Chris Stokel-Walker is a British journalist whose work regularly appears in WIRED, The Economist and Newsweek. He is known for breaking major news about YouTube and often reports on the site for television, radio and podcasts. For YouTubers he has travelled around the world, attending YouTube events and speaking to behind-the-camera producers and powerbrokers, including key creators and talent managers.

The Atlantic’s Taylor Lorenz has said: “No one understands the intricacies of YouTube like Chris Stokel-Walker. His reporting on the platform and its creators has been groundbreaking and unparalleled. He captures stories about how YouTube shapes modern life in ways you would have never thought of.”

Show highlights

1:45 Chris introduces himself and why he wrote the book.

4:00 YouTube the cultural phenomenon in numbers.

7:03 The traditional media's understanding of YouTube.

12:12 Niche content creators on the YouTube platform.

15:49 YouTube as a search engine.

17:37 Is YouTube moving away from the creator space to be more like Netflix?

21:50 Is there still an opportunity to grow a YouTube channel from scratch today?

24:35 Chris gets called out by YouTube sensation, Casey Neistat.

28:37 YouTubers growing out of their online personas as they get older.

34:25 Chris's predictions for the future of YouTube for the next twelve months and the next five years.

38:45 The one book (other than his own) Chris recommends everyone should read.

Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast

YouTubers: How YouTube shook up TV and created a new generation of stars. (Amazon)

Logan Paul

MrBeast

Ultimate Handyman

Moorsey Scratchcards

Lofty Pursuits

YouTube Adpocalypse

Casey Neistat calling out Chris's Bloomberg article

Chris's Bloomberg article

Charlie McDonnell

Parasocial relationships

TwitchCon Europe

Everybody Lies book