Joe SantagatoWhen I stopped uploading to YouTube, I admit that, at the time, I didn’t exactly know why. I knew I needed a break and that I wasn’t feeling fulfilled, but it took time to really understand why I felt the need to step away from a channel at the height of its popularity. It didn’t take long to realize that I wasn’t alone, and that burnout and long breaks from YouTube are a pretty common trend among popular creators, or influencers, or whatever we’re called these days. During my break from this channel, I did a lot of work to find a way to return to uploading content that would be sustainable and enjoyable. Hence, this new show. It’s a chance for me to share my thoughts, no matter how absurd they may be, while also diving way too deep into the topics that interest me. Plus the bi-weekly schedule allows us more time to research, write, and make sure each episode is a final product we’re truly proud of. When I recently heard from a friend that most of his students said they wanted to be YouTubers and influencers as a career, I had to see if it was a larger trend. And it was. Being an influencer is literally the #1 most desired job amongst kids. The more we researched, the more I felt like there was a whole side to this career that people weren’t considering. The side that can be super damaging and have longterm effects on a person’s self-esteem and self-worth, especially if they’re not aware of the potential dangers. So I felt like I had to share some wisdom that I wish I’d had when I first started out. Because this job really is amazing, but I also don’t want people lighting themselves on fire and eating sticks of butter on camera for a hit of fleeting digital dopamine, all for the sake of calling themselves an influencer. So now everyone wins. I get to share some (hopefully) useful advice and you guys get me back on YouTube. I also really had to make sure people knew about the fucking pig influencer with 17,000 followers. See you in two weeks.
Do You Actually Want To Be An Influencer?Joe Santagato2022-11-29 | When I stopped uploading to YouTube, I admit that, at the time, I didn’t exactly know why. I knew I needed a break and that I wasn’t feeling fulfilled, but it took time to really understand why I felt the need to step away from a channel at the height of its popularity. It didn’t take long to realize that I wasn’t alone, and that burnout and long breaks from YouTube are a pretty common trend among popular creators, or influencers, or whatever we’re called these days. During my break from this channel, I did a lot of work to find a way to return to uploading content that would be sustainable and enjoyable. Hence, this new show. It’s a chance for me to share my thoughts, no matter how absurd they may be, while also diving way too deep into the topics that interest me. Plus the bi-weekly schedule allows us more time to research, write, and make sure each episode is a final product we’re truly proud of. When I recently heard from a friend that most of his students said they wanted to be YouTubers and influencers as a career, I had to see if it was a larger trend. And it was. Being an influencer is literally the #1 most desired job amongst kids. The more we researched, the more I felt like there was a whole side to this career that people weren’t considering. The side that can be super damaging and have longterm effects on a person’s self-esteem and self-worth, especially if they’re not aware of the potential dangers. So I felt like I had to share some wisdom that I wish I’d had when I first started out. Because this job really is amazing, but I also don’t want people lighting themselves on fire and eating sticks of butter on camera for a hit of fleeting digital dopamine, all for the sake of calling themselves an influencer. So now everyone wins. I get to share some (hopefully) useful advice and you guys get me back on YouTube. I also really had to make sure people knew about the fucking pig influencer with 17,000 followers. See you in two weeks.
#joesantagatoThe REAL reason Santa says “Ho Ho Ho”Joe Santagato2022-12-24 | ...The Dark & Strange History Of Santa ClausJoe Santagato2022-12-23 | A few weeks ago we were working in the studio, getting in the Christmas spirit, and one of us brought up the fact that it’s weird we have this tradition about a big jolly fat guy who sneaks into our homes and wants kids to sit on his lap. We started wondering where the story of Santa even came. What’s the history and the origin? Who is St. Nicholas and what’s he have to do with Santa? We had already been toying with the idea of putting out a special Christmas episode, so we decided that we’d do some research into the history of Santa, and if it seemed interesting enough, then we’d do a fun history lesson as an episode.
Greg started doing the initial research that night and within minutes he texted Joe saying, “Hookers. The story of Santa starts with hookers. We have an episode.”
As Greg dove deeper into the research, it became clear that the history of Santa is truly a wild and weird ride that spans centuries and continents. We decided the most fun way to do the episode would be for Greg to have the deep knowledge of the story and timeline of events, while Joe drank wine dressed as Santa and reacted to the information. Joe got a general briefing of some key points so that he’d have an overall sense of the story, but some major details were left out so that he could genuinely find out while filming. You’ll notice the moments.
We love the idea of spending way too much time learning about weird shit, so this was perfect for us. Hopefully it doesn’t ruin Christmas for you.
Enjoy. And Happy Holidays.
- @joesantagato & @gregdybec
TRY OUR EVERYTHING BAGEL HOT SAUCE (Yes, Joe and Greg really made this): https://heatonist.com/products/secret...
#joesantagatoWe found the creepiest DMs of the year and gave them awards.Joe Santagato2022-12-14 | ...The Creepiest DMs Of 2022Joe Santagato2022-12-13 | You might be wondering how we ended up here, doing a full on award show for super creepy DMs that were sent by real people. Honestly, the idea came to us after we put out the first episode of this show. There was a joke in the episode where Joe said that every girl likely has a creep in their DMs at this very moment. We ended up posting a clip of that joke, and it didn’t take long for women to start commenting about how many weird DMs they get on a regular basis.
It seemed like the theory was true, so we started brainstorming ways to incorporate creepy DMs into a video concept. There’s no shortage of leaked celebrity DMs (looking at you Adam Levine), but then it hit us: we have a big audience of people who are telling us they have creepy DMs, so why don’t we just source the DMs for the viewers. So we asked everyone to submit screenshots of the creepiest DMs they ever received to Greg.
300+ emails later and Greg narrowed down the absolute weirdest, creepiest, bizarre DMs, and they do not disappoint. Then Joe had the idea of presenting them like an award show. Once that concept was in the mix, we couldn’t shake the idea, so we bought an award, got our tuxes cleaned, and found a bottle of champagne.
It may have been the most we laughed during a shoot in a long time. The champagne started hitting and Joe was genuinely shocked by the things he was reading. We also decided to have Frankie provide commentary about the winners that we could add in between categories to break up the video and add another comedic element. Then we polished off the bottle of champagne and headed to Danny Lopriore’s comedy show. All in all, it was a top 10 work day.
And thanks to everyone who actually submitted. We love the idea of getting view ers involved this way, and have some other big ideas coming down the pipeline. And to all the women out there, we don’t know how you do it. These DMs are absurd, but you are stronger and more resilient than we could ever be.