UPDATE:
Kurzgesagt's official response: https://reddit.com/r/kurzgesagt/comments/10jlyyk/kurzgesagt_statement_to_the_conflict_of_interest/
My response to Kurzgesagt: https://www.reddit.com/r/thehatedone/comments/10pb1q9/my_response_to_kurzgesagt/
Kurzgesagt is not just a popular science outreach channel. It's a major tool for propaganda of their billionaire sponsors.
Support independent research and analysis by joining my Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/thehatedone
Kurzgesagt received estimated $7 million from billionaire funds. This would be more money than Kurzgesagt received from their supporters on Patreon (estimated $3.5 million) in the entire history of the channel.
Sources [First half only; second part in the pinned comment]
[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20221108134548/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNWWrDBRBqk
[1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-diseases-neglected-pharma-idUSTRE80T0LO20120130
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Declaration_on_Neglected_Tropical_Diseases
[3] https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Ideas/Media-Center/Press-Releases/2012/01/private-and-public-partners-unite-to-combat-10-neglected-tropical-diseases-by-2020
[4] https://www.businessinsider.com/r-fight-against-neglected-tropical-diseases-needs-big-pharma-push-who-2017-4
[5] https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-gates16dec16-story.html
[6] https://academic.oup.com/bmb/article/93/1/179/307584?
[7] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673609608850/fulltext?
[8] https://www.vox.com/2015/6/10/8760199/gates-foundation-criticism
[9] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762308
[10] https://www.thenation.com/article/society/bill-gates-foundation-philanthropy/
[11] https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-07-na-gatesx07-story.html
[12] https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/02/10/bill-melinda-gates-have-spent-billions-dollars-shape-education-policy-now-they-say-theyre-skeptical-billionaires-trying-do-just-that/
[13] https://apnews.com/a4042e82ffaa4a34b50ceac464761957
[14] https://news.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx
[15a] https://medium.com/@Kurzgesagt/kurzgesagt-sponsorships-on-youtube-3121a45b0fe9
[15b] https://web.archive.org/web/20221122151542/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KQYNtPl7V4&lc=Ugw7oaypQ3qALcugYzh4AaABAg
[16] https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/2015/11/opp1139276
[17] https://www.openphilanthropy.org/grants/kurzgesagt-video-creation-and-translation/
[18a] https://www.openphilanthropy.org/grants/kurzgesagt-short-form-video-content/
[18b] https://web.archive.org/web/20220000000000*/https://www.patreon.com/Kurzgesagt
[19] https://ourworldindata.org/funding
[20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_World_In_Data#Funding_and_collaborations
[21] https://web.archive.org/web/20221108134123/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsBT5EQt348
[22] https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty-in-brief
[23] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/02/world/global-poverty-united-nations.html
[24] https://theconversation.com/why-the-world-banks-optimism-about-global-poverty-misses-the-point-104963
[25] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/nov/01/global-poverty-is-worse-than-you-think-could-you-live-on-190-a-day
[26] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/29/bill-gates-davos-global-poverty-infographic-neoliberal
[27] https://newint.org/features/2019/07/01/long-read-progress-and-its-discontents
[28] https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/feb/25/modern-slavery-trafficking-persons-one-in-200
[29] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196%2820%2930196-0/fulltext
[30] https://oxfam.app.box.com/s/1rp115i9uiwmvsa11mwaa00vwc6ic437
[31] https://qz.com/1402301/bill-gatess-1-billion-energy-fund-is-expanding-its-portfolio-of-startups-fighting-climate-change
[32] https://www.wired.com/2015/11/zuckerberg-gates-climate-change-breakthrough-energy-coalition/
[33] https://qz.com/859860/bill-gates-is-leading-a-new-1-billion-fund-focused-on-combatting-climate-change-through-innovation
[34] https://news.stanford.edu/2019/10/25/study-casts-doubt-carbon-capture/
[35] https://www.wired.com/story/the-potential-pitfalls-of-sucking-carbon-from-the-atmosphere/
[36] https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/07/08/1027908/carbon-removal-hype-is-a-dangerous-distraction-climate-change/
[37] https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/06/SR15_Full_Report_High_Res.pdf
[38] https://grist.org/technology/orca-the-largest-carbon-removal-facility-to-date-is-up-and-running/
[39] https://climeworks.com/roadmap/orca
[40] https://www.ft.com/content/8a942e30-0428-4567-8a6c-dc704ba3460a
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The one positive I can throw kurzgesagt’s way regarding their videos about the climate disaster, is that in their “who’s to blame” video posed as a “U.S. vs China” type thing, they actually wound up at correct conclusions regarding the overwhelming effects of cumulative emissions in the west and China’s burgeoning eco-friendly production sector. End statement was basically “the west and the east need to get along on this as equals or else we’re all going to die.” Which, yeah. Just pleasantly surprised me is all.
I remember back in the day he made an anti-weed video. Then later he made a video on how weed is kinda cool and not that bad overall and its overhyped. I remember being a huge stoner who was pissed off at the random flip in his judgment and acting like nothing happened, So I commented that he’s inconsistent and he literally said what how and I explained and he deleted the comment. Also I think he deleted one of the vids
That channel had a similar back and forth with badempanada if anyone is curious. I don’t remember the exact details but the video was something about downplaying climate collapse so I think their source of funding is red herring because regardless of where it comes from, they push out ridiculously bourgeois propaganda.
I would even argue that them creating the kind of bourgeois propaganda (whether they are aware of what they are doing or not) that reaches mostly young people and comes across as slick and factual is probably exactly why they became a go to beneficiary of all these billionaire foundations in the first place.
I don’t trust their figures, and I’m not just talking about them arbitrarily picking the last 3 years. I don’t see a damn way in hell they’d so much as mention the Gates foundation if they received under 1% of their revenue from them. That would mean at their publishing speed the donation from Gates foundation wouldn’t cover a single video, defeating the purpose of the sponsorship.
Their only good videos are the ones explaining facts of the universe anyway. Their philosophical videos are riddled with idealistic nonsense, their technology videos feed into the “futuristic bs will save us” movement that lulls people to ignore the present and their practical/political videos are just factually shit, they haven’t improved on that regard since their Syrian refugees video.