Rap, Disease, Debate, Freak, Degrees

Utah Rap Festival

Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan | YouTube | 1st November 2021

Independent journalist ventures into the bizarre world that is a rap festival in the middle of Utah. Zeal is in the air; everyone seems to have dreams of being a rap star. One super-fan makes a pilgrimage to donate one of his dreadlocks to his favorite rapper. Portrait of the unlikely intersection between white Mormon culture and hedonist hip hop culture. (Warning: vulgar language) (15m 20s)

You Are Immune Against Every Disease

Kurzgesagt | YouTube | 2nd November 2021

The adaptive immune system has "the largest library in the universe"—it's able to recognize up to ten billion "protein puzzle pieces, enough to be prepared for any possible enemy." How is this possible? Immune cells mix their own genetic code randomly, creating billions of possible receptors. Oversimplified, probably, but the visuals paint a lucid picture (11m 45s)

The Vocal Debate Over A Day in the Life's "Ahhhs"

You Can't Unhear This | YouTube | 8th September 2019

As the name says, you can't unhear this: who's singing the transitional "ahhhs" in The Beatles' "A Day in the Life"? At first, it sounds incontrovertibly like John, but the more you listen to it, the more it starts to sound like Paul. One reason it's so hard to tell is the heavy reverb, created in Abbey Road's "echo chamber" room. A Yanny/Laurel for Beatles fans (4m 49s)

Freaks Isn't A Horror Film

Cold Crash Pictures | YouTube | 1st November 2021

Freaks, a classic pre-Code film about circus freaks, is always categorized as horror—in fact, audiences were so horrified by it, MGM hacked thirty minutes off. But this categorization is motivated simply by ableism. "We probably spend about half the total runtime of this 64-minute film just seeing what the lives of all the performers are like. This isn't horror; it's a domestic drama" (42m 53s)

Browser Interview: The princess, the corporal, and the CEO - Tessy Antony De Nassau

Once upon a time, Tessy Antony De Nassau was a corporal in the military, before becoming a princess of the Luxembourg royal family. In this interview, she opens up about the many different titles we take on, how social media has impacted her life, and dealing with trolls (28m 00s)

Music Video Of The Week

Shapeshifting oil paintings induce a somewhat terrifying vision of the natural world

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Editor: Abe Callard. Comments? Suggestions? Write to us at editors@theviewer.is