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Essential videos of 2009

20 of the 185 videos uploaded in 2009 were judged high on "words matter": the ideas are the point of the video, so reading or watching for the argument pays off — a reading guide, not a best-of list. Each entry gives the thesis (with a link to where the argument starts) and one line on why it was judged idea-dense. Back to the overview.

Main speaker: John: 18 · Hank: 2

  • 2009-01-04 · John · Israel. Gaza. PUPPY! · World affairs, explainer
    • Pegged to Israel's invasion of Gaza, John argues that an old conflict is not intractable, sketches the history from the 1947 UN partition to Hamas's 2006 election win, and proposes a two-state path to peace. (00:00:32)
    • Why it is here: A compressed history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with many checkable claims (dates, Hamas budget shares, a Fatah/Pakistan slip) and a stated peace plan.
  • 2009-01-11 · John · SOMALI PIRATES! France Penetrates Chad! · World affairs, explainer
    • John explains the recurring war in Chad and Somalia's collapse into three regions with Puntland piracy, argues that combatants and colonialism share the blame and that African wars go uncovered because they lack simple stories, and asks viewers who is at fault. (00:00:32)
    • Why it is here: A compressed current-events explainer with many checkable claims (dates, ransom and income figures, regions) and an argued position on blame and media coverage.
  • 2009-02-15 · John · Stimulus Plan Explained · Economics, explainer
    • John explains that a deep recession can become a self-reinforcing spiral and argues, following Keynes, that cutting taxes and raising government spending is the right response; he calls the $787 billion stimulus bill an honest attempt to restart the economy. (00:00:20)
    • Why it is here: A substantive argument about recessions, Keynesian policy and the 2009 stimulus bill, with specific figures.
  • 2009-03-15 · John · Lighting a candle for Rwanda · World affairs, letter vlog
    • Jet-lagged in Holland, John marks the Rwandan genocide's 15th anniversary by arguing that opposing genocide is easy but still important, and that Rwandans abandoned as 'a them' should hear 'you are us'; he asks Nerdfighters to film candle-of-hope videos with the Harry Potter Alliance. (00:00:24)
    • Why it is here: A short sincere argument about abandonment and 'us/them' on a genocide anniversary, plus exact instructions for the video campaign.
  • 2009-03-18 · Hank · Lighting Candles for Rwanda · World affairs, letter vlog
    • Hank lights his own candle of hope for Rwanda, relays a Rwandan survivor's account that the world's indifference and abandonment were worse than the fear, and asks viewers to send candle videos; he adds asks for an Irish fiddle player and votes for Nerdfighter Travis Ritchie. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A sincere account of a survivor's sense of abandonment and a call to show Rwandans they are 'one of us'; the rest is asks.
  • 2009-04-26 · John · Peanut Butter Face Discusses Sri Lanka · World affairs, explainer
    • Wearing peanut butter on his face to get attention, John explains Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war between the government and the Tamil Tigers, a war with no good guys, and argues the world ignores it because it lacks obvious villains. (00:01:22)
    • Why it is here: A compact explainer with specific historical claims (1956, 1983, 2002), casualty figures (80,000; 6,000 per the UN) and an argument about why ambiguous conflicts get ignored.
  • 2009-05-04 · John · Oinkbarf Pandemic! An Intellectual Response to Swine Flu · Health, letter vlog
    • John, a self-described hypochondriac, says swine flu turned out less deadly than first reported and argues pandemics scare us because they make us face oblivion and the futility of effort, which we should balance with the necessity to struggle. (00:02:10)
    • Why it is here: An argued essay: pandemic fear as fear of oblivion, anchored in Fitzgerald's 'futility of effort' and 'necessity to struggle', plus checkable swine-flu and 1918 figures and news of Paper Towns' Edgar Award.
  • 2009-05-17 · John · Burma! Myanmar? BURMA! · World affairs, explainer
    • John explains Burma's decades of military rule, from Ne Win's superstitions to Aung San Suu Kyi's annulled 1990 election win and house arrest, and argues that after her arrest over John Yettaw's swim, Burma's neighbours, especially India, must press the junta to reform. (00:02:42)
    • Why it is here: Dense with checkable historical and current claims (dates, death toll, sentence) and a clear policy position that neighbours, above all India, should pressure Burma.
  • 2009-06-14 · John · Iran Election Fraud: 5 Reasons to Doubt the Results · World affairs, list
    • John gives five reasons (Tabriz, the 2005 runoff, record turnout, superhuman counting, a reported early concession call) to think Iran's 2009 presidential election was stolen for Ahmadinejad, while allowing that the full story is unknown. (00:00:53)
    • Why it is here: An argued, evidence-listing case that an election was rigged; the reasons and numbers are the content.
  • 2009-07-07 · Hank · Too Much Love will KILL YOU · Philosophy & meaning, letter vlog
    • Hank argues that we cannot love everyone the way we love those close to us; alongside love we need compassion, a rational caring for the whole world that lets us help without guilt or crushing weight. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: An argued distinction between love and compassion as two kinds of caring, with a stated obligation to have both; the ideas are the video.
  • 2009-07-12 · John · On Iran, Islam, and Amazingly Stupid Comments · World affairs, Q&A
    • John points viewers to Shawn's new Bangladesh video, then answers three commenter objections to his Iran election video, arguing that caring about Iran matters and that Islam, like every religion, is not a monolith. (00:00:59)
    • Why it is here: A sincere argument about the Iran protests, why the Iranian presidency matters, and religious diversity, with John stating his own faith.
    • Replies to: 2009-06-14 Iran Election Fraud: 5 Reasons to Doubt the Results
  • 2009-08-06 · John · Robert Pattinson and DJ Railstone · Nerdfighteria, letter vlog
    • John argues that most of Robert Pattinson's beauty is collectively constructed, and describes DJ Paige Railstone, a person Nerdfighters invented to see how real a made-up person can become, since all identities are partly made up by others. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: An argued claim that identity and celebrity are collectively constructed, illustrated by a community experiment.
  • 2009-08-16 · John · Health Care Overhaul Summarized Via MASSIVE PIG · US politics & society, explainer
    • Using Walkin' Tall, the Indiana State Fair's giant boar, as a metaphor, John summarises the 2009 US health-care reform options (public option, nonprofit insurers, no change) and argues the US already has inefficient socialized medicine because it treats health care as a right. (00:01:05)
    • Why it is here: A reasoned policy argument (options, trade-offs, health care as a right) that states John's position.
  • 2009-09-04 · John · Health Care Reform Thought Bubble · US politics & society, explainer
    • An animated Thought Bubble version of John's health-care video: via Walkin' Tall, the boar that can't walk, John lays out the US reform options and argues America already has inefficient socialized medicine because it treats health care as a right. (00:01:06)
    • Why it is here: A reasoned policy argument (options, trade-offs, health care as a right) stating John's position.
  • 2009-09-13 · John · Sex, Sports, and Caster Semenya · Sports, letter vlog
    • On Newsday John discusses the gender test of 18-year-old runner Caster Semenya and argues, following Lauren McLaughlin, that the failure lies with sports, which exists to remove the ambiguity that life (and sex) always has. (00:01:10)
    • Why it is here: A compact argument: intersex people show sex is not either-or, and sports' demand for unambiguous rules, not Semenya or her rivals, is the problem.
  • 2009-09-20 · John · Health Care Reform: The Hank Factor · US politics & society, explainer
    • John argues, using Hank (a small-business owner with ulcerative colitis who could not get insurance until Montana's state plan), that US health insurance tied to big employers discourages entrepreneurship, and makes a 'conservative economic argument' for a nationwide public option. (00:00:36)
    • Why it is here: A worked policy argument for a public option framed as fiscally conservative, with concrete personal evidence (Hank's uninsurability, drug cost, the Montana plan) likely to be cited later.
  • 2009-11-08 · John · H1N1 Vaccine Fears · Health, letter vlog
    • John admits an irrational fear of the H1N1 vaccine sparked by the Desiree Jennings story, argues that not vaccinating is also a choice with a worse side effect (the flu), debunks the quack doctor who claimed to cure her, and concludes we play best when we play the odds rationally. (00:00:47)
    • Why it is here: An argued case about vaccine risk perception: the 'illusion of not choosing', anecdote versus odds, and why untested miracle cures deserve suspicion.
  • 2009-11-29 · John · John Reviews Twilight and New Moon · Pop culture, recommendation
    • John mocks Twilight's premise and criticises its adult-teen romance and its idea that Bella needs a man, but says the books are engrossing, escapist fun that argue true love wins; he calls New Moon the film stupid and says Harry Potter versus Twilight is 'a question wrongly asked'. (00:00:59)
    • Why it is here: Carries a stated argument about age-gap relationships, gender dependence in fiction, obsession versus love, and the value of escapist romance.
  • 2009-12-01 · John · Shaving for Pakistan · World affairs, explainer
    • While shaving off his Movember beard, John surveys Pakistan's troubles (poor education, low incomes, an over-strong military, weak government, no leadership) and asks where the world should start helping; he then sets Hank's punishment: 15 hours in Missoula's Target plus publicly blending and eating a meal there. (00:00:16)
    • Why it is here: A compact argued overview of Pakistan's institutions (education, economy, military, government, leadership) ending in an open question about where aid should start.
  • 2009-12-29 · John · Adorable Puppy Explains Health Care Bill · US politics & society, explainer
    • John answers questions put by his dog Willy about the US Senate health-care reform bill: what it does (insurance regulation, subsidized exchanges, about 30 million newly covered), pre-existing conditions, abortion, immigrants, taxes, the deficit, Ben Nelson's vote, and why the individual mandate is needed. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A dense factual summary of a bill with many checkable numbers, attributed claims and an argued defence of the mandate.

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