Launching Wikireadia

Sep 12, 2020 • Extra Ordinary

I am launching a YouTube channel called Wikireadia. Every episode I narrate a Wikipedia article top to bottom.

For a few years now I’ve been fascinated by automated media. Of all things, this was inspired by The Weather Channel. The more I thought about it the weirder it became in my head that there was a segment on television—Local on the 8s—that is entirely computer generated. Fittingly, the first episode is about WeatherStar, the computer that creates each segment.

Wikireadia is designed to resemble automated media. The longer the project continues, the more hours of content there will be that is information distilled and presented in as dry a format as possible. All collected information available on a topic is relayed by a voice. Despite this, Wikireadia is something that cannot exist in its current degree of quality as computer-generated media; the medium chosen dictates a human has to be recorded.

This is Phase 1 of Wikireadia: Reading an article of my choosing beginning to end. Of course, I have to mention the excellent music composed by Will Davenport that will introduce and conclude every episode. This won’t be the only place you’ll hear it. Wikireadia is a devilishly simple concept for a YouTube channel that I’m amazed hasn’t been taken seriously yet—aren’t those the best ideas?

You can find it here:

• Wikireadia
• Subscribe on YouTube