User:TheWatermanNZ/sandbox

Oddity Archive (also known as Archive) is a YouTube show written and produced by Ben Minnotte, an Aurora, Colorado based musician.

Oddity Archive is currently in its third season, with the entire run covering nostalgic technology and media quirks, such as the Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion of 1987, which featured in the series' first episode and "Max" is featured as a recurring character. Minnotte also keeps a physical archive of analog media, with his website boasting a collection of over 400 Betamax, VHS, 8-track and audiocassette tapes.

Currently there are fourteen seasons of Crash Course, with Hank and John each hosting five. Together with Emily Graslie, they co-hosted Big History. As part of the PBS partnership, Phil Plait and Craig Benzine are hosting series about Astronomy and U.S. Government and Politics, respectively. A second channel, Crash Course Kids, is hosted by Sabrina Cruz and has started its first series, Science.

Production
To date, all series of Archive have been produced solely by Minnotte, at his home, with assistance from "Ed", a fictional video editor that provides snide commentary on the content of the episode or its delivery. The Oddity Archive forum is moderated by "Zee", Minnotte's intern, and tapes for discussion on the show are often donated by fans.

Archive is funded by its creator, through ads on the show's YouTube channel, and through the sale of DVDs and video tapes of the show's episodes.

Graphic design for all of the series except Biology and Ecology is provided by Thought Café (formerly Thought Bubble).

Funding
The Crash Course YouTube channel was teased in December 2011, and launched in January 2012 as one of the initial original, YouTube-funded channels. In April 2013, John Green detailed that Crash Course was going through financial hardships. In July 2013, Hank Green expressed his frustration with the ways YouTube had been changing and controlling its website.

Funds from Google eventually ran out, and shortly after Green's A Chat with YouTube video, the VlogBrothers decided to launch Subbable, a crowdfunding website where viewers can donate, monthly, to channels in return for perks. Donating is optional, as Hank Green stated, "We ascribe to the idealistic notion that audiences don't pay for things because they have to but because they care about the stuff that they love and want it to continue to grow". Crash Course was the first series and channel to be offered on Subbable, and from this point onward, would be funded by the website. In March 2015, Subbable was acquired by Patreon, and Crash Course 's crowdfunding was moved over to Patreon.

In 2014, Crash Course announced a partnership with PBS Digital Studios. The partnership will introduce Benzine and Plait, who will host U.S. Government and Politics, and Astronomy, respectively. Hank Green also announced he will be hosting an Anatomy & Physiology series, and that another host will host an Economics series, as John takes a year-long break from the series.

Humanities courses
John Green, one half of the VlogBrothers, began his Crash Course series on January 26, 2012, with World History. As a collective, John has referred to the courses he teaches as "Humanities."

As a result of a partnership with PBS Digital Studios, as well as John's decision to take a break from Crash Course in 2015, new hosts will be introduced to teach humanities courses. Craig Benzine began teaching his Crash Course U.S. Government and Politics on January 23, 2015.

World History / World History 2
Crash Course World History was the first series launched on the Crash Course channel, running from January 26 to November 5, 2012.

On January 26, 2012, the series launched with "The Agricultural Revolution", and a new episode aired on YouTube every Thursday. Throughout an episode, Green, the show's host and executive producer, elaborates on the topic presented at the beginning of the video. Raoul Meyer, an AP World History teacher and Green's former teacher at Indian Springs School, writes the show, with revisions and additions by Green.

Crash Course World History features recurring segments such as "The Open Letter," where Green reads an open letter to a historical figure, period, item, or concept. Occasionally Green converses with a naïve, younger version of himself whom he calls "Me from the past"; this character usually has naïve or obvious questions or statements about the topic. A running joke is that the Mongols are a major exception to most sweeping generalisations in world history. Mentions of this fact cue the "Mongoltage" (a portmanteau of "Mongol" and "montage"), which shows a drawing of Mongols shouting "We're the Exception!" followed by a three-second clip of a scene from the 1963 film Hercules Against the Mongols depicting a village raid.

In Crash Course World History, Green frequently encourages his viewers to avoid looking at history through Eurocentrism or "Great Man" History, but to be conscious of a broader historical context. Crash Course World History, filmed in Indianapolis, has a broad following, having attracted millions of viewers. It has a particular appeal to American students taking the AP World History class & exam; many students and teachers use the videos to supplement their courses. Various episodes were featured in online news publications.

The series ended on November 9, 2012, after 42 episodes. However, on June 27, 2014, through the form of a video preview, John Green announced that World History would return for a second season, lasting 30 episodes.

English Literature / Literature 2
John's second series is Crash Course English Literature, which first aired as an eight-episode miniseries, from November 15, 2012. Works that have been covered include Romeo and Juliet, The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, and Emily Dickinson's poetry.

In February 2014, it was announced John Green would follow his US History series with Crash Course Literature 2. This second season began on February 27, 2014, and ran for 16 episodes, covering ancient works such as The Odyssey and Oedipus and novels like To Kill a Mockingbird, Slaughterhouse-Five, Frankenstein, and Beloved.

U.S. History
On the January 24, 2013 finale of Crash Course English Literature, John Green announced that it would be followed by Crash Course U.S. History, beginning the following week on January 31, 2013 with "The Black Legend, Native Americans, and Spaniards". Following in the tone set by World History, Green puts an emphasis on maintaining an open and non-Western view of American History. A new segment called the "Mystery Document" replaces the "Open Letter"; Green takes a manuscript from the fireplace's secret compartment and reads it aloud, then must guess its author and the source work it is excerpted from. If he is incorrect, he is punished by a shock pen. The series ended on February 6, 2014. As with World History, Crash Course U.S. History is written by Raoul Meyer.

U.S. Government and Politics
As part of the partnership with PBS Digital Studios, Craig Benzine, known on YouTube as WheezyWaiter, was brought in to host the U.S. Government and Politics series. Benzine said that the course will provide an overview of how the government of the United States is supposed to function, and how it actually does function. He also said that the course will teach about "the branches of government, politics, elections, political parties, pizza parties, and much, much more".

The series began on January 23, 2015.

Economics
In Hank's November 2014 announcement of the PBS partnership and the new series of Crash Course in 2015, he mentioned that a Crash Course Economics was in the works, but that it was not yet known who would present it. In February 2015, John announced that Adriene Hill and Jacob Clifford will host.

Science courses
Hank Green began his Crash Course series with Biology, on January 30, 2012. John referred to Hank's series as "the science stuff" counterpart to his humanities courses. As part of the partnership with PBS Digital Studios, Phil Plait began presenting a series on astronomy in January 2015.

Biology
Hank Green's first series, Crash Course Biology, launched on January 30, 2012 with "That's Why Carbon Is a Tramp", and a new episode aired on YouTube every Monday until October 22, 2012. The series used humor to blend entertainment into its educational content. A recurring segment on the program is titled "Biolo-graphy", in which Green relays a short biography of a person who is usually associated with the topic of the overall episode. For the benefit of uncertain viewers, Hank Green links YouTube annotations to every specific subtopic he explains in the video at the conclusion of the episode (the annotations replay the video starting from the particular annotation the viewer selects). In July 2012, a Crash Course Biology episode discussing Comparative anatomy was featured on a Mashable article.

Ecology
In the final episode of Crash Course Biology, Green revealed that the successor series, Crash Course Ecology, would follow in the spirit of the Biology series. It premiered on November 5, 2012, and ran for 12 episodes.

Chemistry
In January 2013, Hank Green announced that his next series would be Crash Course Chemistry, following a similar style to his previous Biology and Ecology series. He talked about the importance of chemistry to the world, and talked about the series in a brief 2 minute preview video. This series premiered on February 11, 2013.

Psychology
On January 3, 2014, Hank Green teased the launch of a series on psychology, before launching it on February 3.

Anatomy & Physiology
On January 15, 2014, Hank Green announced he would be hosting a new series about anatomy & physiology in 2015. The series began on January 6, 2015.

Astronomy
Phil Plait began teaching a course on astronomy on January 15, 2015. Plait stated that the course, "will cover basic topics in astronomy like motions in the sky, naked-eye observing, the planets, eclipses, stars, galaxies, and the whole Universe."

Big History
In May 2014, John Green mentioned an upcoming 10-episode Crash Course season on Big History, funded by a grant from one of Bill Gates' organizations. The series first aired on the channel of the Big History Project, rather than the Crash Course YouTube channel.

On August 19, 2014, the Big History Project channel began hosting episodes of a new co-hosted series, Crash Course Big History. This outlines the history of existence, from the Big Bang forward into the evolution of life. Both Green brothers host the series, with Emily Graslie participating as a guest host.

On September 17, 2014, the first episode of Crash Course Big History was posted on the Crash Course YouTube channel, one month after its première on the Big History Project.

Intellectual Property
In February 2015, John Green announced that Crash Course producer Stan Muller would host a six episode miniseries on intellectual property.

Crash Course Kids
On February 23, 2015, a new series, Crash Course Kids was announced through a video preview on its own YouTube channel. This series will be hosted by Sabrina Cruz, known on YouTube as NerdyAndQuirky.

Video release
DVD box sets of the complete run of the Biology series and of season 1 of World History were made available for pre-order on October 31, 2013.