In every old Crash Course YouTube video, John Green had a “this machine kills fascists” sticker on his Mac, inspired by Woody Guthrie’s guitar carvings. It was the early 2000s, and there was hope that the internet would ultimately be good.
The Green brothers have gone back on this message, and so have I. The internet no longer helps me find relief from this horrifying political moment and instead seems to perpetuate the harm. Scrolling when you get home from class is no longer a reprieve from the horrible thing you heard the boy next to you say under his breath, but an inescapable continuation of it. I used to feel a grand sense of camaraderie on the internet, but now I just feel worse.
But I still can’t get off the fucking phone, especially at night. How else, I attempt to argue, will I burn my eyes until they’re so strained that I have to close them? What else will save me from the suffering of simply processing my day until my body forcibly sleeps?
I’ve had to find a middle ground. I’m limiting myself to certain accounts and genres of content that remain purely good in a world that, climate- and culture-wise, feels more and more unsalvageable. As John Green wrote in his 2021 essay collection “The Anthropocene Reviewed,” “finding hope is not some philosophical exercise or sentimental notion; it is a prerequisite for my survival.” Here are some places of peace and kindness on the internet that give me that much-needed hope.
“Tweedy & Fluff”
I am still a girl who chases the feeling of being read a bedtime story. “Tweedy & Fluff” gets pretty damn close. The show is a stop-motion animation series that runs on TV, but, in line with how I consume most TV these days, I watch the clips on Instagram.
As their website says, “Tweedy is a little toy made from tweed cloth, living alone in a weaver’s cottage until the arrival of Fluff – a four-legged ball of woolly fuzz who becomes his beloved pet.” It is one of the most adorable things I’ve seen on the internet.
My favorite clip is the most popular, where Fluff gets a piece of tape stuck to him, which is obviously very scary for a little fluff. Tweedy calms him down, and it really makes me want to cry. The calming music, slight ASMR of Tweedy walking and genuine kindness of the act — it all cozies me right down for sleep.
There’s a calm in these videos I haven’t felt since maybe-too-old-me was playing with dolls or accompanying my kid siblings to kid’s movies as a bona fide adult. It brings me to the quieted, peaceful space of a little girl glued to a fuzzy TV screen — emotionally way better than the rest of the shit Instagram shoves down my throat.
Lego cooking
Lego cooking is ASMR for children, and it rocks. There are quite a few channels that make these videos, but my favorite (and the most popular) channel is tomosteen. These are stop-motion videos recreating every step of cooking with Legos instead of food, and they are so satisfying. They’re dubbed with incredible sound effects, making them even more realistic. These must take an insanely long time to make, evidenced by the gaps between uploads on the channel.
I don’t like normal ASMR, but this content really does it for me. All of the videos are so detailed, and I’m constantly floored by the effort being put into them. They make for a wonderfully calming experience before bed.
“The Office” bloopers
I haven’t even seen “The Office” beyond a couple of random episodes, but it doesn’t seem to matter. There aren’t even enough bloopers to justify the amount of compilations that exist, but trust that I’ve seen them all. I don’t quite know why I’m obsessed — maybe it’s the comfort of such a well-known and easily rewatchable show, maybe it’s watching actors I’m vaguely aware of be seemingly good friends outside of their job. But either way, there’s something in the “Dinner Party” blooper that necessitates I rewatch it every time. And there’s no better way to fall a little bit in love with Jenna Fischer (“Blades of Glory”) and John Krasinski (“A Quiet Place”) than through these compilations.
Library book repairs
There is very little to say about library book repairs, but they rock. TikTok’s The Contoured Librarian takes books from her school library and goes through many processes to fix them, and it is so satisfying every time. There’s big fancy machines, lots of glue, tape and kids’ books. What’s not to love?
worldbycharlie
This account is like if Mr. Rogers hosted “How It’s Made.” In his What Are They Making? series, worldbycharlie goes to different factories and narrates how a product is made. The audio is super soothing and stripped down, with his calming narration throughout. He explains every part of the process as if he’s narrating a children’s television show. As he watches potato chips tumble down a conveyor belt, he adds “I wonder where they’re going” in perfect classic childhood-TV tone, and it’s so wholesome. Every video is so warm and makes me feel like the internet still has some use for education.
He hasn’t made a ton of these videos yet, but the ones he has are doing really well and all take place at companies in Michigan, which is even cooler. There’s even one about Ann Arbor’s own Zingerman’s!
I don’t really believe the internet will get much better, especially after the AI-infiltration of almost every platform. But there is still the occasional moment and the occasional video that bring me a smile, and, maybe these days, that’s all I can hope for.
Managing Arts Editor Campbell Johns can be reached at caajohns@umich.edu.
The post What to watch on your phone before bed that won’t kill you appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
