What I've Been Watching — Issue #3 — June & July Recap 2026
133 videos. Two months. One World Cup. Issue #3 covers June and July — creators, Messi, Bollywood commentary, and everything in between.
A personal video curation from Nishat Shahriyar
For this issue, I am combining both the June & July months’ YouTube watch lists into one issue. After August, things will go back to month-wise posts per issue.
What I watched in June - the highlights
June was heavy on YouTube. I had a lot of late-night watch sessions, a few rabbit holes I didn’t see coming, and honestly, some of the best creator/business content I’ve come across this year. Bollywood commentary was everywhere on my feed this month — and a couple of them were genuinely worth the time. Here are the highlights from 82 June’s YouTube video list.
Money, business & creators
I documented my SaaS journey to $20K MRR - One founder, real numbers, no fluff. He walks through exactly how he got from zero to $20K monthly recurring revenue — what worked, what didn’t, and the stuff most people skip over when they talk about SaaS success.
How to Fix Inauthentic Content Before You Start Losing Viewers - A practical breakdown of why content starts feeling hollow over time and what actually fixes it. More useful than most “be yourself” advice you see on this topic.
Build a Substack That Actually Makes You Money (Starting from Zero) - Less about Substack the platform, more about the fundamentals of building a paid writing business. Good framing for anyone thinking about newsletters as a revenue stream, not just a hobby.
How to Scale a Skincare Brand (Marketing Breakdown) - A breakdown of how a DTC skincare brand grew — channels, messaging, the whole thing. The marketing principles here apply well beyond skincare; worth watching even if beauty isn’t your industry.
7 bizarrely good startups that the internet has not caught up to yet - Exactly what the title says. Seven companies doing genuinely interesting things that haven’t blown up yet. The kind of video you share with someone immediately after finishing it.
$8B manager exposes the fake financial “Gurus” destroying your net worth - An actual fund manager sitting down and going through the nonsense that financial influencers push. Blunt, specific, and refreshing.
The only calculation Elon ran to know if SpaceX would be a hit - Short and sharp. One mental model, explained clearly. The kind of thing you think about for a while after.
How the SpaceX IPO is creating 4000+ workers into millionaires - The human side of the SpaceX IPO story — what it actually means for the people who built it. Good companion to the disaster video below.
SpaceX Went Public — A Disaster Waiting to Happen - A measured but sharp take on what SpaceX going public actually means — and why it might not be the win people think it is. Watched this twice.
This guy made billions from just 3 stocks (Here’s how) - Concentration over diversification — and the rare case where it worked spectacularly. Worth watching with some healthy skepticism.
$1 Trillion IPO: How Anthropic’s Genius Move Made it Legendary? - A case study on Anthropic’s positioning and what made its valuation story land differently from other AI companies. Interesting from a marketing and strategy angle.
How to completely reinvent yourself in 2026 - Less motivational fluff, more structured thinking about identity and change. One of those videos that’s hard to describe but easy to finish.
How Flappy Bird Ruined The Life of its Creator - I already knew the broad story, but this goes deeper than the headlines. What happened to Dong Nguyen after Flappy Bird blew up is genuinely strange and kind of sad.
AI, tools & how things work
I Built an AI Agent in 6 Minutes (Here’s How) - Short and actually useful. Not the usual “AI will change everything” content — just a practical walkthrough of building something real, fast. Good starting point if you’ve been curious but haven’t tried yet.
Why Building AI Data Centres Isn’t Working Anymore - The infrastructure side of the AI boom is messier than the headlines suggest. This video explains why data centre construction is hitting real walls — land, power, cooling — and what that means for the pace of AI development.
Should I use markdown for my site? - A clear, calm look at where markdown makes sense and where it doesn’t. Not clickbait — just someone who’s thought carefully about the question and has a real answer.
WordPress & the web
Did I enjoy WordCamp Europe 2026? #WCEU - A personal vlog-style recap from Imran Siddiqe who attended WCEU this year. More honest than the usual conference highlight reels — he talks about what actually made the trip worth it.
WordCamp Europe 2026 — AI Search: Why Your Whole Company Should Care - A talk from WCEU on AI search and what it means for businesses — not just the technical side, but the organizational shift. If you work in marketing or content, this one’s relevant.
I Recreated My WordPress Site’s Look in Minutes - A fun one — someone rebuilds their site’s design using a surprisingly minimal setup. The speed is what gets you.
Introducing FluentPlayer: The WordPress Video Player Your Content is Missing - Full disclosure — this is something we built. But I watched it as a user, and I think the problem it solves is real. If you host video on WordPress, worth five minutes of your time.
Film, pop culture & Indian cinema
Welcome to Bollywood’s Middle Class SCAM - A sharp look at how Bollywood has built a fantasy of middle-class aspiration that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Good framing, tight argument.
The Culture Of Hyper-Sexualizing Women In Indian Cinema - A serious, well-structured video on a pattern that’s been in Indian cinema for decades. It names specific films and moments, which makes it much more useful than the usual surface-level takes.
Bollywood’s SEX Problem - Related to the above but a different angle — more about how Bollywood has historically packaged and sold sexuality, and why the audience relationship with it is complicated.
The DESPERATION of Shah Rukh Khan - Not a hit piece — more of a read on where SRK is in his career right now and why some of his recent choices feel off. Thoughtful for a YouTube video.
The DELUSION of Bollywood Celebrities - The gap between how Bollywood stars present themselves and how the industry actually works. Entertaining but also pretty accurate.
The IRRELEVANCE of Bollywood Star Kids - The nepo baby conversation applied to Bollywood specifically — why the star kid formula is breaking down with today’s audience. Some good data points in here.
Telugu Underdog — Maa Inti Bangaaram Movie Review & Analysis - A Telugu film I hadn’t heard of before, and the review made me want to watch it. The analysis goes beyond plot summary and actually talks about why the film works.
15 MOST IGNORED Sci-Fi Bombs That Are Actually 10/10 - A list video that actually earns the format — these aren’t the usual picks, and the reasoning behind each one is solid. Found two films I immediately added to my watchlist.
World affairs
Bangladesh Richer Than India? The Shocking Rise Of Bangladesh - A data-driven look at Bangladesh’s economic trajectory and what’s actually driving it. Worth watching past the clickbait title — the substance is good.
Just for fun
I’m leaving the Sidemen - The Sidemen have been a YouTube institution for over a decade. One of them KSI leaving is a moment. Watched it partly out of curiosity, partly out of nostalgia.
50 YouTube Legends Fight For $1,000,000 - MrBeast getting the old guard of YouTube together for a competition. Nostalgia overload if you’ve been on the platform for a while. Genuinely fun to watch.
Inside TIME’s Wild Day with MrBeast - TIME magazine spent a day with MrBeast and filmed it. More interesting than you’d expect — gives you a sense of the actual scale of what he’s built.
MY trillion $Dollar Project is finally OUT! - PewDiePie announcing his biggest thing yet. Hard to look away regardless of how you feel about the scale of it.
500 Million Subscriber Livestream! - MrBeast hit 500 million subscribers and did a livestream for it. More of a cultural moment than a video. Worth dipping into for a few minutes.
Life As Silent Millionaire | You Have $50 Million Nobody Knows - A fictional but well-made concept video about what it would actually look like to be quietly, invisibly wealthy. Strangely calming to watch.
We threw a celebrity pool party - Not going to oversell this. Someone threw a big party, filmed it, and it’s a good 20 minutes of watching people have a great time. Sometimes that’s enough.
7 Days Stranded in The Arctic - Survival content done well. No unnecessary drama — just a genuinely hard situation handled carefully. Hard to stop watching once you start.
Americans in deep shock about how big the World Cup is - Reactions to the scale and passion around the FIFA World Cup from people who haven’t experienced it before. Fun, and kind of heartwarming.
I tried to make a Manga - PewDiePie documents his attempt at making a manga from scratch — zero experience, just trying it. Surprisingly engaging and a good reminder that the attempt is the interesting part.
I finally asked her out - A wholesome one to end on. Someone finally does the thing they’ve been putting off. Short, warm, and it lands.
That’s June. 38 videos, a lot of late nights, and a surprisingly strong month for Indian cinema commentary. If anything here catches your eye, let me know what you thought.
What I watched in July - the highlights
July was the World Cup month. Argentina vs England happened, the final happened, and my YouTube feed basically became a football archive for three weeks straight. But outside of that, there was a lot of genuinely good business and creator content — some of the best money advice I’ve come across in a while, and Bollywood commentary that kept delivering. Here are highlights from 204 YouTube Videos!
Money, business & creators
How I Work: $10M/Year Serial Entrepreneur - A real breakdown of a working day at that level — systems, decisions, what he delegates, what he doesn’t. Practical rather than aspirational.
The Collapse of Patrick Bet-David - A thorough look at what went wrong with PBD’s brand over the last few years. If you’ve followed him at all, this is worth watching.
The Satisfying Death of Influencer Culture - The title says it all. A well-argued case for why the original influencer model is collapsing and what’s replacing it.
I spent a week meeting NYC’s elite. Here’s 5 lessons they taught me. - One of those videos where the framing is slightly clickbait but the actual content holds up. The five lessons are specific and not the usual LinkedIn advice.
Secrets behind MrBeast’s most-subscribed channel - A breakdown of the strategy behind Beast’s channel growth — what the data actually shows about what works. Good watch for anyone thinking about YouTube seriously.
The “Boring” YouTube Strategy That’s Printing Money - Consistency over virality. The channel that’s been quietly growing for years while everyone chased trends. Calming and motivating at the same time.
beehiiv Summer Release Event 2026 - beehiiv dropped a bunch of new features at once. Worth watching in full if you’re on the platform — a few of the announcements are actually significant.
Why Forbes is WRONG about creators, beehiiv VS Kit, magazines are back? - A sharp take on the Forbes creator economy report, the beehiiv vs Kit debate, and whether print magazines are making a real comeback. Three topics, all handled well.
Discipline Is Giving Yourself No Choice - Short. The reframe here is genuinely useful — discipline isn’t about willpower, it’s about removing the option to quit. Watched this twice.
Don’t Become A Content Creator, Build A Content Business. - The distinction matters more than it sounds. This video explains the structural difference and why one scales and the other doesn’t.
How Anwar Turned 6-Second Videos Into A Multi-Million Dollar Business - One of the more surprising creator economy stories I’ve seen. The format constraint turned into the whole business model.
How Distribution Can 10x Your Luck, Career & Income - A well-structured argument for why distribution is the actual moat — not talent, not product. One of those videos that reframes something you thought you already understood.
A $3.6B founder’s honest take on the software market right now - No hype, no fundraising pitch. Just a founder being direct about what the market looks like from where he’s sitting. Refreshing.
What Happened to Dropbox? - A company that seemed inevitable in 2012 and then quietly faded. This traces exactly what happened and why. Good case study.
How Adam Sandler Quietly Became A Billionaire - The strategy behind Sandler’s Netflix deal and how he built an empire while the critics kept dismissing him. Better business story than most business content.
How I make money - Straightforward breakdown from a creator on their actual revenue streams. No fluff, no course upsell — just the numbers and the structure.
If I was 30 with $0, I’d build this — Mark Pincus (Farmville founder) - Pincus is honest about what he got wrong with Zynga and what he’d do differently. The specific advice about what to build is worth sitting with.
I’m 80 and I wasted 25 years of my life. Don’t make my mistake. — Howard Marks - Marks is one of the best thinkers in investing. This one is more personal than his usual memos. Quiet and a bit heavy, but worth it.
The oldest trick in the book to make your first million - Not as clickbait as it sounds. The underlying point about compounding boring decisions is solid.
People Trolled Me for Paying My Driver ₹50,000 — Ankur Warikoo - Warikoo talks about a decision that got him roasted online and why he doesn’t regret it. Less about the money, more about the values behind how he spends it. Short and worth your time.
REACTING TO HATE and MEAN COMMENTS ON THE INTERNET! | Ankur Warikoo - He reads actual hate comments and responds to them. Funny in parts, but also a decent look at how someone with a large public presence deals with the noise.
What $720,000 Gets You in Cannes (ft. David Dobrik) - Behind the scenes of what the ultra-wealthy actually spend at Cannes. More interesting as a cultural document than as lifestyle content.
What is a Family Office and Why Does it Matter? | TEDxDavenport - Clear explanation of what a family office is, how it works, and why the ultra-wealthy use them to manage money across generations. Genuinely educational if this is new territory.
AI, tools & how things work
Big Tech is Being Kind of Dodgy At the Moment - A calm but pointed look at the pattern of behavior across a few major tech companies in recent months. Not alarmist — just paying attention.
The Bot-Scraping Economy - How bots scraping the web have become a full industry and what it means for content creators, publishers, and AI companies. More interesting than the title suggests.
When AI Knows Everything, What Should Humans Learn? | TED - A TED talk that actually asks the right question. The answer isn’t “learn to use AI” — it goes somewhere more interesting than that.
After watching this, your brain will not be the same | Lara Boyd | TED - A neuroscientist on how the brain actually changes with learning. One of those talks where the science is surprising and the implications are practical.
Code for the People | Full Documentary - A full documentary on the open source movement and WordPress’s place in it. If you work in or around WordPress, this is worth the full runtime.
Why AI won’t make you rich in 2026 - A counter to the AI gold rush narrative. The argument is specific and grounded — not “AI is bad” but “the way most people are approaching this won’t work.”
Did Anthropic just kill the indie hacker…? - A reaction to Anthropic’s latest moves and what they mean for solo builders. Some hyperbole in the title but the underlying concern is real.
AI Search Optimization (GEO, AEO): What is it & How to Optimize - A solid primer on optimizing for AI search — what GEO and AEO actually mean and where to start. Useful if you work in SEO or content.
Firehose launch, spoofed bots & more (June 2026) - beehiiv’s product update video covering Firehose, bot detection in analytics, and a few other changes. Worth 10 minutes if you’re a beehiiv user.
WordPress & the web
How to read the Indexing Report - A clear walkthrough of Google Search Console’s indexing report — what each status means and what to do about it. One of those practical videos you bookmark.
AI in WordPress…The New Era (with Jewel) - A conversation with Shahjahan Jewel about where AI fits into WordPress’s future — not just as a plugin feature but as a platform shift. Worth watching in full.
Film, pop culture & Indian cinema
The GUTTER Of Bollywood Interviews - How Bollywood press interviews became what they are — fawning, scripted, content-farmed. This video names names and shows receipts.
INSIDE Bollywood’s CASTING COUCH Culture - A serious and well-sourced look at how the casting couch operates in Bollywood — not gossip, more structural analysis of why it persists.
Bollywood Podcasts Have Become PEAK MATLAB KUCH BHI - A takedown of the current state of Bollywood celebrity podcasts — the non-answers, the non-questions, the whole performance. Accurate and funny.
Titan’s Marketing Masterstroke — Made in India: A Titan Story - How Titan built one of India’s most durable consumer brands. The marketing decisions here are actually worth studying — this isn’t just a brand hagiography.
Milly Alcock Killed Supergirl Before It Even Came Out - An analysis of the Supergirl casting and why the film’s problems started well before production. Interesting if you follow the DC side of things.
World affairs
How Korean Feminism Finally Made It Impossible to Make Babies - A data-driven look at South Korea’s birth rate collapse and the specific social dynamics behind it. The framing is provocative but the analysis underneath is serious.
Why the Philippines’ Birth Rate Is Crashing Faster Than Japan - Another demographic story — the Philippines is moving faster than anyone expected. This video explains the economic and cultural forces driving it.
Why Singaporeans Are Fleeing to Malaysia Every Weekend - Cost of living, food, space — why Singaporeans cross the border every week. Part economics, part culture, entirely relatable.
FIFA World Cup 2026
July was the World Cup. Argentina won match after match until the final. Messi played like he had something to prove even after winning everything. Here’s everything I watched around it — some analysis, some match content, some reaction. It was a lot.
The Truth About FIFA, Messi, and Ronaldo - A pre-tournament breakdown of the politics around FIFA, Messi’s legacy, and where Ronaldo fits now. Good context before the games started.
How Messi keeps breaking football at Inter Miami - The technical analysis of what Messi does at 38 that still leaves defenders confused. The football brain on display here is something else.
I Wasn’t a Football Fan… Then I Went to the World Cup - One of the best pieces of World Cup content this month. Someone who had no stake in football goes to the tournament and comes back changed. The writing is genuinely good.
FIFA Protecting Messi’s Argentina? World Cup Bias Debate - The bias debate that dominated social media during the tournament. This video is balanced — presents the case against and the counter, without pushing a conclusion.
ARGENTINA HATERS MELTDOWN — Argentina 3-2 Egypt Comeback - The Egypt match was the wake-up call. Argentina went 2-0 down and came back. This is just reaction content but the energy is real.
Why the Entire World REFUSES To See Argentina Win - A proper essay video on why neutrals root against Argentina specifically. Some of it is Messi fatigue, some of it is older than that.
Watch ENGLAND vs ARGENTINA ft. Malcolm Gladwell | Trevor Noah’s World Cup Watch Party - Trevor Noah and Malcolm Gladwell watching the semi-final together. The commentary between them is as good as the match.
CRYING ENGLAND FANS — Argentina 92’ Minute World Cup Heartbreak Reactions - The moment England thought they’d held on, and then didn’t. Reaction content but the emotions are real.
GREATEST COMEBACK EVER IN THE WORLD CUP — Argentina 2-1 England - The full match highlights with the narrative built in. Even if you watched it live, this is worth rewatching.
Don’t poke the Messi bear, Argentina tops England 2-1 - Post-match analysis from a US sports show. The framing is different from the usual European coverage and interesting for that reason.
The Day English Media Finally Apologised To Lionel Messi - Years of dismissal followed by the tournament that made it impossible to continue. This video collects the media U-turns.
This Is Why You Never Trash Talk Lionel Messi - A highlight reel with a thesis — every time someone publicly doubted Messi, what happened next. It’s long and it earns every minute.
Why Teammates Still Cry When They Speak About Lionel Messi - Former teammates talking about what it’s like to play alongside him. The emotion here is genuine and it tells you something about the human behind the footballer.
Why the Entire World Wanted Argentina to Fail - A deeper version of the anti-Argentina sentiment video. More historical context, more specific about where the feeling comes from.
Every Lionel Messi Goal For Argentina | FIFA World Cup 2026 - Every goal. The compilation that exists because the tournament demanded it.
Messi’s Tears, Enzo’s Red Card, and the Chaos of Argentina - The drama inside the Argentina camp — Enzo’s red card, the emotional moments, the tension that the highlights don’t show.
Argentina Became Exactly What Spain Was Afraid Of… - The tactical breakdown of the final before it happened. Spain knew what was coming and couldn’t stop it anyway.
Why Spain versus Argentina Will Change The World Cup Forever - A broader argument about what this final meant for the tournament’s future — format, narrative, commercial. More interesting than it sounds.
Alt Cast Highlights: Spain v Argentina | FIFA World Cup 2026 Final - The alternate commentary version of the final highlights. Sometimes the alt cast catches things the main broadcast misses.
iShowSpeed | FIFA World Cup 2026 Closing Ceremony | Full Performance - iShowSpeed performed at the closing ceremony. Whatever you think of him, the cultural moment here is real.
Why Nobody Respects Argentina - A post-tournament piece on why winning doesn’t seem to change how people feel about Argentina. The paradox is genuinely interesting.
How to Destroy a Football Legacy: The Hate Against Lionel Messi - How a section of football media spent years trying to diminish Messi and why it never quite worked. The media criticism here is sharp.
This Changes Everything For Argentina - Post-World Cup: what winning again means for Argentine football going forward — the generation coming up, the infrastructure, the expectations.
The Match That Made Real Madrid Fans HATE Messi - A specific match from years back that crystallised the Real Madrid fanbase’s feelings about Messi. Good historical context.
American Reacts to Why The World Cup Is 104x Bigger Than The Super Bowl - The scale comparison that keeps shocking American audiences. The reaction is genuine and the numbers are staggering.
I Met Messi! - Simple vlog, big moment. Someone got close enough to actually meet him during the tournament. Hard not to smile at this one.
Just for fun
Our first kiss - Warm, short, wholesome. Sometimes YouTube delivers exactly what you need at the end of a long day.
We Helped 100 Kids Fight Cancer - MrBeast. The scale of what he does for other people is hard to sit with sometimes. This is one of those videos.
Airrack will never learn - Creator drama that’s actually entertaining. Airrack keeps doing the thing, and keeps paying for it, and somehow that’s watchable every time.
I Left the Ali Abdaal Team - An honest video from someone who left one of YouTube’s biggest productivity brands. The behind-the-scenes picture is interesting.
Desis Go to LONDON for the First Time - Exactly what the title says. Funny and warm in equal measure.
Can Tech Legends Find the Liar? (Mafia Episode 1) - Tech founders playing Mafia. The psychology of who lies well and who doesn’t is surprisingly revealing.
That’s July. 90+ videos, a World Cup that consumed half the month, and more creator/money content than any month this year. If anything here catches your eye, let me know what you thought.
— Nishat
Find the previous month here - What I’ve Been Watching — Issue #2 — May 2026