From MIT to Veritasium
Leah “Sulli” Yost ’22 uses her MIT education to make videos for one of the world’s leading science YouTube channels
Photo provided by Leah Yost
Photo provided by Leah Yost
Photo provided by Leah Yost
Breaking down the science of superglue and its applications to everything from wound treatment to preventing microplastic pollution. Traveling to the Netherlands to look inside the machine responsible for some of the tiniest, most delicate parts of modern computers. Illuminating a logical paradox so divisive that experts around the world — and in the YouTube comment section — can’t agree on the optimal solution.
In the two years since Leah “Sulli” Yost ’22 began working as a writer and director for the science YouTube channel Veritasium, she has gone deep down many scientific rabbit holes. Her videos have been published in seven different languages, reaching Veritasium’s over 20 million subscribers.
Though Yost says she’s “always really loved” stories of many forms — including movies, books, and interactive infographics — her path to YouTube was not exactly linear. Originally a mathematics (Course 18) and writing (Course 21W) double major, Yost only began working on science videos after Veritasium hired her. She was able to navigate the change because of her love for writing and her MIT education.
Writing her way through college
During her undergraduate studies, Yost was one of few students who declared a humanities major before picking a technical major to go with it. She had entered MIT planning to major in mechanical engineering (Course 2); however, after spending her summer doing research in a MechE lab, she realized the subject wasn’t for her.
“It was really boring,” she recalled. “If I stuck with mechanical engineering, a lot of jobs would just be looking at computers. If I’m going to be looking at computers, I want it to be more interesting.”
However, Yost credits the experience with inspiring her to commit to writing. “I [realized] I can’t do this for the rest of my life, so I better figure something out with writing, because I can actually do that, and I love it,” she said.
Many MIT students avoid declaring Course 21W because of the thesis requirement, a long-form piece that Course 21W students develop during their senior year. Yost, on the other hand, loved writing so much that the challenge of completing a thesis for her major excited her.
“I would procrastinate on my psets by doing my writing assignments,” Yost recalled.
Her writing classes turned out to be some of her favorites: namely, Science Writing and Contemporary Society (taught by USA Today Enterprise Editor and Writing Lecturer Karen Weintraub), and Apocalyptic Storytelling and Critical Worldbuilding (both taught by Pulitzer Prize-winning Professor Junot Díaz).
Yost complemented her writing major with a math major because she enjoyed exploring math, thought she could reasonably complete the double major, and wanted to develop technical skills.
“If I was going to go into science writing, a math major would give me the background I needed to explore basically any other subject,” Yost explained.
Today, Yost says she’s benefited less from what she learned and more from how she learned it. Since every video she makes immerses her in a new topic, her experience learning math at the Institute helps her parse intimidating research papers. But “having the confidence to [say], ‘I can tackle this’ is more helpful,” according to her.
“I honestly think the MIT learning experience is a far better preparation than the actual math major,” Yost reflected.
Diving into science YouTube
After being rejected from the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing a year after graduating, Yost was looking for a job when she stumbled across a LinkedIn job posting for Script Writing and Directing at Veritasium. She applied and got the job, but she still faced a large knowledge gap: Yost had never made science videos before, and she didn’t consider herself a “YouTube aficionado.” Fortunately, she had the help of the large team working at Veritasium, from additional writers, editors, and animators to the video hosts and Veritasium founder Derek Muller.
“The learning curve is crazy,” Yost admitted. “I mean, it’s maybe not quite as steep as the MIT one, but it’s pretty steep because you wear a lot of hats.”
By taking on both the script-writing and directing roles, Yost also bore the responsibility of scheduling the people involved, picking everything from the storyline to the video thumbnail and studying existing literature on the topic.
One of the biggest struggles for her was figuring out what ideas would stick. Though Yost was given guidelines for what stories Veritasium usually tells, she initially struggled to get her ideas approved. Now, she’s gotten so much practice that she can notice flaws in other people’s potential pitches.
“The things that Veritasium looks for in videos are some sort of mystery, misconception, or curiosity,” Yost revealed. For example, she recently finished making a video about a machine manufactured by the company ASML, which uses lasers to make computer parts smaller than the wavelength of visible light. Not only did Yost break down the mystery of how this process occurs, but she was also able to take viewers inside the machine, highlighting Veritasium’s second signature video technique: “really big visual stunts.”
Veritasium has grown since Yost made her first video, and she’s been able to work with a larger team so that she can focus on fewer responsibilities. But most of what she’s learned before was through trial by fire.
“You watch a lot of YouTube videos and you learn a lot, mostly by submitting bad stuff and other people telling you it’s bad, then fixing it,” Yost said.
An MIT student through and through
Looking back, Yost finds her path to science communication a bit surprising. “You know, when I was in college, I was like, ’there has to be some sort of path,’” Yost recalled. “And it is so random! I’m so sorry, but it is random,” she added, laughing.
When she came to MIT, Yost didn’t know she was going to be a writer. But she did know she loved writing, and she worked hard to get better. To this day, she stays in touch with some of her writing teachers from MIT, including Weintraub.
It’s through this mixture of luck, talent, and determination that Yost has excelled at her work, producing one of Veritasium’s longest videos yet and racking up hundreds of thousands of views. By staying true to herself and being open to new opportunities, she found a job where she can pursue her love of storytelling and learn a lot while doing it.