YouTube — 2026-05-05#

Watch First#

Inside The Old Skydiving Plane Hunting Drones in Ukraine from the New York Times is a fascinating look at how modern warfare adapts on a budget. It covers how a crew of Ukrainian volunteers transformed a Soviet-era civilian skydiving plane into a drone-killing machine, using mounted machine guns to shoot down Iranian Shahed drones for just $500 in ammo per kill. It is a brilliant, gritty look at human ingenuity solving the asymmetrical cost problem of modern air defense.

Highlights by Theme#

News & Business#

There is a lot of macroeconomic anxiety today, starting with a Financial Times short examining how Donald Trump’s trade tariffs and middle-eastern conflicts have worsened US inflation. Chinese finance channel 美投侃新闻 does an excellent deep dive into the global central bank dilemma of trying to fight supply-side oil shocks with interest rate hikes, while also analyzing Warren Buffett’s massive $400 billion cash pile as a sign that the market has become an overvalued “casino”. In aviation news, CNBC breaks down the abrupt bankruptcy and collapse of Spirit Airlines Collapsed — Here’s What Happens Next, which stranded travelers nationwide and will likely drive up airfares due to lost competition. Finally, for a long-form US political perspective, the Hoover Institution published a sprawling interview with Governor Ron DeSantis and The Free State of Florida detailing his ongoing cultural and corporate battles with companies like Disney.

Learning & Ideas#

The most intellectually engaging piece today comes from Chinese channel LIFEANO CLUB, where 袁Sir聊西方禁烟：沙皇割鼻子都禁不了烟，大英能禁止吗？#lifeano漫聊 260505 uses the UK’s new generational smoking ban as a jumping-off point to explore the wild history of global tobacco prohibition—from Pope Urban VII excommunicating smokers in 1590, to the Russian Tsar cutting off noses, to Nazi Germany’s massive anti-smoking campaigns. On a more inspiring note, TED pitches a new philanthropic metric called “True Net Worth,” which ranks billionaires by what they give away rather than what they hoard, putting MacKenzie Scott near the top of the global list. For science enthusiasts, The intersection of creativity and biology | Khan Academy X OpenBio features Harvard college students discussing their cutting-edge lab work, spanning everything from space medicine to nanoparticle cancer therapies.

Tech & AI#

Bloomberg Originals breaks down What Is Storm-1516?, a Russian disinformation campaign led by the GRU that uses social media to inject manufactured conspiracy theories into the West. CNBC takes a look inside a secretive California skunkworks team in Why Ford Is Making A $5 Billion Bet On EVs, exploring the automaker’s massive gamble on a highly-anticipated midsize electric pickup designed to rival Tesla. Additionally, Chinese finance channel 美投侃新闻 covers the ongoing AI infrastructure boom, debating whether investors should hold semiconductors or pivot to cloud software providers like Palantir, while noting Apple’s potential move to secure Intel as a backup foundry for their advanced chips.

Everything Else#

For a great dose of culture and nostalgia, Chinese talk show host Xiaosong delivers a highly entertaining storytelling session in 晓松聊北京老炮文化，自己当年因打架被清华开除？回味当年血色青春, breaking down Beijing’s street-punk “Lao Pao” (老炮) culture of the 80s and 90s, and reminiscing about his own youthful brawls and school expulsions. The 2026 Met Gala red carpet was also heavily featured across GQ Taiwan, highlighting fashion choices from Blackpink, Bad Bunny, and 巨石強森與妻子 Lauren Hashian踏上 2026 #metgala 紅毯, which showcased Dwayne Johnson in an intricate custom Thom Browne look. For a quick laugh, check out My Bank Called In the Middle of My Ted Talk | Mike Albo | TED, a comedic sketch about an intrusive bank fraud call that reveals way too much about a man’s lonely personal life.