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June 21, 2018 10:39 PM   Subscribe

Who is Wilbur Sargunaraj? He's a world-traveling Simple Superstar out to up your Cultural IQ. Come along as he showcases Tamil village life for NPR, tests out latrines (eastern, european, african pit, and Airbus A 380-800 varieties), eats Chicago soul food, feels "genki" in Tokyo, sings about a chicken dish, cooks an egg on a hot road, learns about sanitary pads and condoms in Uganda, expresses his devotion to love, demonstrates how to fly for the first time, experiences an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, and tells us that dark is beautiful. posted by cichlid ceilidh (14 comments total) 29 users marked this as a favorite
 
I just watched the "Tamil village life" video. I would love to invite this man to dinner!

Also he has great pants!

Also, it's possibly the first time I've ever seen positive comments below a youtube video.
posted by ethical_caligula at 11:16 PM on June 21, 2018


“Teasing is never first class!”

These are great! Thank you!
posted by greermahoney at 11:30 PM on June 21, 2018


These are fun. I would pay a great deal however to stop having the little fact pop-ups coming up, or at least to trim the sound effect waaaaay down.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:40 PM on June 21, 2018 [1 favorite]


Ok, I just watched the condom one, and I’m crying tears of love. What a service he’s doing, and what a beautiful, kind heart he has.

Tell Me No Lies, I’ve watched 5 videos and not heard any odd sounds. I’m not sure what you mean.
posted by greermahoney at 11:54 PM on June 21, 2018


Oooooh. The little Indian singing. So funny that I didn’t event notice it until you pointed it out!

And now I can’t unhear it.
posted by greermahoney at 11:57 PM on June 21, 2018


Awesome thank you!
posted by ellieBOA at 3:24 AM on June 22, 2018


The singing is saying "terminology" (i.e. new words). With enough watching you'll hopefully move from perplexed to "this is so annoying" to "this is just part of Wilbur's charm." Some videos are much less terminology-filled than others. There's always the song videos, themselves, too!
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 3:50 AM on June 22, 2018 [1 favorite]


These are really great... though now I'd like to eat some idlis for breakfast.
posted by Ashwagandha at 6:56 AM on June 22, 2018


"this is so annoying" to "this is just part of Wilbur's charm."

Reiterating that I’ve really been enjoying these videos, but there is a point where charm turns into clutter.

I think part of it is that it takes me a few seconds to get the rhythm of Tamil English, which makes getting pulled out of it extra annoying.

Anyway, it’s a nit. It’s bothering me less already.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:19 AM on June 22, 2018


This is great! I just watched the latrine videos, and they honestly nearly brought me to tears. They are beautifully nonjudgmental and useful and helpful for people who are travelling, and his very easy-going and unembarrassed approach made everything so shame-free. You're not 'bad' if your culture uses this particular style of toilet, and you're also not 'bad' if you don't know how to use a different type. He will just show you!
posted by DSime at 8:56 AM on June 22, 2018


Damn it, I needed to actually get some work done today since I've lost even more time than usual to *gestures around* this week. But this is such a delightful antidote to *gestures* that I can't not watch it all day, for my mental health.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:08 AM on June 22, 2018


If you're looking for something to watch Friday night, Wilbur's feature-length "Wilburwood" film, Simple Superstar, is available in full on YouTube. It was fan-funded and the cast/crew were all social media followers of his. Trailer here and interview here.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 9:59 AM on June 22, 2018 [1 favorite]


I'm curious if anyone went ahead and watched the feature film. Let me know! I haven't seen it yet.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 8:22 PM on June 25, 2018




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