CGP Grey is an American

educational Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

er, and live streamer based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

who creates explanatory videos on subjects including politics, geography, economics, sociology, history, philosophy, and culture. In addition to video production, he is known for creating and hosting the podcasts '' Hello Internet'' with Brady Haran and ''Cortex'' with Myke Hurley.

Early life and career

Grey grew up on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, a suburban borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He went to college in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

, earning two degrees: one in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and another in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

. When Grey was a child, his father applied for Irish citizenship on his behalf, and he gained dual American–Irish citizenship. Grey's Irish citizenship allowed him to move to the

. He attended a masters program in economics in London. He became a physics teacher while in London.

Content

Grey's primary YouTube channel, ''CGP Grey'', predominantly features explanatory videos on subjects including politics, geography, economics, history, productivity, the Internet, transportation,

vexillology Vexillology ( ) is the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags or, by extension, any interest in flags in general.Smith, Whitney. ''Flags Through the Ages and Across the World'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. Print. A person who studi ...

, science,

American culture The culture of the United States encompasses various social behaviors, institutions, and Social norm, norms, including forms of Languages of the United States, speech, American literature, literature, Music of the United States, music, Visual a ...

, and

British culture The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by its History of the United Kingdom, combined nations' history, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the individual diverse cultures of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and ...

. The videos intend to debunk common misconceptions or answer everyday questions people may hold. The videos feature Grey narrating over animations, stock footage, and still photographs. While nearly all of his videos feature his voice, his face has never been shown in his videos, and he almost always has his face obscured when appearing in other people's videos; he generally uses a stick figure with glasses to represent himself. He has stated that the presentation style of his videos is influenced by that of Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's '' Zero Punctuation'' series. Grey's video that debunks popular misconceptions has been featured on CBS, as has his video about the history of the British royal family. Two videos differentiate London and the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, while explaining the history and government of the latter. Another two videos explaining copyright law and the Electoral College have been featured on Mashable. The channel also explains the economic disadvantages of US one-cent coins in a video titled ''Death to Pennies''. Other videos, including ''How to Become Pope'', have received media attention and have been used in instructional settings. His video on the American debt limit received praise from economists. Grey's video '' Humans Need Not Apply'' was covered by '' Business Insider'' and ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

,'' and his animated video of Nick Bostrom's " The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant" was "unanimously praise by the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation. In collaboration with fellow YouTuber Kurzgesagt, he produced a video titled "You Are Two" which discusses the right brain versus the left brain. '' Popular Mechanics'' featured videos by Grey about airplane boarding and traffic congestion.

Podcasts

In January 2014, Grey launched the podcast '' Hello Internet'' along with co-host Brady Haran, another educational

and online content creator. The podcast peaked as the No.1

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

podcast in United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Canada, and Australia in February 2014. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' included the podcast among its 50 best of 2016, naming episode 66 ("A Classic Episode") its episode of the year. The paper described the podcast as having "in-depth debates and banter that is actually amusing." Grey reported a podcast listenership of approximately "a quarter million" downloads per episode as of September 2015. The podcast features discussions pertaining to their lives as professional content creators for YouTube, as well as their interests and annoyances. Typical topics include technology etiquette; movie and TV show reviews; plane accidents;

;

futurology Futures studies, futures research or futurology is the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social and technological advancement, and other environmental trends, often for the purpose of exploring how people will live and wor ...

; and the differences between Grey's and Haran's personalities and lifestyles. Their opinions and comments on feedback usually starts the next episode of the podcast. As a result of their conversations, Haran has been noted for reappropriating the term "", among other words, to refer to the unauthorized re-hosting of online media. The podcast has been on hiatus since May 2020. On 3 June 2015, Grey launched his second podcast, ''

Cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

'', with co-host Myke Hurley of Relay FM.

Reception

In 2013, Caitlin Dewey wrote that Grey is regarded as a "celebrity in the niche world of educational YouTube videos." According to economist Joshua Gans, "while they may not be names in the halls of academia," YouTubers like Grey "have brought diverse explanations of mathematics, physics, political institutions, and history to millions on the Internet." Robert Krulwich of NPR wrote that Grey has "a curious talent for truth telling; he can take a charming lie and, with even ''more'' charm, rip it apart. It is very, very hard, as any teacher will tell you, to unlearn something that makes you comfortable and makes you feel smart, but Mr. Grey has the knack."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, CGP American editors American expatriates in England American people of Irish descent American podcasters American transhumanists Artists from New York (state) Naturalised citizens of Ireland DFTBA Records creators Education-related YouTube channels Educational and science YouTubers English-language YouTube channels Irish editors Irish expatriates in England Irish podcasters Transhumanists Life extensionists Living people Online edutainment People from Long Island People with multiple citizenship Physics educators Schoolteachers from London Year of birth missing (living people) YouTube channels launched in 2010 YouTubers from New York (state)