this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2026
223 points (97.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

40948 readers
1439 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !uspolitics@lemmy.world


7) No Hit-and-Run questions.
Please don't delete your post for no apparent reason. If you plan on deleting a question later, say so in the post, or if you feel that you have a good reason to remove it, message a mod beforehand. It's not fair to the ones who took their time to answer, and it's not in the spirit of the community.


8) No Bots.
Posts or comments from bots, LLM's, AIs, Neural Networks, Transformers, or Marvin the Paranoid Android are not welcome in AskLemmy. Real humans only please.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Inspired by the opposite question posted recently, what YouTube creators have you watched for a long time and still find worth returning to? Alternatively, what are some new high quality channels you have been enjoying?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 21 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Primitive Technology: One guy, wearing only a pair of shorts, no music, no narration, just bird and forest sounds, as he creates shelters and items from the forest around him using prehistoric technology.

He started by building various types of shelters, then got into making pottery, bricks, and roof tiles, using clay from a nearby stream.

Currently, he's working on fire technology, creating hotter and hotter fires first to fire his clay objects to make them durable, and then to smelt iton.

Where does he get the metal? He harvested "iron bacteria" from the creek, and dried it fired it, and collected the tiny iron "prills". When he had enough, he went through a series of experiments to make his fire hot enough to melt the prills, and forge it into a tiny, rough, triangular knife.

Today, there are lots of copycats, mostly building elaborate shelters, but this guy is the OG. I mostly watch musical and political content, but Primitive Technology is the only channel I watch as soon as a new video drops. When the apocalypse arrives, I'll be ready.

Edit: Ever see someone start a fire by spinning a stick between his palms? This guy does it in almost every episode.

[–] whiskerleaf@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago

For Primitive Technology don't forget to turn on CC as he leaves a bunch of notes there! (You might already know this but others following suggestion might not)

[–] vpklotar@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago

I'd say that the only channel I come back to time and time again is probably technology connections. Just the right amount of snarkiness and information.

[–] tomato666@feddit.nl 12 points 5 days ago

Lockpickinglawyer. Fascinating to watch. The guy is so speedy at opening locks without a key.

[–] darthelmet@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Red Letter Media. Obviously I found them through their Star Wars prequel joke reviews, but they've just turned out to be a really solid and enjoyable semi-comedic film review channel. You get a sense of their particular interests and biases, some they share, some they don't and that helps understand their perspective on films they review so you have an idea of if you'd like them. Plus their other series like Re;View and Best of the Worst show me discussions on movies I probably wouldn't have ever watched otherwise.

I also just love how low-key they are as far as the YT influencer BS that's become the norm on the platform. No sponsorships. They never ask you to "Like and subscribe and leave a comment and hit that bell!". They have a Patreon but they don't even advertise it in their videos, let alone dedicate a portion of the video to a stream of internet names that donated. The thumbnails and titles aren't really clickbait. Their video descriptions are actually descriptions of the video instead of a bunch of links to their socials and sponsors. They don't act overly hype or angry or anything. They just act like what they are: Shlubs. They occasionally get B-list celebrities as guests and rather than plaster their name and whatever projects they're working on all over the fucking video for clickbait, they just don't even really acknowledge they're celebrities. They're just some dudes who happened to stop by to hang out and be on the shows. With most of them you wouldn't even know they were celebrities if you didn't already know them. I had to look up a few of them, which is hard when they don't even use their full names.

I watch pretty much all of their Half in the Bag and Re;View shows and the occasional miscellaneous video they make. I don't watch Best of the Worst that often, but I have enjoyed it when I have watched it.

[–] anewfox@lemmy.zip 2 points 5 days ago

every time they upload a new video i just think, "again, it happened again!"

[–] graynk@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] farting_gorilla@lemmy.world 12 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

In addition to lots of other channels already mentioned, there are:

  • The Elephant Graveyard
  • Bobby Fingers
  • Folding Ideas
  • Thought Slime
  • Technology Connections
  • Nutrition Facts
  • Viva Longetivity
  • Not Just Bikes
  • Climate Town
[–] AlteredEgo@lemmy.ml 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Democracy Now, Majority Report (RIP Michael Brooks), This Old Tony

[–] dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago (2 children)

This old Tony is also a gateway drug into machining YT:

  • Blondiehacks
  • Inheritance Machining
  • ABOM
  • Not An Engineer
[–] CovfefeKills@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

Let me add oxtoolco to the list they are a tool maker.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.today 19 points 6 days ago (4 children)

styropyro, pretty interesting videos although i don't understand most of the science stuff he talks about tbh

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (3 children)

For me, hopescolling (doomscrolling but looking for any reason to have hope) is a full time job regarding the political situation in the US. To that end, my regular resources are:

Ashley B: Ashley discuses US history, mostly black history, but not always, covering other issues such as J. Edgar Hoover, the scandals of past presidents, and black culture. She doesn't hold back regarding the brutal details of slave history and post-bellum racial violence, and those videos can be tough to listen to.

Belle of the Ranch: The successor to Beau of the Fifth Column, Belle discusses particulars of current issues, explaining details of the economy, of the US war on Iran, and Trump telling on himself in his social media posts. While left leaning, answers a lot of comments from MAGA.

Climate Town Rollie Williams is a very watchable climatologist who covers issues of climate and government gone wrong, such as why Americans eat so much cheese, how the US doesn't drive cars anymore (we drive Non-Passenger Work Vehicles, aka SUVs) and how the methane industry (natural gas) is the climate-killing dark horse.

Heather Cox Richardson: Richardson is a professor of American History at Boston college and does a lot of videos discussing current events and how they rhyme with past events in US history, which can be reassuring that we might actually get through this. I listen to her Letters From An American daily.

How Business Worked aka How History Works: This is the sister project to How Money Works (below). Which discusses history with a business slant. Recent topics of interest (to me) include No one wants to work anymore is a recurring theme and The Powell Memorandum and The myth of Hitler fixing the German economy. HBW is slightly longer form than HMW.

How Money Works: A (former?) finance bro talks about business and economic issues, breaking them down so that I (not a money guy) can understand them. Recent videos that are particularly edifying include why big tech now is hiring back its layoffs and how entrenched money is in US politics.

Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie: Jamelle Bouie is a NYT columnist who reads a lot of books, knows a lot about US government and has good insights into the thought processes of MAGA figures.

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago

My introduction to Climate Town was their video on why lawns suck, and I've been hooked since

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Sylence@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

A few of my goats I haven't seen mentioned:

  • Noah Caldwell-Gervais - absolute pinnacle of long-form gaming content. Amazing writing, and in depth critique which justifies it's run length.
  • House of Tabula - cinephile shit. Many hot takes and elitism so not for everyone but I really appreciate what they do.
  • Chinese Cooking Demystified - one of the best cooking channels period but especially if you like Chinese food. Authentic recipes, deep-dives, technique focused.
  • Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't - misanthropic foul-mouthed botanist travels the world describing plants and ecosystems.
[–] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't - Looks and sounds like a mobster, has extensive botanical knowledge. Hilarious dichotomy of character, and he totally leans into it.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (5 children)

This Old Tony. If you know you know. He's sort of like Locksmithing Lawyer for machining.

Sabine Hossenfelder. Physics and shit.

Adam Savage Tested. You know.

Perkins Brothers Builders. They build houses start to finish, two shows a week that follow their current build.

Dale Philip. No BS travel vlogger. His backstory is he won $750K playing poker and decided to start a travel vlog.

[–] moopet@sh.itjust.works 16 points 5 days ago

Sabine Hossenfelder went weird and started doing very assertive videos on things she clearly didn't know much about. Her physics stuff seemed great (to my layperson's viewpoint) but when she talked about things I knew it was always a bit off. Like reading New Scientist or something, once you read an article on your special subject and see how inaccurate it is, you assume the rest is shit too.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] executivechimp@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Folding Ideas' - long form deep dive videos into various topics. His video about NFTs is particularly good.

[–] neck_toe_raw_ray@fedinsfw.app 4 points 6 days ago

that video is goated

I'm more moved by "I don't know James Rolfe" and "Flat Earth" nowadays

[–] agelord@lemmy.world 15 points 6 days ago

Tom Scott

Casually Explained

Tier Zoo

[–] Binturong@lemmy.ca 15 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

The Majority Report with Sam Seder - politics and humor

Crash Course - general learning

Just Have a Think - climate tech news

Astrum - cosmology and astrophysics learning

Some More News - politics and humor

Zeteo with Mehdi Hasan - politics

Josh Johnson - comedy

[–] fireweed@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I was getting into Astrum, then noticed he uses a lot of AI images for Astrum Earth :(

[–] Binturong@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 days ago

Ah I did not notice that, I often listen primarily to the streams, man that's disappointing.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] TheTimeKnife@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Copied from my previous answer on the topic.

Ancient Americas is the best pre-columbian history youtuber. I always watch his videos.

Here are some others I usually watch.

Stefan Milo for anthropology

Dig. for ancient near east topics

PBS spacetime for physics videos

Whats going on with Shipping for updates on the shipping industry

Technology Connections and LaurieWired for random tech stuff

Grant Harting to watch a pharmacist eat random pills

Road Guy Rob for road engineering information

Canned Fish Files to watch a man eat sardines

ESOTERICA for information on history, magic and religious practices.

Crime Pays But Botany Doesnt for botany tours of predominantly the American southwest

Asianometry for random history and tech history videos

Andy Wards Ancient Pottery for learning about historic ceramic practices

Patrick Kelly for healthcare and medical history

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] deathmetal27@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago (2 children)

In no particular order:

  • Civvie11 (Video games)
  • Warlockcracy (Video games, mostly CRPGs. Good humour)
  • Wilburgur (Video games)
  • SsethTzeentach (Hyper meme-fied game reviews)
  • Historia Civilis (History)
  • ymfah (Video game challenges, hyper meme-fied)
  • Technology Connection (Everyday tech)
  • Grim Beard (Long video game reviews)
  • Noah Caldwell-Gervais (Long video game reviews)
  • Frederik Knudsen (Rabbit hole stuff)

Plus more I can't recall right now. But I can watch any old video from these guys any time and not feel bored.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] khannie@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago

Mars Guy. He's a geology lecturer who releases a new video every Sunday detailing what's been happening with the rovers on Mars that week. Very chill and always good learning.

Highlight of my Sunday morning.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

Hi, I'm the one that asked the opposite question that Op linked to :p

Ashens.

He doesnt make many videos anymore, though theres always a cchance for a random burst of uploads, I think his actual film making hobby has taken more importance, which is understandable, but that is made up for every christmas when he and nerdcubed do some crazy advent calendar thing for 24/25 days leading up to christmas. Which is a yearly christmas ritual for me, to watch all the old ones, and the new one, every year.

Cutting Edge Engineering Australia.

An Australian machinist that does repairs for heavy digging/mining equipment. Rebuilding hydraulic cylinders, repairing smashed frames, manufacturing new to spec parts (for a fraction of what they'd cost from the manufacturer), plus he also has videos on making new shop tools, and a long running series about totally rebuilding a truck crane.. Which kinda lost its urgency and importance with a new ceiling crane they got installed, but are still gonna work on it and finish it.

Used to post one video every friday, but their shop has gotten busier and busier and they made an announcement a few months back that they were going to a every other week release schedule, which makes me sad because watching him was my friday morning ritual, but I'm not upset about it because his business is doing gangbusters and i'm not so self centered as to expect him to sacrifice business that pays $$$$$$ to keep making videos that bring in a fraction of a fraction of that.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] zipkag@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Blondihacks. Genuinely some of the best machining videos for a small hobbyist I have seen, I look forward to every weekly episode. My dream is one day to recreate a small fraction of her things.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] moondoggie@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)
  • Mystic Arts for D&D
  • Taskmaster for Taskmaster
  • Lessons from the Screenplay and Every Frame a Painting for movie theory (though both have slowed down a lot)
  • El Train | Loop Kitchen for hip hop/sampling history
  • NPR Music for Tiny Desk
  • Team Coco for General Insanity
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers for the only way I can watch news some days
  • Triple J for the music
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 6 days ago (2 children)

AntsCanada
Formerly a channel about ants keeping is now posting weekly updates on his vivariums (basically big themed micro ecosystems.

Very engaging and good storytelling about how he created big interconnected tanks with a >3500L volume (6 tanks each connected to each other.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] qevlarr@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

The Tim Traveller - Travel vlogs of interesting places

Wes Cecil - Philosophy professor with loads of complete lectures

Nerdwriter - Movie and culture analysis

[–] abuttandahalf@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 days ago

Driving4answers for motor vehicle engineering fun. Jonas ceika (formerly Cuck philosophy) for philosophy/media criticism/political theory.

[–] dellish@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago

Channels that I actually look forward to each release:

4WD 24-7 Australian four wheel driving, visiting a lot of places I wish i could go to.

Fire to fork Camp fire cooking, but at the moment also a bit of a travel blog as Harry is in Canada right now.

Andy cooks Cooking show by a personable ex-chef

Brian Lagerstrom More cooking by a slightly less personable ex-chef

Captain Disillusion Special effects debunks and explainers. Rarely puts out videos but they're worth watching when they do arrive.

Clickspring Master craftsman does metalwork. I often have no idea what he's talking about but it's just great to watch.

Dylan O'Donnell Astrophotography with an Australian slant.

LEMMiNO Deep dives into mysteries and other topics. Well researched.

Nat's What I Reckon Started no-nonsense cooking videos during COVID lockdowns, delivering a good mix of cooking advice, mental health awareness and swearing. His videos aren't as tight now as they used to be but they're still fun to watch.

Primative Technology No voice over, relaxing to watch dude in North Queensland improving his skills over the years to make huts, ceramics and some iron smelting. Make sure you turn on captions!

[–] neck_toe_raw_ray@fedinsfw.app 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

ones i haven't seen mentioned:

  • hbomberguy: long form video essays, uploads about once a year
  • Core-A Gaming: video analysis about fighting games at large
  • Domics: one of the pioneers of the animated "storytime" YouTube meta
  • FilmJoy: long form video essays about visual media, typically focusing on a particular movie per essay
  • Internet Shaquille: an extremely down to earth cooking channel
  • Knowing Better: long form video essays, generally about American history, often exploring untaught/heavily misunderstood subjects
  • MeatCanyon: great animation meant to be disturbing and funny, sometimes even both at once
  • Outdoor Boys: watch a very pleasant man survive outdoors, usually in Alaska
  • Project Farm: attempts to apply the scientific method on various household appliances to discover which are good at what they're supposed to do
  • Will Anderson: did you ever want competitive Scrabble analysis? Then boy do I have the channel for you!
  • The Plain Bagel: levelheaded explanations for financial news, not quite as dry as Patrick Boyle
  • synthet: visual and funny breakdowns of popular musical (synth) techniques
  • Zullie the Witch: From Software lore explorer
  • CalebCity: short form comedy skits, often with a gaming tint to it
  • tanks for nothin: watch someone build interesting aquascaped fishtanks, but the videos themselves are art too
[–] forkDestroyer@infosec.pub 2 points 5 days ago

Anitubers. Glass Reflection. Mother's Basement. Bennett the Sage (away while he helps his father). Bonsai Pop (also trends political), Super Eyepatch wolf

Political content: FD Signifier, Climate Town, More Perfect Union,

Cooking: Aaron and Claire, Derek Sarno

Medical: Chubbyemu

Body building: Jeff Nippard, Noel Deyzel, trainer winny

Other health: Yoga with Adriene

Other: aamon animations, coffeezilla, dungeon soup, Jacob Geller, ODD TINKERING, physics girl, self sufficient me, the sphere hunter

load more comments
view more: next ›