King, Tennis, Dubai, Outlaw, Moth
Who Would Be King Of America If George Washington Had Been Made A Monarch?
UsefulCharts | YouTube | 12th August 2021
What if George Washington had never renounced the monarchy—who would have been the heir to his throne? He had no sons, so three hypothetical lines can be traced (the Senior line, the Curtis-Lee line, and the Mt. Vernon) leading to three present-day candidates: Queen Brynda, King Robert III, and Queen Mary (21m 37s)
Out Of Bounds
Franz Impler | Vimeo | 2nd August 2021
Wreck-It Ralph, Kafka edition. The protagonist of a tennis video-game escapes his court to explore the hellishly sterile, repetitive world of the game he's seemingly trapped in. "Searching for a goal without knowing what it is...following the way with no destination...playing a game without any rules...Am I moving, or is it the world around me?" (14m 50s)
Dubai Is A Parody Of The 21st Century
Adam Something | YouTube | 10th August 2021
Tales of absurdity from Dubai, the Las Vegas of the Middle East. The islands around the city are sinking into the ocean. "The Burj Khalifa isn't connected to a sewage system, so every single day a huge line of poop trucks have to cue up next to the building and suck out all the poop." And the whole endeavor is built on a network of brutal worker exploitation (12m 48s)
Why Being An Outlaw Was So Terrifying
Curious Archive | YouTube | 20th June 2021
Outlaws in the medieval era were literally outside the protection of the law, meaning they could be robbed or murdered with no legal repercussions. "It was actually illegal for anyone, even family members, to give you aid; even basic necessities like food and shelter." The German concept vogelfrei (free as a bird) came to take on this darker meaning (5m 35s)
Browser Interview Of The Week: Laura McInerney
Laura is an education journalist, app founder and former high school teacher. She was once taken to court by the UK government for asking a question. This week she talks to Baiqu Gonkar about teaching teenagers, how the London Olympics brought people together, and tornados in Missouri (32m 19s, or transcript here)
Entrancing Video Of The Week
Moth-flight in ultra-slow-motion; stunning
Watch The Viewer's recommendations each week as a handy YouTube Playlist.
The Viewer is brought to you by The Browser, the curated newsletter of writing worth reading. The Browser is to writing what The Viewer is to video.
Editor: Abe Callard. Comments? Suggestions? Write to us at editors@theviewer.is