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YouTube’s Ms. Rachel Gets Netflix Show, Drawing Cheers From Parents

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YouTube’s Ms. Rachel Gets Netflix Show, Drawing Cheers From Parents

“Let’s figure out what our letter of the day is!”

Ms. Rachel, the children’s YouTube star, cooed that sentence in an Instagram video posted this week as she dug into a sensory bin of purple rice, with the kind of texture toddlers tend to ogle.

Set against a blank yellow screen, like many of her videos, she smiled as her ponytail bobbed onto her signature pink T-shirt and blue overalls.

She gasped as the camera panned to a bright red “N” in the rice.

Holding the letter, she cheerfully told viewers in her singsong voice that her videos would soon be available on Netflix.

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The announcement is the latest development for the booming empire of Ms. Rachel, the child educator from Maine turned viral video star, whose appeal has been compared to that of Mister Rogers and Beyoncé.

She has more than 13 million subscribers on her YouTube channel and millions more on Instagram and TikTok, with her videos have collectively drawn billions of views.

Ms. Rachel, whose full name is Rachel Accurso, also has a multibook deal with Random House; a line of toys, including a popular cooing doll in her likeness; and branded T-shirts, pajamas and bathing suits. She works with her husband, Aron Accurso, the co-creator and co-producer, and they are represented by the powerhouse talent group Creative Artists Agency.

“We’re so happy that our videos will be reaching more little ones and their families through Netflix,” Ms. Accurso and her husband wrote in an email. “It’s the best feeling to see families singing the songs, using the learning techniques and creating meaningful moments together beyond the screen.”

At Netflix, the videos join a lineup of children’s programming that already includes fan favorites like “CoComelon” and “Blippi,” which also found fame on YouTube.

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The four-episode season of “Ms. Rachel” will be available to stream starting Jan. 27, and it will include 30- to 60-minute lessons that teach numbers, letters, colors and shapes. More episodes will be available later this year, and her videos will continue to stream on YouTube. (Representatives for Netflix declined to comment.)

Ally Shuster, Ms. Accurso’s agent at CAA, said she learned about the Ms. Rachel videos two years ago through her young nephew, Oliver, who was mesmerized.

“I think people respond to Ms. Rachel’s passion and authenticity,” Ms. Shuster said in an email.

“Rachel and Aron put so much thought and care into their content,” she said, adding, “Their love for children and their work really shines through, and I think that’s a big part of what makes them so successful.”

Before she found fame on YouTube, Ms. Accurso, 42, earned master’s degrees in early childhood education and music education, and worked as a music teacher in the Bronx.

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She left the job to spend more time with her son, Thomas. Around his first birthday, she started making videos for him when she noticed that he was behind on speech development. She and her husband uploaded the videos to YouTube in 2019, and the content struck a chord with young children and their parents.

Speech pathologists have said that her videos incorporate techniques used by speech therapists, such as speaking slowly and repeating simple sentences. Many parents have said the programs feel more wholesome than other options.

(The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under the age of 18 months avoid screen time, children between 18 and 24 months limit screen time to educational programming watched with a caregiver, and children over age 2 limit it to one hour a day of high-quality programming.)

To the parents who have watched Ms. Rachel’s rise on social media, the Netflix deal is welcome news for a variety of reasons.

Betsy Tannenbaum, 35, an attorney in Nashville with two young children, said she discovered Ms. Rachel after noticing a group of children who were transfixed by her videos at a birthday party.

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“My husband and I are both working parents, and we work from home, so screen time is sometimes unavoidable,” she said. “Ms. Rachel makes that as guilt-free an experience as possible.”

Ms. Tannenbaum also thinks watching the videos on Netflix will streamline the experience.

“The current platform she is on can sometimes feel convoluted with unrelated content and suggestions that can be distracting to both myself and my toddler,” she said, “and can sometimes get us down a rabbit hole.”

Avery Adrien, 34, a content strategist living in Richmond, Va., also has two young children and said Ms. Rachel’s videos were part of her family’s evening routine.

“We appreciated that it was a very relaxing show,” Ms. Adrien said.A lot of kids’ shows these days are overstimulating.”

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She and her husband found Ms. Rachel’s videos on YouTube several years ago. Ms. Adrien said her family felt like they grew up with her and were excited about her success.

“Ms. Rachel’s in her bag, getting that money,” she said, “and we think no one is more deserving of it than her.”

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‘Teen Vogue’ is moving under Vogue.com — and staffers are being laid off

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‘Teen Vogue’ is moving under Vogue.com — and staffers are being laid off

Teen Vogue signage is seen during the 2025 Teen Vogue Summit at NYA WEST on Sept. 20, 2025 in Los Angeles.

Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Teen Vogue


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Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Teen Vogue

Teen Vogue staffers have taken to social media to share the news they’ve been laid off, just as Condé Nast announced the outlet will be “joining Vogue.com, a transition that’s part of a broader push to expand the Vogue ecosystem.”

Teen Vogue covered fashion and celebrity, but also took in-depth looks at politics and social justice issues. Their writers have tackled everything from climate change to political pressures on universities, celebrity style to Billie Eilish’s recent comments about billionaires.

According to a statement posted on X from Condé United, a bargaining unit of the union the NewsGuild of New York, six of its members who worked for Teen Vogue are being laid off.

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The union statement said that most of the six “are BIPOC women or trans, including Teen Vogue‘s politics editor, . . . Teen Vogue now has no writers or editors explicitly covering politics.” The statement also says that after the layoffs, there is only one woman of color on the editorial staff.

A statement posted on Vogue.com said that Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Versha Sharma “will be leaving the company.” Chloe Malle, head of editorial content for American Vogue, will oversee the outlet.

“I was laid off from Teen Vogue yesterday, along with 70% of my incredible team,” Kaitlyn McNab Teen Vogue‘s culture editor, posted on X.Much longer post incoming, but I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has reached out to me with love. God got me. We move.”

The Roosevelt Institute, a progressive think tank which recently awarded Teen Vogue its 2025 Freedom of Speech and Expression awards, criticized the move. “The decision by Condé Nast today to collapse this publication into Vogue and eliminate the politics reporting staff at Teen Vogue is evidence that corporate concentration eliminates innovative ideas and silences voices with less power,” it said in a statement.

Vogue said the move is not intended to diminish Teen Vogue. It said, “The title will remain a distinct editorial property, with its own identity and mission; sitting under the Vogue umbrella will provide a more unified reader experience across titles.”

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Vogue Business, for industry professionals, was folded into Vogue.com’s platform last week.

This story was edited by Jennifer Vanasco.

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Celebrity Dog Tika the Iggy Dead at 14

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Celebrity Dog Tika the Iggy Dead at 14

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In ‘Hedda,’ Tessa Thompson is an agent of chaos we love to see : Pop Culture Happy Hour

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In ‘Hedda,’ Tessa Thompson is an agent of chaos we love to see : Pop Culture Happy Hour

Tessa Thompson in Hedda.

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In the new film Hedda, Tessa Thompson plays a woman bored with her dull husband, and who devilishly manipulates the affections of everyone in her orbit. Writer/director Nia DaCosta makes some bold changes in this adaptation of the classic Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler, and sets almost all of the action during a lavish party gone awry. But this is not your grandmother’s Hedda. It’s sexy, chaotic, and, above all, messy as hell. It’s streaming on Prime Video.

Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture

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