Tom Nicholas

Premiere: Johnny Harris: A Story of YouTube Propaganda

Hey all!

My latest video "Johnny Harris: A Story of YouTube Propaganda" will premiere tonight at 7pm UK time.

If you're around, it'd be great to see you there. I'll be in the chat answering questions etc.

This was really good fun last time around and so I'm really looking forward to it.

If you can't join us, then it'll be available to watch as normal after 7pm.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Tom

Editing Done!

Hey all!

I just finished making the final tweaks to my next video this afternoon.

I've had a couple of issues with exporting it but have hopefully solved those now and should have an upload-able copy in an hour or so.

I'll try to get it ready for Patrons on the Early Access tiers this evening but, if I come across any more hurdles, then it will definitely be with you first thing tomorrow morning!

For everyone else, I'm planning on doing another Premiere on YouTube on e...

Editing Away!

Hey Everyone!

I’ve had my head down editing this past week and the new video is almost there!

(Excuse the awful hair in this photo, barber shops are still closed in the UK at the moment!)

I had been hoping to have it up for Early Access today but there’s still a bit more to do I’m afraid.

I think it’s turning out pretty good. There were a couple of sound issues but I’ve resolved those well enough.

Whilst there are some aspects of this video that are a t...

BTS: Filming Day for Propaganda Video!

Hey all!

Today, I’ve been filming my next video. I’ve still got to check through the footage properly (it’s just importing now!) but I’m pretty pleased with how the little set I put together worked out.

I’ll be taking it a bit easy tomorrow as it’s my birthday but then it’ll be full steam ahead editing for the rest of the week to get the video to you as soon as possible!

Thanks as ever for your generous support,

Tom

BTS: Setting-up for the next video...

Today, I've been spending some time polishing-up the script for my next video in preparation for filming this weekend.

Yesterday afternoon, however, I did some testing of the little set I'm putting together for the shoot.

I've ordered an extra little prop which should be arriving today to fill that bottom right corner a little bit more but, all in all, I'm pretty pleased with it. As I mentioned in a post a week or so ago, I've recently moved house and so now have a little bit of ...

Update: My Next Video, Propaganda on YouTube

Hey all!

I thought I'd give you a little update on my next video, the script for which has really started to come together over the last few days and which I'll be filming shortly.

It's a slightly different style to some of my other stuff in that it's a bit more similar to a journalistic story than a deep dive into theory (although there's still A LOT of politics in it and I like to think you'll still come away with a better understanding of one particular aspect of the world arou...

Update: Thanks and Welcome!

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone for your thoughts and feedback on my most recent video about "Cancel Culture" and mobs. Whether people agree with the central thesis of a video or not, I'm always blown away by everyone's perceptive and inquisitive questions and thoughts on the topics I cover.

I also wanted to saw hello and welcome to everyone that has joined us on here since that video went up! Welcome! Creating videos as ambitious as this one is highly...

Premiere: Cancel Culture: Fear of the Mob

Hi Everyone!

My new video, Cancel Culture: Fear of the Mob, will premiere at 8pm GMT this evening.

I've just set up the premiere page and have linked it above.

Do pop along and join in with the chat if you're able, I've not done one of these before but it should be a fun experiment!

And, of course, if you can't make it, the link will take you to the video as per normal after the premiere's finished.

Thanks to Early Access supporters for the wonderful feedback on ...

Some stills from my upcoming video...

Hey all!

My upcoming video is getting there now! A couple tiny bits more to film and some editing to do but it's really great seeing it finally coming together.

I thought I'd share a few stills from what I've got so far. It's another epic video with lots of historical and theoretical thinking combined with a bunch of fun along the way.

As I said in an earlier post, it's currently looking like it should be up for those signed up to the Early Access tiers around Thursday/Frida...

Editing...

So, the new video is coming together!

I've had some long days of editing these past few days and most of the "main", ideas sections are there now.

I've got a bit more to polish off tomorrow/ Thursday and then have some extra-special bits lined-up to film towards the end of the week.

My goal is to have an Early Access version up for those of you signed up to the relevant tiers out towards the end of next week and then to release it for everyone else a few days later.

I ...

Filming Has Begun!

Yesterday, I kicked-off filming for the upcoming video by shooting one of the narrative sections which is interspersed with the usual ideas-y bit.

I managed to get a rough edit together (or, actually, two rough edits as, after I assembled the first I decided to re-shoot the scene as it didn't quite have the effect I wanted) and I think it's looking quite good.

This morning, I've once again been transforming my spare room into a mini studio and will be filming the main bulk of the ...

February Video Update...

Hey all!

After a bit of time off over the Christmas break to polish-off my PhD, I've spent the past couple of weeks deep into researching and writing my next video. As ever, I wanted you to be the first to get an insight into what it's about...

We're going to be looking at so-called "cancel culture". Ever looking for a unique angle on things, I decided that we'd see if we can find some similarities between anxieties over "online mobs" in present day and physical mobs in the 19th c...

January 2021 Patreon Q&A

Hello all!

Here's the January 2021 Patreon Q&A!

Thank you to everyone who submitted a question. I've managed to squeeze them all in and hope I've provided some mildly interesting thoughts on each one.

As with last time, I've added timestamps in the description so that you can skip around to whichever topics sound interesting to you.

And, if you missed out this time, I'll do another in a couple of months!

Work is underway on the next video. I've got a good few...

Short: Taxing the Rich is Good, Actually

Heya all and Happy New Year!

Some of you will perhaps have seen already, but I recently experimented with creating a “YouTube Short”.

It's very brief summary of a study that was recently published into “trickle down” economics and the effects of tax cuts for the rich.

I'm not entirely sure whether this is something I'm likely to do again in the future but wanted to make sure you got the chance to see it!

In other news, I'll be filming the Q&A video over the...

Q&A Submissions!

Hi Everyone!

It's been a couple of months since I last did one so I thought I'd throw open submissions for another Q&A!

Drop them in a comment below and I'll put together a video after Christmas addressing as many of them as I can (I usually get around to them all...)!

Feel free to ask anything about topics I've covered in previous videos, topics I haven't covered, the process behind the videos etc, I'm a fairly open book...

As an extra update, I'm not going to be ...

Video: The Art of Shitposting

Hello all!

My new video, The Art of Shitposting, is out now!

I've linked the public version up above but, if you'd like to watch a version without the sponsorship spot, you can find the Early Access version here: https://youtu.be/EcRaPPTcF7c

Really looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Many thanks as ever for your generous support!

Tom

250 Patrons and New Video Progress...

Hey everyone!

I hope you're all safe and well!

We recently crossed 250 patrons signed up on here which is really exciting. It's so humbling to know that so many people get something out of my videos to the point where they're willing to contribute to their creation.

I've just ordered some new lighting equipment and a new microphone which will hopefully improve my videos (and will, for various reasons, make things a little easier behind the scenes whilst filming). Such kit is...

Hello New Patrons!

Hello everyone!

I thought I'd do a quick general post to say welcome to those of you who have signed up to support my channel on here recently!

Support from Patrons is really essential in ensuring I can put aside proper time to work on these videos as well as in helping to cover the many expenses which making them requires such as stock footage licensing, music licensing, books, research expenses, costume and the occasional bit of filming equipment.

I've just posted the Comm...

Early Access: A Brief History of the Culture Wars

Hello Early Access folks!

Here’s the Early Access link to my new video: A Brief History of the Culture Wars.

Another slightly epic video which covers a lot of ground!

A lot of work has gone into this one and I’m really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

Thanks so much as ever for your generous support, it genuinely wouldn’t be possible to create these videos in quite the same way without it!

Tom

BTS: A Brief History of the Culture Wars

It’s been a frenetic week of filming and editing—no weekend for me!

The good news is that it’s all coming together. The main body of the video is pretty much wrapped now with just some work to do on the music.

Tomorrow, I’m going to be filming some of the more “fun” bits which are going to be an added experiment for this video!

My current goal is to have it up for you wonderful Patrons on Wednesday evening.

It’s another epic video which covers an awful lo...

It is written!

I'm very pleased to have just finished writing the script for my next video.

Writing this one has consumed my life for the past month and I thought it might break me completely multiple times!

In some regards, I think it's my most ambitious project so far. It entails a bit of a creative risk which I hope pays-off too.

I'm really looking forward to bringing this one to life over the coming week. I'm going to be filming it on Wednesday and then will be spending day and night e...

October 2020 Patreon Q&A

Hello all!

Here's the October 2020 Patreon Q&A!

Thank you so much to everyone who sent a question in, I hope that you feel I've answered them to some extent (or at least provided some coherent thoughts...)!

And, if you missed the submission post, fear not, I'll do another shortly.

I've added timestamps in the subscription too if you just want to skip to the question that you asked as I'm aware that not everyone will want to sit through the whole thing.

Thanks...

The Topic of My Next Video...

So, I thought it about time I revealed to you all the topic of my next video...

I'm currently working on a deep dive into the "Culture Wars".

It's going to include a bit of a historical overview of the contemporary "culture wars" from the 1960s, through the second half of the 20th century and into the present day.

Interspersed with this (and, in truth, the meat of the video) is going to be a theoretical engagement with what we mean when we talk about the "culture wars", who ...

Q&A Submissions!

Hey Everyone!

I'm currently deep into work on my next video. A lot of research and reading going into this one but it's beginning to take shape and I'm starting to get a few more words down on paper for the script.

I'll reveal a little more about what the next video is about shortly...

For now, I'm planning on putting together another Q&A video shortly.

So, if you've got anything you'd like to ask, drop your questions below and I'll add them to the list!

I ho...

100,000 Subscribers!

Some of you may have seen that the channel recently hit 100,000 subscribers!

This is really exciting; I certainly never thought this many people would have been interested in the stuff that I put out.

It's in great part due to support through Patreon that I've been able to get the channel to this point. Some of my more recent experiments with how I make my videos, for instance, have involved increased spending on research resources, costume, tech stuff, stock footage and music for...

Editing Almost Done!

I've just finished editing what is almost(!) the final version of the new video.

Here's a few screen grabs...

I need to make a couple of final touches (including some work on the opening skit) and do some quality control tomorrow morning and am hoping to have the Early Access link up in the afternoon.

Really looking forward to sharing this one with you all and hearing what you think!

Filming Day!

Today, I've been filming the main, "to-camera" sections of my next video!

I borrowed the monitor from my partner's computer and managed to hook it up to the camera so that I had a pretty beefy monitor to watch myself on (although the microphone basically obscured it the whole time!).

It is going to be a looooooooong one. As you'll see in the second photo, the script came out at more than 8,800 words which is around double the lengths that my videos usually are.

My voice is c...

Video update!

The new video is beginning to come together so I thought I'd reveal a little more about it...

We're going to take a look at the news media through the lens of both Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky's book Manufacturing Consent and Stuart Hall's work on representation.

Rather than look at anything surrounding elections or similar, I'm going to be using as a case study the video linked above which was part of the BBC's recent reporting on refugees crossing the English Channel. One r...

Upcoming Video...

Just wanted to post a quick update to say that work on my next video is going well!

I don't want to give too much away just yet in case it changes at all (although you'll be the first to know once I've finalised the central argument!), but it's going to draw fairly heavily on these two books.

There'll be other stuff in there too, but I've really been enjoying focusing on less sources but engaging with them in a bit more depth lately.

Perhaps this is made possible by the fact...

Some behind the scenes shots from filming yesterday!

Hey everyone!

I filmed most of the next video yesterday and thought I’d share some behind the scenes shots with you all.

Big thanks are in order as I was able to put some of my Patreon money from this month towards buying a new, taller tripod. No longer having to balance the camera on a tripod on a coffee table is a real treat!

I’m part way through editing the video and I think it’s coming together nicely!

I also just received a blue boilersuit which will be maki...