A Long List of YouTube Channels For The Curious Minded
This is the second post in three-part series of useful online resources, covering podcasts, YouTube channels, and Chrome extensions.
The best plan is the plan you'll actually execute.
What do I mean by that?
I've found over the years that sometimes, there are things I'd like to learn, or feel like I should learn, but the thought of picking up a pop sci book... too effortful. Time passes, and I don't get around to it.
Then I realise there's a YouTube channel with videos on that topic!
It's perhaps not quite as efficient as reading, but at least I get around to it, and enjoy myself while doing it.
So, as an infovore, I've amassed quite a library of informational/educational/infotainment YouTube channels in the past 13 or so years.
These channels cover these topics, everything between them, and more: ecology, economics, philosophy, cosmology, anthropology, tech, geography, politics, history, chemistry, news, rationality, physics, productivity, futurology, business, linguistics, engineering, psychology, social commentary, international relations, mathematics, computer science, sociology, urban planning, psychoactive substances, geopolitics, game design, religion, etc.
Inevitably, this list reflects my interests; it's far from a exhaustive list on all topics.
I have classified them according to topic and written a little bit about many of them (but far from all, as I'll never finish this post then), but ultimately there's no replacement for trying a bunch out and seeing which ones you like. As such, I have created a playlist featuring two solid videos from each of the channels, collated by topic. If you're looking for something specific or you know of a YouTube channel and want to find similar channels, CTRL-F their name or the broader topic.
Of course, it's can be hard to categorise channels, as many produce videos on a wide variety of subjects, but I've done my best.
Of course, it's can be hard to categorise channels, as many produce videos on a wide variety of subjects, but I've done my best.
Keep in mind, almost all channels are run by non-experts. Read textbooks and papers if you're very highly demanding of rigour in all of your information diet: don't go in thinking there's always going to be absolutely stellar epistemics in every one of the channels. Not to say that they're bad: they vary a lot, but because it's mainly pop sci, the information and narratives presented should of course be taken with a grain of salt.
Also, as you know, there's not always a clear line between factual and opinionated content, especially as you get into, like, social science and humanities subjects, and people interweave the two. I've mainly included channels of the former variety, but there's both, and everything in between.
Here are direct links to all playlists: Favourites, Space and physics, Philosophy and secularism, Human and physical geography, History, Mathematics, General natural science, Chemistry, Natural history and biology, Geopolitics, Futurism, Economics, Uncategorised, Trivia, Major media organisations, Engineering, Tech and business, Rationality, Productivity, Alternate history, Video games, Computer science and AI, Linguistics and languages, Anthropology, Urban planning, Religion, Food, Architecture, Psychology, Leftist social/political commentary
Please leave your recommendations in the comment section, and I may add them!
My absolute favourites
Link to playlist
Vsauce: The eccentric Michael Stevens tackles every conceivable topic under the sun, stringing together knowledge from a vast array of fields to answer questions both quirky and fundamental. Highly recommended: there's a special place in my heart for Vsauce, as I've been a fan for more than 10 years.
Polymatter: With slick animations, Polymatter breaks down questions in economics, technology, business, geopolitics, policy and more.
Polymatter: With slick animations, Polymatter breaks down questions in economics, technology, business, geopolitics, policy and more.
CGPGrey: The legendary Colin Gregory Palmer Grey explains whatever he wants, be it the pros and cons of different voting systems and airplane boarding systems, the history of the British royal family, automation, how to become the Pope, who owns Antarctica, why we should cure aging and Lord of the Rings mythology.
Kurzgesagt: With a distinct and superbly eye-pleasing animation style, the team at Kurzgesagt (meaning "in short" in German) produce high-quality videos tackling big scientific issues. Guaranteed to induce an existential crisis sooner or later. Be prepared for a lot of space stuff. This one gets five chef's kisses from me.
Kraut: Makes high-quality videos mainly diving deep into the history, origins and development paths of institutions in different countries. Think "Why Nations Fail" by Acemoglu and Robinson.
Atlas Pro: This YouTube channel has exploded in popularity, but the host has been producing great content since a while back. The "About" page describes the channel as "Geography, geology, biology, and ecology. That's what we'll be talking about here at Atlas Pro. Well, that and maybe some history, chemistry, and whatever else is really necessary to explain something. Point is, we're trying to learn more about the Earth, it's systems, and maybe more."
LEMMiNO: Swedish YouTuber LEMMiNO makes well-researched, engaging videos on a wide variety of subjects: Lego, the Bermuda Triangle, dinosaurs, death, UFOs, Rick and Morty, just to name a few. Be prepared for even more space stuff
LEMMiNO: Swedish YouTuber LEMMiNO makes well-researched, engaging videos on a wide variety of subjects: Lego, the Bermuda Triangle, dinosaurs, death, UFOs, Rick and Morty, just to name a few. Be prepared for even more space stuff
Exurb1a: Oh, Exurb1a. How do you explain Exurb1a? Existentialist, educational, cosmically comical, mind-blowing, original, creative: all terms that apply. Do yourself a favour and check him out.
Vox: Vox.com's video branch, who, unlike many other mainstream media publication YouTube-channels, really utilise the strengths of the medium and bring viewers quality content covering not just American politics, as is Vox.com's main focus, but also videos on history, technology, geography, and all manner of other stuff.
Brain4Breakfast: Insightful videos on geography, geopolitics, history and more, all with a Polandball comic animation style, wrapped in a pretty pink bow with a thick Lancashire (I think?) accent. Very sadly, the creator passed away some time ago, so don't expect any more videos.
Crash Course: Pick a subject, and Crash Course probably has an accessible, well-researched and excellently produced series on it. Here's a list of all the subjects they've covered.
Wendover Productions: Ah, Wendover. Has great videos about geography, geopolitics, and an assortment of various topics, along with a ton of videos on... wait for it... aeroplanes! More than you ever wanted to know about the logistics and economics of the airline industry (which turns out to be surprisingly interesting). Also stuff about trains.
hoser: Dives into the economic and geopolitical successes and failures of countries around the world.
WhatIfAltHist: Extremely thought provoking channel. Makes videos about history and geopolitical speculation as well these days. This guy is insanely knowledgeable about most of world history, uses that to extrapolate both what would have happened and what might happen in the future. Rudyard Lynch, the creator, is a vaguely Christian-ish classical liberal, and that seeps into his videos. I would encourage: approach with an open, charitable, but skeptical mind. I feel that I've learned a lot and am able to view history from more different lenses after having watched most of his videos, considering things I would not have otherwise. Writing this reminds me of something Douglas Hofstadter said about Ray Kurzweil's books: "it's very bizarre mixture of ideas that are solid and good with ideas that are crazy. It’s as if you took a lot of very good food and some dog excrement and blended it all up so that you can’t possibly figure out what’s good or bad." At least, I can't always, as I am not as knowledgeable about history as Lynch.
Masaman: Great channel on ethnic and cultural populations and their histories, and just, in general, the diversity of humanity.
J.J. McCullough: Canadian YouTuber that makes insightful and interesting videos about society, culture, politics, history, countries and more.
Adam Ragusea: A combination of recipe videos and food science, food history, botany, and more.
Human and physical geography
Brain4Breakfast: Insightful videos on geography, geopolitics, history and more, all with a Polandball comic animation style, wrapped in a pretty pink bow with a thick Lancashire (I think?) accent. Very sadly, the creator passed away some time ago, so don't expect any more videos.
VanDeGraph: Maps, borders, political geography: you'll find it all here.
WonderWhy: Learn about geography, history, geopolitics, all made better by that Scottish accent(?). I really like this channel.
Atlas Pro: This YouTube channel has exploded in popularity, but the host has been producing great content since a while back. The "About" page describes the channel as "Geography, geology, biology, and ecology. That's what we'll be talking about here at Atlas Pro. Well, that and maybe some history, chemistry, and whatever else is really necessary to explain something. Point is, we're trying to learn more about the Earth, it's systems, and maybe more."
GeographyNow: GeographyNow is, in alphabetical order, going through every single country in the world and getting you acquainted with the geography, demography, economy, culture, international relations and a bit of history of each country. At the time of writing, they're on "T". The humour may be a bit childish but overall the presentation is good.
KhAnubis: Love this guy, have learned so much from him. Mainly covers combinations of geography, history, geopolitics and other subjects regarding how the world works.
VanDeGraph: Maps, borders, political geography: you'll find it all here.
WonderWhy: Learn about geography, history, geopolitics, all made better by that Scottish accent(?). I really like this channel.
Atlas Pro: This YouTube channel has exploded in popularity, but the host has been producing great content since a while back. The "About" page describes the channel as "Geography, geology, biology, and ecology. That's what we'll be talking about here at Atlas Pro. Well, that and maybe some history, chemistry, and whatever else is really necessary to explain something. Point is, we're trying to learn more about the Earth, it's systems, and maybe more."
GeographyNow: GeographyNow is, in alphabetical order, going through every single country in the world and getting you acquainted with the geography, demography, economy, culture, international relations and a bit of history of each country. At the time of writing, they're on "T". The humour may be a bit childish but overall the presentation is good.
KhAnubis: Love this guy, have learned so much from him. Mainly covers combinations of geography, history, geopolitics and other subjects regarding how the world works.
Geodiode: Learn lots about the Earth's climates and biomes!
Jay Foreman: The intricacies of the maps, borders, and above all, London and its infrastructure. I found this interesting even before I moved to London.
Jay Foreman: The intricacies of the maps, borders, and above all, London and its infrastructure. I found this interesting even before I moved to London.
That Is Interesting: "Welcome to That Is Interesting, where you will learn everything you ever wanted to know about anything. This channel is devoted to interesting history and cool facts about the cities, countries, flags, geography, and people of the world and beyond."
Geography King: "On this channel you'll see videos that compare and contrast various places in the U.S., ranking the best and worst cities and states in different categories and profiles of individual cities and states."
Space and physics
SciShow Space: A spin-off from the main SciShow channel, SciShow Space produces explainers on all things space, be it cosmology, astronomy, planetary science, human and robotic spaceflight or astrophysics.
PBS Space Time: A step up in prerequisite knowledge demandingness, Matthew O’Dowd takes us on tours through the universe of astrophysics, cosmology, fundamental physics, space exploration and the like. I highly recommend this channel, even those who know quite a bit about these sorts of things is likely to enjoy and learn a lot.
Curious Droid: The past, present and future in the world of aerospace engineering and manned/unmanned space exploration. If you find the Cold War and the Space Race interesting you'll love this channel.
Primal Space: Everything about human and machine exploration of space, especially about SpaceX.
Fraser Cain: Space news and general space stuff by the publisher of Universe Today.
SixtySymbols: Very charming channel. The same handful of professors at the University of Nottingham have been explaining various physics things for the past 13 years.
Veritasium: YouTube EDU's prettyboy Derek Muller travels the world to show us how fascinating our world truly is, in all it's remarkable complexities and intricacies. His content centres around physics but covers numerous other topics.
Minutephysics: learn physics the espresso way: short, condensed, concentrated, all in stick-figure style. Sounds simplistic and childish, but is actually great and explains advanced topics.
Primal Space: Everything about human and machine exploration of space, especially about SpaceX.
Fraser Cain: Space news and general space stuff by the publisher of Universe Today.
SixtySymbols: Very charming channel. The same handful of professors at the University of Nottingham have been explaining various physics things for the past 13 years.
Veritasium: YouTube EDU's prettyboy Derek Muller travels the world to show us how fascinating our world truly is, in all it's remarkable complexities and intricacies. His content centres around physics but covers numerous other topics.
Minutephysics: learn physics the espresso way: short, condensed, concentrated, all in stick-figure style. Sounds simplistic and childish, but is actually great and explains advanced topics.
Astro Pro: Atlas Pro but space stuff. Very high quality.
SEA: "I make chilled out videos about all things space-related."
Scott Manley: "Scott Manley is someone who fell into YouTube because he felt a deep compelling need to teach people orbital mechanics and rocket science so they could play Kerbal Space Program, now, years later the gaming videos are less important and the pure science is the main thrust. My degrees are all in Physics and Astronomy, so much of the rocket science and engineering I've learned is self taught, always learning, always teaching."
Physics Girl: "Physics Girl is a YouTube channel created by Dianna Cowern that adventures into the physical sciences with experiments, demonstrations, and cool new discoveries."
Philosophy and secularism
Then & Now: History of ideas, which ends up in the intersection between history, philosophy and politics.
The School of Life: A creation of Alain de Botton. "Ideas to help you learn, heal and grow. We're interested in better relationships, calm, self-understanding, connection and consolation. We derive our ideas from psychology, psychotherapy, philosophy, art and culture.
Academy of Ideas: Philosophy, psychology and politics. Quite pessimistic.
Wireless Philosophy: "Learn about Philosophy with professors from Yale, Stanford, Oxford, MIT, and more! 130+ animated videos. An official Khan Academy Partner. Our mission is to introduce people to the practice of philosophy by making videos that are freely available in a form that is entertaining, interesting and accessible to people with no background in the subject."
Exurb1a: "Universe is weird, yo."
Academy of Ideas: Philosophy, psychology and politics. Quite pessimistic.
Wireless Philosophy: "Learn about Philosophy with professors from Yale, Stanford, Oxford, MIT, and more! 130+ animated videos. An official Khan Academy Partner. Our mission is to introduce people to the practice of philosophy by making videos that are freely available in a form that is entertaining, interesting and accessible to people with no background in the subject."
Exurb1a: "Universe is weird, yo."
Rationality Rules: "Welcome to Rationality Rules, where we debunk and refute predominately religious and supernatural arguments."
TheraminTrees: "This is an adult-oriented channel that explores issues around abuse, manipulation, dogma and systems of undue influence."
TheraminTrees: "This is an adult-oriented channel that explores issues around abuse, manipulation, dogma and systems of undue influence."
History
Kraut: Makes high-quality videos mainly diving deep into the history, origins and development paths of institutions in different countries. Think "Why Nations Fail" by Acemoglu and Robinson.
Extra Credits: A weird one, as it's a channel that posts videos about both world history, game design and mythology. Cartoon style, pitched-altered voices and an absolute ton of content.
The Cold War: I love this channel, highly recommend. Learn more about everything from the Indonesian War of Independence to the Sino-Soviet split, from Nasser and pan-Arabism to the Soviet education system.
History Matters: This channel is genius. So much of history is about the positive: why did X happen? History Matters answers the negatives: why didn't Y happen? You'll be presented with so many questions you never realised you had.
History Matters: This channel is genius. So much of history is about the positive: why did X happen? History Matters answers the negatives: why didn't Y happen? You'll be presented with so many questions you never realised you had.
Historia Civilis: Mainly makes great videos about ancient Rome, but has recently started branching out into more modern history, like the post-Napoleonic peace.
Countryballs Explained: Get whirlwind explanations of the history of countries and regions! You'll be pausing and looking up Wikipedia pages while watching this channel.
Voices of the Past: "Voices of the Past is an attempt to tell the story of our species through the written accounts of the very people who lived through it."
Suibhne: Animated histories of countries. It's "about" page just has this quote by John Green:
The Armchair Historian: Mainly covers the details of battles and military campaigns of history, often from the loser's or less well-known combatants' perspective.
"The test will measure whether you are an informed, engaged, and productive citizen of the world, and it will take place in schools and bars and hospitals and dorm rooms and in places of worship. You will be tested on first dates, in job interviews, while watching football, and while scrolling through your Twitter feed. The test will judge your ability to think about things other than celebrity marriages, whether you’ll be easily persuaded by empty political rhetoric, and whether you’ll be able to place your life and your community in a broader context. The test will last your entire life, and it will be comprised of the millions of decisions that, when taken together, will make your life yours. And everything, everything, will be on it."
The Armchair Historian: Mainly covers the details of battles and military campaigns of history, often from the loser's or less well-known combatants' perspective.
Overly Sarcastic Productions: "Sarcastic, yet informative, summaries of classic and not-so-classic literature and mythology, as well as major historical events!"
Feature History: Produces short animated videos briefly exploring both minor and major historical events/movements, primarily in the modern era, in the form of stylised animation. This channel has aided me in my understanding of events such as the Chechen Wars, the Rwandan Genocide and the fall of Yugoslavia.
The Great War: For those whom there is no such thing as TMI about WW1 and the conflicts and events that followed it. The channel covered every week of WW1, each episode coming out exactly 100 years later, from 2014-2018, and has continued posting content since. They also have a lot of videos covering events in a more zoomed out manner.
Extra Credits: A weird one, as it's a channel that posts videos about both world history, game design and mythology. Cartoon style, pitched-altered voices and an absolute ton of content.
EmperorTigerstar: This guy has been making "videomaps" since he was 13, chronicling wars and historical events through the ebb and flow of various colours on maps, giving rise to the community of "videomappers" on YouTube. Examples include "The History of the Middle East: Every Year" and "The Vietnam War: Every Fortnight". He also makes more general educational historical videos.
Jabzy: His most popular videos are very short explanations of wars, but nowadays makes longer and more in-depth historical content.
KnowledgeHusk: Used to make history explainers, but has moved over to tech/culture commentary videos.
Exploring History: Especially his newer stuff is high-quality content on a variety of yesteryear events.
NewAfrica: A great channel covering much neglected African 20th-century history.
Johnny Harris: "I make videos about maps and many other things."
Ryan Chapman: Makes very solid and fair videos about ideology, politics and history.
Kings and Generals: Popular YouTube channel making animated history documentaries.
Kings and Things: "I mainly make videos about the more obscure parts of history, dealing with biographies of various monarchs, as well as history-related things in general that I find interesting."
History with Hilbert: " I make videos about (mostly) history, hence the name.Which period of history and which aspect of location can vary greatly, from the Picts of 6th Century Scotland to the Peaky Blinders of 1920's Birmingham, although you can be sure that whichever time period I am talking about, it will include some (mostly useless) language and etymological trivia as well as the national anthem of the Netherlands. Do not question this; it is essential to being a good historian."
M. Laser History: "If you like watching well researched historical videos (I hold a degree in History from the University of Oxford) on niche topics from all around the world, but mostly Europe, this is the channel for you."
Biographics: "Biographics publishes three videos every week, providing biographic profiles of the men and women who — for better or for worse — helped write the pages of human history."
SideQuest: "Exploring the fascinating sidequests of world history!"
Geographics: "Discovering the world, one place at a time. Learn about places from around the world and beyond."
Soliloquy: "The world is full of interesting things, ideas, people, history, events, and species. Hopefully, I add a few interesting videos to that list."
Ancient Americas: "Ancient Americas is the channel where we explore the rich and beautiful Pre-Colombian history of North and South America."
Cogito: "I enjoy learning things on the internet. Explaining those things to other people is another thing I like. So here we are."
Fall of Civilizations: "A podcast about the collapse of civilizations throughout history. Why do civilizations collapse? What happens afterwards? And what did it feel like to watch it happen?"
Epithmetheus: "On this channel I cover the histories of nations empires and people from all over the world. I especially enjoy focusing on areas that are covered less in the mainstream or examining a familiar topic from a different perspective."
Quill & Ink History: Ancient, medieval and early modern history.
History Time: "Witness colossal sea battles involving tens of thousands of men, take part in pagan blood rituals in the mysterious forests of Northern Europe and engage in highly orchestrated tribal warfare within Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica."
Knowledgia: "This channel is focused on making simplified, animated videos about history and answering interesting questions about the world we live in."
House of History: "House of History is the history channel where videos surrounding historical topics that have captured my attention and deserve to be told are created."
Historigraph: Military history.
The Present Past: "Every episode I show how history has influenced and made a thing, an idea or event in our present time."
HistoryMarche: "I make animated battle map videos about famous battles from ancient to modern times."
CallMeEzekiel: "I create high-quality videos about the humanities. That means history, literature, philosophy, and a whole lot more."
Mathematics
3Blue1Brown: Super high quality. Is probably every math geek's favourite YouTube channel. "Some combination of math and entertainment, depending on your disposition. The goal is for explanations to be driven by animations and for difficult problems to be made simple with changes in perspective."
Numberphile: Mathematicians explain all sorts of maths stuff.
Vihart: Quirky maths explainers.
PBS Infinite Series: "Mathematician Tai-Danae Bradley and physicist Gabe Perez-Giz offer ambitious content for viewers that are eager to attain a greater understanding of the world around them. Math is pervasive - a robust yet precise language - and with each episode you’ll begin to see the math that underpins everything in this puzzling, yet fascinating, universe."
Think Twice: "Mathematics in motion."
Welch Labs: "Math, Science, and Machine Learning resources."
General natural science
SciShow: The ultimate science explainer channel. Try to find a topic they haven't covered!
Verge Science: Science and technology journalism
Seeker: General natural science news and explainers.
MinuteEarth: Short explanations of all manner of life and earth science topics.
SmarterEveryDay: Destin Sandlin explores the wonderful and awesome details and intricacies of the natural and man-made world.
This Place: Mainly covers evolutionary biology with a bit of game theory thrown in. I actually really like this channel, my favourite video being a pretty off-topic optics video.
Deep Dive: "I make videos about science, history and politics - but mostly about science."
Deep Dive: "I make videos about science, history and politics - but mostly about science."
Domain of Science: Mapping scientific disciplines.
Chemistry
Periodic Videos: The eccentric Dr. Poliakoff gives you a tour of all the chemical elements and much more within the world of chemistry.
NileRed: Cool chemistry experiments!
Natural history and biology
Moth Light Media: "Learn about the arduous journeys that have been taken, spanning millions of years and crossing multiple continents to evolutionarily shape creatures from both past and present."
PBS Eons: A great show about natural history and evolution.
Real Science: An exploration of the world's life science subjects.
Geopolitics
Strategy Stuff: "A Youtube channel focused on historical geopolitics, grand strategy, military strategy and political strategy. I try to keep my videos understandable, while at the same time keeping it grounded in the academic literature.
Essentially, I try to provide answers to the following questions:
'What was X's strategy?',
'What influenced X's strategy?',
'How did X's strategy work out in practice?' and of course,
'Why did X win/lose?'."
OBF: A relative newcomer that makes terrific videos about geopolitics, geography countries and topics adjacent (comparative city design, economics, etc).
CaspianReport: Your shortcut to understanding geopolitics and international relations, current events in a larger context, etc.
CaspianReport: Your shortcut to understanding geopolitics and international relations, current events in a larger context, etc.
Good Times Bad Times: Much like CaspianReport. If you like one you'll like the other.
Nova Lectio International: "I am a simple lover of ancient and contemporary history, and geopolitics.
In Nova Lectio I cover wide-ranging topics with a light tone."
hoser: Dives into the geopolitical successes and failures of countries around the world.
Kamome: "I'm really interested in history, geopolitics, and military strategy, especially if in Asian flavor."
Into Europe: "A channel to overcome European biases and differences, to foster a common understanding, and to commit to Europe’s democratic future. Into Europe is a channel with no external funding covering European topics related to geopolitics, politics, policy, and the news in general."
TLDR News Global: If you'd like to stay on top of geopolitical happenings, here's a good channel for you.
TLDR News EU: Same as above but for European countries.
Futurism
Rational Animations: "Truth-seeking, science, technology, the future, and more. With animations!"
FHIOxford: Okay I'm breaking the trend of not including channels that just feature lectures, but I'm going to make an exception in this case. A lot of papers from the Future of Humanity Institute are presented here.
Science and Futurism with Isaac Arthur: "This channel focuses on exploring concepts in science with an emphasis on futurism and space exploration, along with a healthy dose of science fiction. While we explore many concepts and technologies that are far beyond us now, we try to keep everything inside the bounds of known science or major theories."
Science, Technology & the Future: "Breakthrough insights in science, technology & the future; philosophy & moral progress; artificial intelligence/robotics, biotechnology."
Economics
Economics Explained: "Helping you become more knowledgeable about how the world works, our content covers the biggest topics and headlines through the eyes of economists. The team explores a wide range of subjects improving your ability to understand the world more clearly."
Marginal Revolution University: Learn Econ 101 and beyond!
Marginal Revolution University: Learn Econ 101 and beyond!
Casual Scholar: Economics and geopolitics.
Money & Macro: "The aim of this channel is to produce the most engaging & well-researched educational content on monetary & macro-economics."
Asianometry: "Video essays on business, economics, and history. Sometimes about Asia, but not always."
Uncategorised
Primer: Simulates things like natural selection, game theory, voting systems, diseases, etc. "Attempting to communicate the deep ideas of academic subjects. This probably isn't going to help you on tests, but if you're curious about a subject, I hope you'll find this channel valuable."
TED: C'mon, you know TED talks. Only including it because this list wouldn't feel complete without it.
Joe Scott: Makes very videos on a very wide range of stuff, but space and space exploration and space futurism are common themes. All with very frequent poor attempts at humour.
Joe Scott: Makes very videos on a very wide range of stuff, but space and space exploration and space futurism are common themes. All with very frequent poor attempts at humour.
Hoog: Slickly animated takes on various European issues.
Vsauce2: Mainly makes puzzle/tricks/maths videos these days.
TED-Ed: TED's less well-known sister channel that makes animated explainer videos on all sorts of things from the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
What I've Learned: From his description: "Lately I'm focusing a lot on health since it's so important yet there's so much conflicting information about it; I am also keen on enhancing productivity, enhancing cognitive capability and general self improvement." Yeah, so also makes videos about psychology, language, economics.
Vsauce2: Mainly makes puzzle/tricks/maths videos these days.
TED-Ed: TED's less well-known sister channel that makes animated explainer videos on all sorts of things from the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
What I've Learned: From his description: "Lately I'm focusing a lot on health since it's so important yet there's so much conflicting information about it; I am also keen on enhancing productivity, enhancing cognitive capability and general self improvement." Yeah, so also makes videos about psychology, language, economics.
Will Schoder: Makes quite existential video essays on philosophy, psychology and commentary on pop culture. Recommend.
BigThink: Absolutely endless videos with experts from every conceivable field. Be introduced to pretty much everything.
BigThink: Absolutely endless videos with experts from every conceivable field. Be introduced to pretty much everything.
Khan Academy: This one is also very well known. Describes itself as a "nonprofit organization with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Our interactive practice problems, articles, and videos help students succeed in math, biology, chemistry, physics, history, economics, finance, grammar, and many other topics."
Vlogbrothers: Brothers Hank and John Green have been vlogging since 2007, and were foundational in starting educational YouTube. They make videos about everything. Try them out, see if you like their style.
Knowing Better: Tries to unbiasedly inform people about psychology, government, policy, education, religion and other topics. Deep dives, pretty long videos.
Vlogbrothers: Brothers Hank and John Green have been vlogging since 2007, and were foundational in starting educational YouTube. They make videos about everything. Try them out, see if you like their style.
Bill Gates: A way to follow what Bill Gates is working on and thinking about.
Half as Interesting: Wendover Productions second channel. The name refers to that it's video ideas that he deemed not big or interesting enough to flesh out into a full Wendover video. It's full of random stuff about lesser known things.
Vox: Vox.com's video branch, who, unlike many other mainstream media publication YouTube-channels, really utilise the strengths of the medium and bring viewers quality content covering not just American politics, as is Vox.com's main focus, but also videos on history, technology, geography, and all manner of other stuff.
Vsauce: The eccentric Michael Stevens tackles every conceivable topic under the sun, stringing together knowledge from a vast array of fields to answer questions both quirky and fundamental. Highly recommended: there's a special place in my heart for Vsauce, as I've been a fan for more than 10 years.
LEMMiNO: Swedish YouTuber LEMMiNO makes well-researched, engaging videos on a wide variety of subjects: Lego, the Bermuda Triangle, dinosaurs, death, UFOs, Rick and Morty, just to name a few. Be prepared for even more space stuff.
Nerdwriter1: Video essays on these days mainly on art, film and culture, but previously also focused on politics, tech, business, and economics.
Healthcare Triage: A channel about healthcare hosted by Dr. Aaron Edward Carroll MD, who explains healthcare policy, and medical research.
Half as Interesting: Wendover Productions second channel. The name refers to that it's video ideas that he deemed not big or interesting enough to flesh out into a full Wendover video. It's full of random stuff about lesser known things.
Vox: Vox.com's video branch, who, unlike many other mainstream media publication YouTube-channels, really utilise the strengths of the medium and bring viewers quality content covering not just American politics, as is Vox.com's main focus, but also videos on history, technology, geography, and all manner of other stuff.
Vsauce: The eccentric Michael Stevens tackles every conceivable topic under the sun, stringing together knowledge from a vast array of fields to answer questions both quirky and fundamental. Highly recommended: there's a special place in my heart for Vsauce, as I've been a fan for more than 10 years.
LEMMiNO: Swedish YouTuber LEMMiNO makes well-researched, engaging videos on a wide variety of subjects: Lego, the Bermuda Triangle, dinosaurs, death, UFOs, Rick and Morty, just to name a few. Be prepared for even more space stuff.
Nerdwriter1: Video essays on these days mainly on art, film and culture, but previously also focused on politics, tech, business, and economics.
Healthcare Triage: A channel about healthcare hosted by Dr. Aaron Edward Carroll MD, who explains healthcare policy, and medical research.
Trey the Explainer: Zoology, paleontology, history, cryptozoology and anthropology. Pretty damn great at times.
Centre for Effective Altruism: CEA have recordings of all the talks at the main Effective Altruism Global conferences since 2015. This is an absolute treasure trove for learning about all things Effective Altruism. It'd probably be better to link to this actually as it's easier to find what you're looking for: you can search by topic, speaker, etc.
J.J. McCullough: Canadian YouTuber that makes insightful and interesting videos about society, culture, politics, history, countries and more
Knowing Better: Tries to unbiasedly inform people about psychology, government, policy, education, religion and other topics. Deep dives, pretty long videos.
Adam Something: Rants about tech, politics, transport, city design and more.
Professor Dave Explains: "I have a knack for explaining stuff and I want to share some knowledge with you. This channel is for students at the high school and undergraduate level, but it is also for members of the general public who just want to know more about the world and how things work. My goal is to increase science literacy in our society."
BritMonkey. Certified interesting videos about all sorts of stuff.
neo: "Educational short documentaries about topics ranging from politics, geography, media, society, and more."
CoffeeBreak: "Exploring interesting ideas in the time that you can drink your morning coffee."
Mr. Beat: "Mr. Beat is a teacher, video producer, podcaster, and musician who specializes in making history and geography more engaging. Beat’s specialty is American history, but he also has a big passion for geography and economics. His channel features the series Presidential Elections in American History, Supreme Court Briefs, and Compared."
Trivia
Today I Found Out: Random interesting stuff.
Not Exactly Normal: "A series about the categorically strange. From flying aircraft carriers to the sex-fueled Turkish Batman to that time we put animals on trial, our world is not exactly normal."
Tom Scott: I think you probably know who Tom Scott is. If not, you're in for a treat.
Sam O'Nella Academy: Entertaining and funny videos on random-ass things.
SideNote: "SideNote makes video essays on some of the most obscure and interesting stories from the fields of history, geopolitics, business, and law."
Major media organisations
Link to playlist
The Economist: The Economist translates some of their articles into videos, along with other YouTube exclusive content, with pretty good presentation.
The New York Times: "The New York Times is the most powerful engine for independent, boots-on-the-ground and deeply reported journalism. We set the standard for the most ambitious and innovative storytelling across features, news and investigations. Because we’re journalists, we’re excited to report the news as quickly as possible, use new technological resources to uncover the truth, and unearth new cultural phenomenons with our critics. The internet didn’t plant these ideas in our heads. We’ve always been this way. It's all the news that's fit to watch. On YouTube."
Business Insider: "What you want to know about business. A section of Insider."
Business Insider: "What you want to know about business. A section of Insider."
Bloomberg Quicktake: "Bloomberg Quicktake is a global streaming news network for a new generation of leaders and professionals. Our coverage spans your whole world, from your career ambitions to your personal passions and larger societal concerns. We provide the insights you need to adapt and thrive in a time of historic transformation across all domains of our lives."
CNBC: Medium-length TV documentaries.
The Wall Street Journal: "The new WSJ Video takes you inside carefully selected stories and events in a visually captivating way so you can dig deeper into the news that matters to you."
BBC: "Interested in global news with an impartial perspective? Want to see behind-the-scenes clips and footage directly from the front-line?"
Financial Times: "Interested in unbiased global news and want to make sense of a changing world? The Financial Times YouTube channel showcases the best of our visual journalism, going beyond the headlines to help you navigate the world’s new agenda. Our stories will inform and inspire you to lead the way in business and beyond, to rethink existing political and economic models and follow crucial trends."
Engineerguy: "Bill Hammack explores the world of engineering". Brilliant channel, super pedagogical.
Engineering
Engineerguy: "Bill Hammack explores the world of engineering". Brilliant channel, super pedagogical.
Real Engineering: High quality deep-dives into the sexy side of engineering.
Found And Explained: Crazy tech.
Practical Engineering: "Practical Engineering is all about infrastructure and the human-made world around us."
Megaprojects: "Megaprojects is a program all about humanity's greatest achievements."
Tech and business
TechAltar: "Analytical videos about tech companies." High quality, highly recommended.
ColdFusion: "This channel aims to let you experience the cutting edge of the world around us in a relaxed atmosphere. Learn the captivating stories about how our world came to be and also learn what's happening in the cutting edge today."
Business Casual: Analyses companies and individuals and their histories.
Rationality:
Productivity
Thomas Frank: Super helpful channel. "I make videos that help you be more productive - whether you're in high school, college, university, or the real world. That includes study tips to help you learn faster and ace your exams, advice on destroying procrastination, reading and note-taking strategies, and more."
Freedom in Thought: "Know yourself. Practical philosophy."
Ali Abdaal: "We explore evidence-based strategies and tools that can help us be more productive, and build a life that we love."
Brian Johnson: "I love integrating ancient wisdom and modern science to help you become the best, most heroic version of yourself so we can create a world in which 51% of humanity is flourishing by 2051."
Productivity Game: "Join me as I simplify the best books on personal and professional development and extract the best tools and techniques to live more a productive, meaningful, and fulfilling life."
Alternate history
WhatIfAltHist: Extremely thought provoking channel. Makes videos about history and geopolitical speculation as well these days. This guy is insanely knowledgeable about most of world history, uses that to extrapolate both what would have happened and what might happen in the future. Rudyard Lynch, the creator, is a vaguely Christian-ish classical liberal, and that seeps into his videos. I would encourage: approach with an open, charitable, but skeptical mind. I feel that I've learned a lot and am able to view history from more different lenses after having watched most of his videos, considering things I would not have otherwise. Writing this reminds me of something Douglas Hofstadter said about Ray Kurzweil's books: "it's very bizarre mixture of ideas that are solid and good with ideas that are crazy. It’s as if you took a lot of very good food and some dog excrement and blended it all up so that you can’t possibly figure out what’s good or bad." At least, I can't always, as I am not as knowledgeable about history as Lynch.
Neatling: A small channel about actual history, what could have been, borders, separatist movements, and more.
AlternateHistoryHub: The biggest alternate history YouTuber, making videos ranging from plausible to the wacky, from ancient to recent history.
Video games
Game Maker's Toolkit: With sleek visual presentation, Game Maker’s Toolkit expertly dissects the features and mechanics in games from a wide range of genres.
Ahoy: This fantastic one-man show produces content above his pay grade. detailing the history of video games, and weapons, from different angles.
Design Doc: "I discuss various topics on game design with illustrative motion graphics and visual aids."
Extra Credits: "Games are the most popular form of mass entertainment. Join us on Extra Credits every other Wednesday as we take a deeper look at games: how they are made, what they mean, and how we can make them better."
Computer science and AI
Two Minute Papers: A great way of staying up to date in the rapidly advancing world of AI. This channel does a great job of visualising developments.
Computerphile: Computer scientists explain all sorts of CS stuff.
Linguistics and languages
Langfocus: "The #1 channel for language enthusiasts." I kinda agree.
NativLang: Very good. "This is where I share animated stories as I learn from & about people living on a planet full of languages and cultures."
Xidnaf: "I make videos on things I think are neat. Historically that's mostly meant linguistics."
Simon Roper: This guys speaks Old English and makes videos about historical linguistics.
Pharmacology
The Drug Classroom: Breaks down various substances, much like PsychonautWiki.
Anthropology
Masaman: Channel on ethnic and cultural populations and their histories, and just, in general, the diversity of humanity. Braves some pretty touchy subjects.
Stefan Milo: Mostly evolutionary anthropology.
Urban planning
City Beautiful: I didn't know I'd find city planning and infrastructure so interesting until I came across this lovely channel. Very centered around American urban design.
Not Just Bikes: A Canadian who discovered that he hated car-centric North American city design, and went on to proselytise about the wonders of Netherlands, biking and public transport.
Religion
ReligionForBreakfast: "An educational channel dedicated to the academic, nonsectarian study of religion. We promote improving the public's religious literacy by exploring humanity's beliefs and rituals through an anthropological, sociological, and archaeological lens."
Food
Adam Ragusea: A combination of recipe videos and food science, food history, botany, and more.
Architecture
Stewart Hicks: "Architecture is everywhere and can help us to understand how the world works."
Psychology
Link to playlist
SciShow Psych: Another spin-off from the main SciShow, featuring a similar presentation style and similarly high quality. I also suspect that since there's a small team behind all the SciShow channels, there's also greater quality/information accuracy control.
BrainCraft: "I'm Vanessa Hill, a behavioural scientist and science communicator. On BrainCraft I explore psychology, neuroscience and self-development. My mission is to bridge the gap between scientific research and your daily well-being."
BrainCraft: "I'm Vanessa Hill, a behavioural scientist and science communicator. On BrainCraft I explore psychology, neuroscience and self-development. My mission is to bridge the gap between scientific research and your daily well-being."
Leftist social/political commentary
ContraPoints: Philosopher-turned-social-justice-YouTuber Natalie Wynn makes original, funny, creative and ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ videos on political and societal issues.
Pop Culture Detective: In his own words, "A series of critical video essays looking at media through a critical lens with an emphasis on the intersections of politics, masculinity and entertainment."
PhilosophyTube: Leftist analysis of various societal and political topics.
Tom Nicholas: "I make videos which explore the intersection between politics and culture. Currently, my work can be divided into two main categories: my What the Theory? series, in which I aim to provide engaging introductions to key theories and concepts in cultural studies and the wider humanities, and my Video Essays, in which I more broadly prod and poke at the world we live in today."
Tom Nicholas: "I make videos which explore the intersection between politics and culture. Currently, my work can be divided into two main categories: my What the Theory? series, in which I aim to provide engaging introductions to key theories and concepts in cultural studies and the wider humanities, and my Video Essays, in which I more broadly prod and poke at the world we live in today."
Second Thought: "Second Thought is a channel devoted to education and analysis of current events from a Socialist perspective."
You might enjoy hearthisidea.com/episodes :)
ReplyDeleteHave you hard of Mathologer? Not as popular as 3b1b, but still excellent!
ReplyDelete