Ask Lemmy

Black Dragon Tavern

Storytelling about Celtic, Gaelic, and Norse mythology, history, and lore.

I have been a fan of Kraut for a long time. He makes video essays on a lot of historical and political topics. He has made two massive three part series that total to nearly four hours about the histories of Mexico and Turkey. He makes some short form as well, like a point about american healthcare that americans don't realize.

@Kraut_the_parrot

Buckin Billy Ray - interesting videos about cutting trees down and servicing chainsaws. A little bit unchained (excuse the pun) in a wholesome way as he seems to randomly intersperse his videos with positive affirmations like 'be kind' 'love your friends' which is kind of wholesome

Way out west - an older English guy living in the West of Ireland making things like a railway for transporting garlic

I did a thing - a hilariously unhinged aussie bloke

James Hoffman - for coffee. And hames joffman also

Karl Rock - travels around India/Pakistan exploring the places

Mike okay - travels to really off the beaten track places like Iraq.

Maximus ironthumper - many videos, the project kermit series is him rebuilding a land rover defender from scratch

Still it - distilling and making spirits

Peter Dibble has some great documentaries on historical curiosities around the Pacific Northwest, and beyond.

Technology Connections does deep dives into topics of technology, specific devices and appliances, and generally is very entertaining and informative.

RedLetterMedia for film critiques, so bad it’s good reviews, and comedy.

Defunctland does documentaries around theme parks.

Tasting History with Max Miller is a very educational historical food dishes show. Not super long form.

Matt Baume does great “LGBTQ+ in TV, historically” type of content. And wrote a book about it which is great too.

Stand-up Maths does great math content. Yeah, it’s math, but it’s fun. Bonus is he also wrote a great book relating to his content about engineering and maths mistakes in real life on large scales.

LGR- retro computer tech

Techmoan- retro audio tech

"Oki's Weird Stories" is so very good.

Also "Shaun" and very much "Shanspeare" are great, if you're looking for long-form content.

I keep thinking of more, so I'm just going to list them here:

AustinMcConnell, BobbyBroccoli, Dime Store Adventures, Fredrick Knudsen, Jenny Nicholson (already mentioned here many times!), Ahoy, Kid Leaves Stoop, Lady Emily, Sarah Z, Moon Channel, Paper Will, Soup Emporium.

Depends how long is long form for you, if you mean like multi hour videos I have less to give. But for like 25 to 40 minutes videos:

Practical engineering - educational videos about civil engineering.

Dr. Becky - space/astronomy news from an astrophysicist.

Plainly difficult - civil disaster documentaries

Joseph Anderson - gaming essays (multi hour)

Raycevick - gaming essays (around 30min)

The sphere hunter - game essays, mainly classic horror

Jay Foreman - British comedy.

LGR - retro tech deep dives, and tech oddware.

Joe Scott - Did you know, style investigations.

Plus some already mentioned. There is probably more, but keeping this shorter.

There are two YouTubers who make videos 4+ hours long that you have to watch every minute of:

Jenny Nicholson

HBomberGuy

These are channels I follow or at least like enough to look up once in a while. They're a bit random. I apologize if any are repeats, but they're worth repeating (and I didn't read every reply):

Adam Savage's tested: https://youtube.com/@tested
bigclivedotcom: https://youtube.com/@bigclivedotcom
Intelligence Squared: https://youtube.com/@intelligence-squared
MIT Open CourseWare: https://youtube.com/@mitocw
Townsends: https://youtube.com/@townsends

Entertainment:
Cirque du Soleil: https://youtube.com/@cirquedusoleil

Very other:
SBSK: https://youtube.com/@specialbooksbyspecialkids
the channel features a man who goes around and interacts with/interviews disabled children and adults. I take this one in small doses. It is not long form in the traditional sense of a well researched and thoroughly laid out topic, but I find it very wholesome/heartbreaking at the same time.

I saw a lot of tech and science channel in the comments so to balance that out, here are some of my favourite crafting channels:

North of the border: creates a clay sculpture every week. Generally it is something nerdy or something cursed

Enchanterium: repaint dolls, often to popular characters. They also sew their own outfits. A lot of fun even if you're not interested in dolls

Nerdforge: create a lot of crazy projects, mostly related to nerdy stuff. (Last project was a 2m booknook)

Wicked makers: create decorations and animatronics for Halloween

Florian Gadsby: very talented potter with very relaxing voice and videos

Pottery to the people: pottery videos, often trying new experiments

Evan and Katelyn: videos on stuff that they build. Always a lot of fun (last video: how they built an ergonomic laptop)

TL Yarn Crafts: crochet videos

Kaypea Creations: making of art dolls (animals), either out of clay or fake fur.

Studson Studios: creates amazing sculptures out of mostly trash. Amazing channel, one of my favourites

Make strange things: makes strange things. Small channel but greatly appreciated

Boylei hobby time: creates dioramas

Lightning cosplay: creats amazing cosplays

Transcended furniture gallery: restores vintage furniture

Bonus: Half-Asleep Chris: videos with stop motion elements, mostly about cats and/or lego

I only really subscribe to two channels that focus on 20-30 minute videos and post on a pretty regular basis:

Technology Connections

Internet Comment Etiquette with Erik

Coffeezilla for crypto exposes

Angela Collier for commentary on physics. She has a lot of good commentary on the field itself (see her recent Feynman video), but also good science videos... that I usually lose track of about 3/4 of the way through, but I enjoy nonetheless.

Explore with Us

I personally enjoy these but not sure if its what your looking for

The outdoor boys - goes solo camping and sometimes brings his kids along, family trips abroad, and also creating a homestead.

Westinchamplin - modifies cars and trucks for red neck science.

Paolo from tokyo - interesting takes on the life of japan series was the best. Shows all different types of jobs from japan

No wonder I feel like such an outsider here. I've been on youtube for almost two decades and there's not a single channel I follow mentioned here in this thread.

EDIT: Well there was one match: Primitive Technology

Two video game ones:

• Noah Caldwell-Gervais
• Grim Beard

For long form,

Bobby Broccoli, ~1hr videos on science scandals https://youtube.com/@bobbybroccoli

Defunctland, 30m to 1h45m videos on defunct theme parks and rides https://youtube.com/@defunctland

Your dinosaurs are wrong, 15m to 1h45m videos on comparing toy dinosaurs to the most up to date research https://youtube.com/@yourdinosaursarewrong

2nd on Drachinifel, 7m to 1h45m videos on naval History https://youtube.com/@drachinifel

Perun, 1h videos on defense economics https://youtube.com/@perunau

Diplo Strats, 2h to 6h videos on diplomacy the board game, like risk on massive steroids https://youtube.com/@diplostrats

I have a few to recommend:

• SEA and Astrum. Almost interchangeable calm and chill space documentary channels. If you're like me and get a spinny mind around bedtime, these are great, they hold my attention to keep my mind from racing and are calm enough to drift to sleep while listening.

• Bedtime Stories. Anything from urban legends to strange disappearances told in a campfire ghost story format accompanied by hand drawn illustrations. Sometimes wanders into hibbidy jibbidy but fun nonetheless. See also Wartime Stories for a similar format focusing on stories from/about the military.

• History For Granite. I read this guy as an armchair archaeologist who is interested primarily in the pyramids and megalithic structures of ancient Egypt almost as much as he is at sniping at Zahi Hawass. Possibly a bit of a crank, though his wild ideas tend to be things like "The pyramid was designed to remain open for worshippers to routinely enter" and he often focuses on the engineering of the structures and layout of the stones.

• Nexpo. Short for Nightmare Expo, purveyor of creepy stories.

• Captain KRB. Video essayist, fond of minecraft, retro media, and occasional odd stories like the Voynich manuscript or the Cicada 3301 mystery.

• Lemmino, started out as a top ten list channel, has pivoted to long form documentaries on a "when it's done" basis. Topics range from the history of the "Cool S" graffiti symbol to the Lost Colony of Roanoke.

• Ahoy. Churns out one, maybe two videos a year on the topic of video games, primarily video game weapons. Typical format will introduce a weapon, say, the M-16 combat rifle, discuss its real world invention and service history, then its depiction in video games and possibly other media. Peppered in are other more general video game topics; his video on Polybius is particularly good.

• This Old Tony. A dude named Tony whose got a hobby machine shop full of dad jokes in his garage.

• Clickspring. Australian dude who makes soul-achingly beautiful videos about clockmaking and machining. Go watch him build a clock out of raw brass and tell me your life hasn't changed.

• Tech Tangents. One of those guys who will hold an 8-bit ISA card in his hands with a look of utter rapture on his face, he repairs, restores and documents old computer and gaming equipment, and operates a capacitor wiki. He once reverse engineered an ISA adapter card to get a very early CD-ROM drive functioning...live on Twitch.

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?

The original podcast episodes have been set to high-quality video of the area being discussed and whatever remains of the civilization are possible to capture on video.

The discussion of what we know about these dead civilizations and what happened to them is really fascinating.

Adding a few I haven't already seen:

• https://www.youtube.com/@NeverKnowsBest - very long form videos on video games
• https://www.youtube.com/c/SummoningSalt - documentaries on speedrunning in various games
• https://www.youtube.com/@Steve1989MRE - reviews of military rations, spanning from very old to very new
• https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustBikes - videos on urbanism from the perspective of The Netherlands
• https://www.youtube.com/@SkipIntroYT - videos about TV shows

I like the Why Files, very entertaining even if they have to ruin the fun by "telling the actual story" at the end.

Crime related:

• https://www.youtube.com/@thisisMONSTERS/
• https://www.youtube.com/@redtreestories/
• https://www.youtube.com/@TruRedCRIMEVAULT/
• https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondEvill/
• https://www.youtube.com/@TheVillains./
• https://www.youtube.com/@StrangerStories/
• https://www.youtube.com/@diretrip/videos

Disaster related:

• https://www.youtube.com/@FascinatingHorror/
• https://www.youtube.com/@PlainlyDifficult/
• https://www.youtube.com/@USCSB/
• https://www.youtube.com/@ScaryInteresting/
• https://www.youtube.com/@DarkRecordsDocs/

Weird medical stories: https://www.youtube.com/@chubbyemu

Interesting economic vids: https://www.youtube.com/coldfusion/

Business and economics: https://www.youtube.com/c/Wendoverproductions/

Geopolitics explainer vids: https://www.youtube.com/@CaspianReport/

Theme park history: https://www.youtube.com/@Defunctland/

Interesting historical themed vids: https://www.youtube.com/@YoreHistory/

• For comedy I love watching Drew Gooden and especially Kurtis Conner.
• DougDoug (Twitch Streamer) has an incredible creativity for stream ideas and his videos on the main channel are edited incredibly well to capture the essence of a stream in ~30 minutes.
• Techmoan is one of my favorite technology YouTubers. He has such a calming voice
• Another Tech YouTuber I really love is CRD - Cathode Ray Dude. He pretty much is the nerdiest nerd for the most incredible niches. Highly recommend
• To get some girls here: I enjoy the essays by Gabi Belle quite a lot, she makes video essays on pop culture with a high focus on music and Gordon Ramsay for some reason

• Cutting Edge Engineering (heavy machinery repair done incredibly well…addictive to watch)
• Martijn Doolaard (restoring cabins in the Italian Dolomites)
• AvE (though I’m pretty sure he’s conservative)
• Primitive Technology (an anthropologist that recreates primitive technologies like kilns and huts)
• Watcheyes (amazing ASMR watch repair)
• Clickspring (ambitious machinist projects)
• 3Blue1Brown (beautiful info graphics to explain concept topics)
• The Signal Path (a pro electrical engineer talking about and repairing advanced electronics)
• Democracy Now (leftist news)
• Tech Ingredients (a professor and his students inventing tech gadgets and sharing their work)
• Applied Science (one of the most advanced and ambitious YouTube scientist inventors out there)
• Cody’s Lab (a brilliant guy who lives on a ranch doing science and metallurgical experiments)
• NileRed (excellent YouTube chemistry channel with incredibly ambitious projects)
• Fireship (articulate infographic explainer of tech news)
• Mental Outlaw (news and leftism)
• Behind the Bastards (podcast about the worst people in history)
• Two Minute Papers (an AI researcher reacts to new research papers)
• bigclivedotcom (a brilliant electrical engineer’s musings)
• Hackaday (a podcast that talks about news stories on Hackaday which is a feed of impressive electronic maker projects)
• The Amp Hour (pro electrical engineers chatting)
• Andreas Spiess (an IOT maker sharing his work)
• Tsoding (a brilliant Russian software engineer screencasts his wizardry)
• Tsoding Daily (a brilliant Russian software engineer screencasts his wizardry)
• No Boilerplate (BEAUTIFUL explanations of the features of different programming languages)
• CinemaStix (REALLY solid documentaries about films and filmmakers)
• Pitching Ninja (the smartest pitching analyst by a mile)
• Jeff Geerling (super thorough computer hardware and software reviews, builds, experiments, and musings)
• Strange Loop Conference (YouTube channel for this really good conference with tons of brilliant talks from software engineers and language authors)
• Impure Pics (a really helpful channel for Haskellers and Purescript people)
• Psionic Audio (an amp repair guy that doesn’t bring his fucked up life into his channel and alienate all of us like Uncle Doug)
• Computerphile (really solid explanations of complex topics by researchers and professors in all fields of computer science)
• Abom79 (a really solid machinist that does a good job walking you through everything he does)
• Tweag (a brilliant software engineering company’s channel)
• Serokell (a brilliant software engineering company’s channel)
• NixCon (all things Nix/NixOS)
• IOG Academy (a brilliant software engineering company’s channel)
• Mend It Mark (an electronics repair guy with the kindest disposition)
• Man Carrying Thing (politics and satire)
• Vimjoyer (excellent infographics and walkthroughs of technologies)
• HasanAbi (politics) 🇵🇸✊🏽

Red letter media

I love Star Trek, but don't want to watch the modern Alex kurtzman garbage, so they take the bullet for me.

I'm also not a movie guy, so watching their reviews/analysis while playing Minecraft is more entertaining than the movies they talk about.

Best of the worst is them watching B and direct to video movies that i wouldn't otherwise know about.

Most of my favourites have been mentioned already, but I wanna add a really niche one:

OSW Review, old school wrestling video podcast. Some Irish booked who watch old wrestling shows und discuss them in a mostly humorous, yet still informative manner.

Folding Ideas is a favorite of mine.

My #1 go to is probably Cathode Ray Dude. He makes videos mostly on old tech which is what I'm very interested in.

If you're more looking for exposing scandals there's always Coffeezilla/Voidzill.

Abstract - break down of disasters and crimes with excellent narration and very interesting topics

Rare Earth - highlights uncommon locations (speaking as a Westerner) and the often horrific histories that framed their civilization/cities/people

Micerah Tewers - super talented maker that sews copies of red carpet looks and other fun custumes with some home decor. Not instructional at all, just fast paced and entertainingly wholesome

Ask a Mortician - really fascinating deep dives into what happened to the bodies of famous people, or people who died in extreme circumstances. She has recently highlighted a few infamous shipwrecks...which brings me to

Oceanliner designs and Part Time Explorer - both nautical history buffs that articulate the grandeur and sometimes horror of ship travel

Miniminuteman - archeology videos featuring a lot of lesser known sites that are fascinating. Articulate dismantling of psuedo-archeology bullshit and refreshingly modern understanding of science communication

LadyKnightthebrave - discussing the emotions that film and tv can make you feel. Honestly just cathartic if she talks about a movie you feel strongly about, like the articulate friend you wish you had to decompress with after an emotional movie

Contrapoints - incredible everything from set design to arguments. Long form, in depth explanations about a lot of topics some people would consider taboo, or that people are close minded about.

Atun Shei Films - known primarily for Check Mate Lincolnites which is a comedic sketch that dismantles lost cause myths from the civil war. Lots of interesting historical and film stuff.

Lindybeige - every video feels like an eccentric history professor's impassioned tangent on a subject he deeply cares about, so it entirely derails the original subject of the lecture.

who do you recommend I follow?

What I like may not be what you like at all. I mean, depends on your interests.

And I don't "follow" any of these, watch every thing when it comes out. These are just some YouTubers for whom I've had a high proportion of their material wind up being something that I feel is worth watching.

Montemayor

Does military history, mostly naval. Does not put out a lot of videos, but from the ones that I do follow, has really done his research through the written material out there before putting the material out, does a good job of highlighting what's important.

To a lesser degree, Drachinifel and The Operations Room. They're also military history, but I don't feel like they do as much research or highlight the important bits as well. Drachinifel focuses more on surface gun-era naval warfare, and The Operations Room tends to deal with newer stuff.

The Slow Mo Guys. Not exactly deep stuff, but they do one thing: high-quality interesting slow-motion footage. Pretty popular, so you may have heard of them before. I think it might be interesting to have some sort of analogous channel that does videos of microscope stuff, pans around something with a nice microscope.

SmarterEveryDay does, I think, a good job of explaining interesting things in our daily world from an engineering/technical standpoint; guy does a good job of researching his material. You'll probably walk away from this knowing this that you didn't.

CGPGrey does stick-figure illustrated things that also highlight interesting stuff, often relating to legal or political or historical stuff.

Perun does defense economics, and has had interesting and informed material on the Russo-Ukrainian War. Michael Kofman, an analyst who focuses on the Russian military, doesn't have a YouTube channel, but many YouTube channels do interview him, and while he's kind of dry, I also think that his material on Ukraine is pretty worthwhile -- he's consistently avoided alarmist stuff or cheerleading over the course of the war. Can find material with him via searching for his name.

One of the problems I have with YouTube is a side effect of the fact that it pays content creators. I don't have any real problem with that per se -- I mean, sure, you wanna do work and get paid, that's fine. The problem is that there's no real "YouTube of articles". The result is that a lot of content creators out there are putting stuff in video form that really doesn't need to be in video form, just because they want some reasonable way to monetize it. The above videos are from people who generally take advantage of the video format (well, Michael Kofman could really do just fine on a podcast and often does, but aside from that). I've seen too many YouTube videos -- including those being submitted on the Threadiverse -- that would really be better as text and possibly image articles.

EDIT: Oh, right. Someone else mentioned Primitive Technology, which I would definitely second. Has a guy go out in the woods with just his shorts and basically manufacture a lot of basic technology from the ground up. Does have subtitles, but no narration or speech. The practical use of what he does is probably limited, but I found it fascinating. I remember that this was very popular for a while on Reddit.