It’s Thursday and Warner Bros. is hoping to beget the next Backrooms after beating out multiple studios for the rights to a viral horror short film with 240 million YouTube views.

BACK TO SCHOOL

The curriculum: Last year, Mark Rober revealed plans to spend $55 million on a full grade school STEM curriculum that will be totally free for teachers anywhere to access. After dropping a few vague hints about that project, the creator officially unveiled Class CrunchLabs on Tubefilter’s own Creator Upload podcast, when he confirmed that his team is “doing a full science curriculum from third to eighth grade.”

The creator added that teachers and students can look forward to “videos like the one I did with Ronaldo, MrBeast, cameos from all [kids’] favorite creators. But then I’ll be hiding the vegetables, teaching the actual principles.”

The collaboration: That curriculum (which Rober has been filming between putting out his regular YouTube installments) will include 40 units total—and YouTube itself is officially joining the effort.

The platform said its decision to partner with Rober on Class Crunchlabs is “part of our ongoing effort to make YouTube a go-to resource for high-quality academic content.” It added that Rober’s curriculum was developed in partnership with the National Science Teaching Association, and that, when finished, it’ll include hundreds of hands-on challenges and “more than 1,000 banger videos.”

All of that content will be free, forever, on the dedicated Class CrunchLabs YouTube channel. An initial wave of lessons is already available there now in 34 different languages, with a number of videos featuring cameos from familiar content creators like Emily Zhang, EpicSpaceman, AstroChuie, Astroathens, Sorcerer, ElectroBOOM, and NASA astronaut Jonny Kim. Every unit comes with supplemental materials like teacher guides, student workbooks, handouts, supply lists, and more.

Topics covered so far include gravitational force, electric & magnetic forces, and contact forces, all for grades 6-8.

TIKTOK TALK

The series: TV stars and content creators are joining forces to bring cooking tips to TikTok LIVE. A new series will be broadcast across the @foodnetwork, @tiktok, and @tiktoklive_us accounts. Each installment will pair a creator with a Food Network personality for a review of viral recipes and general kitchen etiquette.

The collaboration between TikTok and Food Network will kick off on July 8 with a tomato-themed episode featuring Tournament of Champions winner Antonia Lofaso and creator Jose El Cook. The two culinary stars will discuss a handful of tomato-themed courses, ranging from starters to mains. Viewers will be able to participate by voting in polls, sending their questions to the chefs, and buying food-themed gifts in the chat.

The context: TV stars like Gordon Ramsay have long thrived on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. In recent years, however, digital-native gourmands have come to rival the stable of chefs known for appearances on channels like the Food Network.

Guga, for example, snagged over 3.4 million views with “The Biggest Food Battle in YouTube History,” while the popularity of Nick DiGiovanni‘s social media exploits earned him his own Food Network show. Traditional franchises have begun tapping into that hype, with MasterChef unveiling a special edition of the show centered around creators.

TikTok has gotten in on the culinary creator revolution, too. After hosting a Future of Flavor event earlier this year, the video app is forging more connections between famous foodies from varied walks of life.

For TikTok, there are commercial upsides to courting the culinary community. Viewers love watching their favorite food creators, but they also use TikTok Shop to buy new items for their kitchens and pantries from digital-savvy brands like PepsiCo and Mars.

STREAMING & DRIVING

The backlash: After a high-profile streamer’s temporary ban, members of the Twitch community are calling for a rule change that would curb a dangerous epidemic of distracted driving.

During a recent stream, ExtraEmily (aka Emily Xuechun Zhang) looked down at her phone while driving. Seconds later, she nearly collided with another vehicle while attempting to change lanes. “That was my bad,” she admitted.

Zhang received a suspension from Twitch for her reckless driving—but that decision was reversed one day later. That clemency has resulted in backlash from a number of creators, including top streamers like Asmongold (aka Zack Hoyt).

“Every single person who streams and drives should be perma banned,” added gamer Jesse Cox. “They keep getting second, third, fourth chances – this isn’t ‘oh I watched a copyright movie on stream’ kind of shit. Cars are dangerous machines and if someone dies, the lawsuit against Twitch will kill the site.”

The obstacles: As of now, Twitch allows streamers to go live in their cars as long as they don’t touch their cameras while driving. That being said, Zhang certainly isn’t the first creator to be punished for streaming while driving. Some rule breakers have endangered themselves and others during broadcasts set in their vehicles, while others—including Adin Ross and Kai Cenat—have been criticized for looking at their phones while driving.

But prohibiting in-vehicle streams entirely is easier said than done. There is, for example, an entire Twitch category dedicated to trucking. If streaming while driving were to be banned, those truckers—along with other creators in similar genres—would lose a valuable source of income.

WATCH THIS 👀

The indie animation project: What happens when you mix together elements of stop motion, 2D animation, and live-action and throw them into a single show? The team behind This is My Real Life? is ready to find out.

Spearheaded by creator Andybowbandy, music composer Artrix, and voice actors Zyra Bisqueravo, Cameron Cortinas, and Chance Wright, the indie animation project follows a motley crew of “roommates trying to make it in a zany world.” As Andybowbandy describes it, the show combines a “2000s aesthetic” with “Scott Pilgrim, Roger Rabbit, Cartoon Network City, Gumball, all mashed up together.”

Viewers can check out a sneak peek of the show here or head over to Kickstarter to throw some support behind the development of This is My Real Life?

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.