HN Explorer

Ask HN: Your favourite outstandingly creative/informative YouTube channels?

45 points by yesenadam ↗ HN
I've learnt so far about Captain Disillusion and Every Frame a Painting from people on HN. Thank you! My favourite for years has been Vi Hart. I haven't done much youtube channel exploring at all, so no channel is too obvious. I thought I'd ask for more, seems it's been a lil while since anyone did.

So - what are your favourite art/maths/music/film/science/technology-related channels featuring makers of incredibly awesome videos? Other subjects are fine too. (Vi Hart is fascinating whatever the subject. That kind of thing.) Thanks in advance :-)

Doesn't have to be youtube.

22 comments

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defo_nonconvex
PBS Infinite Series (nice pure + applied popmath, great visualizations)

PBS Spacetime (cosmology, great visualizations)

Practical Engineering (spotlighting unappreciated field of civil engineering)

Real Engineering (composites PhD from Ireland covering aero+mech engineering, nice visualizations)

Wendover Productions (lots on intersection of transport+econ)

Steve Mould (popsci demonstrations)

Colin Furze (insane garage mechanical hacker...wrist flamethrowers, pulsejet bicycles, 600cc engine in an auto-rickshaw...)

mrisoli
I don't know if this applies, but my favorite YouTube channel is The Great War:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar

They post weekly videos following what happened exactly 100 years ago during WW1(so it's halfway through) and get very detailed and informative, since starting they have also expanded to include a bunch of specials on the parties involved, major characters of the war, and answering questions from their social media channels.

There is some speculation that they follow up a similar format for the 80 years of WW2 in two years but since there's so much more material I guess they need way more funding and research.

otras
I greatly enjoy AvE's videos:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWv6Pn_zP0rI6lgGt3MyfA

I absolutely love his tool teardown videos, and it's very clear he has a huge amount of domain knowledge.

topgear25
I do too. I am way more interested, and have learned way more than I ever thought I would about the innards of power tools, heavy industry, machining and even electricity. This AvESpeak dictionary is great too, although I enjoyed figuring out what he was saying little by little as I watched all his videos (especially the BOLTR ones): http://avespeak.com.
afarrell
Other than the ones already mentioned:

- Sirajology - walkthroughs of building basic AI applications

- Tom Scott - Interesting infrastructure and nerdery

- Jay Foreman - Infrastructure and Government, with more absurdity and singing

- CGP Grey - weirdnesses of politics and political systems. I find the joint implications of his videos Humans Need Not Apply and Rules for Rulers interesting

- Geography Now! - basic intros to countries in alphabetical order.

- Xidnaf - linguisic and etymological geekery

- Historia Civillis - History, mostly Roman and Greek

- Extra Credits/History/SciFi - video game and literature analysis as well as historical narratives

- the vlogbrothers empire is vast and varied. You’ll discover a bunch from there.

Open Question: Does anyone know any good channels about textile engineering and clothing history? Perhaps with a side of fashion design and supply chain management?

staikken
Ishitani Furniture. Amazing woodworking craftsmanship. There's no voice over (and also little music) so it's not strictly informational but it's so peaceful and beautiful to see everything come together.
gitgud
Matthias Wandel - An engineer's approach to wood working - https://www.youtube.com/user/Matthiaswandel

Ralph The Moviemaker - Reviews and analysis of films - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ04pLI44c0PWRzubEV6ogA

Georg Rockall-schmidt - Weird movie reviews - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG5h8yHSUS4n7zPnh0dG0SA

Computerphile - Tech related videos with professors - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9-y-6csu5WGm29I7JiwpnA

Numberphile - Maths related videos with professors - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoxcjq-8xIDTYp3uz647V5A

stephenr
Binging with Babish does extraordinarily detailed recreations of tv/movie dishes - even the ones that sound fucking horrible to eat.
jackgolding
I agree with this one, the content creator uses a variety of techniques which is quite interesting to watch to.