Procrastination Destination: YouTube Rabbit Holes

You know, I just wrote this headline and now it’s making me think of how no matter what YouTube video you watch, the algorithm always tries to send you towards “1 WOKE teen vs. 20 Trump supporters.” But thankfully that’s not what I’m here to talk about. I’m here to talk about YouTube channels I’m subscribed to where one could hypothetically spend too much time watching their content — and by “one” I mean “me,” and by “hypothetically” I mean “not hypothetically at all.” Let’s do that hockey:

Todd in the Shadows

This mysterious music critic has a few series that are very easy to get lost in. “One Hit Wonderland” is about one-hit wonders, their journey to their one hit, and what they did afterward. “Trainwreckords” is about albums that ruined popular artists’ careers (such as Katy Perry’s Witness). But what first drew me in was his annual rankings of the 10 worst pop songs of the year — guess bad music makes for great videos.

CGP Grey

This YouTuber is single-handedly waging a war against bad state flags. Take a look at your state’s flag — there’s a good chance it’s just your state’s official seal over a boring blue background. Then go take a look at Grey’s video and see how he places it in his tier list. Spoiler alert: there’s a very large F tier.

RndStranger

If you have really serious procrastination needs, may I interest you in a 1000+-video series? This guy played and reviewed every game released for the NES/Famicom in Japan. You’ll get the all-time classics (Super Mario Bros., Mega Man, Final Fantasy), the obscure gems (Bio Miracle, Adventure Island IV, Gimmick!), the absolute crap (Takeshi’s Challenge, Super Monkey Adventure), and lots and lots of baseball.

yovo68

There’s this low-clearance bridge in Durham, North Carolina that eats moving trucks for breakfast, and this guy set up a camera near the bridge to capture all the trucks that crash into the bridge or get their roofs shaved off. I recognize that watching and laughing at these videos may seem a bit mean to the truck drivers whose vehicles got destroyed by the bridge, but there is literally a giant flashing sign in front of the bridge that warns truck drivers that they won’t fit under the bridge. Here’s a best-of compilation — make sure to watch until at least 1:40 for a major plot twist.