Tom Nicholas

New Video: 30,000 Subs Q&A | Semio-capitalism, Baudrillard, Postmodernism, Politics and PhD

For those of you who have yet to see this, here's my latest video, a Q&A featuring questions from Patrons and subscribers. I really enjoy doing these as it gives some chance to be a bit more discursive than my usual videos allow.

And, to those of you that have just joined us here, thanks so much! We've just cracked $200/month which, with YouTube ad money being so changeable month to month, reeeeeally makes a difference in enabling me to put the time and effort into making these vide...

Q&A Submissions!

Hey all! As I mentioned yesterday, I'm planning on making another Q&A video this week as I really enjoyed the last one.

It's something I'm hoping to do a bit more regularly once we reach 50 patrons but I couldn't quite wait...

Particularly with the kind of content I make, I really like having the opportunity to keep those discussions going so that it doesn't feel like what I've said is final and/or inarguable!

So, let me know any questions you've got or things you'd like...

Early Access: Poststructuralism: WTF? Derrida, Deconstruction and Poststructuralist Theory Explained

Hello all! I finished my video on Poststructuralism a little ahead of schedule and so thought I'd share with you!

I'm hoping to be able to do this a little more frequently in the future but it's a little time-dependant, sometimes it's a bit of a race to get them finished...

It'll be out for general release on Sunday but, until then, it's all yours to enjoy. Looking forward to hearing what you think!

Thanks as ever for your support, it really does help to make this that touch...

The Many Stages of Recording a Video...

Thought I'd share a few stills from behind the scenes of making my latest episode of What the Theory on Poststructuralism, one of which made it into the edit and two of which, erm, didn't...

Editing's coming together nicely and the video should be coming out on Sunday. If I get it finished any sooner though, I'll do an early release on here!

Thanks all!

Help me choose my next video topic!

Okay, so I've been trying to decide which topic to cover for my next video and was hoping you might all help me out?

I'm either going to take a look at Poststructuralism (following on from my video on Structuralism a couple of months ago) or The Gig Economy (following on from my Neoliberalism video last month.

I'll probably do which ever I don't do next as the one afterwards so it's a pretty low stakes decision (haha!) but always helpful to know what you want to see!

New Video: Fake News, Alternative Facts and the Spectacular Politics of Donald Trump

It's here! It was a bit of a rush to get this one finished and out today (I'd really wanted to try putting out a video on a Sunday as I'm currently trying to work out when my videos perform best) but I managed it!

Hope you enjoy. I've had a lot of requests to do another video on Guy Debord and the Society of the Spectacle and, although I've avoided talking about Trump in previous videos on the topic, it became slightly unavoidable in this one...

Once I've recovered from cramming i...

New Video Coming Very Soon!

Currently editing down my latest video which sees us return to Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle for a final time (for the foreseeable future at least) to chat about a certain American president.

There is something incredibly odd about staring at your own face for an entire day or two...

Been dipping back into this one all week...

I've been dipping back into Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle all this week as I work on my next video which will likely bring that mini-series to a close.

I'm hoping to make it accessible for those who haven't watched the previous episodes in the series to however. Mostly going to be focusing on "fake news" and "alternative facts" and what the prevalence of both means for our political discourse.

Looking at getting it out on Sunday as I'm currently playing around with release...

New Video: Should We Abolish Copyright? From Intellectual Property to a Creative Commons

New video out now! A pretty sweeping one this taking in art, aesthetics, philosophy, politics and economics. There's a whole bunch of ideas stuffed in here which I hope will, at the very least, get you thinking!

Let me know what you think and thanks once again for all your support!

(Script will be up in the next day or two for the 5 dollars and up folks)

New Video Next Week

Just a quick heads-up to say, although I'm due to have a video out today or tomorrow, it's actually not going to be up until next week. I essentially got a little carried away and so it's a bit of an epic. I think it's going to be around 30 minutes or so and, focussing on copyright and intellectual property, takes in a whole number of different subjects including politics, philosophy, art and aesthetics (it really does take in a range, one minute I'm talking about Katy Perry, the next I've mo...

New Office Getting There...

As some of you know, I recently moved house and have been trying to make my new office look vaguely aesthetically appealing given that it's where I shoot most of my videos.

I know no one's tuning in to my channel for the visuals (haha) but I'm always keen to be gradually improving what I do and having at least a passable aesthetic is a small part of that.

A couple of IKEA shelves later and I don't think it's looking too shabby!

20,000 Subs!

So, my latest video blew up (relatively for me at least!) which meant that I reached 20,000 subs a little sooner than I thought. Yay!

If you'd have asked me what video was likely to break all my channel's records for views in the first few days, I definitely wouldn't have said a 25 minute history of neoliberalism. Nevertheless, always really exciting to have my belief that people are generally really keen to learn and grapple with complex ideas when presented in the right way confirmedâ...

New Video: Neoliberalism: WTF?

Hello! Here it is, the next episode of What the Theory? It's a little bit longer than usual (making up for my month off I guess!?) but it was a big topic to cover. Debating doing a follow-up or two particularly on neoliberalism and neocolonialism as well as on the "gig economy" itself.

The script will be up shortly for the $5/month and above gang.

Thanks as ever for your support, hope you like it!

New What The Theory out shortly...

Currently editing down the next episode of What The Theory. It’s a slightly longer one (making up for time away, haha!) but it really necessitated it to cover neoliberalism in a way that felt worthwhile. And don’t worry, there’s plenty of pictures etc so that you don’t all just have to stare at my face as I ramble on!

Back to work!

Okay, conference/holiday/moving house season is over and, today, I've been to Ikea to buy a couple of new bits to decorate this room to make for a slightly more attractive background for my videos.

The script for the next episode of What The Theory, which will be on neoliberalism, is coming together and I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you!

Free ebook on the Frankfurt School

Hey all! Not a sponsored post or anything at all but I just spotted that Verso Books (a fave publisher of mine) currently have a sale on including a no-strings-attached free copy of Grand Abyss Hotel, a book about the Frankfurt School.

It’s a great take on the lives of various members of the school including Benjamin, Adorno and Habermas.

Thought it might be of interest to those of you who enjoyed my Foucault or postmodernism videos!

Reading List: Literary and Cultural Theory, The Basics

As promised, here's a short reading list for those of you who are perhaps wanted to read more about literary and cultural theory. So this is a kind of a 101 list primarily focusing on literary theory but with the idea that one can apply many of the same theories to other forms.

I recorded a slightly rambly video (watchable above) in which I chat about these books and why I picked them above but if you don't want to sit through that (which I wouldn't blame you for!!) then the list is als...

New Video: Millennial Socialism and Centrist Dads: Political discourse after neoliberalism

I thought I'd posted this already but had managed to set it so that only I could see it (another one for the "Tom can't work the internet" chronicles...). Nevertheless, here's my latest video on Millennial Socialism and Centrist Dads in which I borrow a whole bunch of the ideas I've looked at in some of my recent What the Theory videos in order to undertake a little bit of discourse analysis on some terms which have been floating around of late.

Enjoy!

Reading List Poll

Hiya all, I'm thinking of periodically creating some reading lists around certain topics to go here on my Patreon page and thought I'd take some suggestions. Particularly, I'm gonna be taking a month off after my next video (which I feel incredibly guilty about, haha, but I have made many hours worth of videos this year and so feel like I perhaps deserve it) and want to be able to at least give you something during that time (although I'll probably upload some holiday snaps too...)!

I'...

New Video: Structuralism: WTF?

Hey all! Some of you will have seen that my new video went live today. I really hope you like it. Although I'd already done a video on Semiotics, I was really keen to do a video on Structuralism in order that, over the coming months, I can make some videos on Poststructuralism and can refer anyone who wants to have the full context back to this one rather than having to start from scratch in each video!

For the $5/month and above folks, the script for this one will be up tomorrow. It's...

Structuring this video on structuralism

Currently hard at work writing the script for Structuralism: WTF? I think it’s gonna be a good ‘in but it’s requiring quite a bit of reading!

New Video: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller | How To Read It

Hey all! Sorry for the deviation from the usual schedule but I've just released my latest episode of How To Read It which gives a brief introduction to Joseph Heller's Catch-22.

I would have released it a couple of days ago but my views tend to be somewhat lower on Fridays and Saturdays (I guess everyone's either looking forward to the weekend then on outside enjoying themselves!) so I decided to hold off.

Next up will be another instalment of What the Theory where we'll be look...

Editing...

Currently pulling together my latest video. A new episode of How To Read It on Catch-22. Far more animation than usual and my computer is taking a bit of a beating, hence it not being out yesterday!

Once this is out, I can get round to planning the next What the Theory!

10 Whole Patrons! Thanks!

Hey all! Just wanted to say thanks for being my first ten Patrons! When I first started this, I wasn't expecting anyone at all to sign up so I really appreciate your support!  Always happy to hear suggestions of good ways to use this site.  Would also love to hear your thoughts or reflections on my new video unpacking Black Mirror: Striking Vipers?  Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Masculinity, Gender and Sexuality in Black Mirror: Striking Vipers

A return to the Video Essay form this week with an in-depth look at how Black Mirror: Striking Vipers engages with masculinity, gender and sexuality. Those of you who have watched my most recent episode of What the Theory? will spot some similar ideas cropping up here as well as some others that we're likely to look at in the near future.

This was a pretty fun one to make so I hope you enjoy. And, as always, I look forward to your wise comments and critiques!

Foucault: WTF?

Here you go! The latest episode of What the Theory? in which we take a look at the work of Michel Foucault! I have mixed feelings about how this one turned out (as I always do, haha!) but really looking forward to your feedback!

Foucault: WTF? Out Tomorrow!

Hey all!

Was hoping to have Foucault: WTF? out today but it's going to be tomorrow I'm afraid. Could probably have got it out this evening but, if I try and rush the last bits, there'll definitely end up being spelling mistakes in the title or I'll manage to accidentally put it all in slow motion before uploading or something...

It's a slightly longer one than usual so I'm hoping that it holds your attention! (And yet, somehow, I've still had to leave a whole load out to keep it a...

Thoughts on the Q+A?

Hey all! I would love to hear any thoughts you had on the Q+A video I put out this week!

It might be that you had some follow up questions.

Or that you had feedback on the format itself.

Either would be much appreciated!

Is it something you'd like to see me do again in a few months?

Or was it just 20 minutes of me rambling on about nothing?

Of course, if I do make more then, as my esteemed Patrons, you will have priority in asking questions!

Finally, ...

Q+A Video Early Access

Hey all,

So I've not made this an official perk of being a Patron because I'm not always great at having my videos together much before they go out.

But I completed my Q+A video a couple of days ago and thought I'd share it with you as an extra thanks for signing up to support me on here.

Let me know what you think! And thanks to those of you that sent questions across!

Tom

Last call for Q+A questions!

Hey lovely people who've signed up for my Patreon! As I've mentioned, I'm putting together a Q+A video to go out next week and will very likely be filming it tomorrow. So, if you've got anything you want me to answer then let me know and I'll be sure to include it. Cheers!