Close Reading and YouTube Writers

The Claims Of Close Reading

Johanna Winant | Boston Review | 26th November 2025

As the humanities are sidelined in academia and AI erodes our ability to comprehend text, it is worth returning to the rewarding practice of close reading. Looking at the tiniest details of a poem, scene or prose excerpt, taking it seriously, noticing every minute decision the writer made to arrive at the final product, is a revolutionary skill. It is learning to read as the basis of forming an argument (2,800 words)

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Interview With A YouTube Writer

Anonymous | Human Invariant | 22nd November 2025

The writer interviewed here works for several YouTube channels that have collectively amassed over half a billion views for science and gaming-adjacent videos. His responses provide a glimpse inside the complex workings of a platform that shapes contemporary culture far more than we realise. Almost nobody who posts on YouTube is making much money, but a small group are making a lot (5,100 words)