August Frank/Inland 360
Noah Rodgers and Brandon Rodgers get a close look at a Crumbl cake at their home in Lewiston. Noah and Brandon review Crumbl cookies and cakes on their YouTube channel.
This story is part of a series of occasional features about local creators who’ve built substantial followings on social media.
Noah Rodgers
YouTube: @b_ntv
TikTok: @b_ntv
You might be a fan of B&N TV if the phrase, “Hey guys — welcome back,” makes you hungry for Crumbl cookies.
Noah Rodgers, 19, opens each video on the channel, named for his dad, Brandon, and himself, with those signature words before the two of them dig into the cookies of the week.
The idea to make videos featuring the oversized cookies “just kind of popped into my head” after a Crumbl franchise opened in Clarkston in 2021, Noah said during a recent interview at his family’s Lewiston home.
He’s since reviewed a good chunk of Crumbl’s 175-plus flavors, aiming for a video per week.
There’ve been countless thumbs-up cookies (his favorite is French Silk Pie), but Crumbl has room to grow, Noah said: “They haven’t done a huckleberry flavor yet.”
Noah’s excitement about food is contagious, his mom, Suzanne, said. He’s a big fan of the show “America’s Best Restaurants,” which recently featured Brava’s in downtown Lewiston, and he’s been enjoying subscription boxes filled with snacks from around the world (most recently from Colombia, with mayonnaise chips that “weren’t as bad” as Suzanne expected).
“It’s like his love language is sharing food with others,” she said. “Noah helps me have a braver palate. I have a palate like a 4-year-old.”
Noah has autism and 18p deletion syndrome, meaning he’s missing part of his 18th chromosome, Suzanne explained.
“He has so many amazing strengths that come along with his autism,” she said. “He is, I think, so many people’s teacher. So many people are drawn to him.”
His 800-plus YouTube subscribers sometimes are more like family, posting encouraging comments and, in true Lewiston-Clarkston Valley small-town fashion, recognizing Noah in public.
When at The UPS Store, the family recently met a fan who asked for a photo with Noah, Brandon said. And an older couple stopped Noah at the hospital and asked, “You’re Noah, right? We watch your videos, and we just love them.”
Noah isn’t shy about meeting his fans.
“He’ll probably say hi to you first,” Brandon said.
Noah’s past year included considerable time in hospitals, Suzanne said, for blood transfusions and two brain surgeries.
“You are the strongest person that I know and the bravest person that I know,” she said, looking across the room at her son.
Noah shrugged and smiled.
“You forget how big your family, how big your village can be,” Brandon said. “(The YouTube channel has) been a really cool way to show how strong his village and how big his reach is.”
Students at Jenifer Middle School in Lewiston, where Brandon is a teacher, created a news segment for their student channel about Noah earlier this school year.
“They watch all the videos,” Brandon said.
August Frank/Inland 360
Stickers bearing Noah Rodgers YouTube channel name and how he introduces each video are pictured.
Analytics show people from around the country and the world, as far away as Pakistan, follow B&N TV. Friends and family who live close enough to visit get to sample the cookies of the week, which Brandon slices with a special Crumbl cutter that divides each one into bite-sized wedges.
Noah has befriended employees from Clarkston’s Crumbl store over the years, and even Crumbl corporate got involved, sending him swag and vouchers.
“When he was in the hospital for brain surgery, they were one of the first to reach out,” Brandon said.
Noah, true to his passion for sharing his favorite foods, passed along a tip before the interview ended: B&N TV fans who can’t get enough Crumbl after watching his videos can get their fix another way.
“I forgot to mention,” he said. “At Costco, you can get Crumbl cookies cereal.”
Stone (she/her) can be reached at mstone@inland360.com.
