Rewind Time

The spectre of 2008’s YouTube Live has loomed over most Rewind Time episodes, so we decided to watch the ceremony in full. YouTube abandoned the concept after its inaugural run, and it’s not hard to see why between the awkward celebrity cameos, stilted live performances and the limitations of live streaming technology. Still, we found a lot to enjoy in this messy affair and kinda wish they’d have given YouTube Live another run. 

We...

This week we chat beauty YouTuber Bethany Mota, formerly known as Macbarbie07. Bethany started uploading her makeup hauls as a teenager and by 2013 was YouTube’s most subscribed beauty creator.

We discuss how Bethany leveraged her success into a clothing line, appearances at global YouTube fan events, and a stint on Dancing with the Stars. Bethany remains a huge influence on beauty creators and how the lines between beauty and lifes...

Before Inside and Eighth Grade, Bo Burnham was a humble YouTuber. We chat the comedy superstar YouTuber origins - from recording original music in his childhood bedroom, to performing at YouTube Live, signing a record deal and eventually leaving the platform.

We cover how Bo’s comedy changed as he matured, his signature themes and style, and what makes someone a ‘YouTuber’.

CHAPTERS

Introduction 00:00:00
Our history with Bo Bur...

We chat Australian YouTube pioneer and fellow Sydneysider Natalie Tran of Community Channel fame.

Natalie’s observational comedy propelled her to become the most popular Australian YouTuber and led to a career in Australian media.

But in 2016, Natalie left YouTube, only having uploaded twice since.

We discuss how a lot of her catalogue is privatised, our favourite videos and the legacy of Australia’s first YouTube star.

CHAPTERS

In...

We dig into The Key of Awesome (KoA), the musical comedy/parody series on the channel of the same name. We examine how KoA began life as Barely Political, with their viral hit Crush on Obama establishing the channel’s winning formula - topical comedy and hot babes. This ethos was carried over to KoA’s mega-successful parodies of early 2010 pop culture mainstays Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. But were the years of parodies...

The Annoying Orange is Dane Boedigheimer’s YouTube comedy series starring the titular anthropomorphic fruit and their talking food friends. We discuss the series’ heyday in the early 2010s, the Cartoon Network show and the expanded Annoying Orange channel network. We touch on the channel’s prolific content output, the spooky recent videos and conclude with our lasting impressions of The Annoying Orange.

CHAPTERS

Introduction 00:00:...

We chat Vlogbrothers - the vlog, commentary and general hijinks channel that kickstarted the Hank and John Green YouTube empire. These millennial nerd kings founded VidCon, met the president, and cosigned Charli XCX, all while John became One of the Best Selling Authors of All Time.

Max’s subscription: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Lucy’s subscription: Muji Salted Cocoa Cracker with Chocolate Cream

CHAPTERS

00:00:56 Our history with ...

This week, we're chatting about FilmCow, the animation-focused channel run by Jason Steele and made famous by Charlie the Unicorn. We touch on how Charlie the Unicorn is one of the enduring viral videos, FilmCow’s vast and varied body of work, and how changes to YouTube’s algorithm affected animators.

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:30 Our history with FilmCow

00:03:23 FilmCow’s origins

00:07:43 Charlie the Unicorn

00:15:10 Charlie the...

We chat OG YouTuber Tay Zonday, best known for his viral song “Chocolate Rain”. Tay would follow up his biggest hit with commercial spins on it, new original music, and covers of everything from Christmas classics to Carly Rae Jepsen.

What we’re subscribing to

Max - The Pitt, HBO Max.

Lucy - Reformer Pilates, Joseph Pilates.

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction

00:03:21 Our history with Tay Zonday

00:06:58 Tay’s pre-virality videos

00:11...

We yap about VenetianPrincess, the late 2000s parody music queen. 

Neither of us was familiar with VP before this episode, so listen to us track her content journey from the early Disclosure series, to her breakthrough with a Hillary Clinton friendship song, to her highly popular parodies of pop songs. 

VP would become ‘The most subscribed female on YouTube’, and her videos featured cameos from some of YouTube’s top creators. But i...

This week we chat Fred, the high-pitched, hyperactive, and arguably highly annoying character created by Lucas Cruikshank.

We touch on how the channel became incredibly popular on early YouTube, how Lucas used his online popularity to launch a mainstream acting career on Nickelodeon, and the eventual spoiler peaceful retirement of the Fred character.

This week we are subscribing to:

Lucy: Mochi

Max: Hot water with lemon

If you have...

This week’s topic is the iconic 2000s musical comedy trio The Lonely Island, consisting of Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer. 

Are The Lonely Island YouTubers? Should we cover them on this podcast? These are valid questions, but instead, we spent this episode compiling our respective Top 10 The Lonely Island Music Videos lists. 

The music videos mentioned are available in a YouTube playlist.

What we’re subscribing to:

Content warnings: This episode touches on some heavier topics as part of discussing the channel’s coverage of news - discussion of sexual assault between 23:15 and 29:10, during the Late 2000s Philip DeFranco Show chapter. Discussion of child abuse between 41:00 to 55:00, during the chapter The Daddy of Five exposé chapter.

We review the YouTube career of Philip DeFranco, most well-known for hosting the news and current events prog...

In this episode, we look back over the career of Michelle Phan, one of YouTube's original beauty gurus. Starting in 2005, Michelle transitioned from makeup blogs and short video tutorials to becoming a YouTube sensation. 

We discuss her rise to fame, notable collaborations, including her early partnership with Lancome, and her ventures into launching her own makeup line, EM Cosmetics. 

We examine Michelle's hiatus from YouTube and ...

This week we talk Neil Cicierega, the artist and musician behind the iconic Potter Puppet Pals. Uploaded during 2000s Harry Potter mania, the series became one of YouTube’s earliest viral hits.

We explore Neil's early work on Newgrounds, pioneering Animutation, his other eclectic comedic and musical projects, and where he is at in 2025.

We are subscribing to:

Lucy - Younger

Max - MAFS Australia YouTube recaps.

Business / enquiries:...

This week we discuss YouTuber Justine Ezarik aka iJustine. Her content ranges across Apple fandom, tech commentary, music parodies and public dance videos. We discuss her continued success, mainstream media opportunities and collaborations with other creators and celebrities. We also highlight her professionalism and the challenges of being a female creator in a male-dominated space.

What we’re subscribing to:

Lucy: nice dinners pa...

This week we are discussing the former most subscribed YouTuber and unfortunately named nigahiga.

The channel’s founders, classmates Ryan Higa and Sean Fujiyoshi, started out posting short comedy videos filmed around their Hawaiian homes. Ryan took control of the channel and became one of OG YouTube’s biggest stars, posting comedy content including music videos, sketches, commentary, and parodies. His popularity would lead to starr...

This week, we delve into the mysterious world of lonelygirl15, which began in 2006 as a vlog by a teenage girl named Bree but turned out to be a groundbreaking web series.

We recount the channel’s rise to the most subscribed on YouTube, the eventual reveal of its fictional nature, and the innovative use of social media integration, product placements, and viewer-funded content.

This week we are subscribing to:

Lucy – local library ...

Welcome to Rewind Time, an unofficial YouTube history podcast. 

This week we are chatting the iconic early YouTube channel Smosh, created by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox.  We talk the major milestones, including Smosh's rise to become the most subscribed YouTube channel, their acquisition by Defy Media (RIP), and eventual return to form and evolution. Oh, also our groceries arrive midway through - no haul this time :( 

Th...