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...

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 no...

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...

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 h...

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 sup...

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 futur...

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, a...

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 invest...

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 topi...

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 r...

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 sill...

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 Tangen...

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...

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 stra...

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!<...

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 t...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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, ...

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 revisitin...

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 resea...

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.

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 thre...

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 t...

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 swi...

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!

Lo...

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 archive...

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 ...