A tiny house and a spectacular drone shot.
16th February 2026
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Heads up! This newsletter is more than three months old. Links may be out of date or lead to unexpected places, or the context may have changed. Please handle with care.
Hello!
I was given unsolicited advice by a marketing consultant this week that "personal anecdotes increase reader connection and retention", so: this week's newsletter was mostly written while I was in a shopping mall food court waiting for my phone to be repaired. I only panicked about my phone pocket being empty six times in twenty minutes, which is probably a fine and normal sign of how much my brain is now reliant on it as a Greg Egan-style exocortex.
I was given unsolicited advice by a marketing consultant this week that "personal anecdotes increase reader connection and retention", so: this week's newsletter was mostly written while I was in a shopping mall food court waiting for my phone to be repaired. I only panicked about my phone pocket being empty six times in twenty minutes, which is probably a fine and normal sign of how much my brain is now reliant on it as a Greg Egan-style exocortex.
Right, that's that box ticked.
Onwards. In this week's Lateral, returning players Lizzy Skrzypiec, Sophie Ward and Katie Steckles take on questions about meal mix-ups, private performances and familiar faces.
And here's some good stuff I've found on YouTube this week. As ever, if you see something that might fit here, do hit reply and let me know: I'm particularly interested in smaller channels that might not have reached my own suggestion algorithms. And there's a couple of great examples of that today:
- Last week, I talked about how the standards for YouTube videos are so high these days. Well, in the same vein: Physical Render built a Bob Ross painting as a tiny diorama, with real water. This is an excellent example of the genre,
well built and well narrated, and calming in a way that feels faithful to its inspiration... even if it does point out a glaring-in-hindsight, unrealistic mistake in the original! (Thanks to Keeyan for the suggestion.)
- Next, a video in a completely different genre but at a similarly high standard. Emily Zhang was a freelance researcher for many educational-explainer YouTube
channels: her new venture is a channel of her own, Rabbit Hole, that starts with a simple question: why do office chairs have five legs? This video covers trigonometry, ergonomics, and history -- and includes expert interviews and research. A channel to keep an eye on, here. (Thanks to many readers for sending this over!)
- This video of the mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, officiating weddings at at the NYC Marriage Bureau fascinated me for a couple of reasons. To be clear, it's a very well-produced PR piece by the Mayor's Office: something like
this a great way to make a political figure seem down-to-earth and friendly. And at the surface level, it's a lovely Valentine's video, too! But there's a couple of subtle details that reveal how that down-to-earth effect is produced in 2026, and I reckon they would have been unthinkable five years ago:
- First: most of the couples interviewed are holding
a big, clunky, square wireless mic-box! That would never have appeared in a professionally produced video just a couple of years ago: subtle lapel mics would have been clipped on, or maybe there would even have been a sound op with a boom pole. But now, the desire to appear authentic and down-to-earth on social media means that, even in an otherwise glossy video, the producer just asks the interviewee to hold a bit of consumer electronics. Never mind the expensive camera, lens, editing,
and everything else: hand them a mic, and suddenly everything Feels Genuine.
- And second: blink and you'll miss it, but on the shot of the dog, it's obvious that the seating is cracked and faded. The building doesn't look perfect -- but it's never shown to be run-down in a way that affects any couple's Big Day. The imperfections here, I think, are curated just as much as the video cuts, the words, and the music.
- First: most of the couples interviewed are holding
a big, clunky, square wireless mic-box! That would never have appeared in a professionally produced video just a couple of years ago: subtle lapel mics would have been clipped on, or maybe there would even have been a sound op with a boom pole. But now, the desire to appear authentic and down-to-earth on social media means that, even in an otherwise glossy video, the producer just asks the interviewee to hold a bit of consumer electronics. Never mind the expensive camera, lens, editing,
and everything else: hand them a mic, and suddenly everything Feels Genuine.
Those were certainly some nested bullet points; I didn't expect to write that much! Let's run through the rest of the web quickly, then:
- Ceefax, but in your web browser, and updated in real time. If this makes no sense to you because you're both not-British and over-25: Ceefax, defined. (Thanks to Oliver for sending this over!)
- Recreating the smells of history.
- Incredible news from biology and medicine: in 1986, there were an
estimated 3.5 million human cases of Guinea worm. Last year, there were just ten.
And finally: I have no context for this TikTok, but it's a spectacular drone shot. (Alternate link for desktop.)
All the best,
— Tom
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