Nerdwriter Escapes into Meaning

The gold standard of the video essay genre on YouTube is Nerdwriter, and between a decade of videos and a book about to drop, Evan’s got a lot to talk about. We start off with a bit of failure: the novel that got Evan on YouTube in the first place, and we analyze why it just wasn’t very good. It *was* successful in the sense that it kicked off an amazing career of writing for video and now a collection of essays – and he successfully avoided the worst thing in the creative process, which is starting a thing and then giving up.

Evan’s experienced a nagging voice with his creative work. Matt has a lot more confidence in his writing, and that’s its own serious problem. After film school, Evan wanted to go in a different direction. His point about developing creative taste is important – you know what you like and you know what you want to make, but the only way to close the gap between your vision and your skill is to churn out a massive body of work. There’s really no way around it.

After a few deadline foibles, Evan figured out how to complete his book of essays. The Kenmore Square bookstore delivered Ralph Waldo Emerson to him, and Emerson has served as a guide and inspiration through more than a decade of work. Kevin’s Emerson is actually in comedy – he just relates more to the funnier side. But whether it’s comedy or the Western Canon, engagement comes from making the material tactile.

We discuss the sheer volume of data and evidence blocking the modern historian’s path before pushing and pulling on the relationship between video and scripts. Patrons jump in to ask about Evan’s favorite art movement, the initial breadth of his video essay plan, and the key to being an interesting person.

Thanks to Evan for spending so much time with us, and we’ve already pre-ordered his forthcoming book, “Escape into Meaning.” As much as it hurts Matt to be the second most interesting alumnus from Boston University on the podcast, we can’t wait for Evan to come back and talk about the 10,000 different topics we didn’t have time to get to.

Everyone who came out to the live show got a good one. A special thanks goes out to the Patrons who make this show happen each and every week – you really are the best. Next week: Rusty Cage!

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