The Create Unknown

Is YouTube Really Dead?

Thanks to MAINGEAR for speeding up everything for us. Check out the VYBE line that’s making up the core of Matt’s new studio -- and use code CREATE for a free additional year of warranty on desktops: https://maingear.com/ref/656/ Join Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecreateunknown This week we begin with the passing of sociologist and author Leah Greenfeld, whose work on identity, alienation, and modern society ended up feeling eerily ahead of its time. That retrospective leads us to a discussion on the importance of talking to older people while they’re still here, especially the rare ones who’ve experienced worlds and perspectives that are quickly disappearing. After that we pivot to a recent viral tweet with nearly half a million likes claiming there’s “nothing to watch on YouTube anymore,” and honestly…it might not be entirely wrong. We break down the strange feeling that many of us seem to be having – that modern YouTube recommendations have become both hyper-specific AND strangely unwatchable. Did you watch a single repair video one time to fix a single issue? Well, enjoy the parade of that exact type of content on your home page from now on! As we dig deeper and deeper, the conversation turns toward what we think was the real turning point for YouTube itself over the past decade – the death of YouTube Rewind. Was THAT the moment YouTube stopped understanding its own audience? Has YouTube become a “solved platform,” where creators optimize around formulas instead of originality? We also talk about a big shift in how creators today get INSPIRED. In the past, a lot of creators seemed to get their ideas from all kinds of outside experiences. But now, YouTubers are seemingly being influenced by… YouTube itself. Is that actually making good content? Or are we truly spiraling into a cycle of derivation and optimization? To close things out we get into some of YouTube’s bizarre moderation inconsistencies. Why are educational Vsauce videos, for instance, being age-restricted while more explicit content remains untouched? That takes us into a larger discussion about platform leadership, creator disconnect, and why modern YouTube culture feels so much different than the “good old days.” Big thanks to our patrons, we’ll see you next week! You love anime. You love tea. Get 10% off your order with code CREATE at The Dragon's Treasure: https://www.thedragonstreasure.com/ Buy our T-shirts: https://www.thecreateunknown.com/store/ Join our Discord to talk with artists, creators, and fans of the finer things in online life: discord.gg/vnRnr3rCzt Apple: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownApple Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownSpotify Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownGooglePodcasts CREDITS: Hosts: Kevin Lieber and Matt Tabor Executive Producer: Ben Webster Editor: Spencer Vann "Created in the Unknown" theme by Basswaite: https://linktr.ee/Basswaite Theme by Mega Drive → http://megadrivemusic.com Opening Animation: Kidmograph City Animation: Eric Langlay "The Create Unknown" is produced by Unknown Media. CONNECT WITH US: » Chat with us on DISCORD: https://discord.gg/qAQV3Jw » Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/createunknown » Follow us on INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/thecreateunknown » Follow us on FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/thecreateunknown » View our website: https://thecreateunknown.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Does Stephen King’s Carrie Hold Up?

Thanks to MAINGEAR for speeding up everything for us. Check out the VYBE line that’s making up the core of Matt’s new studio -- and use code CREATE for a free additional year of warranty on desktops: https://maingear.com/ref/656/ Join Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecreateunknown This week we’re diving deep into Stephen King’s iconic novel Carrie which, as it turns out, ended up being Matt’s FIRST real horror novel EVER. We talk about why King’s writing is so easily digestible, and how Carrie feels strangely modern despite being written over 50 years ago. We pick apart the book’s uniquely fragmented structure, and how it actually kind of resembles… modern scroll-based apps? Next we dissect the iconic prom scene and figure out why it might be one of the most perfect “killer app” images ever created in fiction. But what exactly is it that makes this scene so iconic, and more importantly, how did it shape Stephen King into the horror icon he is today? From there we get into Carrie’s horrifying home life, her mother’s religious fanaticism, and why the book’s version of Margaret White is much more interesting (and far more frightening) than most adaptations. We also pick apart the various Carrie movies, including the bizarre TV adaptation, and some truly catastrophic CGI choices. We round things out with a thorough examination of the story’s astonishing moral complexity. Is Carrie’s revenge satisfying…or deeply tragic? We talk about proportional justice, why some readers celebrate the destruction at the end, and the uncomfortable trend of treating mass revenge fantasies as empowering. Big thanks to our patrons, and we’ll see you next week! You love anime. You love tea. Get 10% off your order with code CREATE at The Dragon's Treasure: https://www.thedragonstreasure.com/ Buy our T-shirts: https://www.thecreateunknown.com/store/ Join our Discord to talk with artists, creators, and fans of the finer things in online life: discord.gg/vnRnr3rCzt Apple: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownApple Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownSpotify Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownGooglePodcasts CREDITS: Hosts: Kevin Lieber and Matt Tabor Executive Producer: Ben Webster Editor: Spencer Vann "Created in the Unknown" theme by Basswaite: https://linktr.ee/Basswaite Theme by Mega Drive → http://megadrivemusic.com Opening Animation: Kidmograph City Animation: Eric Langlay "The Create Unknown" is produced by Unknown Media. CONNECT WITH US: » Chat with us on DISCORD: https://discord.gg/qAQV3Jw » Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/createunknown » Follow us on INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/thecreateunknown » Follow us on FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/thecreateunknown » View our website: https://thecreateunknown.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

The Impossible Persona of Hulk Hogan

Thanks to MAINGEAR for speeding up everything for us. Check out the VYBE line that’s making up the core of Matt’s new studio -- and use code CREATE for a free additional year of warranty on desktops: https://maingear.com/ref/656/ Join Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecreateunknown This week we’re diving deep into a pop cultural figurehead, and the strange evolution of the medium that propelled him to stardom from a niche sideshow into one of the biggest entertainment machines on Earth. Of course, we’re talking Hulk Hogan, and the incomparable spectacle of WrestleMania. This one gets pretty wild, so buckle up. We start with a trip down memory lane as we reflect on our own introductions to the world of wrestling. We wonder, how did something so openly “fake” become more culturally powerful than many “real” sports? And what exactly was wrestling tapping into that made its stars so recognizable to almost everybody? From there, we break down how WrestleMania completely changed the business, and how Vince McMahon’s impossible gamble paid off so spectacularly. With wrestling turning into such a mainstream event, we wonder how much of modern entertainment owes something to it? Was it really the blueprint? We also explore why Hulk Hogan’s “Real American” persona was expertly crafted and perfectly molded to fit the landscape of the 1980s. Hogan was much more than just a wrestler…he was THE Cold War superhero. From there, we take a turn into Hogan’s bizarre Hollywood career, the infamous Richard Belzer incident, and the surreal energy of celebrity culture in the 80s and 90s. We talk about “Hollywood Hogan” and the overwhelming cultural shift toward cynicism in the 1990s. Naturally, as we wrap things up, we zoom out and take a look at the culture of America itself. What made figures like Hulk Hogan feel so real to people despite being overtly performative? And are larger-than-life personalities even possible anymore in an era obsessed with optimization, irony, and image management? Big thanks to our patrons, we’ll see you next week. You love anime. You love tea. Get 10% off your order with code CREATE at The Dragon's Treasure: https://www.thedragonstreasure.com/ Buy our T-shirts: https://www.thecreateunknown.com/store/ Join our Discord to talk with artists, creators, and fans of the finer things in online life: discord.gg/vnRnr3rCzt Apple: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownApple Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownSpotify Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownGooglePodcasts CREDITS: Hosts: Kevin Lieber and Matt Tabor Executive Producer: Ben Webster Editor: Spencer Vann "Created in the Unknown" theme by Basswaite: https://linktr.ee/Basswaite Theme by Mega Drive → http://megadrivemusic.com Opening Animation: Kidmograph City Animation: Eric Langlay "The Create Unknown" is produced by Unknown Media. CONNECT WITH US: » Chat with us on DISCORD: https://discord.gg/qAQV3Jw » Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/createunknown » Follow us on INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/thecreateunknown » Follow us on FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/thecreateunknown » View our website: https://thecreateunknown.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

The Magical Simplicity of Redwall

Thanks to MAINGEAR for speeding up everything for us. Check out the VYBE line that’s making up the core of Matt’s new studio -- and use code CREATE for a free additional year of warranty on desktops: https://maingear.com/ref/656/ Join Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecreateunknown This week we dive into Brian Jacques’ fantastical explorations into the world of rodentia through his hit series “Redwall.” But what starts as a dissection of literature quickly leads us to a much bigger question – why did this series resonate so deeply with millions of readers…and does it still hold up? We begin with a biographical examination of Jacques himself, his unlikely path into writing, the strange origins of Redwall, and why a man with no literary pedigree ended up creating one of the biggest fantasy series of its kind. From there, we wrestle with one of the big critiques of the books: morality. Is Redwall’s clear divide between heroes and villains overly simplistic, or strangely refreshing in the current landscape? After decades of morally gray antiheroes, is there something powerful about stories that know exactly where they stand? That leaves us wondering, are the animal archetypes lazy stereotyping, or a literary keystone? Do choices like that rob a story of its complexity or deepen its mythic feel? After that, we hold a magnifying glass up to the act of writing itself. What matters more in a novel: elegant prose, or pure storytelling momentum? Can a book still feel magical if the actual words on the page are cumbersome? And why does there seem to be such a discrepancy in what viewers and critics value? To finish out the episode, we talk about all things ADAPTATION. With the recent collapse of planned Redwall projects, we wonder why translating this absurdly successful world to screen has proven so difficult? Is it the violence? The tone? Or is some of what makes Redwall special just hard to adapt in the first place? Big thanks to our patrons, we’ll see you next week. You love anime. You love tea. Get 10% off your order with code CREATE at The Dragon's Treasure: https://www.thedragonstreasure.com/ Buy our T-shirts: https://www.thecreateunknown.com/store/ Join our Discord to talk with artists, creators, and fans of the finer things in online life: discord.gg/vnRnr3rCzt Apple: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownApple Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownSpotify Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownGooglePodcasts CREDITS: Hosts: Kevin Lieber and Matt Tabor Executive Producer: Ben Webster Editor: Spencer Vann "Created in the Unknown" theme by Basswaite: https://linktr.ee/Basswaite Theme by Mega Drive → http://megadrivemusic.com Opening Animation: Kidmograph City Animation: Eric Langlay "The Create Unknown" is produced by Unknown Media. CONNECT WITH US: » Chat with us on DISCORD: https://discord.gg/qAQV3Jw » Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/createunknown » Follow us on INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/thecreateunknown » Follow us on FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/thecreateunknown » View our website: https://thecreateunknown.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

The Explosive Art of Phil Summers

Thanks to MAINGEAR for speeding up everything for us. Check out the VYBE line that’s making up the core of Matt’s new studio -- and use code CREATE for a free additional year of warranty on desktops: https://maingear.com/ref/656/ Join Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecreateunknown This week we’re sitting down with artist Phillip Summers to take a close-up look at his expertly handcrafted game guides. So join us as we strap on our hiking boots to climb the towering mountain of work it actually takes to make something like this from scratch. We do a proper retrospective on all of Phil’s work, from early projects to more refined guides, and we’re left wondering… where’s the line between fan art and original creation, and when does something like this become entirely new? From there, we dig deep into the nuts and bolts of what it takes to run an operation like Phil’s – things like printing, shipping, damaged copies, replacements, and the many other hurdles Summers had to figure out in real time. What happens when a passion project suddenly scales? And how much of being a creator is actually just logistics? We also talk through hisMetroid Kickstarter that blew up seemingly instantaneously, and shut down just as fast. Hearing it directly from Summers, we ask: what do you do when something clearly resonates with people but legally can’t exist? That takes us straight into a discussion on how Phillip’s canceled kickstarter project led to a direct collaboration with Capcom. We close out with a bird’s eye view on balancing creative work with real life, and what it actually costs to keep making things consistently. If you want to create something like this, what are you willing to sacrifice? Big thanks to our patrons, we’ll see you next week! You love anime. You love tea. Get 10% off your order with code CREATE at The Dragon's Treasure: https://www.thedragonstreasure.com/ Buy our T-shirts: https://www.thecreateunknown.com/store/ Join our Discord to talk with artists, creators, and fans of the finer things in online life: discord.gg/vnRnr3rCzt Apple: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownApple Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownSpotify Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownGooglePodcasts CREDITS: Hosts: Kevin Lieber and Matt Tabor Executive Producer: Ben Webster Editor: Spencer Vann "Created in the Unknown" theme by Basswaite: https://linktr.ee/Basswaite Theme by Mega Drive → http://megadrivemusic.com Opening Animation: Kidmograph City Animation: Eric Langlay "The Create Unknown" is produced by Unknown Media. CONNECT WITH US: » Chat with us on DISCORD: https://discord.gg/qAQV3Jw » Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/createunknown » Follow us on INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/thecreateunknown » Follow us on FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/thecreateunknown » View our website: https://thecreateunknown.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]