WEBVTT - MrBeast Dominates YouTube…but who is he? 0:00:01.320 --> 0:00:07.440 Really now, really, really. 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:11.320 Now, really hello and welcome to really Know Really with 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:13.920 Jason Alexander and Peter Tilden, who remind you that if 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:16.280 you subscribe to our show, we could be the Mister 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:20.640 Beast of podcasts. And if you're asking who is mister Beast, well, 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:22.720 we're here to tell you he is the number one 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:26.760 person on YouTube who's followed by over four hundred million people. 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:31.560 Today you'll learn how he's mastered clickbait, cracked the YouTube algorithm, 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.560 created a Hollywood style studio system, sent millions of dollars 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:38.400 to charity, and even created food products and a fast 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:39.720 food chain, all. 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:41.520 At the tender age of twenty five. 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:45.479 Really, no, really, we'll find out who this dynamo is 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:46.400 and what makes him tick. 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:48.320 From Rolling Stone senior writer E J. 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:51.760 Dixon, who embedded herself with mister Beast and his compound 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.720 in Greenville, North Carolina to get some answers. 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:56.600 Now here's Jason and Peter. 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.000 Now, really, mister you forgive me because I know he's 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:01.880 a big, big star. Until you said, hey, we're going 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:04.200 to do a show about mister Beast, I went. 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:06.360 You know what's right? May I break the wall? If 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:08.480 there is a wall By the way, sometimes putting the 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:12.119 show together is a bit of a challenge because you're 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.600 busy doing what you do and the world is spinning 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:18.000 over there and you don't necessarily kind of check in 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:22.119 on certain stuff. So I said, to the folks who 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:23.600 do the show with me, we're going to talk to 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.800 someone who embedded themselves with mister Beast. And it's going 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:30.560 to be fascinating because mister Beast is by far the 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:34.840 biggest YouTuber in history, by hundreds of millions. He's a 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:38.640 fascinating character. And I said, Jason is going to have 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:40.000 no idea who mister Beast is. 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:42.679 You're absolutely and there I was, one hundred percent, you're 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:43.320 absolutely right. 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:46.640 In fact, Now here's what's interesting is the number one 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:51.080 YouTube when I go to my homepage at YouTube, shouldn't 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:53.800 something that Beast come up? 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:58.040 So YouTube American online video sharing and social media platform 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:01.160 we know owned by Google. Yah. Yeah, formed by the 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:03.800 guys who started PayPal. But there were two stories. 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:06.960 We didn't know YouTube was a PayPal offshoot. 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:09.440 These guys, three form employees of PayPal, really started it. Yeah, 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:11.560 look at that. Well, they collectively watched more than one 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.000 billion hours of videos every day on YouTube, Okay, So 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:17.400 what I didn't realize because we had heard the story 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:21.200 that YouTube was launched based on this dating service where 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:24.800 they wanted to share info about women like like, I 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:28.000 thought that was Facebook Facebook. Well, I guess, I guess. 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:30.600 When you get twenty year old guys together who know tech, 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:33.720 that's usually where they go. But one of the guys 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:36.000 said it was actually the Super Bowl halftime commercial where 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:39.320 Janet Jackson's breast was beefly exposed. Yeah, people wanted to 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:40.680 see that. How do you get that out? So that 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:42.120 motivated them to do this. 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:46.920 Jesus cut the humanity. I have no hope for humanity, right, 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.720 one of the biggest pieces of technology started because America 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:52.919 went you miss Janet Jackson's breas? 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:56.320 Really, YouTube are one hundred and twenty two million active 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.880 users daily. One billion hours of content is watched across 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:03.480 the world every day, one billion hours worth of content. 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:08.240 I'm I'm actually surprised to hear that it's that YouTube 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:11.560 only has one hundred and twenty two millions asta user. 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:14.680 That's half of the theation in the United States. 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.240 Yeah, but I'm thinking YouTube is global, isn't it. 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:18.880 It is global, but there's still a lot of one 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:22.000 hundred and twenty two millions now the top five because 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:22.280 I know. 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:26.320 Like I know younger people who they don't know no TV, 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:28.840 they don't have cable, they don't have streaming. They eventually 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:30.560 everything goes to YouTube and that's where they watch. 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:33.320 My son, who's twenty seven, Saint Ajor's is ger Your 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:37.600 tweeny only watches stuff from YouTube because watch whole shows. 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:39.440 If a show is on the Grand, you'll never watch 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:42.720 a whole show, right. He watches pieces of shows on YouTube. 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:47.960 I have seen every fight moment from Equalizer three. I've 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:49.520 never seen the movie, but you should. I do what 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:51.280 the movie is. I got all the best moments. The 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:54.320 number five A show on YouTube is a Kid's Diana Show, 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.320 a YouTube channel run by Eva Diana, a ten year 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:00.640 old German Canadian girl. They explore new things, take on 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:02.920 challenges and share what they learned to get. That's number five. 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:06.280 Really know, really why we were working so hard? Why 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:11.480 Sunny Television Entertainment in India is number four. Coco Melon 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.800 as one hundred and seventy one million subscribers. Melon. 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:15.520 What's Coco Melon? 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:18.720 It's It's owned by a company in Britain called Moonbug 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:22.320 Entertainment it's that they make learning fun. They have songs 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.599 and videos out. Oh it's like, yeah, it gets. 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:26.279 Which makes sense. 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:30.719 Yeah. And number two mister beefs, mister Beees. 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:32.560 We're interviewing about the number two. 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.680 Well, he's the number he's the first individual another the 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:38.960 number one, the number one because no, because the number 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.359 one is an Indian YouTube channel. It's it's it's a 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.240 series of stuff. It's not a person. He's the biggest 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:48.960 person person on YouTube. And mister Beees currently has two 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:51.480 hundred and thirty six million subscribers if you add all 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:53.040 his channels together. 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:56.440 So he has more subscribers than people who are using YouTube, 0:04:57.080 --> 0:04:59.640 is what you're saying, one hundred and twenty two active users. 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:03.680 Of ja more. He has to subscribble it. He's doubled it. 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.640 And if you don't understand, that's a mathematical equation. Yes, 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.320 so are five apples? You have ten? How How how 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:13.920 is that? Even you put that out on SAT people's 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:16.680 heads explode? The math doesn't add on. 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:22.839 His YouTube channel is over lying, So so I know 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:23.560 the answer to it. 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.640 Go ahead, David, David is sorry, I was gonna wait 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:29.400 for this to get don't be sorry. 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:31.120 Peter is correct. 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:35.680 YouTube sees approximately one hundred and twenty two million users 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:38.920 per day per day, but if you look at monthly 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:43.880 active users, it's two point seven billion around the world. 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.200 David, thank you for clarifying that. So what I've learned 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:51.360 is Peter introduced to you introduced it that you have 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:52.159 a false impress. 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.720 Somebody was literally for somebody was limited intelligence, barely got 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.719 to college. Okay, so we reached out because we couldn't 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:00.839 get Jason. So funny he goes, we got mister Beast. 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.040 I said, I said, mister Beast is doing our show. 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:04.680 I actually said, don't be an idiot. 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:09.080 You did, he said, don't be an idiot, it's. 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:12.080 Not he's not. Even if he's the biggest seign fulp 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:17.440 fan in the world, he's not coming. But we have EG. 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:19.440 I want to get this name right because they got 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:23.279 every name wrong. Dixon. IT'SJ. Dixon. What it's not. This 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:24.560 is remedial spelling. 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:25.080 EJ. 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.120 You didn't even have to read three names in the 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:30.920 A J and A Dixon anyway. EJ is a writer 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.160 with Rolling Stone. She's written a lot of other articles 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:36.280 for a lot of other publications about tech, et cetera. 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:38.800 She got to spend time with mister Beasts, and we 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.240 wanted to find out what everybody wants to be an influencer. 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:44.359 Everybody wants that to be the thing the gig economy 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:45.960 knows us about that ship. What does it take to 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:47.720 be mister beasts? And I got a sense, a bit 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:49.240 of a sense of it. I know you to too. 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:54.039 Let's find out right now, EJ. Dixon, you spent time 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:55.679 with him. First out, how do you get aos? 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.080 And is he insulated? Do you have to like get 0:06:58.120 --> 0:06:59.640 through the layers to get to him? 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:02.320 Yeah, I mean it was pretty much like first of all, 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:03.600 I just I just want to say, this is like 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:05.520 watching an old Jewish couple, like married. 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:13.320 Couple of give and this is going to numbers. 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:16.880 Yeah, I mean it was pretty much. 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:17.160 So. 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:19.000 He was the He was the cover of our first 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:22.320 Creators issue, which is an issue that we do every 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:28.480 year that's specifically focused on the digital creators. And at 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:31.640 that point he uh, it was pretty much like reaching 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:34.080 out to you know, any other celebrity that we put 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:36.520 on the cover. You know, he works with like a 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:39.000 big pr for me. I think he works with this. 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:41.000 I think he still works with the same guy who 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:44.880 represented Jimmy Kimmel, which sort of is is a testament 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.000 to just how big he is. I mean, there was 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:49.720 there was a point like in the history of the 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:54.040 digital creator space when YouTubers were sort of ghetto wise 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:56.440 or marginalized, and they were considered you know, like different 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.280 or other than like mainstream entertainers. But this guy, you know, 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.440 has tram amount of like mainstream industry backing behind him 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:02.960 at this point. 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:06.080 Does that include like does he have an agent or 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.480 clear he must have somebody representing him legally, but does 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:12.760 he have an agent and a manager creating opportunities for him? 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:16.000 Or Oh yeah, he's got he's got a huge team 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:16.520 behind him. 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.440 When I spoke to like one of his managers, he 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:22.160 basically compared it to like the studio system that he's 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:25.160 built in in Greenville, North Carolina, where he's from. 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.400 He compared it to like Tyler Perry in Atlanta. 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:31.120 Like it truly is like a giant, sprawling studio system 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:32.400 where he's like one of. 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:34.560 The main income drivers for the town. 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:40.320 Is he sponsoring other influencers or other YouTubers as well? 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:40.880 Are they? 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.520 Is he sort of generating his own little herd of 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:46.920 studio talent in this space? 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.040 Kind of yeah, it is. 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.840 It is kind of like an old school Hollywood studio 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:55.760 system in that way, because I mean when he this 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:59.000 is how all YouTube creators you know, get big. You know, 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:01.360 if they're doing it, they're just like pulling around with 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:02.920 a bunch of friends, you know, asking them to be 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:06.440 in their videos. But these guys who are his friends, Like, 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:09.320 not only do they live next door to him, like 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:11.120 he's bought houses for them and they all live in 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:14.080 this you know, little cul de sac, but they've got 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.280 like millions of subscribers each. These people have really built 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:20.680 brands for themselves based on their proximity to mister Beets. 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:24.400 Are his proteges all doing some variation of exactly what 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:27.440 he's doing these sort of for lack of a better words, 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:31.120 stunt oriented kind of videos or are they doing something 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:32.679 completely different and unique. 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:36.520 They're definitely not all doing something completely different and unique. 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.280 I would say, you know, there are budgetary restraints with 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:42.840 their channels that mister Beest you know does it you know, 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:45.719 obviously doesn't have, which we can talk about. But I 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:48.680 would say they're they're like pretty standard bloggers. 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:48.800 You know. 0:09:48.800 --> 0:09:50.480 They do a lot of like slice of life stuff. 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:55.400 A couple you know, some stunts, but it's definitely not 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:57.559 to the degree of mister Beat's main channel. 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:00.200 So take us through your visit to his place. If 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:02.760 people had read the article, it sounded pretty intense. 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:07.079 Yeah, it was intense. I spent probably two or three 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:08.160 days with him. 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:08.960 It was it was. 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:12.000 They gave us a pretty unprecedented amount of access for 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:14.600 the story, which was really nice. I got to see 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:16.800 his house, I got to meet his mom. I got 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.600 to see, you know, the studio where he produces content. 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:21.360 And like I wrote about in the lead of the story, 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.200 I got to see the warehouse. It's like a prop 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:32.880 warehouse that his stepfather manages. And and I got to 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:35.520 see a million dollars just like in a tank. 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:37.400 In ones right in one dollar bills. 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:39.800 Yes, And I say it's a prop warehouse because I 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:42.360 mean they true. That's truly how they like use money 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.000 in the videos, like they use money as a prop. 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:45.760 It was pretty staggering to me. 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.959 So how much time did you have with him, not 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:52.040 just the family or walking around meeting other people. How 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:54.040 much time did he actually give you face time? 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:58.480 A lot, actually a lot more so than I would 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:02.880 say other people that profiled you know, we went to 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:05.920 lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We rode around in his tesla, 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:10.000 talked about life. You know, he was he was very generous. 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:10.080 At this time. 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:11.960 And your sense of him as a person, does you 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:14.000 have a great sense of humor? Does he really because 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:16.680 he does philanthropy, Does he really care? I just a 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.120 profile of who you got when you kind of peel 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:21.679 away the layers, what's going on underneath. If you got 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:22.600 a sense of that, you know. 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:24.120 I was there to do my job, you know I was, 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:26.320 and I was there to you know, perform a service. 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:29.559 And I was asking him, you know, of quest intrusive 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:31.800 questions about his life and his brand and asking him 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:34.160 to sort of consider like various ethical questions that he 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:35.560 probably did not want to consider. 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:39.360 And we should also point out that he's a very 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:43.480 successful young man. But he's like twenty find so, you know, 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.240 it's not like he has moved through the earth and 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:48.480 he is a man of the world. 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:50.400 Although he figured a lot of stuff out. 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:53.080 Yes he has no I mean, would you call him 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:53.680 a savant? 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.360 He just I absolutely would. I absolutely would. 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:58.640 And that was my first impression of him was definitely that, 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:00.120 Like I think the first thing he said to me, 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:01.960 which I wrote about in the piece, was so are 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:03.840 you gonna start asking me questions now? 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:06.559 Like he he is not. And he would be the 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:08.320 first to say this, like he is. He did not. 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:10.800 He is not a socially adept individual. 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.880 Like there are there are a lot of people you meet, 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.120 like in the YouTube space who really love like, you know, 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:19.640 the schmoozing aspect of it and you know, getting to 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:20.040 know people. 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:20.760 He's not like that. 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.080 What he loves and what he gets up out of 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:26.640 bed every day in the morning to do. He loves YouTube, 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:29.240 you know, like he loves He could talk for hours 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:31.600 about like the YouTube algorithm and how to game in 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:35.160 and like various you know thumbnails and ap testing them. 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:37.360 Yeah, it was. It was wild when. 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.520 I hear the YouTube algorithm? 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.240 What are we talking about? The YouTube algorithm? 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:47.120 So when we say he cuts up and he studies 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:49.719 the algorithm, I go, what is he? This is not 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:53.440 bal and touring, This is not the Enigma code. What 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.360 is so hard about it? Kind of is though, Listen, 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:58.160 why please inform me? 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:02.360 Because and I should say, like, I'm not a tech writer, 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:05.000 and like like I'm a culture writer who sort of 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:07.120 like focuses on the convergence of like culture and tech, 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:09.320 so I don't have like a ton of insight into 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:12.360 like the mechanics of the algorithm, and and frankly, like 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:15.160 YouTube and other platforms aren't super transparent about them either. 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:19.079 But I mean, it's a really tough thing to game, 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:22.720 like getting YouTube used. It's especially considering how saturated the 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:25.160 space is and how everybody's just kind of trying to 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:27.840 do the same thing. And when he started out, he 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:29.959 was doing a lot of like throwing stuff at the wall. 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:31.560 And seeing if it would stick too. 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.640 I mean, he was doing a lot of like gamer 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:37.920 walk like gaming walkthroughs, and he was doing a lot 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.000 of videos like trying to estimate how much money various 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:44.559 YouTubers make, yeah, and that and that. 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:46.199 Stuff wasn't really like sticking for him. 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:49.200 And then he realized that it was the stunt, you know, 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:51.320 the attention grabbing stunts. I think the first big video 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:55.880 for him was him counting to like hunting. Yeah, yeah, 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:58.560 ridiculous like that. That's that's what he realized, you know, 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:00.719 really worked out for him. And basically, I mean, I 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.280 would say he's basically done a variation of that with 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:04.800 a more philanthropic bent. 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:08.120 We should say yes, So we should say to people 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:10.360 who don't know mister Beasts, a lot of his stuff 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:14.080 is philanthropic. Now, yes, he got cataract surgery for a 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:17.440 thousand people. He's bought shoes for people in Africa. He 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.440 does all of these stunts that involved and I wrote 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:27.240 down the various names that has been called charity as spectacle, inspiration, porn, stunt, 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:31.680 philanthropy gets yeah because he gets pushed back. Well, again, 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:33.240 you're that big, You're going to get pushed back no 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:37.600 matter what you're doing. The the interesting thing is he 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:42.000 defends that. Is that pure for him? Or is it 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:45.400 about the getting the numbers again, I'll give out money 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.400 to somebody and help cure cure somebody as long as 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:50.920 I'm going to get the number. You know. 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:55.840 That was basically my my guiding question when I went 0:14:55.880 --> 0:15:01.080 out there, Like how much of this is, you know, like, 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:04.240 is just purely for the purposes of getting clicks, of 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:06.360 getting views, And how much of this is truly driven 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:07.160 by altruism? 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.520 That was what I was most interested in, And I was. 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:14.280 Also interested in sort of the ethical question of well 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:16.800 doesn't matter, you know, like if he's actually doing good, 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:18.120 if he's actually and he does. 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:18.960 He undoubtedly. 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.240 I mean he's planted more than twenty million trees, he's 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:26.840 you know, donated thirty million plus dollars to cleaning up 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.560 the seas, He's fed countless people. I got to see 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:33.880 his pantry in Greenville. I mean he he undoubtedly like 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.280 does good. But there's also this question of like, well, 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:40.000 doesn't matter if the intention is essentially to just like 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.440 maximize eyeballs on your product. And that's a question that 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:45.520 I was really interested in talking about with him. It 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:47.480 was not, I think, a question that he was really 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:48.480 eager to engage with. 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.360 So how did he did he answer it at all? 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:53.800 Did you get a sense of what we talked? 0:15:53.920 --> 0:16:05.400 We talked about it a lot, So how did he 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:07.240 did he answer it at all? 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:08.600 Did you get a sense of. 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:11.120 What he talked? We talked about it a lot. We 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:12.120 talked about it a lot. 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:18.400 I think that he is of the opinion that the 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.960 motivation doesn't matter as long as you're actually doing good. 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:26.840 And I think he also feels that he gets a 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:33.440 lot of unmerited criticism in this regard because the net 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:38.680 effect is positive and you know, not really debatably positive, 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:43.000 it's just like objectively positive. So I think he I 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:47.520 think he got a little annoyed by those questions, and 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:51.920 I think that he feels that intent is really immaterial. 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:55.800 Everything you read now is basically clickbait because all these 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:58.520 publications you're trying to save their ass by putting out 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.640 articles that you will read. This guy now is in 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:04.080 this cycle of always having to up it and up 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:07.080 it and up it. Right, how does does that bother? 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:08.800 How do you do that? How do you do that? 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.240 If you're him, Well, you always have to beat the 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:14.400 last thing and it may not work, and it may start, 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:15.800 you know, going the other way. 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:21.119 I I don't think that he is. I did not 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:23.480 get the sense that he's a guy who's particularly play 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:24.760 plagued by self doubt. 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:27.680 Yeah, I don't know. Maybe maybe that maybe. 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:29.919 I'm wrong, Maybe maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he is, but 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:34.720 that's certainly uh. I think that what gets him up 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:38.159 in the morning is not so much you know, is 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:41.280 this going to be the day that I'm canceled? Or 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:42.960 is this going to be the day that you know, 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:45.840 the YouTube wakes up and decides to change his algorithm 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.719 and completely screws me. I think he wakes up figuring 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.120 out like, how do I up the ante. How how 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:52.879 do I make this bigger? How do I make this better? 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:55.280 I think he's he's actually he talked a lot about this. 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:58.320 He talks, he's he's pretty. He was working with a 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:01.439 life coach, and he's pretty obsessed with like the idea 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:03.680 of a self optimization. 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:06.960 And he actually had. 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:10.640 When I visited in his studio, he had a portrait 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:15.600 of Elon Musk dressed as Napoleon Bonaparde in his office 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:17.240 and I was like, Oh, that's like really telling in 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:21.720 terms of this guy's priorities. I think he is a 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:25.040 guy who grew up in the age of self optimization, 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.600 of startups, of you know, constantly remaking yourself, refashioning yourself 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:30.240 in the image of who you want to be. 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:34.119 Is your takeaway that this is a this is a 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.560 good guy or is he just a smart kid? 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:36.879 Is he? 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:38.160 Is he a barnum? 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:40.240 I mean, do you sit there and go I think 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:43.760 he does what he does because he's essentially a good 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:47.800 person who's just trying to do something to entertain and 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:48.680 make the world better. 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:49.960 Is he like a. 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:52.800 Really savvy guy who goes, uh, I know how to 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:56.040 make myself a success, and I wouldn't begrudge him if 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:58.840 he was, because again, as you say, if the net 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:04.159 is positive, I'm not terribly concerned about the motivation. But 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:08.040 in that Barnum sense of going, yeah, I'm gonna I'm 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:10.359 gonna do these things. I know what that's gonna do. 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:12.600 It's gonna make me a star. I mean, do you 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:13.240 do you have. 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:17.400