Your Questions Answered! | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios 

this is one of the most underrated channels on RU-vid

Hey Mike, I'm working through American Nations right now and I keep hearing your voice saying "Here's an idea: there isn't an American Way"

Ok, here's a couple of suggestions: 1- Read Berserk, from Kentaro Miura. 2-Make a video about it, please :D 3-Keep being one of the coolest, most interesting channels on youtube.

Now I want to see an episode on Hetalia . . .

How can I become your friend in a non awkward way? XD

I think you and Chris Hardwick should have a speaking match. Both you and him have the ability to talk clearly and quickly, which is most impressive.

Mike, you are the beard of the team.

That awkvard moment when you know a guy named Teddy and you live in Sweden...

As a huge hetalia fan, I can say there's probably a handful of ideas one can latch onto; such as: 1. Whether or not making human-shaped mascots for each individual country/nation/principality/micro-nation etc enforces stereotypes 2. Whether or not there are good or bad stereotypes 3. The fact that a lot of people seem to take offense to Hetalia's exclusion of the holocaust & other tragedies, even though it wouldn't have been appropriate to make a comedic slice of life comic about such things in the first place. (also how a lot of people assume hetalia is about WWII, when, contrary to popular belief, it's mostly just geography & international relations) Also random hetalia trivia! 1. Hetalia originally started as a one-shot Japanese web-comic posted on a blog in 2006 (the creator- known as Hidekaz Himaruya- was only 21 years old at the time) 3. It was born out of Himaruya's love of history and inspired by his time studying graphic design over-seas at the Parsons School for Design 2. Nobody knows what the creator of hetalia actually looks like. (people he interacts with irl excluded of course, but not even the Japanese fandom knows what he looks like! At least not for certain) ...aw dang that's the only amount of trivia I can think of :(

Wow. You read almost all of the comments? That is some dedication right there.

One of my favourite things about your show is that it serves as a really good bite sized intro to the kinds of thing I spend much of my time thinking about. I often feel cant share these ideas with people because they are too dense and complicated and I'm not good enough at communicating them. That's why I got super excited when you mentioned the ideas you haven't got round to, in particular when you mentioned a video on the wire. I dont think you have to bring something completely new to the conversation when you serve such a valuable function making certain conversations accessible. A 10 minute video on the wire done by you might help me convince more people to watch the show, and that would be a very valuable thing indeed. Here's an idea, the wire is the only TV show that genuinely enriches your life and makes you a better person for having watched it.

PLEASE do Avatar the Last Airbender. Holy junks, you goooootta.

This past VidCon I saw you and Michael Stevens from Vsause chatting in the lobby. I don't know what you two were talking about, but as I passed by, my mind thought of all the possibilities and it made me smile. I love the ED side of RU-vid. =)

"i read all the time, i read maybe a book a week" .... "i have no free time" XD

Sullen, moody one? Au contraire, Mike. I believe You have good looks too.

How about doing something Discworld/Terry Pratchett related? Small Gods in particular would be interesting.

Here's an idea, Bionicle. It was a series of toys produced by Lego from 2001 to 2010. This series was really different from previous sub-brands because it was Lego's first successful attempt at an original story line. I also feel that Bionicle was in may ways the first successful multimedia experience. There comics, movies, books, online serials, and tie-in games. I thoroughly enjoyed Bionicle growing, and I really miss it. There were close to ten years of material, and there was a lot of depth for it being a thing to sell toys. I just can't think of an idea to talk about because it dealt with so many different aspects of everything. I just wanted to put that out there. Also, if you're looking for good source material, I highly recommend BZPower and BioSector01. If you need something Bionicle, it will be there.

Watching Idea Channel has two effects on my brain: implosion or explosion. Every episode makes me feel like: a.) my brain is unable to compute the grand vastness of the idea (and its implications) b.) my brain is upgraded to its maximum capacity and I am unable to stop thinking. So thank you! Thank you so much (even for the days when you make my head hurt).

8:22, one of my all time favorite idea Channel things ever. Only topped by the mini rave in the dubstep/avangard episode.

In that first minute and 15 seconds you took two different things WheezyWaiter says constantly and said them yourself. Coincidence?!

Here's an idea, Mike wears a beard because his eyes are black and cold and the beard adds warmth and humanity to his complexion.

THERE WAS GOING TO BE A HETALIA IDEA CHANNEL EPISODE!!!!! that would have been AWESOME! but yeah I get what he is saying, Hetalia: Axis Powers can be a very difficult anime to grasp correctly and find a really good topic to talk about.

I have a question/video idea thing! Why has Sherlock Holmes survived so long? Also, yeah, Portland! :)

Could you do a video on the NSA explaining what exactally it is they are doing, what they have power over and why they should / should not have that power.

Can you do an episode about interpellation? Its pretty interesting and since media does this constantly, its relatable to your viewers. Just an idea...

As a history major who used to be decently involved in the Hetalia fanbase, it's certainly a useful tool for thinking about history by personifying nations. And I'd say anything that helps spark an interest in history is a good thing. Plus, because of the way the fanbase and the franchise itself works, you learn a lot of different stuff from what you learn in school. Overall, it's very useful for learning the general relationships of countries.

Anyone else want them to unshelve their hetalia idea? Pastaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

"It's a family show" Says the guy who made the Slenderman, Evangelion, and Nightvale videos =P

Really glad to hear you count the library among your resources, Mike. We're looking forward to your episode on the future of libraries!

Hi! I've been a subscriber of yours since a little while ago, and I just LOVE all your videos. And when I heard about the Hetalia idea, I was really surprised! I'm a huge fan of the show and I would love to see you guys make a Hetalia-related episode. It's only a recommendation! I've got two ideas: 'Is Hetalia racist?' And ' How would the world be if the countries really were human-ish beings?' (I personally like the latter the most) So, uhm, even if you don't do it I will continue being your fan and loving you. Please continue with all your awesome work! You guys rule. I love you guys.

Ahahaha, I'm into APH and even I can't really understand how to turn it into an Idea Channel episode. XD

I'm still getting through your backlog of video's and every one of them is a gem. Thanks for doing this great show. I think the reason that your comment section is relatively good is because the people watching know that you will actually read it and generally want to be recognized so they put on their best 'behavior'

i think a good idea for the Pokemon episode would be to compare it to the Lord of The Rings, sort of a modern day comparison a la Homestuck and Ulysses both works detail in their main installments (Gen I-VI for Pokemon, The Hobbit-Return of the king for LOTR) about a young man's coming of age story, which ends up in them committing a legendary, heroic deed against a powerful foe, as he is accompanied by his companions (or pokemon) the entire way. Like LOTR, Pokemon has grown darker and more complex over the years to suit its ever growing fanbase, but it never gets "edgier" as the games always have an overall light tone, like how all four books got more complex stories as Tolkien's kids got older. comparing Gen I to Gen V is sort of like comparing a Spotlight to a Chandelier, the spotlight is very bright and simple, but a Chandelier is more beautiful, it may not light the room as well as the spotlight, but its worth looking at more than a simple spotlight and takes a bit to soak up its brilliance and that isn't even mentioning how the spin-off games like Mystery Dungeon or Ranger expand the lore of of the Pokemon universe, because of those games we know that Pokemon have just as much intelligence as the human race, and that there are alternative means of gaining Pokemon's assistance than just the classic Poke Ball, sort of like how the books that Christopher published gave more insight into the lore of the universe, and what happened before and after the series Its an odd comparison, but i think there is depth to it

I'd love to see a Pokemon themed video. Maybe you can talk about if it would be possible to genetically engineer a Pokemon or something sciency like that LoL

I wish Know your Meme could be revitalized. I would really like to know more about some of these memes popping up today

You mentioned an IRC channel? I don't see the info in the description, what server/channel?

I've discovered "Welcome to Night Vale" via your show. Thank you, guys. THANK YOU!!!!

I have to keep telling myself that there are no such things as coincidences. Yesterday at work I was looking at Himaruya Hidekaz's blog, admiring his pretty new art. He's the author of Hetalia and I briefly wondered if IC would ever do an episode on Hetalia. And today I watched this episode and I'm floored. I do have to say that Hetalia is hard to get into and hard to get out of. I didn't know of it until the anime was announced and it's been one of those things that sucked me in and hasn't let go. It is hard to reconcile the derpiness and denseness of the manga against the real world. The material really doesn't lend to an idea so it's good that it never came to fruition. Besides, Mike would have to read scanlations and those are bad. You don't want a repeat of Attack on Titan and illegal sources.

As a double major in History and Social Studies Ed/ Anime lover, Hetalia is one of my absolute favorite animes. I love the history to it, but I also love all of the historic fallacies as well. I would love to be able to utilize it in my classroom in the future. You should give that Idea a second thought and see what you can come up with!

Now that I know you even thought about doing something on Hetalia, I really want you to do something on it!

Super Metroid is probably my favorite video game of all time, so I definitely agree with you there. :D

Kind of sad about shelved Hetalia... but I can understand how it could be hard to make a video about that. (I'm a huge European history nerd so it makes a lethal combo of history and anime.) Thanks for making super awesome videos! I look forward to them each week and learning about fandoms and ideas I didn't know about. :)

Will you guys ever feature extended episodes that go into depth on more comprehensive subject matter? That would be awesome.

I think the most interesting thing about Hetalia is that whole Nazi Salute on passover in boston thing. But that was like three years ago. But that was like three years ago. I mean the show is also really interesting in terms of the different counties and their representation. Especially since it questions how the Geographic and Sociological imaginaries of these countries are. Specifically, how we imagine these countries and the people in the countries are compared to the way they are. I really enjoy watching this channel because you make references to philosophers like Foucault, Marx, Singer etc . I like this because I don't really feel many others do this in a way that isn't pedantic or boring. Also, the way you do it, is kinda awesome.

Best comments section should definitely be a RU-vid award. Good commentors become the third leg of quality video production, the other two being the internal creative team and the 'fresh perspective' creative team. Triads, man. That's what makes awesome tribes.

Douglas Adams, Venture Bros., Emergency & I -- my gigantic nerdy mancrush on you has never been stronger

Is there a bloopers/outakes reel? And, if so, may we see it?

I didn't know you were a part of know your meme! That's awesome

So I'm wondering right now, could you tell us more about the Idea Channel intro/outro, how the visuals and music for it were created? I'm really curious about it all of a sudden

Sadness! I really would have enjoyed a Hetalia episode. Not just to hear your thoughts on it of course but that would give it more visibility and reach people that might not have already checked it out. It's because of you that I started listening to Night Vale and I'm so grateful for you doing an episode on it because I would have never even have heard of it if it wasn't for you. Hetalia did hit big at one point but the wave is kinda dying down but I would love for a fresh wave of fans to enjoy Hetalia and to help the creator by enjoying Hetalia. Although technically you merely mentioning it in your video might get more people to at least google it. ^^;; So… Thanks for that. :D

Because of your comment about not swearing, I think you should do an episode about censorship.

For Hetalia you can either do "Does Hetalia really help with history knowledge/grades?" Because there have been many claims it does and I myself have had more interest in history because of Hetalia. There is also the topic of the Hetalia and Homestuck fandom's relationship because the history of our fandoms is quite interesting, to me anyway.

He reads every comment. Including the one I'm typing right now. Oh god, I need to say something really insightful and impressive . . . . . . I got nothin.

You know, I'm a big fan of Hetalia, despite not being in the fandom for quite a while... And while I think some of these topics have probably been discussed, I would still very much like to see an episode on this old fandom of mine, so here are some suggestions that I don't think are discussed among Hetalia fans that much. Should/can anime like Hetalia be used a a new teaching medium? Does Hetalia promote international unity? Do foreign forms of entertainment, particularly anime such as Hetalia, eliminate nationalism? I really do hope that this can inspire something, and that these ideas aren't too exhausted.

You get a "like" for Super Metroid and "Emergency & I" by The Dismemberment Plan. Two very great choices.

it's pretty cool to know you actually read our comments but HEY! maybe a timetravel/parodox video?

just when you think the videos over you realize theres even more idea channel goodness to be seen! awesome that made my day just all the more better :)

Is it possible to earmark a donation to PBS Digital Studios rather than a local station or Create?

So my Intro to Religious Studies professor compared pilgrimages to Pokemon (like with regard to the way it's not so much about a destination as it is about traveling around from place to place and catching 'em all and really being the Pokemon trainer more than accomplishing some goal---which is true more of the show than it is of the games of course because those need a goal-oriented outline.) Anyway, if that's not been such an overdone idea, maybe it's a conversation we could have about Pokemon here? I'm sure there are other (better?) ways to talk about Pokemon, but you mentioned it was a topic you wanted to talk about so that is my suggestion.

How about a Twin Peaks episode, as a *insert nickname for Twin Peak fans* would love to see it! :D

Possible topic: Text based games (Primarily MUD's). Kind of retro, but in the world of gaming, MUDs and their cousins still have a pretty hardcore and devoted fanbase. Not only are these games more accessible to people with vision problems that may not be able to fully enjoy video games, the 'lack' of graphics creates an enormous potential for roleplaying, customization, and homebrew. A lot is interesting about the medium in a purely factual way, but the rabbit hole goes deeper (as it usually does, if you're willing to dig a little). In the same vein as Minecraft being an educational tool, I've found that the relatively minimalist (but often still complex, within its field) MUD environment can be a really powerful self discovery/exploration tool, and a lot more besides. Many dedicated players even find that these games can be a great gateway into things like computer science, and you can tackle difficult social and moral issues in a way most players can't quite achieve with other gaming (like tabletop). I think it would be interesting to hear youse guise's take on it all!

I'd really love to see a Hetalia episode. Keep working on it because I know you'd make something amazing!

Hetalia is one of the best things in media. Ever. Perhaps discussion of personification? That's a big theme.

I think PBS Idea channel should still make a vid on Hetalia

Have you thought about an episode on something like Gender Roles?

Maybe an episode on Hetalia could be about how humans in general are more willing to except possibly/probably offensive material in comedy than they are in any other genre? (Not dissing Hetalia, I love it, it's just a trend I've noticed in a lot of comedy, like stuff on That Guy With The Glasses and here on youtube as well.) OOOOOOOOOH or maybe it could be about how the different reactions to the show from people from different countries kind of reflects that country's actual "collective personality" as a whole. I.e., a lot of Americans, Canadians, and British viewers who like the show love/and or laugh at the depiction of their countries because we're a very self-depreciating, yet on the other hand the South Korean government and/or people (I'm not sure which, I need to look it up to try to remind myself who exactly got mad) got really mad because of the depiction of South Korea as a country that copies everybody, reflecting the huge effort they've been making to become their own country and create their own unique things (k-pop, etc.). I don't know, sounds interesting to me.

Was that "Avatar: the Last Airbender," or James Cameron's "Avatar?"

This youtube channel should be shown in all high schools

Hey Mike, had an idea the other day I thought might interest you (although it feels like just a partial idea). What about an episode talking about how major cultural events (like large-scale movies, memes, etc.) affect or even change the meaning of certain words? (Thinking of Inception and Titanic here mostly; "inception" has a dictionary definition but the internet reaction to the movie created kind of a secondary definition for the word to mean "a thing within a thing". And Titanic...well, when was the last time you heard the word "titanic" used as an adjective?) Love the channel, by the way! I look forward to your videos and I appreciate that you educate your audience on the subject you're talking about alongside discussing your ideas, since I've never watched, read, or sometimes even heard of a lot of the things you talk about, and it's nice to not be left out by not knowing anything about it beforehand. Keep at it! Long live PBSIdeaChannel!

What!?! There's a Hetalia episode floating around? I hope you finish it one day because I would love to see it

Just finished running a Shadowrun game based on Louisiana's 1991 governor's race. It went pretty well.

Your channel is definitely one of my favorites at the moment and I love watching the show while doing homework assignments and have brought up some of the ideas from your videos in essays and discussions for my AP Lit class. An idea that I thought would be really interesting to touch on in a video is about the whole debacle about whether or not The Hunger Games is a rip off of Battle Royale. I personally think both are similar in premise, but not necessarily the same. I prefer BR to HG, but many BR fans get extremely touchy about HG. Perhaps a more general way of voicing this question would be to say: Why are more and more books being written off as rip-offs nowadays? There aren't many "original" novels anymore, but should people be upset by works that show influences or direct homages to others? Are the people who get upset about other books being ripped off of other books upset because they're upset that their novels failed to reach the popularity of the opposing book despite their similarities or is it something else? I'm looking forward to the next episode, whatever it may be about!

yes make a video about the NSA! please

Hell yes, Venture Bros! You should do a video based off that.

The Venture Brothers is so absurdly sublime! It's so frustrating that none of my friends recognise its brilliance!

I live in the UK, and no one has heard of The Dismemberment Plan, and the funny thing is, I listened to that album today at work

what is your tumblr? i cant seem to find it

Hahaha! Your "sullen moody" look is adorable! :)

Here is an idea: Are we on the cusp of a renaissance 2.0? If the internet is our printing press, and internet creators are our version of the scholars who rediscovered old works and ushered a new way of thinking to the masses, and our current form of entertainment grasping at possibly anything and everything analogous to people scrambling for secular works which led to the building of libraries and the spread of the renaissance? I can't help but think that we are being fed the same kind of entertainment over and over, seeing sequels going into the 5,6, or 7 movie franchises and people want more. We are so hungry for new ideas that BBC is becoming rampantly successful, old stories such as princess of mars, sherlock holmes, and frankenstein are getting spotlighted. Is this the renaissance all over again?

Hey Mike, as a abid pokemon player I'd have to say that the more interesting aspects of the game are in it's players more than the game. Personally I find the level of personal expression in the game fascinating as the pokemon you choose to collect and train are a reflection of your personality. Thanks for reading EVERY COMMENT we have to submit for at least a week, I would never be so patient.

What's the scene or movie the MEME "HUGE" comes from that's sometimes used in the IDEA channel shows?

I'd love to hear you talk about the thematic differences between ATLA and Korra and why the themes have changed as they have.

I'd actually love to see you do a video about swearing and why we ascribe negative association on a bunch of meaningless sounds, which at the end of the day are no different from any other word and why, as societies, we come up with swear words in the first place. But I know it won't happen on PBS for obvious reasons. Keep up the good work though!

Me and my dad both love the show. A massive thank you to the team for continuing to make this Idea Channel.

I wonder if you had a view on Universal Truth. In my AP Euro class, we were talking about the Philosophes in the Enlightenment and how they all wanted some sort of reform based off of reason, but they had different views in what was right and wrong for the reform. That was when my teacher (who looks a lot like you) asked if everyone had nothing but logic, and only acted on reason, would there be a set of "universal truths." Would there be hard facts about society, politics, religion and would everyone achieve the same conclusion if we all had unending, or nearly unending reason and logic. We debated for the rest of the class period over it and some suggested there is none and it led to us to even question truth. My teacher suggested Universal truth, wasn't a destination, like we all thought, but rather a Journey. He suggested that maybe, in doing what everyone knows deep down to be good, whenever possible was when Universal Truth was met. It was never a destination but an infinite journey, and, every time you do something good to the conscience everyone has, you get closer to the destination, but are still infinitely far away. You can never say you have achieved Universal Truth and actually have. It is the Journey that is it. We still left the class room confused and questioning our existence but I thought it was interesting and even if you don't reply I would just like to give you some food for thought.

Due to your comment on taking about a week to read a book (wich is normal), I thought I'd mention speead-reading, photoreading, mindmapping, 10-finger typing and so many skills that someone can learn to improve. some of them can drasticly increase productivity. I've always been an avid fan of not knowing more but knowing how to know more. In the digital/information age knowledge is abundant, wisdom is rare but the skills the gather and make knowledge processed into wisdom and other skills is quite obscure. We already rely to much onto the internet to even 'unplug' ourself so I find it weird that the educational system isint introducing for example speed-reading. *insert conspiracy theory* . Either way, what I am leading to is a topic that we might just have to stop learning but maybe learn to learn faster. It is odly worded but closest to what I think I am getting to. I'l contribute everything I know and try to help if you ever wish to tackle this topic. The skills to become skillfull =D. Ps. thanks for all the questions awnsered and yay DOUBLE LENGTH EPISODE.

Here's an Idea: Superheroes are a Modern Mythology, I would love you guys to do an episode on superheroes.

I only just realized you're the guy from knowyourmeme... how could I not notice earlier omg!

i remember subscribing to this channel from vsauce's video about guns on games im glad i did!

How do you have time to read comments read books work and be social and also playing games/having fun?

Look into "Imagining the tenth dimension"! Hopefully you make an episode about that!

:') been looking at the videos since the first feature in know your meme :) KUDOS !!! dont stop !

You read close to every comment?! Wow, I'll be sure to either put a lot of effort into posting something useful or just not post anything at all... Damnit, I failed...

The Venture Bros. and Super Metroid! This is the correct answer (the best kind of correct)!

This is a fairly undeveloped idea but I would really like to see an episode on the violence in Tarantino films but in an idea channel "we-think-of-everything-in-a-different-way" kind of way haha

I demand the Hetalia episode be shown! Denmark has spoken!

I noticed that you talked about Pokemon, and I had a weird question I'm having a difficult time finding. Jesse and James dress up often in the original series, and I heard that they are dressing as characters from other animes (for example, Jesse dresses as Oscar, James as Marie Antoinette from The Rose of Versailles). Does anyone know where I would be able to confirm or deny that rumor?

I figured for the 88th episode a nice Back to the Future episode was in place, but this video was quite entertaining.

Quick thought: every time Vidcon is mentioned, I think of a indie game by the name of "Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden" which calls video game's "vidcons". I only know this because my internet friends played it and they know the developer and they reference it a lot. I personally have not played it... I may change that someday... assuming I ever get through the massive backlog of games I already have on my Steam library... Maybe you should do an episode on media overload.

'Is math real'? was the first PBS idea channel video i watched...and have subsequently watched every epiosde since :)