Questions for Veritasium creator Derek Muller Interview

[Greg Bernhardt]

We are fortunate to have secured an Insights interview with YouTube channel Veritasium creator Derek Muller. This is a big opportunity as he's on the forefront in science video creation and has a massive following. I'm open to suggestions for questions on his personal background, Veritasium, science communication and science media in general.

 

[Orodruin]

This is a great opportunity, I am a big fan of his videos in terms of scientific outreach. I am busy now, but I will try to come up with some questions later tonight.

 

[opus]

Ive always wondered about his background. Seems like a very knowledgeable and down to Earth guy.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Ive always wondered about his background. Seems like a very knowledgeable and down to Earth guy.

Can you form that into a more specific question?

 

[opus]

More specifically, why he chose to study physics, where he studied, and what were his reasons for deciding to go the science communication route.

 

[Orodruin]

Here are my 5 cents:

• What is your education and where did you study?
• When and where did you decide to create Veritasium and how did you get it going?
• How many people work with Veritasium?
• Where do you get the ideas for your educational videos?
• How much time is typically spent on a video such as the slinky drop?
• When you bring other people onto your channel, how do you decide who to bring and how do you get them on?
• Do you have your own facilities for performing and recording educational experiments?
• What do you think are the greatest scientific achievements during the last decade and what do you expect from the next?

 

[Drakkith]

What are some of the most common problems you encounter when working with the average person in your videos? Is it difficult to bring a topic down to a level that they can easily understand? How often do you encounter people with an anti-science mindset and do you think there is anything that can be done to change their minds?

What is there about Veritasium do you especially enjoy? Working with the average person? Creating and performing the experiments?

 

[BillTre]

I would like to see some questions about their production cycle:
How frequent do they do a "show"?
Are several in process at once?
How big is the production team? (what roles on team?)
How much does a single video cost to produce? (I am impressed with their quality.)
Where does he get his ideas for "shows" from?
Are there certain properties a potential show should or should not have, to make it a good candidate for further development?
How do you initially make contact with the people in the videos?

Do you hear from others doing similar things and avoid overlap or work on projects together?

Is the guy in the videos really Derek Muller or just some actor there for his looks?

Got any funny stories?