7 Things (Which Are My Most Recently Liked YouTube Videos) This Week [#25]
A weekly list of things I found interesting, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.
1️⃣ Taking My Friend On Her FIRST BACKPACKING TRIP! | Miranda in the Wild
I took my friend on her first backpacking trip! My college roommate and best friend, Pam, recently decided to try backpacking for the first time! I took her to REI to get fitted for a pack, and then we hiked the 9-mile Wallace Lake Loop Trail here in Washington State. Watch the video to see how Pam did on her first backpacking trip!
I’ve only just discovered Miranda’s series on the REI channel, and I am HOOKED! She’s goofy, empathetic, and knowledgeable — right up my alley. It was a joy to see Miranda share and encourage her friend on a brand-new experience for her. This video has also reawakened my itch to dig out my backpacking gear…
2️⃣ Explained: Cricket | Netflix - Vox
In partnership with Vox Media Studios and Vox, this enlightening explainer series will take viewers deep inside a wide range of culturally relevant topics, questions, and ideas. Each episode will explore current events and social trends pulled from the zeitgeist, touching topics across politics, science, history and pop culture — featuring interviews with some of the most authoritative experts in their respective fields.
In this episode: Cricket experts look at how the confusing sport became so popular and discuss its evolution in becoming more accessible, entertaining and profitable.
Ever wondered what in the world the sport of cricket is? Me too! This video does an excellent job explaining the rules, the history, and the evolution (I’ve never known a sport to undergo such radical changes — perhaps besides rock climbing — and still come out on top). It actually looks quite fun, and I’d love to give cricket a try!
3️⃣ Alicia Keys | NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
On a brisk February morning, Alicia Keys, full of effervescence, entered NPR through the loading dock wearing a canary yellow faux fur coat. During our ride to the fourth floor, she joked about how she hadn’t been invited to play at the Tiny Desk. That, of course, wasn’t exactly true. We worked on and off for years to make this moment happen, and I can say wholeheartedly that it was worth the wait.
Alicia Keys has an aura that you can sense the second she enters a room, or in my case, an elevator. She radiates compassion and kindness. This spirit is the key to Keys’s songwriting, which is rooted in introspection and mindfulness.
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Musical Video Link Part 1/3: I’ve never been an Alicia Keys stan, but I do keep coming back to this video. The love and connection between the band members are palpable, let alone their talent. You can tell that Alicia adores singing for an audience.
4️⃣ The Avett Brothers | NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
With all due respect to its terrific albums and kinetic, frenetic live shows, if The Avett Brothers could put on a three-song acoustic concert at every workplace in America, the band would be a world-beating colossus. For proof, listen to this performance in the NPR Music offices.
Musical Video Link Part 2/3: And then there’s this video of the Avett Brothers (for whom I am definitely a stan) from back in 2009! I didn’t know they were doing Tiny Desk Concerts back then. The band absolutely kills it, and it was super fun to revisit some of their older songs, from back when they weren’t that old.
5️⃣ Sweet Child O’ Mine on Violin / Fiddle | Adam DeGraff
Musical Video Link Part 3/3: Simply incredibly talented. And with a performer’s body language chops to keep me entertained through a 5+ minute song. He looks real tired by the end.
6️⃣ Do I Want Kids? | Glad You Asked - Vox
Glad You Asked host Cleo Abram is pretty sure she wants kids, but doesn’t feel like she has enough information to truly understand the impact of that decision. She’s not alone - even though the majority of American women do decide to have children, the number of births in the United States has been creeping downward, and women are having kids later and later in life. But while no one but you can answer if you want to have kids, join Cleo as she gathers more data and perspective on what it means to be a parent.
This hard-hitting video explores the tough choices that people, but women, in particular, face when deciding whether or not to have kids. It’s a question that my wife and I continue to consider. I appreciated the creative and practical visuals used to show shocking statistics about happiness levels for parents and non-parents, the pay gap between men and women when they have kids, and how much of one’s income goes toward childcare. It’s somewhat sobering but doesn’t discount the fulfillment parents feel by raising their children.
7️⃣ World Record Domino Robot (100k dominoes in 24hrs) | Mark Rober
Happy to finally release this one after 5 years of development :)
And just for fun, here’s Mark Rober with yet another wacky engineering project that leads to yet another world record. Mark’s a fun host in addition to being wicked smart.
If you enjoyed these, you’re welcome to check out more of my favorite videos on YouTube. The playlist is updated regularly as I find new great videos.
Thanks for reading! If you found these things interesting too, or have something exciting to share, please drop me a line on Twitter!