Nested rectangles frame the question 'how do you explain recursion'

Name: Nested rectangles frame the question 'how do you explain recursion'
Uploaded: 2026-09-26T03:29:25.000Z
Duration: 75 s
Channel: Ethan Mollick
Description: An explainer on recursion that shifts video style nine times to stay self-referential, from a one-line prompt; opens on bold type reading 'How do you explain recursion?' boxed inside receding, nested colored rectangles.

Ethan MollickVERIFIED

@emollick

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60.8K views · 536 likes · 275 saves · 43 reposts · Posted Sep 26, 2026 · 1:15 · Explainers

OUR NOTEAn explainer on recursion that shifts video style nine times to stay self-referential, from a one-line prompt; opens on bold type reading 'How do you explain recursion?' boxed inside receding, nested colored rectangles.

THE CREATOR'S POST

How do you explain recursion? This one is pretty fun. I had Claude Opus 5.5 make: "A video explaining recursion, where every explanation about recursion has a radically different video style, make this self-referential & clever & fast moving." Nine genre shifts, one prompt...

THE PROMPT

One-line concept brief

A video explaining recursion, where every explanation about recursion has a radically different video style, make this self-referential & clever & fast moving.

MAKE ONE LIKE THIS

Three steps, using what the creators in this index used.

1 · Copy the prompt
Use the prompt above as your starting point, then change the subject and the style.
HOW OTHERS WROTE THEIRS →
2 · Long piece? Give Claude a framework
ALL VIDEO SKILLS →
3 · Render it to MP4
For a longer piece like this one, render with a framework so the timing is exact on every take.
CLAUDE CODE + HYPERFRAMES / REMOTION →

HOW IT WAS MADE

The creator didn't name their tools. Most videos like this are HTML, canvas or SVG animation written by Claude and screen-recorded or rendered to MP4 — how that works.

LOOK

kinetic-typetypographyexplainer