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▶️ A case for watching YouTube

▶️ A case for watching YouTube

How homesteading mothers of eight made me like the internet again.

Jul 21, 2025
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Home Food
Home Food
▶️ A case for watching YouTube
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I don’t know; I’m just not a TV watcher. I will watch the hot HBO series of the moment because I like to Participate In The Zeitgeist, but otherwise, turning on Netflix when I’m bored doesn’t occur to me. I have the sort of attention span that allows me to read 100 pages of a book in a sitting, but I struggle to sit through two hour-long TV episodes without getting antsy.

Before I sound too sanctimonious, I’ll be clear: what I watch is YouTube. It’s where I watch my mommies and zone out to hour-long vlogs of canning, cooking, and grocery shopping. I watch YouTube more like a podcast, in that I don’t watch it. I put on my AirPods and while I clean the refrigerator, do laundry, or eat alone, I’ll listen in. Occasionally, I’ll peek over and glance at my phone to see what she (it’s always a she) is talking about.


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I have a few high-production channels that I save for focused watching, but I like YouTube because I get to experience low-stakes entertainment without the brain-rotting side effects that the other apps bring.

Even when it’s the same creators as the other short-form scrolls, their Tik-Tok-style “Shorts” are… bad, for whatever reason, and swiping through them is far worse than early days Instagram Reels. It’s easy to walk away and never return. The types of channels I watch don’t use cheeky editing or bouncy cuts, and are usually between 30 and 60 minutes long—I focus on one thing at a time, without the glazed, nauseous hangover that begets an hour of TikTok scrolling. As far as discovery goes, the related videos algo is quite good—it’s how I’ve found most of the channels I watch.

One of the reasons I am placing my bets on newsletters and (soon!) YouTube is that I think people are sick of being addicted to their phones. Everyone I know has an uneasy relationship with their screen time, and a growing resentment toward the influencers, homogeneous creators, and stale media that make up the majority of their time spent scrolling. YouTube, over the last few years, has felt like a soothing balm to this behavioral change; it’s where people are putting in creative effort (YouTube is a lot of work) to create media, but still share their lives in a less viral, more private setting. To me, it feels like the lifestyle blogs of the 2010s, but relevant to the consumption habits of 2025.

Below the paywall is a list of the 15+ channels I watch, most of which have a Home Food bent. Replace your short-form scroll with an equal amount of vlog-y YouTube—I don’t think you’ll regret it.


ICYMI: Last week on Home Food, I shared 12 seasonal meals that I and other writers and recipe developers are eating right now. And on Saltine, I wrote about how personal style is overrated, as well as my take on how a medieval Polly Pocket would dress. Yes, you read that right…


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