Have you heard? It’s science time, college football on YouTube, and “copium” for the dictionary.

Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.

This week, a major science activation launched, YouTube is ready for some football, and some terminally online terminology made it into the dictionary.

Creator commotion

50×50 has started chronicling “Science Across America” on YouTube. Travel content is hot on YouTube, so the Independent Media Initiative sponsored a 50-state swing that highlights exemplary STEM creators. 50×50 is now live, with luminaries like Destin Sandlin and Emily Graslie participating.

Madeline Argy gets buddy-buddy with Kendall Jenner and Joe Jonas for TRIP. In a new ad campaign for calming beverage brand TRIP, spokespeople Jenner, Jonas, and Argy explain how a relaxing sip can deliver “calm in the chaos.” If you still need proof that creators are on equal footing with traditional celebs, here you go: A TikTok lifestyle guru is sharing the screen with two TV stars.

Adam Conover’s take on the fractured media landscape is worth hearing. Between stintss at CollegeHumor and TruTV, Conover has experienced many sides of the content production game. Now, he’s dispensing the lessons he’s learned in a podcast appearance alongside Nilay Patel of The Verge. Spoiler alert: Conover doesn’t exactly have a rosy view of the contemporary content industry.

Sports and games

The NBC/YouTube alliance expands with a free college football stream. First, Peacock was incorporated into YouTube Premium subscriptions. Now, NBC is delivering another perk to YouTube viewers: They can catch this Saturday’s matchup between Wisconsin and Eastern Michigan for free on the network’s official YouTube hub. Even though YouTube doesn’t have exclusive NFL broadcasts this season, college football streams might be the next best thing.

Daniel Negreanu’s second-annual World Series of Poker vlog raised the stakes. Negreanu, known as “Kid Poker,” is a familiar face in the playing card world and an affable ambassador for his game of choice. When he won a WSOP event while vlogging about his experiences at the table, he showed what the future of live sports content might look like.

LeBron James lines up Kevin Hart as a guest on his golf channel. James kicked off his new YouTube channel by hitting the links alongside his former Cleveland Cavalier teammates. Now, he’s planning a collab with Hart that will bring even more star power to his new hub. Forget basketball — LeGolf might just become the hot new sports trend.

Publishing notes

Codie Sanchez’s book launch comes with $1 million of prizes. Sanchez, the CEO and Founder of financial media platform Contrarian Thinking, has authored a book titled Own or Be Owned. She’s promoting it with an event described as one of the most lucrative activations ever tied to a book launch. Attendees and entrepreneurs can vie for prizes by partaking in the event.

Want to feel like a kid again? Read Julian Shapiro-Barnum’s new book.

The host of Recess Therapy knows that adults can learn a thing or two by listening to kids. He’s passing along the wisdom of the youth with How to Grow Up Without Becoming a Grown-Up, a book that offers “big lessons from little kids.” It has hit shelves after seeing release on August 4.

Levy Rozman is ready to take your chess game to the “next level.” Rozman, known online as GothamChess, became one of the most successful creator-authors when he penned the guide How to Win at Chess. The follow-up to that tome is aimed at intermediate players. Make sure you read it cover to cover, unless you want to end up on Rozman’s “How to lose at chess” YouTube series.

Movers and shakers

Whalar Group taps a TikTok vet as it doubles down on brand partnerships. Whalar Group is doubling down on its creator economy businesses after selling its Whalar agency business to Accenture Song. To hone its new focus, Whalar Group has brought in Kimberly Wu, who spent five years at TikTok and served as the app’s Global Head of Agency and Marketing Partnerships. At Whalar Group, Wu’s title will be SVP of Strategic Partnerships & Growth.

YouTube vet Adam Smith is taking the reins of Disney’s streaming business. Smith, who formerly oversaw YouTube Premium and YouTube Music, joined Disney two years ago. Now, he’s becoming the Chairman of Direct-To-Consumer for Disney Entertainment. In that role, he’ll spearhead all facets of a streaming empire that spans services like Disney+ and Hulu.

Lara Sword is rocking the boat in a YouTube-related role. Indie production company Boat Rocker Studios has onboarded Sword, who will join its London office. As Boat Rocker’s Director of YouTube Management and Digital Partnerships (a newly-created role), Sword will be on the hunt for digital IP that can be targeted for future development deals.

The internet is a strange place

“Looksmaxxing” and “copium” are in the Merriam-Webster dictionary now. I don’t want to give Clavicular credit for adding looksmaxxing to the official lexicon, but that might just be copium on my part. At least M-W gave a nod to us Millennials by adding “Rickroll” to its dictionary as well.

Just because you’re a sports star doesn’t mean you can stream sports video games early. That’s what footballer Cole Palmer found out when he earned a Twitch suspension for a premature EA FC 27 stream. Now, the Chelsea FC star is begging for an unban. Based on his goal celebration, he of all people should know: It’s a cold world out there, and asking for forgiveness only goes so far.

A former Google engineer turned physics models into a musical instrument. Look, I’m not going to pretend to understand how Anukari works, but Evan Mezeske does. Here’s a video of him demoing his innovative instrument, because apparently, blowing wind through a tube just wasn’t complicated enough.