Smiling Friends' Brendan Caulfield TONIGHT, Vsauce2 Crime INSIDE! (Patreon)

The Smiling Friends Takeover HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN, and we’re starting with sound. Brendan Caulfield pops into TCU tonight at 6pm ET to talk about making the music for the long-awaited series – and we’re fascinated by the process of creating sound to match someone else’s creative vision. We haven’t had a guest like Brendan before, and it’s the perfect way to get on a new level of Smiling Friends understanding before we talk to PsychicPebbles and Michael Cusack next week. Tuesday, 6pm ET, Discord. GET INNN -- and we've got Gabriel Brown, I Did a Thing, and Alternate History Hub after that.

For the first time in about 100 episodes, we had a series of technical problems (both with us and the guest) that necessitated rescheduling Alternate History Hub to Tuesday, February 15th. He’s now our Valentine’s Day date and he doesn’t even know it.

Sorry for having to do that on short notice – but it DID open up a chance for us to go into some detail about something we’ve wanted to talk about for a few months now. Kevin has spent a full decade making videos on YouTube that have been in the hard math/science niche, and for about 6 months he’s been applying all that knowledge to real life stories of crime and injustice. That’s a weird switch… OR IS IT?

Kevin and Matt go over why it happened, why it’s not actually that big of a change, and how this is a very good example of the way creative projects evolve over time. If you think you can do one thing over and over, you probably can’t, or at least not forever. At some point you’re going to have to adjust. Maybe it’s a uniquely lateral move, maybe it’s something totally different. But if you want to sustain an audience and your own sanity, it’s gotta happen.

It really is awesome to have everyone along with us for the ride, whether it’s Vsauce2 videos or The Create Unknown podcast. It makes a tremendous difference being able to talk about this stuff and get feedback along the way. Whether it’s a comment during an episode recording or a reply left on a video, we read them, take them seriously, and work them into the process. We really do appreciate it.

Thanks to everyone who popped in on Friday for our impromptu recording, and a special thanks to the Patrons who keep us going every week. We’ve got a remarkable slate of interviews coming up, including a Smiling Friends takeover. If you miss those, we will not smile and we will no longer be your friend.