Hyperloop, Spacex, Mars Mission, Neuralink and other projects. Drawing partly on the work of Mark Fisher and Franco "Bifo" Birardi, I consider how human perceptions of the future (at least in the advanced capitalist nations) have changed over time. In particular, I'm interested in how Elon Musk's rise might be read as a response to what Birardi and Fisher refer to as the "Slow Cancellation of the Future" during the ascendency of neoliberalism (or neoliberal capitalism) in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s. I also argue that Elon Musk might have more than a little in common with figures in the political sphere such as Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC) and "The Squad", Jeremy Corbyn etc. who have also recently sought to break from the status quo and invited us to imagine bold new futures. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com/ #ElonMusk #SpaceX #Neuralink

Épisode 11 - The Myth of a Free Press: Media Bias Explained

13 septembre 2020

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-the-myth-of-a-free-press-media-bias-explained A video about mainstream media bias. Timestamps: 00:00 "Fake News" 01:20 Introduction 04:34 The "Migrant Crisis" and the "Migrant Caravan" 07:28 Anatomy of a News Report 11:53 Media and Representation 19:37 Manufacturing Consent 31:51 Inside the Consent Factory 48:26 Worthy and Unworthy Victims 52:59 Conclusions Link to the BBC Newsnight report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbPLrDcItQU In this month's episode of What the Theory?, I (Tom Nicholas) look at media bias and "fake news" primarily through the lens of Manufacturing Consent by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky and the work of Stuart Hall on representation and the media. We're going to put the corporate media under the spotlight in order to consider how media ownership leads to bias in the media which favours the richest and most powerful in our society. As a case study, we're going to take a look at a news report which aired as part of the BBC's flagship news and current affairs programme BBC Newsnight. The report focuses on the "migrant crisis" and the current English Channel crossings. We're going to consider how BBC News has framed these Channel crossings, what response the report wants us to have to them and what aspects of the way in which our media works might have informed this. It's a long one, but my goal was to create the ultimate media bias crash course. Hopefully, I've not done too badly on that front. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com/ #mediabias #chomsky #manufacturingconsent

Épisode 12 - A Brief History of the Culture Wars

29 octobre 2020

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-a-brief-history-of-the-culture-wars A history and analysis of the Culture Wars. Timestamps: 0:00 Prelude to Culture War 01:21 1. Introduction 09:01 The 1960s: Rise of the Counterculture 12:27 2. Meet the Culture Warriors 19:28 The 1970s: The Orthodox Fightback 22:46 3. The Ammunition 34:26 The 1980s & 1990s: All Out War 37:19 4. "Making Things Political" 44:29 The Present Day: Regroup and Revival 46:49 5. The "Culture War" and the "Class War" In this month's episode of What The Theory?, I (Tom Nicholas) look at the "Culture Wars", combining a historical overview of some of the key events that have been central to this supposed cultural conflict with a critical examination of what distinguishes the culture wars from "conventional" politics. We'll look at how the progressive movements of the 1960s (including the New Left, the Civil Rights Movement, the Free Speech Movement, the early LGBT rights movement and second-wave feminism) blasted cracks in the conservative conformity of the 1950s, consider the rise of neoconservatism and the Christian Right in the United States in the 1970s and the arguments surrounding art and music in the same country in the late 1980s. We'll also look at more recent cultural fractures such as those surrounding Black Lives Matter, statues being torn down and the political right's current war on "wokeness", "identity politics" and critical race theory, as well as other debates which have been reignited in the United States following the election of Donald Trump and which have been imported to the United Kingdom following the Brexit referendum. At the same time, we'll also look at why it is that "culture war" antagonisms often feel so irreconcilable and what separates the "culture war" mode of politics from both the "class war" mode and more liberal, idealist understandings of politics. It's a long one, but my goal was to make the best "culture wars explained" video that I could. I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com/ #culturewars #culturewar #tomnicholas

Épisode 14 - CANCEL CULTURE: Who's Afraid of the Online Mob?

6 février 2021

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-cancel-culture-who-s-afraid-of-the-online-mob A video about Cancel Culture and "mobs". *Chapters* 0:00 The Canceling of Tom Nicholas 01:01 1. Introduction 07:12 The Apology 09:20 2. The Birth of the Mob 16:50 The Livestream 19:43 3. The Madness of Crowds 28:09 Things Escalate 29:26 4. Online Mobs and Public Shaming 36:55 The Book Deal 39:45 5. The Mob and the Individual 47:20 Thanks! *Credits* Thanks to all the amazing creators who contributed bits to this video! Commenters: Commenter 1: @HeyItsVadim Commenter 2: @ThoughtSlime Commenter 3: @WereInHell Commenter 4: @LackingSaint Commenter 5: @SecondThought Commenter 6: @jordanatheresa Commenter 7: @JohntheDuncan Commenter 8: @WhatsSoGreatAboutThat Commenter 9: @JonTheLitCritGuy Livestream Host: @TheSerfsTV / @TheSerfTimes Publisher: @SophiefromMars *Some Copy about the Video for the YouTube Algorithm* In this month's video, we're looking at cancel culture (or call-out culture or "public shaming" depending on your preference). In 2015, the pop-psychology writer Jon Ronson published a book called "So You've Been Publicly Shamed", which argued that the contemporary internet (Twitter most of all) had become an increasingly hostile place on which users would frequently gather together to ruin the lives of those with which they disagreed. Since then, this idea (which has since come to be referred to as "cancel culture") has gained popularity, with the media dedicating countless screen hours and column inches to worrying about the "online mob". Concerns about cancel culture reached fever pitch in 2020. It was the year which both saw the publication of the "Harper's letter" and J.K. Rowling receiving backlash for doubling-down on her problematic rhetoric. As ever, we're going to be taking the longer view, considering what these contemporary fears about woke "Twitter mobs" might inherit from historical fears about physical ones. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com/ #cancelculture #canceling #tomnicholas

Épisode 1 - Johnny Harris: A Story of YouTube Propaganda

12 mars 2021

Go to http://Surfshark.deals/tomnicholas and use code TOMNICHOLAS to get 83% off a 2-year plan and 3 extra months for free. Protect yourself online today! Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-johnny-harris-a-story-of-youtube-propaganda A story about Johnny Harris, propaganda and misinformation on YouTube. *Chapters* 0:00 Introduction 0:40 1. A Journalist Who Hates the News 03:48 2. "How China Became So Powerful" 08:31 3. The World Economic Forum, the Davos Summit and the "Great Reset" 15:40 Surfshark VPN Spot 17:19 4. Brand Deals, Sponsorships and Misinformation 22:44 5. From Journalism to Propaganda 29:13 6. The Golden Age of Misinformation *Some Copy about the Video for the YouTube Algorithm* In this month's video, we're looking at a couple of videos by journalist Johnny Harris (Vox Borders), particularly a recent video by Harris called "How China Became So Powerful", which was produced in partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF). I use the story of Johnny Harris' partnership with the WEF as a jumping-off point for discussing the growing tide of propaganda and misinformation on social media sites such as YouTube. In particular, I'm interested in using the example of Harris as a means of discussing the various dangers of independent journalism coming into contact with the so-called "influencer economy" and how this might leave such journalism open to distortion by bad actors. Along the way, we also touch upon what the shady activities of the World Economic Forum (organisers of the annual Davos Summit in which Heads of State meet with representatives from some of the richest corporations in the world) and their current initiative the "Great Reset", which has been jumped upon by conspiracy theorists but is actually a vague attempt to rebrand capitalism as being able to solve inequality and the climate emergency (rather than being their cause). We also very briefly touch upon the notions of "shareholder capitalism" and "stakeholder capitalism" which Harris discusses in his "How China Became So Powerful" before considering what Harris' partnership with the World Economic Forum might have in common with attempts by the Chinese Government to spread its own propaganda on this platform. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com/ #johnnyharris #propaganda #tomnicholas

Épisode 2 - Jordan Peterson doesn’t understand George Orwell

24 avril 2021

Go to http://Surfshark.deals/tomnicholas and use code TOMNICHOLAS to get 83% off a 2-year plan and 3 extra months for free. Protect yourself online today! Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-jordan-peterson-doesnt-understand-george-orwell A video about Jordan Peterson, George Orwell and the dystopian world of 1984. * Chapters* 0:00 Our Orwellian Present 01:24 1. Jordan Peterson: Orwell Fan 05:33 2. Orwell and Peterson after the Cold War 11:53 3. The Politics of George Orwell 18:31 Surfshark VPN Spot 20:13 4. Rethinking 1984 29:05 5. Jordan Peterson and the Decline of "Western Culture" *Some Copy about the Video for the YouTube Algorithm* In this month's video, we're looking at the work of both Jordan B. Peterson (author of Maps of Meaning, 12 Rules for Life and Beyond Order) and George Orwell (author of 1984, Animal Farm and Homage to Catalonia). Professor Peterson has a video on his YouTube channel titled "On Free Thought and Speech in London" in which, inspired by seeing a statue of Orwell, he suggests that one of the aspects which separated the capitalist west from the communist east during the Cold War was an ability for journalists to "say what they think". Taking this as a starting point, I seek to dig into uses (and abuses) of George Orwell's work by Peterson and the political right more broadly. Through contextualising Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm within Orwell's own life, I seek to draw out the deep critiques of Peterson's beloved "Western culture" which are contained within those books. Towards the end, I also consider whether 1984 might provide an interesting lens for unpacking Peterson's own work and the Cold War view of the world which underlies it. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com/ #JordanPeterson #BeyondOrder #GeorgeOrwell

Épisode 4 - The Problem with YouTuber Boxing ?

26 août 2021

Go to https://Surfshark.deals/tomnicholas and use code TOMNICHOLAS to get 83% off a 2 year plan plus 3 extra months for free! Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-the-problem-with-youtuber-boxing A video about Logan Paul, Jake Paul, YouTube boxing and the pursuit of redemption. *Chapters* 0:00 Logan Paul & Jake Paul Boxing Call-Out 01:36 1. YouTuber Boxing 07:38 2. More Than Just a Game 13:00 3. The Boxing Story 21:02 Surfshark VPN Spot 22:46 4. Lads Who Landscape 32:06 5. Respectability on the Ropes 42:35 6. Whose Story is it Anyway? *Some Copy about the Video for the YouTube Algorithm* The past few years have seen the rise of a strange phenomenon in the form of YouTuber Boxing. Where Joe Weller vs KSI and even KSI vs Logan Paul felt strange and new, the recent Social Gloves (or YouTubers vs TikTokers) event suggested that the embrace of the sweet science of bruising by influencers and other online creators might be here to stay. Few have embraced the trend more than the Paul brothers, Logan & Jake, however. Since losing to KSI, Logan has gone on to fight Floyd Mayweather whilst Jake has taken on Deji, AnEsonGib, Nate Robinson and Ben Askren. Jake Paul vs Tyron Woodley is sure to similarly draw huge crowds to watch online. In this video, I try to unpick the Jake Paul and Logan Paul's pivot to boxing as an act of story telling—in particular an attempt to draw upon a well-established set of tropes from the boxing film genre (including titles such as Rocky, Creed, Million Dollar Baby, Raging Bull, The Fighter and Cinderella Man) to help pave their road to redemption. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com #jakepaul #loganpaul #boxing

Épisode 5 - Veritasium: A Story of YouTube Propaganda

20 octobre 2021

Go to https://surfshark.deals/tomnicholas and use code TOMNICHOLAS to get 83% off a 2 year plan plus 3 extra months for free! Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-veritasium-a-story-of-youtube-propaganda A video about Veritasium, Science YouTube, misinformation and Why You Should Want Driverless Cars On Roads Now (or maybe not). *Chapters* 00:00 Veritasium: A Story of YouTube Propaganda 00:40 1. Driverless Cars 08:07 2. YouTubers for Sale 14:58 Surfshark Spot 16:52 3. Veritasium vs. the Technophobes 24:54 4. Lying With Statistics 34:15 5. Misinformation by Omission 45:22 6. The Limited Futures of youTube Propaganda *Some Copy about the Video for the YouTube Algorithm* In this month's video, we're looking at a video by Veritasium. One of the biggest science channels (or, indeed, educational channels) on the YouTube platform, Veritasium makes videos which aim to challenge our preconceptions about physics, science and the world more broadly. In July 2021, they released a video called "Why You Should Want Driverless Cars On Roads Now". The video was supposedly an attempt to explain the current capabilities of self-driving cars. The channel's host, Derek Muller, argues enthusiastically that autonomous vehicles are far safer than their human alternatives and have the potential to both save lives and greatly improve contemporary urban life. Nevertheless, the video was sponsored by Waymo (the successor to Google's self-driving car project), filmed in the backseat of one of Waymo's "Waymo One" ride-sharing vehicles and heavily featured Waymo staff throughout. In this, it is part of a growing trend of videos in which companies, billionaires and elite institutions using sponsorship deals with supposedly educational YouTubers to spread what is in practice little more than corporate propaganda. In this video, I use Veritasium's sponsorship deal with Waymo as a case study in the extent to which a creator signing up to one of these sponsorship deals results in them compromising the editorial content of their videos to the point where education becomes misinformation. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com #veritasium #propaganda #tomnicholas

Épisode 6 - The Metaverse: A Guide to the Future of Capitalism

19 décembre 2021

Holiday Deal! Go to https://Surfshark.deals/tomnicholas and use code TOMNICHOLAS to get 83% off a 2 year plan plus 4 extra months for free! Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tom-nicholas-the-metaverse-a-guide-to-the-future-of-capitalism A video about The Metaverse, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook and the future of capitalism. *Chapters* 00:00 Mark Zuckerberg 04:08 1. YouTuber Burnout 10:27 2. Platform Capitalism 15:07 Surfshark Spot 16:41 3. The Bare Extractive Minimum 22:15 4. Monopoly Men 29:16 5. Into the Metaverse *Some Copy about the Video for the YouTube Algorithm* In this month’s video, we’re looking at “the metaverse”. This October, Facebook (since renamed Meta), released a video presentation titled “The Metaverse and How We’ll Build It Together” to serve as the keynote for the social media company’s annual Oculus Connect conference. The presentation saw Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announce the company’s ambitions to build “the metaverse”, a proposed evolution of the internet in which Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technologies enable us to interact in more immersive ways. To be able to engage in debates surrounding “the metaverse”, however, it’s first important to have a decent grasp of how big tech has already reshaped the economic structure around which our society is built: capitalism. We therefore go on a trip through the history of what Nick Srnicek calls “platform capitalism” to consider how technology companies such as Facebook (or, Meta), Amazon, Twitter, Apple, Microsoft and even the Roblox Corporation have fundamentally changed the world in which we live—and what this might reveal about the intentions behind this proposed shift to “the metaverse”. This video is, in some regards, a spiritual successor to my video about Tesla CEO Elon Musk (The Fake Futurism of Elon Musk), as well as my more recent video about the science YouTube channel Veritasium and their partnership with Waymo (the successor to the Google Self-Driving Car Project). It picks up similar themes of techno futurism and the partial futures offered to us by our new tech overlords, and asks who those futures will really serve. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com #metaverse #Facebook #TomNicholas

Épisode 7 - How Big Pharma is Extending the Pandemic

11 mars 2022

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tomnicholas-how-big-pharma-is-extending-the-pandemic A video about COVID-19 vaccines, variants and Big Pharma profiteering. *Chapters* 0:00 Why Isn't the Pandemic Over Yet? 12:55 1. Why Vaccines Aren't Enough 20:10 2. How (Not) To Vaccinate the World 35:14 Curiosity Stream & Nebula 37:13 3. How Rich Countries Stole the World's Vaccines 54:57 4. How Patents Enable Big Pharma Profiteering 01:09:23 5. The Fight for a People's Vaccine 01:16:40 6. Life After COVID? *Bibliography* You can find an annotated bibliography for this video on my website, here: https://tomnicholas.com/2022/03/how-big-pharma-is-extending-the-pandemic *Some Copy about the Video for the YouTube Algorithm* It’s now been more than two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and over one year since the announcement of the Pfizer vaccine (the first COVID-19 vaccine, developed in collaboration with the German company BioNTech). Given all that we know about the disease, how to treat it and how to prevent it, you’d have thought we’d be much closer to defeating it, right? But… no. COVID-19 variants have continued to emerge (most recently the Omicron variant) and, across the world, we continue to see periodic surges in infections. Why? There are several reasons. But, chief among them has been the attempts of large pharmaceutical companies (such as Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca) who own the rights to COVID vaccines to make the most of the pandemic by making as much money from it as possible. In today’s video, we’ll be looking at how “Big Pharma” (along with its allies in the governments of wealthy countries) has been withholding vaccines from “developing” countries, leading to what the head of the World Health Organization has called a state of “vaccine apartheid”. And, we’ll consider how, in leaving large portions of the world’s population unvaccinated, this is allowing new variants to emerge and thus extending the pandemic. Support the channel on Patreon at https://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com Select footage courtesy of Getty #covid #vaccines #tomnicholas

Épisode 8 - Think Tanks: How Fake Experts Shape the News

13 mai 2022

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tomnicholas-think-tanks-how-fake-experts-shape-the-news A video about how billionaire-funded right-wing “think tanks” such as the Heritage Foundation, Adam Smith Institute, Manhattan Institute and Institute of Economic Affairs manipulate the news to spread their propaganda. *Chapters* 0:00 Think Tanks & Propaganda in the Media 00:37 1. Privatising the Moon 09:10 Curiosity Stream & Nebula 11:32 2. A Brief History of Think Tanks 24:53 3. How Think Tanks Shape the News 37:22 4. Moonshot Politics *Bibliography* You can find an annotated bibliography for this video on my website, here: https://tomnicholas.com/2022/05/think-tanks-how-fake-experts-shape-the-news *Some Copy about the Video for the YouTube Algorithm* In this month’s video, we’re looking at how the political right uses a network of fake research institutes and experts to shape the news. Organisations such as the Adam Smith Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Institute of Economic Affairs have the appearance of respected, academic institutions. But are they really? Well... no. Funded by large corporations (including the climate denialists at big oil and tobacco companies) and super-rich libertarians such as Charles Koch and Betsy DeVos, these organisations are little more than propaganda fronts which exist solely to produce “research” which furthers the agendas of their funders. Often referred to as “think tanks”, these organisations have had a number of key successes in influencing our collective political discourse over recent years: debates surrounding “Critical Race Theory”, immigration policy and the UK’s process of leaving the European Union have all been significantly influenced by these groups. But, where did these organisations come from? How did they gain such a stranglehold on our politics? And how can we be more astute in spotting their tactics? Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com Select footage courtesy of Getty #thinktanks #mediabias #tomnicholas

Épisode 9 - Elon Musk Can’t Save Free Speech

29 juillet 2022

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tomnicholas-why-elon-musk-couldnt-save-free-speech A video about Elon Musk, Twitter, Free Speech, the "Marketplace of Ideas" and Content Moderation on Social Media. *Chapters* 00:00 Introduction: Elon Musk is (Not) Buying Twitter 06:49 1. The Problem with Free Speech 19:53 Curiosity Stream & Nebula 22:17 2. The Origins of the Public Sphere (or, the "Marketplace of Ideas") 33:25 3. When Debate Went Online 43:42 4. Censorship & Social Media 58:19 5. Why Elon Would Have Failed *Bibliography* You can find an annotated bibliography for this video on my website, here: https://tomnicholas.com/2022/07/why-elon-musk-couldnt-save-free-speech *Some Copy about the Video for the YouTube Algorithm* In this month’s video, we’re looking at Elon Musk’s attempted (and now seemingly aborted) purchase of Twitter. In April 2022, Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion. His stated goals were two-fold: Firstly, to rid the social media network of bots and other fake accounts. Secondly, to ensure Twitter was doing all it could to protect “free speech” on its service. Over the past six months, Musk has joined the legions of activists on the political right who bemoan what they see as an overly-stringent approach to content moderation (or what they usually describe as “censorship") on Twitter. They claim that this is stifling public discourse and taking away users’ rights to freedom of speech and expression. But what would a Muskian Twitter actually have looked like? Could he have seen-through his plans for securing “free speech” on the platform? Or is it all a little bit more complicated than that. Join me as we take a dive into the ways in which discussions around freedom of speech tend to fail, the history of the so-called “marketplace of ideas” and what all of this might mean for how we look back on the attempt by Elon Musk to buy Twitter. Support the channel on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com Select footage courtesy of Getty #ElonMusk #Twitter #FreeSpeech

Épisode 11 - How The Media Promotes Transphobia

14 octobre 2022

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tomnicholas-how-the-media-promotes-transphobia A video about transphobia, the British media’s obsession with the so-called “trans debate” and What is a Woman? by Matt Walsh and The Daily Wire. Written, directed and presented by Tom Nicholas. Editing and music by Neil Farrell. *Chapters* 00:00 Introduction: Transphobia in the Media 01:14 1. What is a Woman? 13:22 CuriosityStream & Nebula 16:09 2. The "Trans Debate" in the UK 29:38 3. How to Make Hate Sound Respectable 43:16 4. Re-Humanising the Trans Debate *Bibliography* You can find an annotated bibliography for this video on my website, here: https://tomnicholas.com/2022/10/how-the-media-promotes-transphobia/ *Some Copy About this Video for the YouTube Algorithm* The so-called “trans debate” has come to dominate the news media. In America, right-wing provocateurs at outlets such as Fox News and The Daily Wire release constant attacks on trans women, trans men and non-binary people. In the UK, this trend is even more widespread, with many outlets which describe themselves as “impartial” or even “liberal” similarly filling airtime and column inches with spurious “debates” about trans rights and healthcare. But, how does the more openly cruel and hateful transphobia that is more prevalent in the US compare with the supposedly more “polite”, “respectable” transphobia which cloaks the anti-trans moral panic in the UK? In this month’s video, we take a look at a bunch of interviews which have been conducted by mainstream journalists with senior British politicians over the past 18 months and compare them with excerpts from What is a Woman?, the provocative transphobic pseudo-documentary presented by Matt Walsh and released by The Daily Wire earlier this year. In doing so, hopefully we can uncover something about the dangers of the so-called “trans debate” and what journalists and right-wing politicians are really trying to achieve with this current obsession with questions about the definition of womanhood. Support the channel on Patreon at https://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com Select footage courtesy of Getty #Transphobia #WhatIsAWoman #TomNicholas

Épisode 13 - Monopoly is Anti-Landlord Propaganda

16 décembre 2022

Sign up to Morning Brew for free today: https://morningbrewdaily.com/tomnicholas Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tomnicholas-how-capitalism-stole-monopoly A video about Monopoly, landlords, propaganda and one of the most devious acts of intellectual property fraud of all time. Written, presented and directed by Tom Nicholas. Edited by Georgia Burrows. *Chapters* 00:00 Monopoly: A Story of Board Game Propaganda 05:17 Part One: Lizzie vs. the Landlords 06:33 Part One (a): The Slightly Weird Economics of Henry George 14:44 Part One (Redux): Lizzie vs. the Landlords 18:39 Part Two: Open-Sourcing Monopoly 24:06 Part Three: The Man Who Stole Monopoly 29:50 Part Four: The Monopoly Monopoly 37:44 Part Five: Lizzie's Legacy *Bibliography* You can find an annotated bibliography for this video on my Patreon, here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-how-stole-76009569 *Some Copy About this Video for the YouTube Algorithm* Monopoly is very likely the most popular commercial board game of all time, having sold more than 275 million copies since it was first retreated in 1935. Come the holidays, families and friendship groups worldwide will around their dining room tables and do their best to bankrupt one another. Until, that is, someone inevitably snaps and flips the board. Monopoly and its associated iconography including “Mr. Monopoly” (or Rich Uncle Pennybags as he was once officially called), the “Go” corner, “Go to Jail” and “Boardwalk” (or “Mayfair” in the UK edition) is iconic. And, those icons are often presented as a celebration of contemporary capitalism; such as when they’re used in the regular McDonalds Monopoly partnership. But, what if I was to tell you that what we today know as Monopoly was actually created as a critique of capitalism rather than as a celebration of it? That Monopoly was in fact designed as an ingenious piece of anti-landlord propaganda? In this video, we’re going to explore how an activist from Oregon called Lizzie Magie was inspired by the economic and political theories of Henry George to create The Landlord’s Game. And how a salesman called Charles Darrow got rich by stealing her invention. Support the channel on Patreon at https://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tom_nicholas Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com Select footage courtesy of Getty Board Images courtesy Thomas Forsyth: https://landlordsgame.info #Monopoly #BoardGames #Propaganda

Épisode 14 - Energy Privatisation is Bankrupting Britain

25 février 2023

Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: http://go.nebula.tv/tomnicholas Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tomnicholas-how-energy-privatization-bankrupted-britain A video about the energy crisis, privatization and profiteering. Written, directed and presented by Tom Nicholas. Edited by Georgia Burrows. *Chapters* 0:00 The Energy Crisis in the UK 05:42 Part 1: Maggie Thatcher, Energy Snatcher 12:53 Part 2: Supply Guys 22:37 Part 3. The Generation Game 28:19 Nebula! 31:25 Part 4: Poles, Pipes & Proft 38:28 Part 5: Price Wars 46:17 Part 6: The Case for Nationalisation *Bibliography* You can find a bibliography for this video on my Patreon, here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/bibliography-how-79283222 *Some Copy About this Video for the YouTube Algorithm* Britain is in crisis. A cost of living crisis. And, in particular, an energy crisis. Since 2020, the typical UK energy bill has risen by 400%. And many are having to choose between heating and eating. Some of this is the result of global oil prices which have spiked since the beginning of 2022. But, much of it is the result of much longer-term trends which and, in turn, the product of a radical experiment the country undertook starting in the 1980s. Under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher (and, later, John Major), the UK began selling-off the entirety of its energy infrastructure to the private investors. Beginning with British Gas in the 1986 and continuing with the electricity supply industry in the 1990s, every part of the UK’s energy supply system has been handed over to corporations whose primary motivation is the accumulation of profit. This is the story of how energy privatisation bankrupted Britain. Support the channel on Patreon at https://patreon.com/tomnicholas If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com Select footage courtesy of Getty #EnergyCrisis #Privatization #TomNicholas

Épisode 16 - The British Monarchy's Biggest Hater

23 avril 2023

The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare https://skl.sh/tomnicholas04238 For a limited time (now through April 30, 2023), Skillshare is offering 40% off your first year of membership - one of their best offers out there! https://skl.sh/tomnicholas40 A video about that time when Britain abolished its monarchy; a celebration (of sorts) to tie in with the coronation of Charles III. Written, directed and presented by Tom Nicholas. Edited by Georgia Burrows. Chapters 00:00 The Brits Who Hate the King 05:03 Thomas Paine 10:29 Common Sense & the American Revolutiohn 14:45 Rights of Man and the Pamphlet Wars 18:46 The Trial of Thomas Paine 21:01 Britain’s Almost-Revolution 23:12 Skillshare! 25:06 King Charles Goes to France Bibliography You can find a bibliography for this video on my Patreon, here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-british-81941214 With the coronation of Charles III just around the corner, I thought I'd celebrate in the only way I know how: by creating a mini-series of videos telling the stories of various rebels, radicals and republicans throughout the centuries who have tried (with varying degrees of success) to consign the British crown to history. In this first episode of what I'm calling "Treason Fest 2023", we're looking at the one time that Britain has successfully ridded itself of its royal family. Buckle-up for the story of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution. Watch this video ad-free on Nebula at https://nebula.tv/videos/tomnicholas-the-british-monarchys-biggest-hater Support my work on Patreon at https://patreon.com/tomnicholas Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com Select footage courtesy of Getty #Coronation #KingCharles #Britain

Épisode 18 - Griftonomics: Why Scams are Everywhere Now

31 juillet 2023

Go to https://hensonshaving.com/tomnicholas and enter "TOMNICHOLAS" at checkout to get 100 free blades with your purchase. A video about how "passive income" money-making schemes took over the internet, and the world. Written, directed and presented by Tom Nicholas. Edited by Georgia Burrows. *Chapters* 00:00:00 AI Money-Makers 00:08:00 1. Work Sucks, I Know 00:24:40 2. The Grift Gets Wider 00:40:50 3. The Rent is Too Damn High 00:59:54 4. Grifts All The Way Up 01:14:29 5. Picks & Shovels 01:34:59 6. Temporarily Embarrassed Billionaires 01:42:12 Henson Shaving 01:44:39 Thanks for Watching! *Bibliography* You can find a bibliography for this video on my Patreon, here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-why-scams-86916304 Grifts and scams have taken over. Everywhere you look online, gurus are offering quick and easy ways to make money. Social media feeds and the YouTube homepage are dominated by "passive income" strategies which promise a sure-fire path to financial freedom. At the same time, there has been a rise in anti-grifter content too. Creators including Coffeezilla, Dan Olson, Münecat and Mike Winnet have all dedicated time in recent years to highlighting that making easy money online can actually be a little more difficult than these gurus like to suggest. Whether you're a financial freedom seeker or a sceptic, it's clear that grifters and scammers are the zeitgeist. But, while these schemes might initially seem somewhat low-rent marginal, they actually take influence from some of the most successful businesses in the world. And, not in a good way. This is the story of how grifts and scams took over not just the internet, but the world. Watch this video ad-free on Nebula at https://nebula.tv/tomnicholas Support my work on Patreon at https://patreon.com/tomnicholas Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com Select footage courtesy of Getty Music from Epidemic Sound

Épisode 22 - Vape-o-nomics: Why Everything is Addictive Now

28 janvier 2024

Watch this video ad-free over on my premium streaming service Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tomnicholas-vapeonomics-why-everything-is-addictive-now A video about disposable vapes, and how addiction became the goal of every single company on the planet. Written, directed and presented by Tom Nicholas. Edited by Georgia Burrows. *Chapters* 00:00 Disposable Vapes Have Taken Over 01:51 A History of the World in 100 Objects 04:23 This Vape is Really Moreish 07:28 Limbic Capitalism 09:27 Addictive By Design 13:18 Insulin & Evergreening 17:00 The Razor and Blade Model 22:12 ...as a Service 27:00 Get 'em While They're Young 30:40 Picking and Choosing *Bibliography* You can find a bibliography for this video on my Patreon, here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-vape-o-why-97372475 Disposable vapes have taken over. In just two short years, Elf Bar, Lost Mary and their various competitors have become a ubiquitous part of modern life. The popularity of these devices among children and young people has led many governments to ban (or consider banning) them. But, I want to look beyond the minutiae of vaping legislation and instead ask what it is about our society that has led these devices to prosper. This video is the first in a three-part mini-series I'm working on which uses the rise of disposable vapes as a jumping-off point to explore various trends and tensions within contemporary capitalism. In this first episode: we're looking at addiction, and how companies across our economy have begun to borrow tricks from the vaping industry to design consumer choice out of the system. Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tomnicholas-vapeonomics-why-everything-is-addictive-now Support my work on Patreon at https://patreon.com/tomnicholas Twitch: http://twitch.tv/tom_nicholas Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com Select footage courtesy of Getty Music from Epidemic Sound

Épisode 23 - How Disposable Vapes Explain U.S.-China Tensions

17 mars 2024

Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/tomnicholas Watch my Nebula-exclusive class "How To Research Like a PhD Student": https://nebula.tv/how-to-research-like-a-phd-student?ref=tomnicholas A video about the rise of Elf Bars and what it tells us about growing tensions between China and the US. Written, directed and presented by Tom Nicholas. Edited by Georgia Burrows. *Chapters* 00:00 Remember Juul? 02:23 The Fall of Juul 08:49 Elf Bar, Temu, Huawei, Shein 13:18 How Rich Countries Stay(ed) Rich 21:20 China Has Entered the Chat 30:41 The Rise of Elf Bar Globalisation 33:19 Help Us Make More Videos *Bibliography* You can find a bibliography for this video on my Patreon, here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/video-vape-o-of-100555796 Disposable vapes have taken over. In just two short years, Elf Bar, Lost Mary and their various competitors have become a ubiquitous part of modern life. In doing so, disposable devices have all but entirely displaced pod-based vapes like the Juul. While many have noted the environmental impact of rechargeable devices being supplanted by single-use ones, there's been less discussion of the geopolitical aspect to this switch. Because, the fall of Juul and the rise of disposable vapes in its place not only marks a move from a pod-based vaping market to a disposable one, but from an American-owned vaping industry to a Chinese-owned one. In this second installment of my Vape-o-nomics trilogy, we're looking at what all this can reveal about the globalisation, geopolitics and growing tensions between China and the West. Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/tomnicholas-vapeonomics-the-explosive-geopolitics-of-elf-bars Support my work on Patreon at https://patreon.com/tomnicholas Twitch: http://twitch.tv/tom_nicholas Twitter: http://twitter.com/tom_nicholas Instagram: http://instagram.com/tomnicholaswtf Patreon: http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Website: http://www.tomnicholas.com Select footage courtesy of Getty Music from Epidemic Sound

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Épisodes

Épisode 1 - How to Read, Take Notes On and Understand Journal Articles | Essay Tips

Épisode 2 - How Plays Work: All My Sons by Arthur Miller

Épisode 3 - A week as a PhD Student | PhD Vlog #5

Épisode 4 - How to use Google Scholar to find journal articles | Essay Tips

Épisode 5 - How Plays Work: An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen

Épisode 6 - 6 Months as a PhD Student and 6 Lessons Learned | PhD Vlog

Épisode 7 - How Plays Work: Blasted by Sarah Kane

Épisode 8 - The Hypocrite by Richard Bean at Royal Shakespeare Theatre (Hull Truck & RSC) | Performance Analysis

Épisode 9 - What is Interdisciplinary Research? | PhD Vlog #11

Épisode 10 - Postdramatic Theatre and Postmodern Theatre: WTF? An introduction to Hans Theis Lehmann

Épisode 11 - Megamusicals WTF? The art and economics of Hamilton and Les Mis

Épisode 12 - How Plays Work: Angels in America by Tony Kushner

Épisode 13 - How to start an essay with a hook | Essay Tips

Épisode 14 - Hegemony: WTF? An introduction to Gramsci and cultural hegemony

Épisode 15 - Writing a Research Proposal | Essay Tips

Épisode 16 - Day in the life of a PhD Student: Monday | PhD Vlog

Épisode 17 - Some academic books are weird... | Day in the life of a PhD Student: Tuesday | PhD Vlog

Épisode 18 - Failing to understand de Certeau... | Day in the life of a PhD Student: Wednesday | PhD Vlog

Épisode 19 - On Writing Plays and Writing Scripts | Day in the Life of a PhD Student: Thursday | PhD Vlog

Épisode 20 - Library Porn and Understanding Theory | Day in the Life of a PhD Student: Friday | PhD Vlog

Épisode 21 - 5 Books for Theatre Students and Theatre Nerds: Get Ahead in Theatre Class | PhD Vlog

Épisode 22 - Dramaturgy: WTF? An introduction to Dramaturgy and the Theatre Dramaturg

Épisode 23 - Understanding complex theories in the Humanities | Essay Tips

Épisode 24 - Social Class: WTF? Introduction to Bourdieu and Marx on class

Épisode 25 - Preparing for my PhD Upgrade Process and My New Play Performed | PhD Vlog

Épisode 26 - Semiotics: WTF? Introduction to Saussure, the Signifier and Signified

Épisode 27 - Improve Your Essay Paragraph Structure | Essay Tips

Épisode 28 - Literary Texts: WTF? Introduction to Cultural Texts and Roland Barthes' From Work to Text

Épisode 1 - How to find citations and references for essay bibliography | Essay Tips

Épisode 2 - Phenomenology: WTF? Time and Phenomenology explained!

Épisode 3 - UK Lecturers Strike | UCU Strike 2018 | PhD Vlog

Épisode 4 - Modernism: WTF? An introduction to Modernism in art and literature

Épisode 5 - Hamlet: Staging Shakespeare for a Modern Audience | How Plays Work

Épisode 6 - Postmodernism: WTF? An introduction to Postmodernist Theory | Tom Nicholas

Épisode 7 - Marxist Literary Criticism: WTF? An Introduction to Marxism and Culture

Épisode 8 - How Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt deconstructs the Millennial myth | Tom Nicholas

Épisode 9 - Using "Deep Work" to improve PhD productivity | PhD Vlog

Épisode 10 - Colonialism: WTF? Introduction to colonialism and imperialism

Épisode 11 - How BoJack Horseman Critiques the 1990s | Tom Nicholas

Épisode 12 - Top 5 Apps for PhD Students | PhD Vlog

Épisode 13 - Postcolonialism: WTF? An Intro to Postcolonial Theory

Épisode 14 - Cultural Materialism: WTF? Raymond Williams, Culture and Structures of Feeling

Épisode 15 - How to write an Abstract | Essay Tips

Épisode 1 - How Black Mirror: Bandersnatch Plays With Narrative | Tom Nicholas

Épisode 2 - The Poetics: WTF? Aristotle’s Poetics, Greek Tragedy and Catharsis