Welcome to the start of yet another year! Despite everything, I have managed to watch a lot of excellent video essays this past year. If you are new here, know that this list is unranked, but my words will show which videos I loved more than others and, more importantly, why. You can find each video by clicking the image or title of each section. I also went out of my way to find creators I’ve never heard of, so while you will be seeing some familiar names on this list again, I hope this year’s list feels a bit different from previous year’s lists. Speaking of which, you can find those previous lists here if you are curious about who those familiar names are. And finally, do stick around for the end of the article, as, in addition to the YouTube playlist containing all of these picks, I have a little extra to share with you all as well. So, without further delay, let’s get into this list!

Jenna Stoeber – you can zone out to this video, I won’t mind

2024, more than most years I’ve experienced, has left me exhausted. Often this past year, once I finally got the chance to sit down, I didn’t have any desire to do much of anything else. This resulted in me spending a whole lot of time with passive media. I didn’t want to engage with the next great TV series, or the next great narrative RPG, I just wanted to turn on a podcast (or video essay!), watch numbers pop up on a screen, and slip into a vegetative state. I know that type of diet can leave one spiritually malnourished, but as Jenna Stoeber says in this video, playing games like these is nothing to be ashamed of.

In this video, Jenna Stoeber takes a good look at a genre of games I don’t often think about, but play pretty often: Podcast Games. You know the type, your Survivors-like, roguelike, or live service game that you most often play with friends or with a show, podcast, or video running in the background. I love games like these, but they are often so simple in their construction that I didn’t think there was much to say about them. I was wrong, and Stoeber goes in-depth on why these games serve an important purpose to our brains, and why people enjoy them. It touches on everything from the origins of Vampire Survivors to the stigmas we attach to games from different devices. Stoeber comes off just as comprehensive and educational as she does accessible and funny. This was the year that I became a fan of hers, and this is the video that started it all for me.

Lextorias – Video Game Piracy Is Good, Actually

2024 has been a terrible year for video game preservation. Nintendo took legal action against its most high-profile emulation communities to the point where they have seemingly all abandoned their vital work. The Video Game History Foundation announced earlier this year that the US Copyright Office would not grant games special exemption in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in support of video game preservation. Plus, the last few years of the gaming industry breaking its back to satisfy investors ignorant of the medium has led to studios closing and games being delisted. A future in which video games are as widely available and accessible as books is becoming less and less likely.

So, in this increasingly corporatized world, piracy is making a bit of a comeback. This video essay from Lextorias does NOT describe how to do piracy or even point to resources for it. But in it, he does explain the reasons piracy is important, and why it has fallen out of style over the last few years. It’s funny, informative, and tackles a “taboo” topic to many in a way that will have you questioning why it became taboo in the first place. Worth watching for anyone who’s online enough to care about this topic, even if you don’t know what a seeder or a leecher is.

Shaun – Palestine

While most of us Americans only woke up to the genocide happening in Palestine after the Nakba of 2023, Israel has been bombarding them at worst, and harassing them at best, for an entire generation. We’ve been the biggest military backer of Israel for years and years, so much of our tax money directly goes toward the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent lives. Almost every mainstream politician in America either feverishly supports Israel, the ones taking these lives directly, or passively just accept the war crimes they regularly commit. So, with all that in mind, what the fuck should a regular person like you do about it?

This video from Shaun will not give you that straight answer. What it does best is trace the many lines of thinking that may arise within someone witnessing these atrocities and the apathy for the victims of it. He shows the lies of Israeli propaganda, he shows just how simple this conflict is by starting at the beginning of Isreal’s occupation, he shows the humanity of Palestinians, and he even shows how even he himself came into discovering the extent of suffering going on in the region. But most importantly, he discusses why all of that might still not change the minds of many, maybe even most, people. I wish it had more answers, which I guess is unfair to expect, but is hopefully understandable why I crave it. But I still think it is one of the best, most comprehensive videos on the topic I’ve seen in the last year.

One of the reasons we have such a hard time humanizing Palestinians is that much of the US media has been dehumanizing them for decades. If you wanna hear more about that, you can check out this video from Hippolyte, which dives deeper into the responsibility the video game industry has for this specifically.

mia cole – gen z & politics

First off, if it was justifiable to blame anyone who isn’t me for this essay dropping in 2025 and not 2024, then I would blame Mia Cole. Ms. Cole dropped an incredible essay near the top of the year called “the ethics of CONTENT” and it managed to stay near the top of my list throughout the entire year. It’s a thoughtful, and comical, look at YouTube, Reels, and other short-form and long-form, media that we consume every day. It had research, it had jokes, it had heart, and I had it pretty much locked in for months. But then she dropped this video and I threw all that out.

“gen z & politics” is a great video because while “ethics” was a deeper look at one rung of the ladder, this video is a look at the entire ladder. She tackles a lot of the core anxieties that anyone with a deep care for humanity, not limited to Generation Z, would have right now. I’ll admit that a topic like this is inherently less funny/fun, and this video reflects that. It’s a bit more serious, but only because it’s giving these topics, these shared concerns, the gravity they deserve. This video also has jokes and plenty of great research as well, but it has even more heart. It’s hard to believe something like it came from someone over a decade my junior, but this might be one of the best examples to show that the kids may actually be alright.

Palette Swap – The Search for the Apolitical Video Game

As 2024 began, it seemed like it would be a year defined by yet another mass harassment campaign by gamers veiled by pure intentions. Similar to how “ethics in games journalism” was the battle cry for an insolated group of online manchildren, this past year was defined by a slightly bigger, slightly louder group proclaiming that games now are “woke”. This is a term that is appropriated from my culture, but when in the mouths of non-blacks, they most intend it to mean that a game is political. This incredible video essay from Palette Swap, a spin-off of Hard Drive, manages to show just how insane of a complaint that is.

Sorry if this is how you find out, but in case you didn’t know: all art is political. There’s not a single story or world mankind has created that doesn’t portray aspects of the world it was created in or aspects of the mind that birthed it, which in turn portrays the world again. Fudj, the video’s creator, is more interested in making jokes than he is in taking down this mentality with facts and logic. But honestly, it feels most appropriate to laugh at the idea of an apolitical game, so it’s the perfect tone. It’s a great video, and you might even be surprised to see where he ends up on the journey!

i am error – Portal 2 is too perfect for it’s own good

A while back, I, very meticulously, made a list of my top 100 games of all time. I tried getting a bunch of different genres and platforms on the list, but once I filled every slot, I realized that I didn’t have any games from Valve listed until the very end. I love first-person shooters, and I enjoyed my time with Half-Life 2 enough that I listed it in the 90s. But one thing I was surprised to realize is not only did I rank Portal higher than its sequel, Portal 2, but Portal 2 was knocked off the list completely. I couldn’t think of a single thing wrong with the game, so why was I so harsh on it?

This video from i am error helped me understand my relationship with that game. There are some arguments here that you might expect, but she also uses this topic as a jumping-off point to analyze why the audience that played Portal 2 specifically would be the type of crowd to love it so much. I swear, this isn’t an hour-long takedown about how one of your favorite games is bad, actually. It is smarter than that, and thoroughly lays out how a game this universally loved could be seen as uninteresting to some. I felt very validated by this video, and recommend it to anyone curious about how such a contrarian opinion can be had and defended.

lil bill – the black church is cooked

While I never stopped believing in Christ, I haven’t been to church in ages, and I can tell you why. Shortly after I graduated high school, I sat in the pew with my family and the pastor got around to his sermon. This was one of those pastors that would lean heavily on “kids these days” tropes in his sermons, which shouldn’t have bothered me since I was widely known as a “good kid”, but did anyway. I found out that day why it did. In the middle of his sermon, he said something along the lines of “I’m tired of these kids walking around with their hair uncombed and their pants sagging.” That happened to be the very same month I began growing my hair out to eventually grow locs, and the day I accidentally forgot my belt for my slacks at home. I’m sure he didn’t mean to call me out, and I didn’t mean to cosplay as the degenerate he imagined, but it dawned on me that day just how easy it is to be perceived as something less than a child of God, despite what was in my heart. So, with the exception of major family events, I haven’t attended church since.

Lil bill’s video goes into some of the history of the black church while also examining why it’s even “like that” in the first place. It’s not only informative but also a bit affirming to see that I wasn’t the only one who became a bit disillusioned with the black church. But he also talks about the side effects to black culture that the lack of black churches has created, like the lack of free music education that the choir would indirectly provide to children. He even used the 2022 film, Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul as a lens to identify the structural issues within the black church. Lil bill has been one of my favorite writers I stumbled across on YouTube this year, and this video shows just why I fuck with him so heavily.

Folding Ideas – I Don’t Know James Rolfe

I can’t tell you how much I know about both The Nostalgia Critic and The Angry Video Game Nerd. I’ve watched so many hours of content about them, but despite this, I have never watched their content. During the height of their popularity, I was locked in elsewhere on the internet, so I never came across their stuff until I found their former collaborators, like Lindsay Ellis, and their former fans, like Lady Emily and, in this case, Dan Olson of Folding Ideas.

In this video, Olson does maybe the most detailed, all-encompassing look at The Angry Video Game Nerd ever written. But this isn’t the first time I’ve had Olson on one of these lists, and his excellent research and subtlety personal writing is on full display here. But what brings this to another level is how filmic his video essay is. Olson is no stranger to high-effort shots or narratively justified breaks from reality, but this is by far his best use of these elements. Plus, he comes to a conclusion that, while telegraphed early on, still manages to come off as a novel surprise. For a creator who has been doing incredible work for years, this is easily his best one yet.

If you want more awesome videos about the fear of leaving a legacy of mediocrity behind, then this great video from snow is worth watching as well.

Pillboy – Black Women Love Black Nerds

I didn’t realize how much I would need this video until later in the year, but even when I came across it earlier in 2024, I knew it was quality. Sure, it’s become a bit of an affirmation video recently, but it is one that I’m glad not only exists but exists in the way it does. As more and more black folk enter and thrive within the video essay community on YouTube, it brings me joy to see folks talk about black topics in a way that welcomes black folks from all walks of life without talking down or alienating any of them. I think Pillboy as a creator is great at this, and this video is what first opened my eyes to that.

“Black Women Love Black Nerds” breaks down the reasons it’s commonly thought of by many black men that the opposite is true. But he doesn’t just say “You’re wrong” and leave it there, he offers solutions and diagnoses of the problems that may lead someone to believe that in the first place. The only flaw I’d point to is his overuse of specific clips of b-roll when he mentions certain concepts; we don’t quite need to see the same Family Matters clip every time the topic relevant to that clip comes up. But that is a small gripe for a video that has so much effort, personality, and personal experiences within it.

mothcub – Love Actually & the Hell Genre it Spawned

Until the last ember of light is extinguished within my soul, I will always have a soft spot for romantic comedies. From Hitch to 13 Going On 30, some of my favorite movies of all time are within this genre. But I know rom-coms have a reputation for being lazy, corny, and having nonsensical plots. This is not true for the best of the genre, but those classics are so few and far between that the genre is often defined by its worst entries. And, as Mothclub has convinced me in this video essay, it seems that Love Actually is one of the weaker ones.

Everyone knows Love Actually, even if you haven’t seen it like me. It’s an ensemble of A to G list celebrities, and they all get paired together in different configurations to either fall in love with each other or learn some lessons about love and life. You’ve heard this story before, but what you might not know, and what I didn’t until watching this video, is that this iconic flick is the first in a loose series that has run way longer than it should have. I was not prepared to see how far the rabbit hole went on this specific subgenre, but Moth proves to be a funny and passionate guide through the madness of vapid cinema in this hilarious pick.

Lindsey Ellis – Yoko and The Beatles

I’d like to say that my skin tone is too dark to care about The Beatles, but they’re very much so big enough that I couldn’t even make that joke with full confidence. In their heyday, and even often in more modern times, they captivated the world in a frenzy due to their sometimes catchy, sometimes strange, always iconic, music. However, even though I’m largely unfamiliar with the group, one thing I do know is the “fact” that Yoko Ono is responsible for breaking up The Beatles. I never knew why or how, but this excellent video from one of the founders of the video essay genre, Lindsey Ellis, not only answers that question, but questions if that’s even a valid question to ask.

I said earlier that “I Don’t Know James Rolfe” was the most filmic video essay I saw this year, but this one feels like a full-fledged documentary, on par with anything you see on network TV, if not theatrically. The heavy use of archived footage and quotes read out by an entire cast of fellow essayists makes this feel like a grand work. I’m sure Nebula’s involvement helped (and it premiered on that service originally late last year, but I’m counting it now because ITS MY LIST), but Ellis deserves all the praise for this incredible retrospective/analysis of how we view celebrities. Glad to have her back on YouTube, even though I never had time to miss her thanks to her Nebula output over the last year or so.

CJ The X – 6 Shapes of God

Remember when I fucked up and watched CJ’s video on Jeff Bezos a day after putting out my Video Essay list for that year? Remember how pissed I was about that? Well, I locked in this year and kept an eye out for them because I’d be damned if I missed another essay of that quality from them again. Now, after a slightly quiet year on the upload front, they are back with this video: “6 Shapes of God”. It’s not as grand as that Jeff Bezos video, but it is just as cathartic of a watch because you can tell that they have learned something from making that previous video, and therefore has gained more perspective on life.

The video itself is hard to sum up in a listicle like this. It’s a video almost exclusively about ethereal concepts and big ideas. There’s philosophy, spirituality, a dash of religion, and a look at how each affects our day-to-day lives. It’s a video that not only carries tips on how to see the world in a more personally satisfying way but also how to live within it in a way that is just as satisfying. It’s deep and sincere as much as it is hilarious and intoxicatingly unhinged, as you’d expect from CJ. Hopefully, this video will get you closer to transcendence, or at least closer to one of the other scenes in the Barbie movie.

F.D. Signifier – I’m What the Culture Feeling

I don’t make it a secret how much I love the music of Kendrick Lamar. The last two music reviews I’ve done for this site have been for Kendrick albums. In the lead-up to Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, I reviewed every Kendrick album on my YouTube channel. I’ll be seeing him in concert for a third time this year, own multiple albums of his on vinyl, and often talk about how To Pimp A Butterfly changed my life. So, you can imagine that the beef between Kendrick and Drake that took over much of 2024 was the most exciting cultural event I ever lived through.

This video from one of my GOATs, FD Signifier, explains not only why Kendrick fans were invested in the beef, but why the beef was so important to hip-hop culture as a whole. This isn’t just a shallow rehash of personal drama between celebrities. This man starts all the way back at the origins of hip-hop and explains the backgrounds of Kendrick and Drake before even getting to the beef itself, and that alone takes up more than half of the video. But despite its length and massive scope, it is probably one of the most widely viewed and widely loved video essays of the year. Hell, it even passed the hardest test of all: my mom watched it with me and liked it! This is likely the easiest video to recommend on this entire list, and I think anyone who even had a light interest in the beef will be captivated by this incredible video.

Elliot Sang – Biden.mp4

Hey so, everything sucks right now, huh? After the first Trump administration, I think a lot of us thought that Biden would hold us down well enough that we’d never have to worry about a Trump administration again. Well, that’s ended up not being the case. We’re seemingly back at square one, and the former Vice President has plenty of blame to take. But Elliot Sang isn’t interested in just slandering the man for his more recent failures.

Sang lays out a compelling narrative of a man whose ambition was his defining trait, all the way up until it became his only trait. Biden has been in politics for decades, but his positions and actions haven’t always aligned with who he claims to be today. Hell, even who he is today, and who he’ll eventually remembered as, doesn’t line up to the reality of his life. His biography is messy, but compelling nonetheless, and this deep dive into his career and personal life has the perfect balance of criticism and grace to Joe Biden himself. Easily one of the best video essays Elliot has done, and one that still lingers in my mind.

If you wanna hear more about the dangers of the white liberal, which Biden was all too good at being, check out this great video from Second Thought about The Most Dangerous Thing In The Western Hemisphere.

Dasia Sade – The Tragic Optimist’s Guide to Surviving Capitalistic Nihilism

This is probably my favorite video essay of the year. Similar to Mia Cole’s video I mentioned earlier, this video from Dasia Sade touches on similar themes of hopelessness felt by current generations. But instead of framing it as a problem with a generation itself, it is framed here as a problem with all people living under this system, regardless of age. This not only lets the video more easily apply to me but also allows for the acknowledgment of the fact that, for those older than Gen Z, there was indeed a time we can call back to that didn’t feel quite like it does now.

But this video doesn’t just identify the problem but attempts to prescribe a solution. She talks about the fact that the general sense of nihilism we all feel is indeed due to structural failures, but she manages to give ways we can push against those structures on not only an individual, and mental, level but a communal one as well. It’s well-researched and informative, but also equally as pleasant and cozy to watch. I’ve run this back a few times since it was released and it just feels like a warm hug every time, especially on the days when I really needed the optimism. I hope to implement more of the advice given in this video in my personal life, and I hope it gives you all something to chew on as well.

Alexander Avila – brat and the Culture of Addiction

Alexander Avila has quickly become one of my favorite creators on YouTube, which is wild considering I am not the target demographic for his content, at least not at first. Beginning as Are They Gay, a channel that looked closely at various fictional characters to determine if they were…well you see the name, Avila has recently swapped over to deep dives of specific pieces of media and the ways they reflect the culture they were made within. This shift has resulted in some of my favorite video essays of all time, like his video about Taylor Swift from a while back.

From one pop queen to another, this video talks about the album, brat, by Charlie XCX and the cultural impact it had on 2024. I might not know anything about the world of hyperpop, but I too was inundated with the memes. I’ve seen the green text, I’ve seen the black font, and I’ve heard the clips through TikTok and Reels. But what I didn’t understand is why it has such a chokehold on popular culture. I didn’t understand why brands and political campaigns appropriated its aesthetic. Sure they want to ride the wave of what’s popular to popularize themselves, but why was it popular? This video answers that question by doing what I may have had a hard time doing myself, taking the movement seriously. And once he gets you to do that, a whole, wide new world of cultural criticism is opened up, and it is a fascinating one to explore.

Riloe – The Zone: Cross-media Analysis

Riloe has not been around very long in the video essay space. Originating in the world of YouTube Shorts and TikTok, he only got into full-length, full-width videos in the last year or so. But even in his short form days, his editing and voice stood out, so it’s no surprise that he’s gained over 100K subscribers already, despite the brief time making this kind of content. However, most of his content up to now has been about military shooters exclusively, with deep dives into Escape from Tarkov, and games similar to it, being his bread and butter. But in the back half of 2024, he spread his wings a bit, and this video is a great example of that.

Most who would be reading an article like this have been introduced to the world of Roadside Picnic, or the many works it has gone on to inspire. From the STALKER game series to the film of the same name, the concepts of exclusion zones, anomolies, and oppressively strange worlds have captivated audiences for decades. With the recent release of STALKER 2, what better time could there be to dive into the shared themes of these works? Riloe does just that, and everything, from his writing to his video editing techniques, to even his literal voice, is at a level that would make you think he’s been doing this for decades. Similar to Alexander Avila, this shift in style and subject matter suits Riloe, and you will likely see more of him around the gaming essay space shortly.

Mia Mulder – What’s Wrong With Democracy?

You know, anyone can research a topic. Looking things up, tracking down primary sources, and citing it all properly isn’t easy work at all, but it is often easier than going out and acquiring firsthand experience. If you were to, for a completely random example, become an actual elected official all so you could get a more intimate experience with how governing works, that’d be way too much work and would be very insane to do. Well, Mia Mulder did just that, and it is indeed insane that she did that.

The resulting video is, as it says on the tin, a pretty deep look at democracy. But beyond that, It’s a look at how individuals have impacts on their democracy. Politics are messy because people are messy, and the history, and present, of Swedish politics that she discusses is fascinating due to that fact. But it’s most eye-opening to hear her discuss just how effective “working from the inside” actually is, and if she feels that more or better work could be done elsewhere. This video is a fascinating, intimate look at politics in a region I’ve rarely considered, but also a fun and informative video all on its own as well. Hell, there are even a good few things US politics could learn from how it’s done in Sweden.

The Leftist Cooks – Should People Exist? Antinatalism and the Politics of Pregnancy

I’ll be honest: I’ve heard quite a bit about The Leftist Cooks, but didn’t check them out until this past year. Of all the videos of them I’ve seen, I think this video shows best what they are all about. They are the kinds of people who come across a personal hardship, obstacle, or intimidating change and instead of succumbing to the fear of that impending shift, they tackle it head-on. At the start of this video, they drop a pretty massive bomb and then spend the next almost 3 hours detangling how they feel about it.

This video uses philosophy, statistics, and a healthy dollop of personal experiences to examine childbearing in this chaotic age we all find ourselves in. It was enlightening to me in several ways, because it exposed me to aspects of pregnancy I never considered. I like to think of myself as a feminist if that’s even a thing I’m allowed to claim, but this video really challenged how deserving I am of that self-imposed label. But the discomfort I experienced didn’t cancel out what my core beliefs were, just made me understand more why I believe in them and what it means to do so. It’s a fascinating video from a fascinating couple, and I wish the best for them and the new life they have welcomed.

Charlotte – “This health crisis was brought to you by Nickelodeon” — a video essay

I dabbled in Cartoon Network and Disney Channel, but I have always been a real Niggalodeon my entire life. Blue’s Clues was the first TV show I was ever obsessed with, SpongeBob Squarepants has been a lifelong role model, and I voted in and cared about the Kids Choice Awards for quite a few years past where I should have outgrown it. Even today, through the clothes I wear, the memes I laugh at, and my favorite color (orange), nostalgia for Nickelodeon is strong. On a general level, I know that overdosing on nostalgia kills the mind, but I didn’t consider just how damaging exposure to that programming was until watching this awesome video from Charlotte.

She’s done a whole lot of research on how food corporations have manipulated the youth who watch these kinds of networks through advertising. But she doesn’t stop there, as she uses children’s advertising to have a conversation about how we adults perceive healthiness. As someone who has also been trying to be even slightly conscious of my health recently, this video made me reconsider why exactly I’ve been making that change, and what should be important to prioritize. Hell, she even throws some strays at my beloved America’s Next Top Model. But it’s pretty much all warranted, as this is an important topic to shine a light on and a compelling lens with which to view it.

So, if you’re suddenly motivated to cook more often after watching this video, let me also recommend this great video from hoots that asks: Is Cooking Classist? Ya know, just to give you more to worry about.

Aranock – Everyone’s Wrong About I Saw The TV Glow

My Letterboxd last year will tell a tale of relative stagnation. Pretty much all I saw last year were franchise entries or trendy “indie” picks from companies that probably provide big enough budgets to not be considered indie at this point. I’m not regretful of this, as I loved movies like Alien Romulus and Longlegs. But I still wish I got outta my comfort zone more and watched some things that challenged me, because the one time I did last year yielded immense rewards. That movie was I Saw the TV Glow and I loved it.

I have my reasons for enjoying the movie, but I don’t think I would have understood the real impact this movie had on people if not for Aronock’s video here. She technically made this list last year as well, but this video further shows how great she is at media analysis. In this case, however, her love for this film goes much deeper than it ever did with Star Wars last year. She does indeed touch on some of the universal elements that someone like me latched onto, but she spends the bulk of her words on why this film has resonated so deeply with trans audiences specifically. Do not watch this before seeing the movie, but if you’ve done that already, then this is a must-watch video for a must-watch film.

Tensai Productions – Exploiting Your Life for Art

Tensai Productions is quickly becoming my favorite video essayist of all time. He’s pretty young and hasn’t been at this for all that long as a result, but he has come out of the gate swinging. His massive look at the life of Orson Wells is one of my favorite video essays of all time, and he’s continued that level of quality into 2024.

This video takes a look at creators who put their own lives on full display for the sake of their art. It starts fun but then gets dark, and the depths of that darkness are thankfully obscured from those who don’t know the deepest lore of the person(s) mentioned. But he brings those things up for good reason, as it serves as a great example of the spectrum of folks who encourage voyeurism of their own lives or have it thrust upon them. It’s an idea that anyone who creates art, and therefore, bares their soul, has to have on their mind at some point, and the way in which Tensai has that conversation elevates it by so much. Anyone can write about art, but it takes a different kind of talent to present it and perform it in an artistic way. He does this every single video, but this is my favorite time he’s done in all of last year.

This is a great video to start with, but if you’re itching for more from him, he more recently dropped another incredible and, personally, scarily relatable essay about Sonic and the Queer Spectrum of Reality.

Kathrin – Prison Abolition: What About The R@pists and Ped0philes?

I believe that one of the greatest evils that America participates in is the prison industrial complex. There are few things more evil than claiming to abolish slavery, the greatest historical evil of this country, only to rebuild that entire system under the justification of criminal punishment. It should not exist, but once you bring that up, the first thing people ask about is what to do with the people who deserve a punishment that harsh. Some acts are unforgivable and deserving of nothing less than the worst punishment, but what kind of society is created when something so horrid not only exists but is a regulated tool of the state?

Kathrin tackles that question in an incredibly radically kind way. She, as a Survivor of sexual abuse herself, talks about how the criminal justice system, as it currently exists, did less to give her peace, and more just to punish the perpetrator. She points out several issues with how we currently treat these kinds of people, some that I knew about, some that I didn’t consider, and some that I still have difficulty coming fully around on. Out of all the videos in this list, this one might be the most transgressive. To lead with empathy so completely that you still wield it even on those responsible for the worst ills in society is incredibly difficult to do, but if we want a better world for everyone, and actually mean it, the conversations this video may start are needed desperately. Despite the calm, almost therapeutic tone of this one, it is a tough watch, but one worth seeing through.

Olunatti – America Hates The Left & We Need A Plan

This is gonna be a hell of a video to end on, especially after the last one. I hope that anyone reading this also longs for a world better than the one we currently reside in. I find myself able to easily imagine that ideal world, but it is so much harder to imagine how we go about doing the work to get there. After the most recent US election cycle, it feels like we are further away from that ideal world now more than ever before, but Olunatti’s video felt like the right thing I needed to hear right now.

Her video doesn’t provide the one answer, the one strategy, that will fix everything. Instead, her video is an, understandably, frustrated rant at the existential issues the left faces right now. If we want people “on our side” politically, we have to convince them. We have to counter years or even decades of programming and social engineering that tells us all the behaviors, beliefs, and prejudices we’ve developed under late-stage capitalism are normal and good. She’s preaching to the choir, but since we’ve been singing off-key lately, a pep talk does seem to be in order. But most powerfully, it serves as a bit of a time capsule, a glimpse at how spirits were in the immediate aftermath of a second Trump electoral win, and what kind of energy we held in our hearts as we braced for the next phase in an ever going, though worthwhile fight.

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And that’s the end of the list! Hopefully, you got put on to a new favorite creator or two. I tried adding more variety to the list this year, but I know there is even more I can do on that front. Learned late last year that there’s a whole Vimeo side of the space I’ve been blind to, so I’ll be looking to include spaces like that in future lists. But as for this one, I have included the YouTube playlist of every video listed embedded below. But also, if you are a sicko whose thirst for video essays isn’t satiated by this measly list of 24, I have a list over 4 times as large that adds every other video essay from 2024 that I liked as well. No one in their right mind should sort through all that, but if you do, you knew you weren’t in your right might before clicking I’m sure.

Hope everyone, tries, to have a good 2025! Be good to each other, don’t lose hope, and as always, keep it real and keep it trill.