I distinctly remember getting my first mobile device: a fourth-generation iPod Touch. It had a hot pink case and felt like my personal TV. While I loved taking photos and playing frightening amounts of Pocket Frog, my favorite pastime was, by far, watching YouTube videos.
While age has brought “trendier” social media platforms into my life, like Instagram and TikTok, YouTube has always held a special place in my heart. Though I’ll always be fond of my old preferences like LDShadowLady’s Minecraft videos, Alisha Marie’s vlogs, and literally anything BuzzFeed produced, I’ve found that the content I’m drawn to on YouTube has shifted to commentary and introspective interview videos.
The content I consume ranges far and wide, but these four(-ish) YouTubers are always at the top of my homepage.
1. Mike’s Mic
Michael Messineo, popularly known as Mike’s Mic, is, without a doubt, my favorite YouTuber! He’s an Australian pop culture commentary creator, making plot recaps of various movies and TV shows.
Mike’s Mic perfectly blends pop culture references, deep analysis of cinematography and storytelling, and an unbeatable sense of humor in all his videos. I’ve rewatched his videos multiple times, and I never tire of them. His content tends to be long, providing a perfect background for cleaning, crafting, or bed-rotting, while simultaneously helping me retrain my attention span.
My pop culture knowledge and awareness of movies and TV shows have grown tenfold since stumbling upon his channel. I don’t care if I’ll be a college graduate and possibly a member of the workforce when the last episode of his Lost recap comes out; I will be sat.
I’m particularly fond of his multi-part Glee and Lost show recaps and his Robots, Gone Girl, and Hoodwinked movie recaps, though all his content is fantastic and I can’t recommend it enough.
‘Royal Court’
Royal Court is the brainchild of kombucha-reviewer turned comedian Brittany Broski. Set in Broski’s fictional medieval realm, Royal Court is one of the leading YouTube-interview style series, having guests complete tasks while answering questions to earn a spot on Broski’s trusted council.
While the show’s initial guests were smaller celebrities and fellow content creators, the show has quickly grown into an obligatory stop on big-time press tours, hosting celebrities like Anne Hathaway and Matt Damon for The Odyssey and Harry Styles for his latest album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.
Broski shines as a host in this format, creating an environment that clearly emphasizes fun. When the harder-hitting questions arise towards the end of the episode, guests answer honestly and easily.
Broski finishes all interviews by anointing guests with titles and admission into Leader Broski’s Royal Court. Cole Sprouse, Veteran of the Gulf War, and Marcello Hernández, Mama’s Boy and Short King Ambassador to the Realm, are two of my favorite interviews and additions to the court, though the show’s format is so entertaining that I enjoy them all.
‘Last Meals’
Last Meals is a long-form interview show hosted by Josh Scherer on the Mythical Kitchen channel. Alluded to by the show’s catchphrase, “We’ve all gotta eat, and we’re all gonna die,” Last Meals explores guests’ lives and careers through Scherer’s hard-hitting, niche questions and a multi-course experience of the guest’s ideal last meal.
I want to become famous for the sole purpose of being on this show. The sky’s the limit for food requests, allowing guests to explore significant meals from their childhood and beyond. While the format of the show is a brilliant concept to begin with, Scherer’s attention to detail and interview style make the show one of the best of its kind.
Gordon Ramsay, Trixie Mattel, and Jennette McCurdy are my favorite guests, but Last Meals is one of the few interview-style shows that I’ll watch an episode of with any guest.
Last Meals, led by Scherer’s brilliant hosting, humanizes its guests in the best way, inquiring about sensitive topics with care. Interviewing people who are often put on pedestals in the framework of death, the one thing that equalizes us all, is a brilliant format for an interview show. Last Meals holds a special place in my heart, and being a guest on the show will continue to top my bucket list, despite my lack of qualifications.
Danny Gonzalez and Drew Gooden
While I know Danny Gonzalez and Drew Gooden “are not the same person,” their careers and content are so intertwined that I view them as one. Both Gonzalez and Gooden got their start in content creation on the precursor to all current short-form media platforms, Vine.
Like many Vine creators, when the app shut down, Gonzalez and Gooden made the transition to YouTube. While many Vine creators were unsuccessful, Gonzalez and Gooden’s humor transferred perfectly to their separate YouTube channels.
Gonzalez and Gooden are both comedian-commentary YouTubers, creating recap videos and often collaborating. Both Gonzalez and Gooden are extremely intelligent, but their unbeatable sense of humor is what makes their videos so special.
Gooden especially has a talented way of incorporating serious commentary on topics like the growth of AI in media and creators taking advantage of the naivete of their young audiences into his incredibly entertaining and funny videos.
The duo’s chemistry is unmatched, and I’ve watched every single one of their collaborative videos more than once. My personal favorites are “The World’s Hardest Flexer (with Danny Gonzalez)” and “The Jeremy Renner App (w/ Drew Gooden).”
As the literal size of my device has grown alongside me, from my first iPod Touch to my first actual TV, the role of media has grown alongside me, too. While I’m sure my taste in YouTube videos will change as I get older, I adore the feed I’ve curated for myself on the app. YouTube has grown from a way to entertain myself into a way to learn.
Yes, I’m still watching videos often based on humor, but they’re also based on the idea of analyzing and understanding the human experience. No matter what media platforms I come across, YouTube and the brilliant creators on it will always hold a special place in my heart.
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