I Was Detained In Lebanon as an Israeli Spy

From “Rare Earth”. ( YouTube / Nebula ) Because I said this off the top of my head I made a few mistakes: 1. It was more like 35 people gawking, not 65 2. I keep calling them the CID for some reason when I really mean the ISF (Internal Security Forces) Other than that,…

History Buffs: Narcos Season Three – Part Two

From History Buffs. If you liked this video and want to go even deeper into the real story of the Cali Cartel, check out After Escobar, a new book by ex-DEA agent Chris Feistl. Chris worked with us on the research for our last few Narcos videos and shares his firsthand experience taking down the…

Faking History

From “Rare Earth”. ( YouTube / Nebula ) We didn’t mean to take such a long break but a few weeks ago we got bad medical news about our dog and now we’re sort of trying to make his exit as good as possible. Then when we started trying to get back into the swing…

History Buffs: Narcos Season Three – Part One

From History Buffs. If you liked this video and want to go even deeper into the real story of the Cali Cartel, check out After Escobar, a new book by ex-DEA agent Chris Feistl. Chris worked with us on the research for our last few Narcos videos and shares his firsthand experience taking down the…

After ten years, it’s time to stop weekly videos.

From Tom Scott. Find me here: ❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: https://lateralcast.com/ https://youtube.com/lateralcast 📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER https://www.tomscott.com/newsletter/ 🟥➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS: https://youtube.com/tomscottplus 👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: https://youtube.com/techdif 🟥 MAIN SITE: https://www.tomscott.com/ On January 1st, 2014, I uploaded the first "Things You Might Not Know" video. Once the initial rush of videos settled down, I aimed…

People are going to be angry about pylons.

From Tom Scott. Britain’s power grid is turning inside-out, which means pylons are about to become a lot more controversial in Britain. At the National Grid Training Centre, I climbed one. ■ The "Great Grid Upgrade": https://www.nationalgrid.com/the-great-grid-upgrade National Grid also asked if I’d plug their Early Careers page, for anyone in the UK thinking of…

Why the government drops flies on California

From Tom Scott. There’s a good reason for it. ■ More about the program: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/PDEP/prpinfo/ Edited by Michelle Martin https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheCrux 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social links there too) 📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: https://www.tomscott.com/newsletter/ ❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: https://lateralcast.com/ https://youtube.com/lateralcast/…

A robot just swapped my electric car’s battery

From Tom Scott. Nio is a Chinese auto maker that offers an alternative to charging: just swapping out the whole battery whenever you need it. I borrowed one of their cars. ■ Nio: https://www.nio.com/ Camera: Dion Huiskes https://feedbuilders.nl/ Editor: Julian Domanski https://www.juliandomanski.com/ 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social links…

Why don’t subtitles match dubbing?

From Tom Scott. Translation is really difficult. ■ AD: 👨‍💻 NordVPN’s best deal is here: https://nordvpn.com/tomscott – with a 30-day money-back guarantee. 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social links there too) 📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: https://www.tomscott.com/newsletter/ ❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast:…

Why use many streetlights when one will do?

From Tom Scott. The moonlight towers of Austin, Texas, are the last urban municipal lighting towers in the world: because before every street was wired to the grid, how else would you light up a city? ■ Austin Energy: https://austinenergy.com/ ■ Moonlight Towers https://www.austintexas.org/listings/moonlight-towers/5895/ Producer: Jodi Shores at Sparksight https://sparksight.com Director: Kelly Shores at @readysetdrone…

These tiny ships have a serious purpose

From Tom Scott. At Port Iława in Poland, pilots and captains of massive ships train on 1-to-24 scale ship models: and I got to drive one. ■ The Ship Handling Research and Training Centre: https://www.ilawashiphandling.com.pl/ 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social links there too) Edited by Michelle Martin https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheCrux…

Every mistake I’ve made since 2014.

From Tom Scott. Time to correct the record. ■ AD: 👨‍💻 NordVPN’s Black Friday deal is on: https://nordvpn.com/tomscott – with a 30-day money-back guarantee. ✅ All corrections: https://www.tomscott.com/corrections/ | ❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: https://lateralcast.com/ https://youtube.com/lateralcast/ 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social links there too) 📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with…

Does the language you speak change how you think?

From Tom Scott. No. Mostly. • Written with Molly Ruhl and Gretchen McCulloch. Gretchen’s podcast has an episode all about Arrival: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/157167562811/transcript-lingthusiasm-episode-3-arrival-of-the • More Language Files: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96C35uN7xGLDEnHuhD7CTZES3KXFnwm0 Gretchen’s book BECAUSE INTERNET, all about the evolution of internet language, is available: 🇺🇸 US: https://amzn.to/30tLpjT 🇨🇦 CA: https://amzn.to/2JsTYWH 🇬🇧 UK: https://amzn.to/31K8eRD (Those are affiliate links that give…

Boarding planes could have been very different

From Tom Scott. There’s a world in which everyone boards planes with "mobile lounges", PTVs, or Plane-Mates… but this is not that world. ■ YUL Montreal-Trudeau International Airport: https://www.admtl.com/en ■ AccessAir: https://accessairsystems.com/ Thanks to Eric Forest and the airport team, and to Christian Brice for stepping in for additional camerawork! 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/…

0-100 in less than a second. And I’m driving.

From Tom Scott. Main camera op: Juan Pablo Salazar Additional cam op: Tobias Binder Drone camera ops: Felix Kunz, Marco Odermatt 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social links there too) 📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: https://www.tomscott.com/newsletter/ ❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: https://lateralcast.com/…

there’dn’t’ve

From Tom Scott. This script was a nightmare to pronounce. • Written with Molly Ruhl and Gretchen McCulloch. Gretchen’s podcast has an episode all about this: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/662535562508517376/lingthusiasm-episode-60-thats-the-kind-of • More Language Files: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96C35uN7xGLDEnHuhD7CTZES3KXFnwm0 Gretchen’s book BECAUSE INTERNET, all about the evolution of internet language, is available: 🇺🇸 US: https://amzn.to/30tLpjT 🇨🇦 CA: https://amzn.to/2JsTYWH 🇬🇧 UK: https://amzn.to/31K8eRD (Those…

I finally rode the weird, curved German elevator.

From Tom Scott. At the New Town Hall, the Neues Rathaus, in Hanover, there’s a strange elevator where the track curves unevenly. For years, people from Germany have been emailing me about it: well, I finally visited. ■ More about the Hall: https://www.visit-hannover.com/en/Sightseeing-City-Tours/Tourist-Highlights/The-New-Town-Hall Camera: Maximilian Unger Producer: Viktor Sramo at Klein Aber 🟥 MORE FROM…