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10 of the Most Niche YouTube Video Essays You Absolutely Need to Watch

YouTube’s algorithm is designed to keep your eyeballs glued to video after video (after video, after video…). The dangers of this rabbit hole are well-documented . However, for every ideological radicalisation enabled by YouTube, I like to think there’s at least one innocent, newfound pop culture obsession discovered at 3 a.m. via the greatest medium of our time: the Video Essay.

The genre of YouTube video essays is more interesting than it sounds. Sure, any piece of video content that advances a central thesis could be considered a “video essay.” But there are key components of video essays that elevate the genre into so much more than simply a YouTube version of a written article. Over the past few years, the term “YouTube video essay” has grown to evoke connotations of niche fascination and discovery. For creators, the field is highly competitive with strong personalities trying to get eyes on extremely in-depth analysis of a wide range of topics. The “niche” factor is especially important here. Ultimately, the hallmark of a good video essay is its ability to captivate you into watching hours of content about a subject matter you would have never expected to care about in the first place. Scary? Maybe. Fun? Definitely.

Whether you’re sceptical about the power of video essays, or you’re an existing fan looking for your next niche obsession, I’ve rounded up some of my personal favourite YouTube video essays for you to lean in and watch. This is not a comprehensive list by any means, and it largely reflects what the algorithm thinks (knows) I personally want to watch.

Other factors that influenced my selection process: The video essays needed to have a strong, surprising thesis — something other than a creator saying “ this thing good ” or “ this thing bad. ” These videos also stood out to me due to their sheer amount of thorough, hard-hitting evidence, as well as the dedication on the behalf of the YouTubers who chose to share with us hours upon hours of research into these topics.

And yes, I have watched all the hours of content featured here. I’m a professional.

Disney’s FastPass: A Complicated History

Let’s start strong with a documentary so premium, I can’t believe it’s free. Multiple articles and reviews have been dedicated to Defunctland’s video series about, well, waiting in line. I know what you’re thinking — the only thing that sounds more boring than waiting in line is watching a video about waiting in line. But Defunctland’s investigation into the history of Disneyland’s FastPass system has so much more to offer.

Class warfare. Human behaviour. The perils of capitalism. One commenter under the video captures it well by writing “oddly informative and vaguely terrifying.” Since its launch in 2017, Kevin Perjurer’s entire Defunctland YouTube channel has become a leading voice in extremely thorough video essays. The FastPass analysis is one of the most rewarding of all of Defunctland’s in-depth amusement park coverage.

I won’t spoil it here, but the best part of the video is hands-down when Perjurer reveals an animated simulation of the theme park experience to test out how various line-reservation systems work. Again, no spoilers, but get ready for a wildly satisfying “gotcha” moment.

Personally, I’ve never had any interest one way or another about Disney-affiliated theme parks. I’ve never been, and I never planned on going. That’s the main reason I’m selling you on this video essay right off the bat. Defunctland is a perfect example of how the genre of video essays has such a high bar for investigative reporting, shocking analysis, and an ability to suck you in to a topic you never thought you’d care about.

Watch time : 1:42:59 (like a proper feature documentary)

THE Vampire Diaries Video

No list of video essays can get very far without including Jenny Nicholson , a true titan of the genre. Or, as one commenter puts it, “The power of Jenny Nicholson: getting me to watch an almost three hour long video about something I don’t care about.” I struggled to pick which of her videos to feature here, but at over seven million views, “THE Vampire Diaries Video” might just be Nicholson’s magnum opus. Once you break out the red string on a cork board, it’s safe to say that you’re in magnum opus territory.

I haven’t ever seen an episode of CW’s The Vampire Diaries , but since this video essay captivated me, I can safely say that I’m an expert on the show. Nicholson’s reputation as a knowledgeable, passionate, funny YouTuber is well-earned. She’s a proper geek, and watching her cultural analyses feel like I’m nerding out with one of my smartest friends. If you really don’t think The Vampire Diaries investigation is for you (and I argue that it’s for everyone), I recommend “ A needlessly thorough roast of Dear Evan Hansen ” instead.

Watch time : 2:33:19

In Search Of A Flat Earth

Did you think you could get through a YouTube video round-up without single mention of Flat Earthers? Wishful thinking.

“In Search of Flat Earth” is a beautiful, thoughtful video essay slash feature-length documentary. Don’t go into this video if you’re looking to bash and ridicule flat earth conspiracy theorists. Instead, Olson’s core argument takes a somewhat sympathetic gaze to the fact that Flat Earthers cannot be “reasoned” out of their beliefs with “science” or “evidence.” Plus, this video has a satisfying second-act plot twist. As Olson points out, “In Search of Flat Earth” could have an alternative clickbait title of “The Twist at 37 Minutes Will Make You Believe We Live In Hell.” Over the years,  Dan Olson of Folding Ideas has helped to popularise the entire video essay genre, and this one just might be his masterpiece.

Watch time : 1:16:16

The Rise and Fall of Teen Dystopias

Sarah Z is your go-to Gen Z cultural critic and explainer. The YouTuber brings her knack for loving-yet-shrewd analysis to dig into fandom culture, the YA book industry, and why the teen dystopia got beaten into the ground.

I’ve found that one of the most reliable video essay formulas is some version of “what went wrong with [incredibly popular cultural moment].” In the case of teen dystopias, it’s a fascinating take on how a generation of teen girls were drawn to bad arse, anti-establishment heroines, only to watch those types of characters get mass produced and diluted into mockery. But maybe I’m biased here; as the exact demographic targeted by the peak of The Hunger Games, Twilight, and Divergent, this cultural debrief speaks to my soul.

Watch time : 1:22:41

A Buffet of Black Food History

Food is an effective way to combine economic, cultural, and social histories–and Black American food history is an especially rich one. Food resonates with people, allowing us to connect with the past in a much more real way than if we were memorising dates and locations from a textbook. Historian Elexius Jionde of Intelexual Media is a pro at taking what could be a standard history lesson and turning it into an interesting journey full of crazy characters and tidbits.

Most of the comments beneath the video are complaints that the video deserves to be so much longer. It’s jam-packed with surprising facts, fun asides, and, of course, tantalising descriptions of the food at hand. Jionde even warns you right at the top: “Turn this video off right now if you’re hungry.”

Watch time : 22:39

The reign of the Slim-Thick Influencer

At this point, I’m assuming you know what a BBL is. Even if you aren’t familiar with the term (Brazilian butt lifts, FYI), then you’ve still probably observed the trend. Before big butts, it was thigh gaps. The pendulum swing of trending body types is nothing new. Curves are in, curves are out, thick thighs save lives, “skinny fat” is bad, and now, “slim thick” looms large. How do different body types fall in and out of fashion, and what effect does this have on the people living in those bodies?

Creator Khadija Mbowe identifies and analyses a lot of the issues with how women’s bodies (especially Black women’s) are commodified, without ever blaming the bodies that are under fire. Mbowe handles the topic with grace and humour, even when discussing how deeply personal it is to them. If you’ve ever found yourself staring at a photo of an Instagram influencer, please do yourself a favour and watch this video essay.

Watch time : 54:18

Flight of the Navigator

Once again: I have been sucked into a video about a film that I have never seen and probably never will. Captain Disillusion, whose real name is Alan Melikdjanian, is another giant of the video essay genre, posting videos to a not-too-shabby audience of 2.29 million subscribers. Most of Captain Dissilision’s videos that I’d seen before this were of the creator debunking viral videos, exposing how certain visual effects were “obviously” faked. In this video, he turns his eye for debunking special effects not to viral videos, but to the 1986 Disney sci-fi adventure Flight of the Navigator.

This behind-the-scenes analysis of the Disney film is incredibly informative, tackling every instance when someone might ask, “ Hey, how did they manage to film that? ” It also touches upon the history of the special effects industry, something that deserves a little extra appreciation as CGI takes over every corner of movie-making.

Watch time : 41:28

The Failure of Victorious

YouTuber Quinton Reviews is dedicated to his craft, and I thank him for it. As you’ve certainly caught on to by now, you truly do not need to know anything about the show Victorious to enjoy an hours-long video essay that digs into it. What makes this video stand out is the sheer amount of content that this YouTuber both consumed and then created for us. Part of the video length — a whopping five hours — is due to the fact that every single episode of the Nickelodeon show is dissected. Another reason for the length is all the care that Quinton Reviews puts into providing context. And the context is what made me stick around: the failures of TV networks, the psychological dangers of working as child stars, and the questionable adult jokes that were broadcast to young audiences…if you’re at all interested in tainting your memory of hit Nickelodeon shows, this video is for you.

Watch time : 5:34:58 ( And that’s just part one. Strap in! )

Why Anime is for Black People

In this video Travis goes through the history of the “hip hop x anime” phenomenon, in which East Asian media permeates Black culture (and vice versa, as he hints at near the end). Although I am (1) not Black and (2) not an avid anime fan, I first clicked on this video because I’m a fan of comedian and writer Yedoye Travis. And yet — big shocker — I was immediately engrossed with the subject matter, despite having no context heading into it. Once you finish watching this video, be sure to check out Megan Thee Stallion’s interview about her connection to anime .

I haven’t run this part by my editor yet, but now would be a prime time to plug Lifehacker Editor-in-Chief Jordan Calhoun’s book, Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture . Just saying.

Watch time : 18:34 (basically nothing in the world of video essays, especially compared to the five hours of Victorious content I binged earlier)

Efficiency in Comedy: The Office vs. Friends

I’m rounding out this list on a note of personal sentimentality. This is one of the first video essays that got me hooked on the format, mostly because I had followed creator Drew Gooden to YouTube after his stardom on Vine (RIP). This video is one of his most popular, combining comedy and maths to pit two of the most popular sitcoms of all time in a joke-for-joke battle.

Gooden in particular stands out as someone who excels as both an earnest comic and a thoughtful critic of comedy. I appreciate his perspective as someone who knows what it’s like to work for a laugh and wants to get to the bottom of why something is or isn’t funny. This isn’t even one of Gooden’s best videos (I actually think his take on the parallels between Community and Arrested Development has a much stronger argument), but it’s a great example of the sort of perspective best situated to make video essays in the first place. Because what makes all these video essays so compelling is often the personality behind the argument. These aren’t investigative journalists or professional critics. They’re YouTubers. Really smart YouTubers, but still: These videos are born out of everyday people who simply have something to say.

I believe the modern YouTube video essay is uniquely situated to put cultural critique back into the hands of the average consumer — but only if that consumer is willing to put in the work to become a creator themselves.

Watch time : 17:36

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The video essay boom

Hour-long YouTube videos are thriving in the TikTok era. Their popularity reflects our desire for more nuanced content online.

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The video essay’s reintroduction into my adult life was, like many things, a side effect of the pandemic. On days when I couldn’t bring myself to read recreationally, I tried to unwind after work by watching hours and hours of YouTube.

My pseudo-intellectual superego, however, soon became dissatisfied with the brain-numbing monotony of “day in the life” vlogs, old Bon Appétit test kitchen videos, and makeup tutorials. I wanted content that was entertaining, but simultaneously informational, thoughtful, and analytical. In short, I wanted something that gave the impression that I, the passive viewer, was smart. Enter: the video essay.

Video essays have been around for about a decade, if not more, on YouTube. There is some debate over how the form preceded the platform; some film scholars believe the video essay was born out of and remains heavily influenced by essay films , a type of nonfiction filmmaking. Regardless, YouTube has become the undisputed home of the contemporary video essay. Since 2012, when the platform began to prioritize watch-time over views , the genre flourished. These videos became a significant part of the 2010s YouTube landscape, and were popularized by creators across film, politics, and academic subcultures.

Today, there are video essays devoted to virtually any topic you can think of, ranging anywhere from about 10 minutes to upward of an hour. The video essay has been a means to entertain fan theories , explore the lore of a video game or a historical deep dive , explain or critique a social media trend , or like most written essays, expound upon an argument, hypothesis , or curiosity proposed by the creator.

Some of the best-known video essay creators — Lindsay Ellis, Natalie Wynn of ContraPoints, and Abigail Thorn of PhilosophyTube — are often associated with BreadTube , an umbrella term for a group of left-leaning, long-form YouTubers who provide intellectualized commentary on political and cultural topics.

It’s not an exaggeration to claim that I — and many of my fellow Gen Zers — were raised on video essays, academically and intellectually. They were helpful resources for late-night cramming sessions (thanks Crash Course), and responsible for introducing a generation to first-person commentary on all sorts of cultural and political phenomena. Now, the kids who grew up on this content are producing their own.

“Video essays are a form that has lent itself particularly well to pop culture because of its analytical nature,” Madeline Buxton, the culture and trends manager at YouTube, told me. “We are starting to see more creators using video essays to comment on growing trends across social media. They’re serving as sort of real-time internet historians by helping viewers understand not just what is a trend, but the larger cultural context of something.”

any video that starts with "the rise and fall of" I'm clicking on it no matter the topic — zae | industry plant (@ItsZaeOk) February 23, 2022

A lot has been said about the video essay and its ever-shifting parameters . What does seem newly relevant is how the video essay is becoming repackaged, as long-form video creators find a home on platforms besides YouTube. This has played out concurrently with the pandemic-era shift toward short-form video, with Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube respectively launching Reels, Spotlight, and Shorts to compete against TikTok.

TikTok’s sudden, unwavering rise has proven the viability of bite-size content, and the app’s addictive nature has spawned fears about young people’s dwindling attention spans. Yet, the prevailing popularity of video essays, from new and old creators alike, suggests otherwise. Audiences have not been deterred from watching lengthy videos, nor has the short-form pivot significantly affected creators and their output. Emerging video essayists aren’t shying away from length or nuance, even while using TikTok or Reels as a supplement to grow their online following.

One can even argue that we are witnessing the video essay’s golden era . Run times are longer than ever, while more and more creators are producing long-form videos. The growth of “creator economy” crowdfunding tools, especially during the pandemic, has allowed video essayists to take longer breaks between uploads while retaining their production quality.

“I do feel some pressure to make my videos longer because my audience continues to ask for it,” said Tiffany Ferguson, a YouTube creator specializing in media criticism and pop culture commentary. “I’ve seen comments, both on my own videos and those I watch, where fans are like, ‘Yes, you’re feeding us,’ when it comes to longer videos, especially the hour to two-hour ones. In a way, the mentality seems to be: The longer the better.”

In a Medium post last April, the blogger A. Khaled remarked that viewers were “willing to indulge user-generated content that is as long as a multi-million dollar cinematic production by a major Hollywood studio” — a notion that seemed improbable just a few years ago, even to the most popular video essayists. To creators, this hunger for well-edited, long-form video is unprecedented and uniquely suitable for pandemic times.

The internet might’ve changed what we pay attention to, but it hasn’t entirely shortened our attention span, argued Jessica Maddox, an assistant professor of digital media technology at the University of Alabama. “It has made us more selective about the things we want to devote our attention to,” she told me. “People are willing to devote time to content they find interesting.”

Every viewer is different, of course. I find that my attention starts to wane around the 20-minute mark if I’m actively watching and doing nothing else — although I will admit to once spending a non-consecutive four hours on an epic Twin Peaks explainer . Last month, the channel Folding Ideas published a two-hour video essay on “the problem with NFTs,” which has garnered more than 6 million views so far.

Hour-plus-long videos can be hits, depending on the creator, the subject matter, the production quality, and the audience base that the content attracts. There will always be an early drop-off point with some viewers, according to Ferguson, who make it about two to five minutes into a video essay. Those numbers don’t often concern her; she trusts that her devoted subscribers will be interested enough to stick around.

“About half of my viewers watch up to the halfway point, and a smaller group finishes the entire video,” Ferguson said. “It’s just how YouTube is. If your video is longer than two minutes, I think you’re going to see that drop-off regardless if it’s for a video that’s 15 or 60 minutes long.”

Some video essayists have experimented with shorter content as a topic testing ground for longer videos or as a discovery tool to reach new audiences, whether it be on the same platform (like Shorts) or an entirely different one (like TikTok).

“Short-form video can expose people to topics or types of content they’re not super familiar with yet,” Maddox said. “Shorts are almost like a sampling of what you can get with long-form content.” The growth of Shorts, according to Buxton of YouTube, has given rise to this class of “hybrid creators,” who alternate between short- and long-form content. They can also be a starting point for new creators, who are not yet comfortable with scripting a 30-minute video.

Queline Meadows, a student in Ithaca College’s screen cultures program, became interested in how young people were using TikTok to casually talk about film, using editing techniques that borrowed heavily from video essays. She created her own YouTube video essay titled “The Rise of Film TikTok” to analyze the phenomenon, and produces both TikTok micro-essays and lengthy videos.

“I think people have a desire to understand things more deeply,” Meadows told me. “Even with TikTok, I find it hard to unfold an argument or explore multiple angles of a subject. Once people get tired of the hot takes, they want to sit with something that’s more nuanced and in-depth.”

@que1ine link in bio #fyp #filmtok #filmtiktok #videoessay ♬ Swing Lynn - Harmless

It’s common for TikTokers to tease a multi-part video to gain followers. Many have attempted to direct viewers to their YouTube channel and other platforms for longer content. On the contrary, it’s in TikTok’s best interests to retain creators — and therefore viewers — on the app. In late February, TikTok announced plans to extend its maximum video length from three minutes to 10 minutes , more than tripling a video’s run-time possibility. This decision arrived months after TikTok’s move last July to start offering three-minute videos .

As TikTok inches into YouTube-length territory, Spotify, too, has introduced video on its platform, while YouTube has similarly signaled an interest in podcasting . In October, Spotify began introducing “video podcasts,” which allows listeners (or rather, viewers) to watch episodes. Users have the option to toggle between actively watching a podcast or traditionally listening to one.

What’s interesting about the video podcast is how Spotify is positioning it as an interchangeable, if not more intimate, alternative to a pure audio podcast. The video essay, then, appears to occupy a middle ground between podcast and traditional video by making use of these key elements. For creators, the boundaries are no longer so easy to define.

“Some video essay subcultures are more visual than others, while others are less so,” said Ferguson, who was approached by Spotify to upload her YouTube video essays onto the platform last year. “I was already in the process of trying to upload just the audio of my old videos since that’s more convenient for people to listen to and save on their podcast app. My reasoning has always been to make my content more accessible.”

To Ferguson, podcasts are a natural byproduct of the video essay. Many viewers are already consuming lengthy videos as ambient entertainment, as content to passively listen to while doing other tasks. The video essay is not a static format, and its development is heavily shaped by platforms, which play a crucial role in algorithmically determining how such content is received and promoted. Some of these changes are reflective of cultural shifts, too.

Maddox, who researches digital culture and media, has a theory that social media discourse is becoming less reactionary. She described it as a “simmering down” of the hot take, which is often associated with cancel culture . These days, more creators are approaching controversy from a removed, secondhand standpoint; they seem less interested in engendering drama for clicks. “People are still providing their opinions, but in conjunction with deep analysis,” Maddox said. “I think it says a lot about the state of the world and what holds people’s attention.”

no u know what i HATE video essay slander......... they r forever gonna be my fav background noise YES i enjoy the lofi nintendo music and YES i want a 3 hour video explaining the importance of the hair color of someone from a show i've never watched — ☻smiley☻ (@smiley_jpeg) January 19, 2022

That’s the power of the video essay. Its basic premise — whether the video is a mini-explainer or explores a 40-minute hypothesis — requires the creator to, at the very least, do their research. This often leads to personal disclaimers and summaries of alternative opinions or perspectives, which is very different from the more self-centered “reaction videos” and “story time” clickbait side of YouTube.

“The things I’m talking about are bigger than me. I recognize the limitations of my own experience,” Ferguson said. “Once I started talking about intersections of race, gender, sexuality — so many experiences that were different from my own — I couldn’t just share my own narrow, straight, white woman perspective. I have to provide context.”

This doesn’t change the solipsistic nature of the internet, but it is a positive gear shift, at least in the realm of social media discourse, that makes being chronically online a little less soul-crushing. The video essay, in a way, encourages us to engage in good faith with ideas that we might not typically entertain or think of ourselves. Video essays can’t solve the many problems of the internet (or the world, for that matter), but they can certainly make learning about them a little more bearable.

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11 best video essays youtube channels to follow.

Are you a movie fan looking for engaging content on YouTube? Then check out these best YouTube channels for the latest video essays, film analysis, reviews, and more. Get ready to explore the world of cinema and the amazing stories that come with it. Whether you're a Marvel or DC enthusiast, there's something in store for you. Dive into this list and discover the best YouTube channels for video essays, movie reviews, analysis, and more!

Thomas Flight

Thomas Flight is a YouTube channel focused on discussing movies through video essays. The channel dives deep into the themes, hidden symbolism, and production values of films, giving viewers an appreciation and understanding of the film industry and the stories that are being told on the big screen. Thomas Flight has become a go-to source for viewers looking to further their understanding and appreciation for film. With a blend of commentary, analysis, and fun facts, his videos provide a comprehensive view of the art of filmmaking.

Implicitly Pretentious

Implicitly Pretentious is a YouTube channel featuring a variety of high-quality video essays exploring a variety of topics in great detail. These video essays are presented in an entertaining and thought-provoking way and provide viewers with an engaging way to learn about topics ranging from art, culture, and philosophy to history and popular culture. As the channel's title suggests, Implicitly Pretentious delivers contemplative and sometimes controversial observations with a hint of pretentiousness.

troyoboyo17

Troyoboyo17 is a YouTube channel created by Troy, a self-proclaimed fanboy and nerd. On the channel, you can find video essays about geek and nerd culture, with lots of rewrites and reworks of classic works. Troy brings a fun and unique perspective to the topics he covers, making his videos worth watching.

Rowan Ellis

Rowan Ellis ' YouTube channel focuses on topics related to video essays, film criticism, feminism, queer and LGBT topics. She offers insightful analysis and reviews of movies and TV shows, and her work is filled with thought-provoking observations. She also covers a variety of topics, making her channel a great source for those interested in these topics.

HiTop Films

HiTop Films is a YouTube channel created by Alex Hunter that focuses on the exploration of movies, comic books (DC Comics and Marvel Comics) and video essays. It is a great resource for fans of all three topics, providing interesting analyses and pieces of short films. HiTop Films offers high-quality content that any movie, comic book, or video essay enthusiast would enjoy.

Kitty Monk is a YouTube channel that produces engaging video essays focusing on the characters and stories of popular cartoons like The Owl House, Star vs the Forces of Evil, Steven Universe, and Disenchantment. Fans of these shows and animation in general will enjoy in-depth character analysis in an entertaining format.

OliSUNvia is a YouTube channel owned by Alice Chapelle, Khadija Mbowe, Tara Mooknee, and Grayson. It focuses on creating video essays and other content related to social commentary and internet analysis to appeal to Gen Z audiences. It also features collaborations with popular YouTubers like Philosophy Tube and others. The channel provides thoughtful, accessible content that encourages viewers to engage with topics related to art, culture, politics, and more.

Movie Overload

Movie Overload is a YouTube channel dedicated to exploring film and television. Their videos cover various movie franchises like Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter and Marvel/DC's MCU. One can find video essays, analysis videos and more engaging content about the movies we love, perfect for movie addicts.

Quality Culture

The Quality Culture YouTube channel offers a wide range of informative video essays, music, film, TV, and book analysis. It provides deep insight and thought-provoking analysis into various aspects of culture. Quality Culture allows viewers to engage with culture in a new and creative way.

The Leftist Cooks

The Leftist Cooks YouTube channel features informative video essays presented by Neil Farrell and critically acclaimed Irish comedians. Additionally, the channel brings you closer to nonbinary and trans YouTubers, as well as offering an engaging explanation of critical theory and liberal topics. Enjoy the unique perspective and humour from Neil Farrell Entertainments!

Jacob Saul's YouTube channel is a great source for film and video analysis. He produces video essays and short films, which break down popular films and explore the creative vision of filmmakers. His content is educational and entertaining, allowing viewers to gain a deeper appreciation of films and movie-making.

Understanding the Impact of Video Essays on Social Media

Video essays are a relatively new concept on social media. They are an opportunity for users to express their creative ideas and thoughts through a visual medium. They often combine media elements such as music, visuals, voiceover, and narration to present complex topics in an oral format. Due to their creative and engaging potential, video essays have quickly gained popularity on various social media networks.

The impact of video essays on social media is both positive and negative. Positively, video essays allow viewers to creatively express their opinion and engage in meaningful conversations in a way that traditional text-only posts cannot. They help to spark conversations and captivate the attention and interest of viewers, making for an engaging online experience. Additionally, video essays have changed the way topics are debated, discussed, and portrayed on social media.

Conversely, video essays have also caused a few negative impacts. They have brought forth a massive influx of competition with creative and content creation becoming more competitive than ever. Additionally, the shallow nature of some video essays have exposed viewers to low quality, plagiarized content. As a result, social media users may become desensitized to the poor quality of some video essays being circulated. Such negative impacts could lead to a decrease in viewership and engagement, ultimately leading to a decline in quality of the content being created on social media.

Overall, video essays have had a profound influence on social media, bringing with them both positive and negative impacts. It is important to be mindful of the potential impacts that they can have on social media spaces. With this in mind, their engaging nature can still be used as a powerful platform for users to express their creativity and reach out to an audience.

Exploring Different Styles of Video Essays

Video essays are one of the most creative and contemporary forms of communication out there. They provide a robust and innovative way to express one’s views, opinions, and stories. From creative documentaries to thoughtful critiques, video essays serve as a powerful and dynamic tools for visual communication.

Video essays are highly diverse, allowing different styles of exploration and expression. For instance:

• some video essays are highly analytical, breaking down complex topics into digestible parts.
• Others are more narrative-driven, weaving a story in an emotionally-charged and captivating format.
• There are also video essays that use humor to make a point, such as parody or satire.

No matter what, each video essay brings a unique perspective and flavor to the visual communication landscape.

Understanding these different styles of video essays can help you better communicate your ideas, tell stories, and generate creative and engaging content. Whether you're starting your own project or just indulging in other people’s work, exploring the many flavors of video essay styles is an inspiring and stimulating experience. It can also push the boundaries of what’s possible by exposing you to new ideas and techniques. Get started today and discover just how powerful and dynamic video essays can be.

Strategies to Create Engaging Video Essays

Creating engaging video essays can be quite a challenge. After all, videos can take much more effort and time compared to regular written essays. However, with the right strategies, you can easily make sure that your video essays will stand out to your viewers. Here are some strategies to create engaging video essays.

Firstly, consider what kind of essay you’d like to create . Visuals can provide a great emphasis on topics and ideas. Think about how you can use your chosen medium (video) to best express the message that you’d like to communicate. Your video could be a persuasive informational essay or a humorous sketch, or something else entirely. Figure out what works best for the essay and what best fits your message.

Secondly, it's important to focus on production quality . Once your video is complete, viewers should be able to concentrate on your message without being distracted by technical issues. This means making sure that sound and video quality are excellent, the motion edited cleanly, and transitions and effects are used sparingly. If you can, consider investing in quality equipment and software to help you out.

By using these strategies, you can create compelling video essays that will have an impact on your viewers. It might take some extra effort compared to writing regular essays, but it’s worth the effort if you want to stand out. With the right strategies, you can express your ideas more effectively and create engaging video essays that will stay with your viewers for a long time after they’ve seen it.

Arthur Tilling

Hello, my name is Arthur Tilling! I'm an avid gamer and entertainment connoisseur. I've been spending my time exploring the fascinating, ever-evolving worlds of video games, board games, and all types of entertainment for the past few years. I'm passionate about uncovering the secrets of the gaming industry, and I'm dedicated to sharing these insights to help others enjoy.

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10 Video Essays That Will Get You Addicted To Video Essays

From deep dives into pretty privilege, to incel culture, to why we love Meryl Streep- here are some of the best gateway video essays.

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Combining the format of the informative (and at times hilarious) essay with video media, video essays have exploded in popularity in the last few years. With 100s of video essayists on 100s of channels across Vimeo and youtube, getting into video essays can be overwhelming.

As a self-confessed video essay addict, I’ve picked ten great video essays to kick you down the rabbit hole. These are perfect for chucking on instead of aimlessly scrolling, or filling the time on your commute, while also learning a new point of view.

Woke Brands | hbomberguy

Hbomberguy explores the trend of ‘woke’ branding, asking whether a product can actually be progressive.

Incels | Contrapoints

Trans video essayist, Natalie Wynn takes a hypnotizing deep-dive into the dark twisted internet subculture of incels.

Pretty Privilege | Khadija Mbowe

Opera singer and vlogger, Khadija Mbowe discusses how social media has exaggerated the phenomena of people having privilege because they’re perceived as pretty.

How The Pandemic Distorted Time | Vox

Have you been feeling like time isn’t moving the same way since the pandemic? The folks over at Vox explain why.

What Is *Good* Queer Representation in 2020? | melinapendulum

Black Bisexual vlogger, Melina takes a deep-dive into what queer representation on film and television is in 2020 and how it’s changed over the last few decades.

Protest Music of the Bush Era | Lindsay Ellis

Lindsay Ellis has often been credited for popularising the video essay on youtube so her channel is full of excellent content, but this recent one touring the popular protest music of the noughties is an eye-opener.

Data | Philosophy Tube

Somewhere between a video essay and absurdist skit, Data by Philosophy Tube sees host Abigail Thorn act out the ethical considerations and concerns of data mining technology.

Tiger King: The Problem with True Crime | Broey Dachenel

broey deschanel uses Tiger King as a case study to demonstrate the issues at large in the mainstream true crime genre.

Why Do We Love Meryl Streep? | Be Kind Rewind

One of my all-time favourite essayists for her analysis of Hollywood culture, this video seeks to answer the age old question: why is Meryl Streep that good?

Jennifer’s Body & the Horror of Bad Marketing | Yhara Zayd

In this video, Yhara zayd takes you step by gruelling step through how and why cult classic Jennifer’s Body was so badly marketed.

Merryana Salem is a proud Wonnarua and Lebanese–Australian writer, critic, teacher, researcher and podcaster on most social media as  @akajustmerry . If you want, check out her podcast,  GayV Club  where she gushes about LGBT rep in media with her best friend. Either way, she hopes you ate something nice today.

Why and How to Use YouTube Video Essays in Your Classroom

February 09, 2018, common sense media, by educator innovator.

In a world of nearly ubiquitous YouTube viewership, watching and making video essays in the classroom is not only a great platform for close reading and digital composition, but a media literacy imperative, argues Tanner Higgin from Common Sense Education .

Like many of you, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we can better prepare students to be thoughtful, responsible, and critical consumers and creators. While I don’t have all the answers, I’ve come to one conclusion: Media-literacy education must deal with YouTube. Ninety-one percent of teens use YouTube . That’s 30 percent more than use Snapchat (61 percent), the next closest social media competitor, and even more than use tech we think of as ubiquitous, like Gmail (79 percent).

What’s more, YouTube is a unique beast and can’t just be tacked on. It has its own celebrities, culture, norms, and memes and has even given rise to the dreaded “ YouTube voice .” But what I find particularly fascinating is that YouTube has its own genres and types of videos. One of these—the video essay—is something I think can be a great tool for media-literacy education. Here’s why…

What Are YouTube Video Essays?

YouTube video essays are long-form (relative to many other internet videos) critical videos that make arguments about media and culture. They’re usually meticulously narrated and edited, juxtaposing video footage, images, audio, and text to make an argument much like a writer would do in a traditional essay. As former YouTube talent scout Jeremy Kaye puts it , video essays “take a structured, in-depth, analytical, and sometimes persuasive approach, as opposed to the quick ‘explainer’ video style.”

Why Are They Great for Learning?

It’s easy to dismiss a lot of what circulates on YouTube as frivolous, silly, or even obnoxious, but video essays are the opposite. They demand students’ attention but not through cartoonish gesturing, ultra-fast editing, and shock value (which even some of the more popular educational YouTubers fall prey to)—there’s room to breathe in these essays. To capture attention, video essays use a time-tested trick: being flat-out interesting. They present compelling questions or topics and then dig into them using media as evidence and explication. This makes them a great match for lessons on persuasive and argumentative writing.

But what I really love most about video essays is that they have something at stake; they ground their arguments in important cultural or political topics, exposing the ways media represents gender or race, for instance, or how media evolves over time and interacts with the world at large. Most importantly, video essays model for students how YouTube can be a platform for critical communication.

How Can They Be Used in Classrooms?

First, a caveat: Most of the channels below offer content that’ll work best in an upper-middle or high school classroom. Some videos can also be explicit, so you’ll want to do some browsing.

• Conversation starter or lesson hook : Many of these videos serve as great two- to 10-minute introductions to topics relevant to classrooms across the curriculum.
• Active viewing opportunity : Since video essays present often complex arguments, invite students to watch and rewatch videos and outline their theses, key points, and conclusions.
• Research project : Have students find more examples that support, or argue against, a video’s argument. Students could also write a response to a video essay.
• Copyright lesson : Video essays are a great example of fair use. Show students that by adding their own commentary, they can use copyrighted material responsibly.

Channels and Videos to Check Out

• Nerdwriter — This is an eclectic channel that’s hard to pin down. Basically, the video topics focus on whatever intrigues the channel’s creator, Evan Puschak. There’s everything from an analysis of painting to MLK’s “ I Have a Dream ” speech to film to the history of the fidget spinner .
• Vox — Vox runs the gamut of issues in politics, culture, and pop culture. Their explainer-style videos can serve as conversation starters, and since they publish multiple videos a week, there’s no shortage of choices. Also, make sure to check out their playlists offering essays on everything from music to climate change .
• Noisy Images — This channel does a masterful job of uncovering the layered meaning—social, political, and cultural—in hip-hop and other music. While most of these videos are mature and only suitable in very particular high school contexts, there’s brilliant work on everything from the poetic rhythms of the hip-hop group Migos to Kanye West’s stagecraft to music video minimalism . Any one of these videos could inspire a great lesson or unit.
• Lindsay Ellis — Video essays are just one thing Lindsay does on her channel, and she’s really good at them. Her videos often deal with heady topics like “ the other ,” but she boils them down in accessible ways. She also isn’t afraid to throw in a few jokes to keep things interesting.
• Genius — There’s tons here focused on music, with a specific emphasis on hip-hop lyrics. One of my favorite series is called Deconstructed . While Deconstructed videos aren’t typical video essays, they present color-coded breakdowns of the rhyme schemes in hip-hop tracks. Students could apply this technique to their favorite songs or poems.
• Every Frame A Painting — This now-defunct channel has 30 videos with some of the best film analysis on YouTube. If you’re looking to help students analyze the language of film, this is the channel to check out. One of my personal favorites focuses on the work of a film editor .
• Kaptain Kristian — Kristian focuses a lot on cartoons and comics, which is a nice entry point for younger kids. Each of his videos touches on big ideas in storytelling. For instance, his examination of Pixar movies delves into their rich themes that break the often rote themes of other animated movies. This video would pair well with creative writing lessons or literary analysis.
• CGP Grey — One of the more long-running essayists on YouTube, CGP Grey has a fast-talking style with a lot of animation but does a good job of answering head-scratching questions like, “ What if the electoral college is tied? ” or explaining complex issues like copyright in a digestible way .
• Lessons from the Screenplay — While this channel focuses on how screenwriting underpins film, the lessons offered in each of this channel’s video essays are broadly applicable to the craft of writing in general.
• Kogonada — I saved this one for last because it’s the least traditional. Kogonada is a former academic turned filmmaker who gained popularity through his Vimeo video essays that, for the most part, elegantly edit together film clips without any narration. These videos are great if you’re teaching a video- and film-editing class or film appreciation/criticism. Creating a narration-less video would be an excellent final project for students.

By Tanner Higgin Originally Posted at Common Sense Education

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Creators are mitigating burnout with long-form YouTube videos

ANAHEIM, Calif. — While some VidCon attendees lined up for hours to try Squishmallow's "human claw machine" and packed into the Dream SMP panel to see their favorite Minecraft role-players, YouTuber Jenny Nicholson quietly posted her first YouTube video of the year.

The hour-and-20-minute dive into church plays — in which Nicholson plunged into the "cinematic universe" of a Canadian evangelical church's elaborate retellings of movies like "The Dark Knight" — seemed to counter the push for shorter content seen at VidCon. This year’s annual conference, where TikTok was the official partner for the first time, catered to short-form video content. (NBC News was a sponsor of the event.)

A massive installation of TikTok’s logo was on display front and center of the Anaheim Convention Center, where the conference took place. The majority of the event's billed "Featured Creators" primarily use TikTok as their main source of engagement.

Outside the convention center, a sprawling YouTube Shorts exhibit invited fans to post short videos for the chance to win custom snacks curated by popular creators. Instagram’s parent company, Meta, hosted an exclusive lounge on the top floor of the convention center, where staffers recorded participants before a variety of backdrops and assisted them in editing transitions and adding music to post to Reels. 

Social media platforms, creators and industry leaders alike may be scrambling to compete with bite-size content. But long-form YouTube videos — from a 50-minute video essay about the rise and fall of a popular creator to a two-hour-deep dive into a Reddit conspiracy theory — have endured the TikTok boom. 

The motto of the subreddit r/mealtimevideos is “Click and Consume.” The community of 2 million members organizes posts by video length, from 5 to 7 minutes to over an hour. On TikTok, lists of long-form video recommendations consistently go viral. YouTube playlists like “ best video essays about random niche subjects ” and “ video essays to fall asleep to ” provide hours of background noise.   

Nicholson, who attended VidCon as a Featured Creator, noted the demand for longer, nostalgic content on a panel featuring pop culture commentary YouTubers.

Even though it does the complete opposite of what industry experts and many established creators recommended, like posting frequently to engage with viewers, Nicholson's church play video was viewed more than a million times in the few days since she posted it. She and other creators who specialize in documentary-style deep dives, pop culture analyses and video essay takes have carved out a niche of viewers who demand quality over frequency.

For creators, the videos are a win-win situation: Their audiences love long-form videos as much as creators love making them. Specializing in feature-length videos has helped manage burnout, some creators say, because the content is easier to monetize than most short-form video options.

“People just want to put something on,” said Kevin Perjurer, the documentarian behind the “Defunctland” YouTube channel covering defunct theme parks and discontinued children’s TV. 

Creating feature-length videos helps Perjurer feel less feel pressured to post regular updates, he said. And for the most part, his audience remain invested.

“I think my audience is kind of along for the ride as far as whatever I’m doing,” Perjurer said. 

The demand for longer videos

Nicholson theorizes that the long-form genre remains popular because viewers enjoy consuming content without actively engaging with it. TikTok videos, for example, require viewers’ full attention, even if they’re scrolling through their For You pages. 

“There’s definitely a market for the stuff you can just put on and you don’t have to touch your phone and go to a new video because it’s not going to end on you while you’re doing your tasks,” Nicholson said. 

Nicholson’s YouTube content runs from just under half an hour to well over two, but her most popular videos are the longer ones. Her hour-and-a-half-long review of the book “Trigger Warning” garnered 5.4 million views, and her 2½-hour video on “The Vampire Diaries” series has 8.7 million views. Nicholson said that she avoids checking her channel’s analytics for her own sake but that she knows viewership drops off at about 30 seconds in. The viewers who stay, she said, typically stay for the entirety of the videos. 

Perjurer said long-form videos appeal to audiences who don't want to actively engage with content, unlike on TikTok.

“You’re constantly making decisions, whether you know it or not,” Perjurer said. “TikTok is such a decision-based platform. You’re making a decision even if you enjoy a video. You decided to keep watching, and every second of that video you’re making a decision.” 

Certain topics necessitate length and nuance. Kat Blaque, who also attended VidCon as a Featured Creator, makes content about the intersections of LGBTQ issues, race and pop culture.

She said that when she first began posting on YouTube nearly 15 years ago, she tried to keep her videos under 5 minutes but realized that for the conversations she wanted to elevate, “it’s not always productive to do it short-form.” 

“With the internet and YouTube, it kind of democratizes a lot of conversations,” Blaque said. “I talk a lot about sexual violence, sexual assault, trauma, things like that. I’ve made several very long videos where I talk about that sort of thing. ... I know that for me, hearing other people, how they process their own stuff, is productive for me.”

TikTok’s tendency to facilitate discussions about race, sexuality and other nuanced topics without context has been a source of frustration for many creators. It’s nearly impossible to have a productive conversation within the app’s 3-minute time limit, which concerns Blaque, because the algorithm “sometimes rewards misleading stuff by the nature of it being short.” 

“I think a lot of people just want to sit with you for a while.” 

youtuber kat blaque

Blaque said that even if she covers everything she wants to in a video essay, she has faced pressure from her viewers to make longer content and gotten comments from viewers asking why some of her video essays were only 10 minutes long. 

“I think I have a talent for making very heavy short videos, but sometimes people don’t want that,” Blaque said. “I think a lot of people just want to sit with you for a while.” 

Monetizing content is more sustainable

Monetizing longer videos can also be more sustainable than making it big on short-form video platforms.

Blaque will use YouTube Shorts to advertise her videos, which “does help you algorithmically,” because YouTube promotes them. 

“Sometimes it’s a different audience. Some people don’t want to sit through the long video. Some people are only going to want to see the short clip,” Blaque said. “And that’s the way that they get reached. So what I started to do is take clips from my longer content as a way of increasing engagement, because it does absolutely increase engagement.” 

Reaching a “different audience” using Shorts does drive traffic to her main channel, Blaque said, but “you don’t make a lot of money on Shorts.” 

“I will always make more money on my longer-form content on my YouTube channel,” Blaque said. “But I look at Shorts as like advertisements.” 

YouTube launched a $100 million YouTube Shorts fund last year to encourage creators to use the short-form feature, which YouTube’s director of discovery, Todd Beaupré, and Jimmy Donaldson, the creator known as MrBeast, highlighted during their VidCon panel about YouTube’s algorithm . 

TikTok’s Creator Fund reportedly pays 2 to 4 cents per 1,000 views, and it requires creators to have 10,000 followers and at least 100,000 authentic video views to qualify. Hank Green, who founded VidCon in 2010 with John Green, his brother, has expressed concern this year that the Creator Fund is being distributed among more creators than when it launched in 2020, which means creators are getting less per view. Green himself said his payout fell from 5 cents per 1,000 views to 2.5 cents per 1,000 views over the last two years, even though his account got more engagement than it did in 2020. 

Blaque said she made some cash off of Instagram Reels, which distributes bonuses to creators of thousands of dollars for posts. The factors that determine the bonuses are unclear, with creators reporting that they were offered $600 to $8,500 a month for their posts. 

Neither YouTube Shorts payouts nor TikTok’s Creator Fund payouts compare to those of the YouTube Partner Program. Users don’t have to be part of the partnership program to receive money from the Shorts fund — YouTube says it will distribute “bonuses” from the fund based on a channel’s Shorts performance each month. 

Qualifying as a partner, meanwhile, grants creators ad revenue from AdSense, which places ads throughout their videos, as well as a cut of subscription-based YouTube Premium revenue. The partnership program gives creators incentives to post higher-quality content over posting frequently, Perjurer said, unlike its Shorts fund and TikTok’s Creator Fund. 

“That’s based on your watch time,” Perjurer said. “It’s not based on clicks. It’s not based on views. You put out a long video, you’re guaranteed to get more watch time.” 

Mitigating burnout 

It took Blaque years to let go of feeling “beholden” to her audience’s demands for content. She said her viewers often expect her to make a video about “every single anti-LGBTQ thing.” The pressure to produce videos became an emotional burden.

“A lot of times when I look back at videos, I don’t particularly care for videos that I felt pressured to make,” Blaque said. “My mentality has really shifted a lot. There’s a lot of dark [expletive] happening right now. I don’t want to dwell on that, and I don’t think that the people who follow me want to dwell on that. I don’t emotionally want to do that.” 

Other long-form creators post less. 

Perjurer has posted on Defunctland just twice this year. A video he posted in November about the history of Disney’s FastPass, which was an hour and 43 minutes long, has more than 12 million views. Perjurer said the back catalog of monetized videos like the one he made about FastPass continues to attract viewers, which allows him to space out his posts and take the time to produce a thoroughly researched video. 

“Every time we put out new content and somebody finds us, they have five years’ worth of stuff to look at,” said Perjurer, who launched Defunctland in 2017. “The beauty of the feature piece is, I think, that you’re not reminding people that they’re forgetting about you.” 

Perjurer said some long-form creators may release supplementary media, such as shorter content that takes less time to produce or the occasional Twitch stream, to continue engaging with their audiences. He describes his typical feature-length content as "tentpole videos."

“On something as important as your main channel, it’s kind of this spaced-out content that you work really hard on,” he said. “I am so thrilled that there seems to be a step away from the 2017, 2018 YouTube that I started in, which was very much ‘Wait, you didn’t post last week, I thought you died.’ Now it’s ‘I can tell you worked really hard on this and it paid off.’ It’s an audience that’s evolving in a good way.” 

While the YouTube algorithm does recommend videos, seeking out content often involves more intention that stumbling upon a video via TikTok’s For You page. Long-form creators don’t need to make the same bids for viewer attention once they’ve established themselves in their niche — their content may not have the same reach on YouTube as it does on TikTok, but sustained engagement from a smaller audience is more valuable than high viewership on a single viral video. 

Nicholson’s supplementary media is on Patreon , where a subscription costs $1 to $25. The lowest membership tier grants subscribers access to Patreon-exclusive monthly videos from Nicholson, while the $5 tier allows subscribers to vote on the topic of the next monthly video. The highest membership tier lets subscribers submit the video topic ideas that the mid-tier subscribers vote on each month. 

“The burnout really came from, like, I noticed the views going up. I feel like as a YouTuber you want the views to go up, but the more it kept happening, the more I felt like people had higher expectations for each video."

youtuber jenny nicholson

Creating videos for Patreon, where she doesn’t have to brainstorm video ideas and people “didn’t care as much,” has relieved Nicholson of both financial stress and the pressure to outperform herself. When her channel began gaining traction in early 2020, demand for new content became “higher than ever,” Nicholson said, and she “got into this huge funk” over creating better and better content. 

“The burnout really came from, like, I noticed the views going up. I feel like as a YouTuber you want the views to go up, but the more it kept happening, the more I felt like people had higher expectations for each video,” Nicholson said. “It’s, like, more views, and people are nice, which is good, but then you’re like my next one has to be as good or my next one has to be better. You can’t keep getting better infinitely. There’s a ceiling in your abilities.” 

Nicholson pivoted to posting primarily on Patreon about a year ago. She said that the videos she posts for subscribers typically average around an hour long and that, behind a paywall, viewers are less likely to “uncharitably read in to” everything she says. It’s easier to share an unpopular opinion — especially when it comes to pop culture takes — with people who are more willing to hear out her arguments. 

Nicholson said she used to worry about her channel’s losing relevance because she doesn’t post as much on it, but the anticipation for her videos is reassuring. 

“I used to be more afraid of it — I feel like I worry all the time about what the algorithm is doing,” Nicholson said. “It’s like this big mysterious monster to everybody, and you only have a vague idea of how it works. But I was optimistic that it seems like there were enough people waiting for content that when I do put something out, people will probably show up for it.” 

Morgan Sung is a trends reporter for NBC News Digital.

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Trump Shares Video Featuring Image of a Hog-Tied Biden

The social media post reflects the increasingly violent and personal attacks that Donald J. Trump has employed during the presidential campaign.

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By Chris Cameron

Former President Donald J. Trump posted a video on Friday to his social media website that features an image of President Biden with his hands and feet tied together.

Mr. Trump posted the video to Truth Social early Friday afternoon with a line that said it was filmed on Long Island on Thursday, when Mr. Trump attended the wake of a slain New York City police officer in Massapequa Park, N.Y. The video shows two moving trucks decorated with flags and decals supporting Mr. Trump. The tailgate of the second vehicle features the image of Mr. Biden.

Macabre imagery targeting Mr. Trump’s perceived enemies frequently circulates online among right-wing provocateurs and pro-Trump groups, and in some cases has been featured at conservative conferences . Photos of trucks featuring similar images of Mr. Biden tied up have been shared across social media, and online vendors sell vehicle stickers with the image.

Mr. Trump’s promotion of the video featuring the image reflects the increasingly caustic and personal attacks that he has directed against Mr. Biden — for example, in a speech this month he said that “everything Joe Biden touches turns to” filth, though he used an expletive — and it extends a record in which the former president features violent imagery on his social media accounts.

“Trump is regularly inciting political violence, and it’s time people take him seriously — just ask the Capitol Police officers who were attacked protecting our democracy on Jan. 6,” said Michael Tyler, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, referring to a pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, said “that picture was on the back of a pickup truck that was traveling down the highway,” adding that “Democrats and crazed lunatics have not only called for despicable violence against President Trump and his family, they are actually weaponizing the justice system against him.”

The video was still on Mr. Trump’s Truth Social page as of late Friday evening.

The Trump campaign has repeatedly cited Democratic statements from years past to defend Mr. Trump’s rhetoric. Mr. Cheung on Friday pointed to a statement by Mr. Biden in 2018 in which he said, referring to Mr. Trump, “If we were in high school, I’d take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him.” Mr. Biden was responding to comments that Mr. Trump had made about women on a tape linked to the show “Access Hollywood.”

Mr. Trump has previously posted doctored photos and videos depicting him physically attacking political opponents, focusing particularly on Mr. Biden in the last year. The former president has, for example, repeatedly shared videos depicting him hitting Mr. Biden with golf balls . Mr. Trump also posted a photo last year of him holding a baseball bat next to Alvin L. Bragg , the Manhattan district attorney, who is prosecuting Mr. Trump in connection to a hush money payment made to a porn star during the 2016 campaign.

Mr. Trump has also used increasingly authoritarian language on the campaign trail, repeatedly saying that migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and describing his political opponents in a Veterans Day speech last year as “vermin” who needed to be “rooted out.”

This month, Mr. Trump said that some migrants were “not people” and, amid a discussion of the auto industry, that the country would face a “blood bath” if he lost the election. A few days later, he attacked Jewish Democrats in a radio interview, saying that Jews who vote for Democrats hate their religion and Israel .

Chris Cameron covers politics for The Times, focusing on breaking news and the 2024 campaign. More about Chris Cameron

Our Coverage of the 2024 Elections

Presidential Race

President Biden raised $25 million  campaigning alongside Barack Obama and Bill Clinton  at a Radio City Music Hall event , adding to his huge cash edge, after Donald Trump pushed his law-and-order message  at a wake for a police officer killed on duty.

Trump Media, now publicly traded, could present new conflicts of interest  in a second Trump term.

Donald Trump cast Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  as a liberal democrat  in disguise  while also seeming to back the independent presidential candidate as a spoiler for the Biden campaign.

Other Key Races

Tammy Murphy, New Jersey’s first lady, abruptly ended her bid for U.S. Senate, a campaign flop that reflected intense national frustration with politics as usual .

Kari Lake, a Trump acolyte running for Senate in Arizona, is struggling to walk away from the controversial positions  that have turned off independents and alienated establishment Republicans.

Ohio will almost certainly go for Trump this November. Senator Sherrod Brown, the last Democrat holding statewide office, will need to defy the gravity of the presidential contest  to win a fourth term.

Photos, video show collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge after cargo ship collision

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland collapsed Tuesday into the Patapsco River after it was struck by a large cargo ship.

The bridge's collapse has prompted huge emergency response, with the Baltimore City Fire Department describing the collapse as a mass-casualty incident, and rescue crews searching for seven people in the river. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has declared a state of emergency.

Baltimore  Mayor Brendon Scott  said on X that he was aware of the incident and was en route to the bridge. "Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway," he said.

The 1.6 mile, 4-lane bridge named for the author of the "Star-Spangled Banner," was the second-longest continuous-truss bridge span in the United States and third in the world.

Follow here for live updates → Baltimore's Key Bridge collapses after ship collision; rescue effort underway

Photos show collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore

Videos show francis scott key bridge's collapse.

The bridge's collapse, which came after it was struck by a container ship, was distributed on social media.

What did the Francis Scott Key Bridge look like before it was hit?

Contributing: Charles Ventura, Thao Nguyen and Susan Miller, USA TODAY .

Trump accused of 'inciting violence' after sharing video with image depicting Biden tied up in the back of a pickup truck

• Donald Trump shared an image of Joe Biden hog-tied on the tailgate of a passing pickup truck.
• The video was reported to have been filmed in Long Island, New York.
• The Republican presidential nominee was accused of inciting violence against President Joe Biden.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump faced criticism Friday for posting a video on his social media that showed President Joe Biden hog-tied on the tailgate of a passing pickup truck.

According to the caption, the video was taken in Long Island, New York, where the former president had been attending the wake of fallen NYPD officer Jonathan Diller.

Posted to his Truth Social account, the video showed a passing truck adorned with "Trump 2024" stickers and flags claiming support for police, with the picture of Biden with his hands and feet bound painted on the rear of the vehicle.

Trump just posted a video of a pickup truck on Truth Social that has a giant image of President Biden bound with rope and laying, apparently kidnapped. This is the MAGA violence he is promoting. https://t.co/WFiXIFWU7R pic.twitter.com/Cm4M0QeoKs — No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) March 29, 2024

Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler slammed Trump for posting the video.

"This image from Donald Trump is the type of crap you post when you're calling for a bloodbath or when you tell the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by,'" Tyler said in a statement shared with NBC News.

"Trump is regularly inciting political violence, and it's time people take him seriously — just ask the Capitol Police officers who were attacked protecting our democracy on January 6."

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told NBC News: "That picture was on the back of a pick-up truck that was travelling down the highway.

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"Democrats and crazed lunatics have not only called for despicable violence against President Trump and his family, they are actually weaponizing the justice system against him."

Business Insider did not immediately receive a response from the Trump campaigns press office, sent outside standard working hours.

Similar trucks were also spotted when Mr Trump's supporters showed up to protest comedian Kathy Griffin's "My Life On PTSD-List" event in Huntington, Long Island.

Trump supporters showed up to protest Kathy Griffin’s “My Life On PTSD-List” in Huntington Long Island “Kathy Griffin you suck” BTW concert was HILARIOUS pic.twitter.com/8GAkHGQuai — RealSandiBachom 📹 (@realsandibachom) March 25, 2024

Inciting violence

The video has prompted concerns that Trump is promoting violent behaviour or appearing to threaten the current president.

Former US attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Joyce Alene White Vance, wrote that the Secret Service should take the incident seriously and that Mr Trump's post was "totally out of bounds".

"I know from experience how the Secret Service interacts with people who make threats against Potus, even ones they can't carry out," she wrote on X.

"This, from a former president, is totally out of bounds. It's time to stop letting Trump break the rules. Long past time."

Former FBI assistant director, Frank Figliuzzi, wrote : "If you or I did this, we'd have a knock on the door."

The video comes a few weeks after Trump told supporters at an Ohio rally that, if he weren't reelected, there would be a "bloodbath" while speaking about the automobile industry.

Last year, Trump warned about "potential death and destruction" if he were to be charged in the Manhattan district attorney's hush money case against him.

Watch: Biden denounces Trump and MAGA Republicans as extremists

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What it takes for video essayists to breakthrough on YouTube

Lindsay Ellis, Michael Tucker, T1J, Maggie Mae Fish, and Patrick Willems discuss the art of dissecting art

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In the last 10 years, YouTube video essays — on movies, on TV shows, on games, on pop culture, on everyday life — have entered a renaissance. But how do you make a video essay? What does it take to run a YouTube channel that can let a creator’s creativity thrive and serve a demanding audience? How much do algorithms control the pop conversation, and how is someone supposed to break through?

Knowing that dissecting art is an art in itself, Polygon asked some of the top video essayists working on YouTube today to come together in conversation at the 2020 New York Comic Con Metaverse. On Saturday at 9 p.m. EDT/ 6 p.m. PDT, Lindsay Ellis , Michael Tucker ( Lessons from the Screenplay ), Kevin Peterson ( T1J ), and Maggie Mae Fish join moderator, fellow creator, and occasional Polygon contributor Patrick Willems to talk through their career arcs and reflect on what it takes to make a career out of video essays.

Want a taste?

“YouTube really encourages you to fixate on numbers and the algorithm,” Ellis says during the roundtable. “And the way the backend is set up [...] it’s designed to play to your anxiety and it’s designed to, like, make you freak out if your video isn’t doing as well as the last 10. I would like to be emotionally liberated from that because I do think it creatively stifles you. You’re making content based not on what you’re interested in, but what you think will get clicks. I wish I could just be OK with the fact that I’m not going to get a million views a video anymore. That should be OK. I should be allowed to do that.”

Watch the full, 45-minute panel above for even more insight and anecdotes.

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