I've been watching his content for a while now and I love him. He is a breath of fresh air in a field that is sometimes a bit dry. He is hilarious, knowledgeable and brings so much life and character to us in his content. If a little colorful language and wit can get more people interested in nature we will all benefit. We have to share this planet and the more we learn and love it, we will hopefull take better care of it.
I am not a botanist, but I always loved plants. When I was 5 years old I had guerilla gardens growing all over the neighborhood (mainly beans and flowers) and my grandparents taught me how to forage for plants and fungus. Eventually, I began memorizing plant taxonomies on my own. As a more self-taught plant person, I identify a bit more with Santore, than I do with others.
He could do the same show without the poopy words and the sex dungeon jokes and it would be just as good because he has a contagious enthusiasm for the subject. Well almost as good, anyway.
Counterpoint: there are those of us who would know even less about botany were it not for both this man's contagious charisma and abundance of dick jokes.
Enthusiasm does go a long way and I agree that he could be successful with "cleaner" content. Personally, I applaud his authenticity and just like that he is being himself. Just as there are people who might be turned off by curse words and dirty jokes, there are others who might come for the jokes and stay for the science.
And that accent? When the camera is off, Santore dials it back. “That’s just for laughs—I can code-switch to a professional-white-guy voice when I need to,” he says.
People seem to be reading the parent post as being critical of the show’s style. The last sentence pretty clearly indicates that it’s not. The poster is saying that Joey’s enthusiasm for what he’s doing is contagious, and is a huge part of the draw to the show. See for example videos of Julius Sumner Miller.
The occasional “ya prick!” or “asteraceae dungeon” remark and the signature sign-off are the icing, not the cake, and the poster is not suggesting that Joey should scrape off the icing. They’re just calling it the icing.
Thanks! No one seemed to get my point so I guess I didn't frame it very well. BTW, Julius Sumner Miller was my "Bill Nye" growing up. Great stuff. Go fuck yourself!
But that’s who he is. He could pretend to have manners to offend fewer people but he doesn’t have to, seems to be getting on just fine without manners, and probably attracts a lot of people who are put off by people who are dry and proper all the time.
I am not a botanist, but I always loved plants. When I was 5 years old I had guerilla gardens growing all over the neighborhood (mainly beans and flowers) and my grandparents taught me how to forage for plants and fungus. Eventually, I began memorizing plant taxonomies on my own. As a more self-taught plant person, I identify a bit more with Santore, than I do with others.