ContraPoints

I Messed Up

Hey all,

Thanks to everyone who's let me know that they got charged for this month. This was my mistake and I am mortified. I didn't realize that in order to keep the Patreon paused, I have to actively pause it for each upcoming month, rather than passively leaving it paused. I'm so sorry I effectively told you that you wouldn't be charged, and then charged you anyway.

There's no direct way for me to undo this, but what I will do is pause the Patreon for next month (which I'll do ...

Continued Patreon Pause

Hey friends,

I said I’d unpause the Patreon when I finished the main channel video, and I still haven’t finished, so I’m going to leave it paused for another month. You won’t be charged on January 1.

Maybe I need the financial pressure to finally wrap this project up. I’m in the final stages so I’m not too worried!

Hope you’re all getting through the holidays okay. See you in 2024!

-Natalie

December Patreon Pause

Hi all,

I've never done this before, but I've decided to pause Patreon billing for next month. You will not be charged on December 1st.

I've made this decision because I still haven't finished the main channel video I've been working on, and I don't want to go too deep into Tangent debt while finishing it. Billing will resume in January, provided I have released the main channel video by then (which I'd better lol). I also owe you a November Tangent.

I know some of you have ...

Tangent: The Male Gaze

Hi friends,

For about two years I've been keeping a notes document for a potential main channel video called "The Male Gaze," which I was able to plunder for this Tangent, along with a lot of the research for the main channel video I've been working on already.

As usual, things got out of hand, it's more than an hour long, should really just be turned into a main channel video at some point—et cetera. I did at least remove a ten minute ramble from the middle, what was the "subje...

September Tangent Topic Poll

Hi friends!

It's time to vote on the next Tangent topic! You can vote for as many topics as you like, and I will make an informal Patreon-exclusive video about the topic that gets the most votes.

Feel free to suggest other topics for future Tangents in the comments on this post.

Thanks as always for your support!

Best,

Natalie

P.S. If you're on Android, you may need to refresh after each vote to vote for multiple topics. I don't know why, hope Patreon fixes...

Gamergate Tangent Back Online

Hi all—good news!

I've successfully appealed YouTube's removal of the Gamergate Tangent, which was taken down for "harassment and bullying" after bad-faith flagging by, I can only assume, Gamergate supporters.

I have decided to age restrict the Tangent (like I did with the psychedelics one) to help prevent future flagging. So you'll have to log in to YouTube to watch it. I hope that's not too inconvenient.

If I were ever to refine this Tangent into a main channel video (wh...

Gamergate Tangent Mass-Flagged and Removed—Next Steps

Hey all,

Not surprisingly, the mass harassment campaign is mass harassing.

My latest Tangent, on Gamergate, though unlisted on YouTube, seems to have become the target of mass flagging by, I can only assume, what remains of the Gamergate movement in the year of our Lord 2023.

The video has been taken down, and I've received a strike on my Live channel. I expected something like this (or worse) to happen as retaliation for my discussing this topic, so I am not surprised nor u...

Tangent: Gamergate

Hi friends,

There was a Tangent Topic Tie this month between Gamergate and Satanism, which I decided to break in favor of Gamergate for reasons described at the beginning of this video.

This is another near-video-essay that I made over 10 days. Tangents are not supposed to take this long, but as usual I got invested in the topic and I couldn't help myself. It was a wild look back at the internet era in which I started ContraPoints, and I found I had a lot to say about it.

In...

August Tangent Topic Poll (Repost)

Hi friends!

(Reposting this because I once again forgot to set it to allow multiple choices).

It's time to vote on the next Tangent topic! You can vote for as many topics as you like, and I will make an informal Patreon-exclusive video about the topic that gets the most votes.

Feel free to suggest other topics for future Tangents in the comments on this post.

Thanks as always for your support!

Best,

Natalie

P.S. If you're on Android, you may need to r...

Tangent: Barbie

Hi friends,

Here is this month's book-report-ass Tangent on the Barbie movie.

I made this in about three days (not counting movie night), and we're getting closer to being back on monthly schedule. I'm anxious that this is mid content by my own standards, but hopefully it's still worth your time and support. The reality is that it's just not possible to make a 40 minute video in three days without cutting some corners, so some corners have been cut. But at least you know I haven't...

July Tangent Topic Poll

Hi friends!

It's time to vote on the next Tangent topic! You can vote for as many topics as you like, and I will make an informal Patreon-exclusive video about the topic that gets the most votes.

I've chosen a mix of new topic options and options from previous polls. I know a lot of the new topics are kind of silly, but I'm trying to focus more on producing main channel content this month, so silly content is probably warranted.

Feel free to suggest other topics for future T...

Tangent: Psychedelic Experiences

Hi friends,

Let's face it, Tangents have officially gone too far. I know I just said I was going to dial it back this month, but, well... I dialed it forward. The topic sucked me in! So here's another near-video-essay, a full 70 minutes of esoteric rambling that I spent way too much time on.

Truly, the next Tangent will be shorter and simpler, because I do want to refocus on main channel videos. But I don't regret putting the time in on this one, nor even acid testing myself twice...

June Tangent Topic Poll [Ends in 5 Days]

Hi friends!

It's time to vote on the next Tangent topic! You can vote for as many topics as you like, and I will make an informal Patreon-exclusive video about the topic that gets the most votes.

I've set the poll to expire in just five days to give myself time to try to make this by the end of June. I realize all of these have appeared on past polls—I promise I'll come up with some new ones for next month!

Feel free to suggest other topics for future Tangents in the comme...

Tangent: Liminal Spaces

Hi friends,

Here's the "May" Tangent, on liminal spaces. Truly I will try to get back on schedule by the end of this month. This one is the most high-effort Tangent to date. I've been working on it for the last week and a half. I just couldn't bring myself to half-ass this one, partly because I found myself getting strangely passionate about the topic, and partly because I'd outlined ideas for a similar video essay in 2020 that I never ended up making. So this was my chance.

The r...

May Tangent Topic Poll

Hi friends!

It's time to vote on the next Tangent topic! You can vote for as many topics as you like, and I will make an informal Patreon-exclusive video about the topic that gets the most votes.

Feel free to suggest topics for future Tangents in the comments on this post.

Thanks as always for your support!

Best,

Natalie

Tangent: AI

Hi friends!

Here's the "April" tangent, on AI.

Sorry for the delay in getting this one out—in addition to finishing the main channel video last month, I had a series of home-flooding issues to deal with. Plus the tangent itself required a little more research than usual.

(There will of course be a second tangent this month, the official May tangent).

I've done my best to get informed on the technology driving the current conversation about AI, but I don't pretend to ...

April Tangent Topic Poll [Repost]

[I accidentally posted the poll without an end date or multiple choices enabled, let's try that again]

Hi friends!

It's time to vote on the next Tangent topic! You can vote for as many topics as you like, and I will make an informal Patreon-exclusive video about the topic that gets the most votes.

This month I've only selected topics that will not be emotionally draining, because I need a moment to recover from two months of Rowling lol.

Feel free to suggest topics for...

New Video: The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling

Hey friends,

Here's a new main channel video that I began working on about six weeks ago. I originally intended this to be a shorter, simpler video that would tide viewers over until I finish my long-term product, but this one ballooned into something larger, as these things tend to do, and it's now the longest video on my channel, oops.

I was able to make use of research I've done for Tangents these last several months, which I'm sure you'll notice. I think the Tangents are promi...

Tangent: Anti-LGBT Bills

Hi friends,

Here's the March tangent, about the wave of over 400 brutal anti-LGBT bills that have been introduced in all but nine state legislatures in the US this year.

The topic is super grim, so I've done my best to lighten the mood, in a "haha we're all going to die" sort of way.

The first 19 minutes are basically prefatory procrastination about the history of anti-LGBT legislation, from King Henry VIII to the present day. If you only care about the current crisis you ca...

March Tangent Topic Poll

Hi friends!

It's time to vote on the next Tangent topic! You can vote for as many topics as you like, and I will make an informal video about the topic that gets the most votes.

I've included a lot more options this time—is more options good? Or is it overwhelming?

I've also included some historical topics. The idea is I'd do some background research (they're all topics I'm pretty familiar with already, so it wouldn't be too much work), and tell the story with my own comme...

Tangent: Parasocial Relationships

Hi friends!

Here's the February tangent, on parasocial relationships!

The audio quality should be much improved this time, thanks for the constructive criticism on that.

This Tangent took 3-4 days of up-til-8am type work. Next month I'm going to try to tone it down a bit and keep things shorter and simpler, but this topic is so vast and complex I just couldn't help myself.

This one's a bit more freeform, a bit more tangential, than the last two Tangents, with a lot of ...

February Tangent Topic Poll

Hi friends!

It's time to vote on the next Tangent topic! You can vote for as many topics as you like, and I will make an informal video about the topic that gets the most votes.

This time I've included a couple topics from past videos where I feel like my ideas have evolved to the point it would be worth revisiting the topic in a Tangent.

"Harpsichord shopping" is off the table because I finally bought a harpsichord, maybe "harpsichord tour" or something can be an option onc...

Tangent: New Atheism

Hi friends!

Here's the January tangent, on New Atheism!

Working on these first two Tangents has been very freeing for me. Creating Patreon-exclusive content has relieved me of the creative paralysis that I've been experiencing with main-channel videos, where I feel like I have to meet a very high standard of research, fact-checking, production quality, and originality.

I begin making each Tangent with the mindset that I'm creating "mid" content to meet a deadline—which tur...

January Tangent Topic Poll

Hi friends!

I'm happy to report that the first Tangent was well received, so I'm going to continue with this reward for the foreseeable future!

It's time to vote on the next Tangent topic. You can vote for as many topics as you like, and I will make an informal video about the topic that gets the most votes.

Feel free to suggest topics for future Tangents in the comments on this post.

Thanks as always for your support!

Best,

Natalie

Tangent: The Groomer Libel

Hey friends,

Here it is, the first ever Tangent!

Basically it's a 40-minute video on the "groomer" moral panic that also doubles as a "worst of 2022" compilation—Happy New Year everyone!

I initially planned to do this in a single day but I couldn't shut off my video-editing brain and ended up spending three days on it. I'm still figuring out what exactly Tangents will be like but my feeling is that this will be a more worthwhile Patreon reward for most than the AMA streams...

Voting on December Tangent Topic

Hi friends!

It's time to vote on the topic for the first ever Tangent (monthly informal vlog)! You can vote for as many topics as you like. I assume I'll simply choose the topic that gets the most votes—but if I feel like I need more content, maybe I'll do the top two—I don't know, let's see how it goes!

The topics I've chosen are ones I feel I have a lot to say about—some are tangential to current video research—and I've tried to include some variety. Feel free to suggest...

Final AMA Stream (for now) #60b

Hey friends,

I'll be hosting a Patreon AMA stream tomorrow, November 27 at 5pm ET. Here's the stream link, feel free to join the chat any time! I'll be answering the remaining questions from the "AMA #60" invite post.

As discussed in previous posts, this stream will be the last AMA for a while, since I will be switching to posting Patreon exclusive vlogs called "Tangents." 15+ patrons will get to vote on Tangent topics. I have some topics in mind, but feel free to suggest topics i...

AMA Stream #60

Hey friends,

I'll be hosting a Patreon AMA stream tomorrow October 9 at 6pm ET. Here's the stream link, feel free to join the chat any time!

I'll be answering questions from the "AMA #60" invite post.

The stream will remain archived here for those who miss it live.

Looking forward to chatting!

Love,

Natalie

P.S. Here's the link to the stream again in case the one above isn't working: htt...

Invite to Submit Questions for (Final?) AMA Stream #60

Hi 15+ Patrons,

I'll be doing the next AMA stream tomorrow, October 9 at 6pm ET! As discussed in the previous post, this may be the last AMA stream (or two streams is more likely) as I consider switching to a monthly vlog format with 15+ patrons able to vote on the topic.

The stream will be posted here and archived as always for those who miss it live.

Use the comments on this post to submit a question you want to ask me!

IMPORTANT: since I can't put a character limit ...

Final AMA Stream? And New Reward Proposal

Hi friends,

I've been receiving feedback for a while now that many patrons aren't as enthusiastic about the AMA streams as they used to be. The main issues seem to be that they're repetitive (a lot of the same questions come up across multiple streams), and that they're excessively parasocial (the format enables people to ask personal questions, treat the streams as a therapy substitute, etc).

I could use a change of pace myself, and I think it would be worth trying out a new type...