Tom_Scott

Thanks to Jack from Jacksfilms on piano: https://youtube.com/jacksfilms • And thanks to everyone who answered! Sources and a data download are in the description. History sources: https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-secret-true-history-jingle-bells-batman-smells/ https://www.cbr.com/jingle-bells-batman-smells-secret-origin/ Data spreadsheet link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bVUdszCBsWn5ez9FPFCioirdyNeZu3ctvNYShExpTQo Audio mix by Graham Haerther: https://haerther.net 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social […]

Green screen looks terrible sometimes. Here’s why. • Get access to CuriosityStream, including Nebula and my original series, for just $2.99/month here: https://curiositystream.com/tomscott Animated by William Marler: https://wmad.co.uk Sound mix by Graham Haerther: https://haerther.net 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social links there too) 📰 […]

Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, is a now-desolate hillfort run by English Heritage. But it was once one of the most important sites in southern England: so important that it had two members of Parliament. Then, it became a “rotten borough”: and a warning about power. Thanks to English Heritage: more […]

There are lots of ways to compare a million to a billion, but most of them use volume. And I think that’s a mistake, because volume just isn’t something the human brain is great at. So instead, here’s the difference between a million and a billion, in a more one-dimensional […]

Linby is a small village in Nottinghamshire, England. It wouldn’t have much strategic value… unless some commander didn’t read their map properly. Here’s a local legend, with a few questions about it. Edited by Michelle Martin https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheCrux Story research by David Fletcher Thanks to historian Maureen Newton, to this transcription […]

In 1834, Parliament burned down, and the Standards of Measurement were melted or destroyed. So when there’s no agreed-upon standard for length: how do you fix it? Also: how you can still publicly check the length of your sandwich. Filmed safely: https://www.tomscott.com/safe/ There’s a correction to this video: the fraction […]

I invited Jaiden, Ellen and Hank to play a trivia quiz! The sort of quiz where you can get away with wrong answers… if nobody spots them. And since they couldn’t be there in person, I’ve got a massive virtual set. Too many wrong answers, and our players will be […]

Kolbeinsey is the most northern part of Iceland, a tiny island that, according to Wikipedia, is due to disappear due to wave erosion “probably around the year 2020”. Which raised an obvious question: is it still there? THANKS TO: This video was inspired by some tweets from author Sam Hughes. […]

Alec, Sally and Arun join me at the top of the virtual tower for a game where it doesn’t matter if you’re wrong… as long as no-one calls you on it. AD: White Light provided the SmartStage studio facilities and crew! You can find out more about their technology here: […]

Sooner or later, I was going to get around to this: it’s one of the most famous experiments in linguistics. • Written with Molly Ruhl and Gretchen McCulloch. Gretchen’s podcast has an episode all about this: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/175127434871/lingthusiasm-episode-21-what-words-sound-spiky Gretchen’s book BECAUSE INTERNET, all about the evolution of internet language, is available: […]