Tom Nicholas

For my latest video, I embedded with controversial climate activist group Just Stop Oil.

You've likely heard of Just Stop Oil before. Most famously, in 2022, they daubed Van Gogh's Sunflowers with orange soup—causing weeks of discussion over whether such actions are an appropriate or productive way of protesting for more meaningful action on the climate crisis.

I wanted to go far beyond the headlines, to find out why activists engage in these kinds of stunts, and what their rationale is for believing that these can force governments to change their policies.

When JSO invited me to follow along as they undertook an audacious stunt to crack the glass casing surrounding Magna Carta—one of the founding documents of the UK constitution—I therefore jumped at the chance (before then getting veeeeery nervous).

The resulting video is an in-depth, and hopefully well-rounded, look at one of the world's most controversial climate activist groups.

It combines on-the-ground reporting with interviews, explainers and a look at the academic research surrounding social and political movements.

It's almost certainly the biggest undertaking of any video I've made to date.

The video will be out on YouTube at some point during next week. But, if you want to watch it now, you can watch it ad-free and in glistening 4K over on Nebula.

I'll pop a link to find it down in the comments!

FYI: The price of monthly and yearly subscriptions to Nebula are increasing slightly on 1st September 2024; but ONLY FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS. If you want to lock in a price of $30/year, then make sure to sign up before the end of the month!

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vor 6 Tage (editiert) | [YT] | 1,697

Tom Nicholas

I need your help!

Particularly if you're French...

In a couple of weeks, I'm heading to Paris to do some filming for my upcoming, Nebula Original documentary *Boomers*.

Whilst I'm there, I'd love to talk to a couple of people about two events:

- The student uprisings of May 1968.

and

- The protests against raising the state retirement age in 2023.

If you're someone who participated in either event, is an expert on either event or know someone who is, I would love to hear from you!

We've been sounding some folks out, but I thought I'd try and use the power of you lovely viewers to see if there might be someone out there who watches my stuff who might be able to hook me up!

Should this be you(!), I'd be incredibly grateful if you could drop me a line at:

info [at] tomnicholas [dot] com

Thanks so much! Merci beaucoup!

vor 3 Wochen | [YT] | 1,667

Tom Nicholas

We kicked off filming for *Boomers* this week with five great days in New York City.

I've been out and about chatting to folks about the presidential election, and we bagged some great locations for some to-camera pieces.

The footage I've seen so far is looking gorgeous; and hopefully my writing and presenting isn't too bad either!

There's lots still to do. Yesterday, we travelled down to Washington, D.C. and we've been filming a super fun segment in front of the US Capitol building today.

I can't wait to share this one with you all. It's such a privilege to be able to be directing a film on this scale. Thanks so much to everyone who's watched my stuff over the years and has therefore made this all possible.

It's also an honour to be among an incredible slate of Nebula Originals coming out this year. Last week, Jessie Gender's incredible sci-fi short Identiteaze dropped on Nebula, and we're just days away from the release of The Getaway, the brand new game show from the makers of Wendover Productions and Jet Lag: The Game too.

We'll be putting together a proper, dedicated announcement video for *Boomers* shortly, but if you want to be ready for its release, you can find out more about Nebula (and get a cheeky discount) by following the link in the pinned comment below.

I'd love for this to be the first of many big documentary projects I'm able to make, and having people sign up nice and early in anticipation really helps to show that folks are interested!

Thanks once again all, and keep your eyes out for more updates soon!

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vor 1 Monat | [YT] | 1,998

Tom Nicholas

Boomers, my Nebula Original feature-length documentary, is taking shape!

In less than two weeks now, I'm hopping on a plane to the United States to start filming.

It's going to involve visiting a bunch of different states and cities, and even a trip to the Republican National Convention.

Being a Nebula Original means I'm getting the opportunity to work with a full production team, which is so exciting.

Many of you will know that Nebula is the creator-owned, premium streaming service I'm involved with. And the upcoming slate of Nebula Originals, including Boomers, is part of our plan to take over the streaming game and challenge the Netflix's and Apple TV's of this world.

I like to think we do pretty well with the resources we have for our "regular" videos, but having the opportunity to work with a cinematographer, producers and various other kinds of artists really pushes the potential of what we're able to do.

The film is going to look absolutely great and be the biggest thing I've done to date.

It's even got its own IMDB page!

Keep tuned for more updates from me when filming begins.

If you want to be ready for the film's release, whilst also getting to watch the rapidly-expanding catalogue of Nebula Original films and shows, then make sure to head over and check out Nebula using the link below.

vor 2 Monaten (editiert) | [YT] | 1,250

Tom Nicholas

For my latest video, I hit the road for an 18-hour journey across the breadth of England.

All to find out why an increasing number of cities (and counties!) here in the UK keep going bust.

This project is an experiment with a slightly more on-the-ground approach to making videos and was a fairly big undertaking.

But, it was a big story which felt like it needed a big production to properly explain it all.

I hope you find it interesting!

vor 3 Monaten | [YT] | 492

Tom Nicholas

🟣 We've been having so much fun over on Twitch lately! 🟣

Thanks so much to those of you who have popped over and joined in.

For anyone who prefers their videos pre-prepared and slightly more time-constrained, we've been posting some clips to ‪@TomNicholasLive‬.

It's really fun to have a place to post some slightly more rapid responses to evolving news stories.

Do head over and subscribe if that sounds of interest!

vor 3 Monaten | [YT] | 144

Tom Nicholas

My next video's taking a bit longer...

...but only because making it involved a four-day road trip.

Let me explain...

My last video—the sequel to January's *Vape-o-nomics*—was a massive flop.

For various reasons, it just didn't seem to get the same traction as our videos have been over the last six months.

The video had been intended to be the middle instalment of a three-part mini-series.

But, the sheer economics of running a YouTube channel (particularly with how reliant my channel in particular is on adsense, and thus viewership) meant we've unfortunately had to scrap episode three.

This left us with a predicament.

One response to such a scenario would be to scale back on the next project: to make something smaller and less ambitious.

I've decided to go the other in the other direction.

We've had the next video planned for some time. And, it was initially meant to be a fairly standard, video essay-style piece about local government in the UK.

After the last video faltered, however, I decided to ask myself: "Is this the best, most-engaging version of a video on this topic which could exist?".

The answer was no.

After an afternoon of throwing ideas around, we instead decided that the best version of this video actually involved a four-day road trip around England, visiting six different cities and counties which are currently facing some financial troubles.

The whole process has been amazing fun.

Myself and Georgia (my editor and occasional camera operator) have experimented with all kinds of new approaches to making videos and learned loads.

With a bit of luck and hard work, this is going to be a really fun video which marks the start of a new era of the channel.

Apologies that this means it's taking a bit longer, but it should be worth the wait!

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vor 4 Monaten | [YT] | 2,171

Tom Nicholas

🍿 I'm making a movie! 🍿

Yesterday, there were some little announcements in Variety and The Publish Press that I'm making a movie!

Boomers is a feature-length documentary about geriatric politicians, the baby boom and the challenges of an aging population.

Armed with a camera and microphone, I'll be zipping to several different countries to uncover how the Baby Boomers reshaped the world in their own image and how that's made it harder than ever to be young (and, in fact, not-that-young: I'm 30!).

It's going to be super ambitious and a lot of fun and I can't wait to get started!

As you might have predicted, Boomers is being produced by Nebula; the premium streaming service I co-own with a bunch of other, thoughtful creators.

The awesome team at Nebula are injecting the film with some cash and are going to be helping us to give it the biggest launch possible.

I'm so very excited to be working with such a talented group of people.

It's going to be a while until the film comes out, but if you like my work and want to support my biggest project to-date, I'd love it if you'd consider signing up to Nebula.

It allows you to watch all my videos ad-free; along with those of dozens of other creators you know and love: Legal Eagle, Hbomberguy, Philosophy Tube, FD Signifier and many, many more...

It also gains you access to my Nebula-exclusive series "How to Research Like a PhD Student", in which I reveal the reading and note-taking strategies I use to research and fact-check my videos.

If you ever find yourself scrolling through YouTube, struggling to find any truly fulfilling or mind-stretching content, Nebula is the solution: just wall-to-wall videos which leave you better informed about the world around you.

In the comments below, you can find my personal sign-up link which gives you 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula; allowing you access to all that nourishing video goodness for just $2.50 per month.

It also lets the Nebula folks know I sent you and sends some cash my way to make to help me make more and better videos in the future (we've got some incredible plans for the next few months!).

Or, if you're sick of subscriptions, we've recently introduced a lifetime membership, which has been extremely popular.

Lifetime membership isn't necessarily the best value option (I'd recommend the annual subscription for that!), but if you want to support Boomers and projects like it, it's a fantastic way of doing so; allowing us to raise a video-production war chest without having to turn to VC or Private Equity backers.

I'm really excited and Boomers and to once again be working with Nebula on such a cool project. If you want to get in on the ground floor, then check out that link below...

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vor 5 Monaten | [YT] | 2,648

Tom Nicholas

🔥 The follow-up to my Vape-o-nomics video is out now! 💨

This time round, we're exploring how the fall of Juul (and the rise of disposable vapes in its place) explains the present tensions between the US (and Europe!) and China.

If you've been following the news about the TikTok ban or fascinated by the sudden inescapability of Temu, this one's for you!

👇 Check it out 👇

vor 5 Monaten | [YT] | 280

Tom Nicholas

I'm back!

On Thursday, my wife and I arrived home after a 27-hour journey back from our honeymoon in Japan.

We had an incredible two weeks of travelling: visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and Kobe.

Along the way we fed deer, watched kabuki, won gachapon, soaked in onsen, belted karaoke, rode rollercoasters, visited many shrines and temples and ate a lot of fish.


It truly was the trip of a lifetime with so many memories to treasure.

I'm now slowly managing to catch up on what feels like thousands of tasks and conversations; but expect to see things returning back to normal soon. Including, hopefully, a video towards the end of next week!

Thanks all for your patience and support!

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vor 5 Monaten | [YT] | 1,345