29
UPDATE:
Kurzgesagt's official response: https://reddit.com/r/kurzgesagt/comments/10jlyyk/kurzgesagt_statement_to_the_conflict_of_interest/
My response to Kurzgesagt: https://www.reddit.com/r/thehatedone/comments/10pb1q9/my_response_to_kurzgesagt/
Kurzgesagt is not just a popular science outreach channel. It's a major tool for propaganda of their billionaire sponsors.
Support independent research and analysis by joining my Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/thehatedone
Kurzgesagt received estimated $7 million from billionaire funds. This would be more money than Kurzgesagt received from their supporters on Patreon (estimated $3.5 million) in the entire history of the channel.
Sources [First half only; second part in the pinned comment]
[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20221108134548/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNWWrDBRBqk
[1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-diseases-neglected-pharma-idUSTRE80T0LO20120130
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Declaration_on_Neglected_Tropical_Diseases
[3] https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Ideas/Media-Center/Press-Releases/2012/01/private-and-public-partners-unite-to-combat-10-neglected-tropical-diseases-by-2020
[4] https://www.businessinsider.com/r-fight-against-neglected-tropical-diseases-needs-big-pharma-push-who-2017-4
[5] https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-gates16dec16-story.html
[6] https://academic.oup.com/bmb/article/93/1/179/307584?
[7] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673609608850/fulltext?
[8] https://www.vox.com/2015/6/10/8760199/gates-foundation-criticism
[9] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762308
[10] https://www.thenation.com/article/society/bill-gates-foundation-philanthropy/
[11] https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-07-na-gatesx07-story.html
[12] https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/02/10/bill-melinda-gates-have-spent-billions-dollars-shape-education-policy-now-they-say-theyre-skeptical-billionaires-trying-do-just-that/
[13] https://apnews.com/a4042e82ffaa4a34b50ceac464761957
[14] https://news.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx
[15a] https://medium.com/@Kurzgesagt/kurzgesagt-sponsorships-on-youtube-3121a45b0fe9
[15b] https://web.archive.org/web/20221122151542/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KQYNtPl7V4&lc=Ugw7oaypQ3qALcugYzh4AaABAg
[16] https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/2015/11/opp1139276
[17] https://www.openphilanthropy.org/grants/kurzgesagt-video-creation-and-translation/
[18a] https://www.openphilanthropy.org/grants/kurzgesagt-short-form-video-content/
[18b] https://web.archive.org/web/20220000000000*/https://www.patreon.com/Kurzgesagt
[19] https://ourworldindata.org/funding
[20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_World_In_Data#Funding_and_collaborations
[21] https://web.archive.org/web/20221108134123/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsBT5EQt348
[22] https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty-in-brief
[23] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/02/world/global-poverty-united-nations.html
[24] https://theconversation.com/why-the-world-banks-optimism-about-global-poverty-misses-the-point-104963
[25] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/nov/01/global-poverty-is-worse-than-you-think-could-you-live-on-190-a-day
[26] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/29/bill-gates-davos-global-poverty-infographic-neoliberal
[27] https://newint.org/features/2019/07/01/long-read-progress-and-its-discontents
[28] https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/feb/25/modern-slavery-trafficking-persons-one-in-200
[29] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196%2820%2930196-0/fulltext
[30] https://oxfam.app.box.com/s/1rp115i9uiwmvsa11mwaa00vwc6ic437
[31] https://qz.com/1402301/bill-gatess-1-billion-energy-fund-is-expanding-its-portfolio-of-startups-fighting-climate-change
[32] https://www.wired.com/2015/11/zuckerberg-gates-climate-change-breakthrough-energy-coalition/
[33] https://qz.com/859860/bill-gates-is-leading-a-new-1-billion-fund-focused-on-combatting-climate-change-through-innovation
[34] https://news.stanford.edu/2019/10/25/study-casts-doubt-carbon-capture/
[35] https://www.wired.com/story/the-potential-pitfalls-of-sucking-carbon-from-the-atmosphere/
[36] https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/07/08/1027908/carbon-removal-hype-is-a-dangerous-distraction-climate-change/
[37] https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/06/SR15_Full_Report_High_Res.pdf
[38] https://grist.org/technology/orca-the-largest-carbon-removal-facility-to-date-is-up-and-running/
[39] https://climeworks.com/roadmap/orca
[40] https://www.ft.com/content/8a942e30-0428-4567-8a6c-dc704ba3460a
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That channel had a similar back and forth with badempanada if anyone is curious. I don’t remember the exact details but the video was something about downplaying climate collapse so I think their source of funding is red herring because regardless of where it comes from, they push out ridiculously bourgeois propaganda.
I would even argue that them creating the kind of bourgeois propaganda (whether they are aware of what they are doing or not) that reaches mostly young people and comes across as slick and factual is probably exactly why they became a go to beneficiary of all these billionaire foundations in the first place.