While traipsing across the internet last week, I stumbled upon an addictive little YouTube channel called Great Big Story. Forgive me, I might be late to this party, but if you’ve never heard of it, up until five months ago, Great Big Story was, as their About page on YouTube puts it, “a global media company devoted to cinematic storytelling.”
The micro-documentaries produced by Great Big Story are informative, intriguing, and just plain brilliant, and the channel has such a range of topics that you are bound to find something you love. Some of my favorites include “Enter the Deadliest Garden in the World,” “Why Sweden Loves Food in Tubes,” and “Why the World’s Mathematicians Are Hoarding Chalk.” I am currently considering the possibility of having my composition students make micro-documentaries for my class in the fall; this channel would be a wonderful resource for readings and examples of the genre.
Because we are inherently interested in language, communication, and culture here on this site, I wanted to provide a list of potential episodes that are interesting and relevant to our mission, interests, and target audiences. Happy watching!
Recommendations
“This Man Speaks 32 Languages”
“Saving the World’s Oldest Languages”
“Saving Languages from Extinction”
“This Turkish Language Isn’t Spoken, It’s Whistled”
“Everyone in This Village Can Speak Sign Language”
“How the Language From the Sims Was Created”
“Saving an Ancient Language Through Pop Music”
“The Chocolate Croissant Controversy”
“Talking Fast With a Record-Setting Speed Talker”
“This Man Can Pronounce Every Word in the Dictionary”
“Play on Words: Meet Nigeria’s Scrabble King”
“The Surprising Science Behind the Word ‘Pokémon’”
“Meet the Epic Voice Behind Movie Trailers”
“This Dialect Coach Can Transport You With Her Perfect Accents”
“Giving Artists With Disabilities a Space to Thrive”
“The Artist Paints What She Hears”
“A Photographer’s Mission to Capture a New Image of Africa”
“The Largest Handwritten Family Tree in the World”