rebecca

Did Legalizing Abortion Reduce Crime 20 Years Later?

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Last week I talked about the data that suggests lead might have been partially to blame for the rise of violent crime around the world in the 1990s, and its removal from things like the gasoline we put in our cars is partially to blame for the subsequent drop in crime in the later ‘90s. If you don’t feel like watching that video, I’ll sum it up like this: lead is without a doubt VERY bad for humans, espec...

Is Lead to Blame for Crime & Boomer Stupidity?

Hey patrons, enjoy this video early and ad-free until Friday morning!

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If you subscribe to my alt channel, which you should because it’s fun, you may know that I recently spent an afternoon soldering together a vampire lawn flamingo with glowing red eyes. And that activity made me wonder, is the lead in this solder that I’m holding and melting and breathing in making me stupid? Stupider, I mean? And maybe more violent, in the same way that lead in plumbing and wine and paint and gasoline made ancient Romans and Boo...

Why mRNA Vaccine Researchers Won the Nobel Prize & Why We Can't Forget Novavax

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It’s a very happy week for me, friends, because on Monday I got my COVID-19 booster along with a freshly update flu shot, which means I can happily move into my favorite season without worrying much about getting sick or, even worse, getting more vulnerable people around me sick. I’m still going to mask up and generally avoid gathering indoors, but I’m going to be way less annoying about it, which will make everyone around me happier.

...

The "Liquid Tree" is Very Cool Actually

Hey patrons, just a fun little video to wrap up the month! Enjoy it early and ad-free until Monday morning.

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I talk a lot about how we’re living in a dystopia: a pandemic that at-risk people actively choose to ignore, runaway climate change that billionaires actively choose to exacerbate, gun violence that our government actively chooses to tolerate, I could go on and on. But you know what? Today I’m going to take just a few minutes to argue for something that people seem to think is dystopian but is actually very ...

Aspartame is Safe & TikTok Dietitians Aren't

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I’m fairly certain that if I am lucky, or unlucky, enough to live to the age of 100, I will still be reassuring people that Diet Coke isn’t going to kill you. In fact, I will probably be doing that while sipping on a Jack and Diet Coke, just to drive the point home. That’s right, if I live to old age I will absolutely be that old crone who tells the local news that the secret to a long life is whiskey and surfing and befriending your local corvi...

Bryan Johnson is Going to Die (Sorry)

Hey patron pals! Enjoy this one early and ad-free until Thursday morning. Also, there are two more in post-production that I'm hoping to have up for you tomorrow!

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Bryan Johnson is going to die one day. Don’t worry, that’s not a threat. I’m not going to contribute to that end result in any way. I am merely making an educated prediction based upon statistics. I think it’s important to lead with that prediction ...

Sabine is Wrong Again: Capitalism Would've Killed Penicillin

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EDIT: I am SO SORRY for uploading this with an hour of empty void at the end, thus getting your hopes up that this was going to be the deepest of deep dives! The empty void was to represent the ultimate end goal of capitalism. JK I fixed it pls see the new video embedded above! Still goes live Friday.

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A few weeks ago, several of you let me know that there had been yet another great disturbance in the online science communication force, as if millions ...

The Science of Cringe

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As a human on YouTube, I am vaguely aware of some of the YouTubers who are, unlike me, actually very popular on this platform. They show up in my feed sandwiched between true crime police interrogation videos and old men giving tips on improving my bean harvest, and sometimes I watch them, and sometimes I am surprised to find that I actually like them. One of the latter cases is MoistCr1TiKaL, aka Charlie, an affable and intelligent guy who commen...

The Long History Behind the Latest TikTok "No Glasses" Scam

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(Rebecca sits, reading a book) Oh hi there, I didn’t see you. Welcome. I’m Rebecca Watson, and if this is your first time seeing one of my videos, I hope you enjoy it. If you’re a returning viewer, welcome back! You might notice something is a little different about me, and you’re absolutely right! What you’re noticing is that I recently did some “inner child work,” explored my “inner world,” and “strengthened my intuition,” so...

Ashton Kutcher Supports a Rapist: Friendship, Misogyny or Blackmail?

Hey patrons! "Enjoy" this video early and ad-free until Wednesday morning.

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Hey pals, today’s video is going to deal with some upsetting topics like sexual assault, rape, and murder. Yep, a real fun one! If that sort of subject bothers you, you might want to give this one a skip or just head over to my Patreon and read the transcript instead of watching the video. As always, the link to that transcript with all references is in the description below.

Despite the dark themes of today’s video, I actually am her...

One Disgraced Scientist Gets an NBC Show, Another Becomes a Libel Bully

Hey patrons! Enjoy this video early and ad-free all weekend long! It'll go live Monday morning. Oh and yes I did break down and dye over the red to better match my roots. Oh yeah and here's another BlueSky code: bsky-social-63cbt-elrn2

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I remember when I was in elementary school, maybe at age 8 or 9, I was doing a science project that, of course, required the standard “make a hypothesis, test it, collect the data, evaluate the data, publish the results” stuff. And I remember getting some really messy data, and thin...

Do Most Americans Fear Vaccines for Dogs??

Hey patron pals! Here's a video for you, early and ad-free until TUESDAY MORNING (because Monday is Labor Day and NO LABOR MUST BE DONE)! Enjoy the copious amount of Indy pics.

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Look, I know you guys don’t come here for the science, the critical thinking, the space communism. You come here for the ten seconds of my dog at the end of the video. With that in mind, today’s video is all about Indy. Well, about dogs, in general. I’ll throw in some random Indy pics throughout just to keep you watching.

There are ...

The COMPLETELY BONKERS Story Behind This Scammy Supplement

Hey patron pals, here's a real doozy. Enjoy this video early and ad-free until Thursday morning!

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Great news, nerds, I have fallen down YET ANOTHER rabbit hole and I’m here to take you on the same journey. It all started when I was watching my darling Philadelphia Phillies, which is a baseball team fyi, on the MLBTV app. Watching sports is the only time I really ever see TV commercials, and I think their relatively rarity makes me perk up a little and pay attention to them, as a sort of sociological observation. And ...

Study: Why You Should Avoid COVID Even if You're "Healthy"

Hey patrons, enjoy this video early and ad-free until Wednesday morning PT!

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I feel like it’s been awhile since I made a video about COVID – like, not the debunked “lab leak” stuff or RFK, Jr. suggesting it’s a Jewish-Chinese conspiracy, but COVID as an actual disease that is still a pandemic killing like 500 people a week in the US, though who knows for sure because the US government as a whole has determined the pandemic is over. But there’s an interesting new study out that I’d like to talk about, and ...

Study: Republican Voters Don't Punish Fascism

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Here in the United States, we’ve been dealing with a slight infestation of, well, fascists. In case you missed it, our former president, Donald Trump, was just indicted for the fourth time, facing a total of 91 criminal charges. Many of those charges are related to his actions in allegedly trying to overturn the...

Give Blood, but Not Money, to the Red Cross

Hey patrons! Here's another video, early and ad-free! It goes live to the public Thursday morning PT!

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Last week I encouraged you to donate to any of several local nonprofits helping the people of Maui following the horrific wildfires there. Today I’d like to talk about one nonprofit I didn’t mention, despite the fact that they are one of the most widely known and respected charities in the US and th...

Maker Naomi Wu is Silenced by Chinese Authorities (And Why I Blame Elon Musk)

Hey patrons! Enjoy this one early and ad-free until Wednesday morning! Reminder that it might need a few minutes after publishing to process up to higher resolutions.

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There’s a really disturbing situation happening in China that I think it’s important everyone know about as soon as possible. The very talented maker Naomi Wu, aka Sexy Cyborg, has revealed that Chinese authorities have paid her a visit<...

Maui Fires: Was it Space Lasers or Colonialism?

Hey patrons! Enjoy this video early and ad-free until Wednesday morning!

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I’m sure by now everyone watching this is aware of the horrific fires in Maui, now the deadliest wildfire in US history, if you consider Hawaii to be a part of the US, which…well, we’ll get into that in a bit. But the fires have destroyed the beautiful and historic town of Lahaina, once the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom. If you have extra cash laying around and want to help, and especially if you have ever visited the island as a...

Study: What's Really in Our Sex Toys?

Well, here's the promised dildo video! I realized too late that I missed Bryan, aka Hex, wanting a shout-out, so sorry about that! And Maggie, I threw you in in the hope that you will NOT further discuss our past trips to Good Vibrations, you jerk.

Anyway, please enjoy this very special video early and ad-free until Tuesday morning! 

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Before I begin, I would like to dedicate this very special video to my patrons at patreon.com/rebecca, like TK. Your support means so much to me, especially at a time like this...

Facebook Algorithm Not So Bad, According to Studies from Facebook Collaboration

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We’ve been pretty down on “the algorithm” here on this channel, and no, we don’t know why we’re suddenly referring to ourselves with the royal “we” but it makes us feel fancy so please just get off our back.

Seriously though I DO worry a lot about how algorithms affect our lives–about how social media is designed to create an echo chamber that pushes our happy buttons enough to keep us scrolling and scrolling, to the detriment...

Study: Don't Bother Buying Fitness Supplements like Turkesterone

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As some of you may know, I am training to ride my bike hundreds of miles through Death Valley to raise money for climate charities. A quick aside, THANK YOU to everyone who has donated! We recently BLEW past my goal, which means I WILL fulfill my promise of making videos of my journey that I’ll share over on <...

Are Ocean Currents Collapsing? Separating Science from Bad Reporting

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The other day I was scrolling through science news when I saw a paper published in Nature suggesting that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (or AMOC, which is a system of ocean currents in the Atlantic ocean that bring warmer water north and cooler water south) is on the bring of collapse, which may happen as soon as 2025. That is quite ala...

Study: How Religious Moms Screw up Their Kids in Different Way Than Atheist Moms

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Transcript: There are a number of reasons why I’m childfree: I like sleep, I like money, I don’t like sharing my Legos. But one big reason is that I see that there are about a billion different ways a parent can really screw up a kid without even noticing, and that’s a responsibility I just don’t want to take on. Like, check out this clip from Fox News host Jesse ...

Some ARE Genetically Protected Against COVID-19 (but it's not a Bioweapon, RFK, Jr.)

HEY patrons! Enjoy this video early and ad-free until Friday morning!

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Look, do I want to talk about RFK, Jr. again? Absolutely not. But his most recent public embarrassment inspired a few thoughts that I wanted to share with you, and one of the thoughts is actually a really positive thing, which is always nice to talk about on this channel. This channel where I usually just talk about depressing examples of the downfall of humanity.

First of all, if you’re new here you can pause this video and go back and watc...

The Guys Behind "Sound of Freedom" are Putting Children at Risk

Hey patrons! I'm making this video public immediately so feel free to share...I was going to give it to you early like usual but it's a hot topic right now and I think it's important that people know the real story behind this movie ASAP. This will probably be demonetized by YouTube, so extra special thanks to you all for supporting its creation. xoxoxo

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You know what I hate? Child sex trafficking. Yeah, I said it and I meant it. Deal with it.

I’m opening with that searing hot take because the go-to response to...

Uri Geller is Still a Giant Fraud, Despite the Glowing NY Times Profile

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I have great news for you all, as reported by the New York Times last week: finally, the greatest “grudge” in the world of professional magic has been set aside. What could it be? Professional magicians versus that masked guy who “revealed” their secrets on prime time TV in the ‘90s? 2023-07-14 17:21:49 +0000 UTC View Post

Study: How a Hobby Could Save Your Life

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So in 2020, if you’ll recall, we had a little worldwide pandemic that forced a lot of us to hole up in our homes, alone, and drastically limit interactions with other people–friends, family, and strangers alike. A lot of people, understandably, did NOT like this: people who lived alone now had no in-person interactions, couldn’t touch or hug their loved ones, and had to get all their socializing over texts, phone calls, Zoom calls, and social ...

Did a New Study Debunk "Man the Hunter?" Not Quite

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At last, the myth of “Man the Hunter” has been tracked down, lured into a trap, and beaten to death by a plucky group of Amazons led by Diana herself. The myth was then stripped of its meat and organs, and every last tiny bone put to use for new weaponry, toothpicks, and jewelry. Man the Hunter is dead. Long live Man the Hunt...

Study: Can You Fast Your Way to Good Health? (Maybe!)

Hey patrons! Enjoy this video early and ad-free until Thursday morning! (And yes if you see this just after I post, vid quality will still be processing up to 4k so give it another hour if you want high-res!)

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As you may know, every month I do a live “ask me anything” stream for my patrons, and last month one patron asked me to look into the research on intermittent fasting. I did, and I found the subject really interesting, and I said that I’d consider doing a public video on it if a new, really interesting stud...

Diversity Didn't Destroy OceanGate's Sub; Libertarianism Did

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I’m not sure if any of you noticed but last week a handful of billionaires imploded themselves trying to go see the wreck of the Titanic. Did you see that? Were you aware that that happened? If you weren’t aware, please let me know in the comments your secret to living a happier life than me, because I try to have a healthy number of offline hobbies and experiences but inevitably the algorithm just pulls me back in.

Anyway, there’s a lot to talk about in regards to the tragedy of the Titan submersible’s destru...