Today is 1 November, which will be the first full month of my thirties - I feel old! But still, I think thirties are probably a bit underrated - by this point in life I feel like we're all a little more settled and a little more emotionally secure.
To celebrate my entering a new decade of my life, I've decided to write something a bit more positive. A few months back I wrote this article about the declining quality of the news blog The Canary, something that has really disappointed and upset me, and to be honest still does. But recently I've been trying to find new media sources that fill the hole in my life that The Canary used to fill. And I'm delighted to say that I've recently come across five people on YouTube whose content keeps me sane, gives me hope and causes me to remain informed and aware. Each of them focus on a slightly different aspect of what I'm interested in, but of course there's a fair bit of crossover.
Without further ado, let me introduce these five people - some you may have heard of before (I don't like any of them any more than any of the others, so to be fair I'm just going to do this in alphabetical order of surname):
1. Rowan Ellis
Rowan Ellis is a vlogger on the subjects of feminism, LGBTQ+ issues and representation in the media. She deals particularly with the depictions of female and minority characters within television drama, but her work expands on multiple strands of these subjects, including LGBTQ+ history and the way that these things are presented within schools.
As a writer of character-driven stories (particularly one who works in collaboration with their same-sex partner) I've started being quite critical about a lot of what I watch and read, and I think it's important to be so. I've found Rowan's analysis of things to be incredibly informative and engaging, and she often has takes that I myself haven't thought of. Also, I like that she has a really nice way about her - she's certainly more diplomatic than me!
Check out Rowan's website. Her book Here and Queer: A Queer Girl's Guide to Life is available to order.
2. Owen Jones
If you're the kind of person who likes reading left-wing blogs like mine, you probably already know who Owen Jones is. He's a well-known journalist and writer, has been in the public eye regularly for more than ten years, regularly writing for The Guardian and The Independent (amongst others) and has books out including The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It and Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class.
I like Owen because he talks about politics and the world today, and always in a way that is clear, accessible and concise. He's incredibly knowledgable, and unafraid to use that knowledge in a way that speaks truth to power. I consume Owen's content when I want to know what's going on domestically in the UK, with the Tories and the Labour Party.
For some reason, it's become somewhat fashionable on the left to despise Owen Jones, and I've never fully understood why because I've always really appreciated his content, and find it well-researched and clearly explained. Perhaps he's a bit too mainstream for a lot of us. I understand that feeling very much - when someone apparently left-wing gets as big a platform as Owen does, it's natural to think 'What's the catch?' and maybe in a few years I'll find out something that will cause me to take back this recommendation. But for now, I really haven't seen what a lot of my fellow lefties apparently have, and that's why I firmly recommend Owen Jones' YouTube channel.
3. Adam Levy
Dr Adam Levy, known professionally as ClimateAdam, is a climate scientist from Oxford University. I can't remember exactly how I came across Adam's work, but I've found it to be really helpful in discussing climate issues again.Have a look at Adam's website as well.
Like a lot of other people, I often find climate anxiety so crippling that I'm unable to talk about it. And the worst thing about this is, online searches for climate-related content often bring up precisely what you're looking for in search terms. This is the problem with the Internet - that it's too robotic. This is why health professionals often advise against googling your symptoms, because much of the time it just comes up with literal scenarios. Likewise, with climate searches - searching 'Are we doomed?' will come up with articles that say we are, because the algorithm is looking for things that match with the word 'doomed'. And if you search terms like 'optimism' or 'hope', a lot of what comes up will play down the seriousness of the problem. And then there's the problem that a lot of the research itself is presented in ways that sound particularly dramatic so that people will click on them.
I find that Adam's work provides freedom from this. He creates videos that are easily accessible, that don't play down at all how serious the problems with global warming are but also put it in perspective, in a way that doesn't induce panic and that makes the viewer feel empowered to do something about it - and being an actual climate scientist rather than a mere armchair commentator like the rest of us, his word does carry weight. Weirdly, he also has a great sense of humour. It's hard to have humour when talking about something that threatens all our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren, but Adam manages it. There's a fantastic ongoing sketch he has (in which he plays all the characters) involving a character being repeatedly punched in the face and calling for help from a nearby onlooker. The onlooker is saying, 'Don't worry, we'll make sure we cap it to twenty punches.' After a while, the onlooker says, 'Unfortunately, we've now exceeded twenty punches' - of course, completely ignoring that they could prevent the person being punched right now. This is such a great metaphor for climate change - the more punches we receive, the more damage is caused and the more difficult it will be to reverse the damage, but preventing further punches will still be more beneficial than allowing the punches to carry on.
I've decided to only consume climate-related content from two people, as everyone else is just either overly reassuring or so doom-mongery that they aren't helpful. One of the two channels is Adam's... the other is...
4. Leena Norms
Leena Norms is the other person I'll listen to on climate change, because I find she always cheers me up and gives me a fresh perspective. I do remember exactly how I came across Leena - I was suggested a video by YouTube's algorithms called 'Don't join the climate movement'. As a climate activist I was very doubtful, but for some reason I decided to click it, and I was glad I did. The title was slightly facetious, but I found it really useful on the themes of hope, personal power and the fact that although the climate movement exists for a good reason, you don't have to join it if you want to change things. There are other ways. This video made such an impact on me that I think I have to embed it. Take a look, then come back:
Personal power is what Leena is all about, and I respect that very much. A lot of her work is built around creating positive change where you are, particularly when it comes to fashion and clothing - she has many videos based around building a sustainable wardrobe. But she talks about lots of other things too - she has a lot of videos on books (which I haven't actually watched yet, but I will soon) and a lot about our own personal journey on this planet, friendships, life, political feelings and remembering who you are. I find her so engaging, personally and spiritually, and I cannot recommend her highly enough.
5. Ed Winters
Ed Winters, also known as Earthling Ed, is a well-known animal rights activist. You may have come across him before as his videos are often shared on social media, and his book This Is Vegan Propaganda (And Other Lies The Meat Industry Tells You) has been promoted quite heavily by retailers. Most of his videos involve debating with meat-eaters and encouraging them to follow a plant-based diet.
Although I'm a vegan and I agree very much with Ed's mission and viewpoints, this is not the reason I enjoy his videos so much. The thing that inspires me about Ed's videos is that he's an incredible debater - probably one of the best I've seen. I've found that a lot of people like to avoid debates because they like avoiding confrontation - and to me, debates are actually not meant to be confrontational. I don't think anyone should get angry during a debate. If you keep calm and rational in what you're saying, you can make so much more progress, cause the other person to learn something (and perhaps learn something yourself, as no one is right 100% of the time).
Ed's easy-going, polite, diplomatic approach really epitomises what I think debate should be like. I think whatever our opinions are on anything, we could all do with taking a leaf out of Ed's book.
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So there we have it. Rowan, Owen, Adam, Leena and Ed. Five different YouTubers, all focussing on a slightly different topic, but with significant and important levels of overlap.
Is YouTube the future? I think, possibly. My disappointment with The Canary is something that has still not been resolved - I had a very kind response from their editorial team on the day I published that article and at the time they seemed keen to talk to me and improve (which I was very pleasantly surprised about). However, I have so far not had any further communication with them, so who knows?
My mission to find out what went wrong at The Canary is not over - I'm still eager to find this out, and sort it out. However, I also wonder if any media organisation run by multiple people is doomed to lower its standards over time, because this seems to have happened to every cutting-edge organisation in history. And YouTube is hardly cutting edge - it's owned by Google and extremely corporate nowadays, with the amount of sponsorships and so on involved. However, it still gives people a chance to raise their voices and speak out - and if you're following the right people, that can be pretty useful in hearing things that will be beneficial to your own life.
I think the most important thing for any media or news source is that it isn't handled from a top-down position. It should never be the case that one person is talking and everyone else is listening. This should be about dialogue. Whatever you're following, you should feel that they're as interested in you as you are in them, and that you're part of the conversation. That is how we make a change.
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