YouTube has been one of the most important sources of information for me. I use YouTube for entertainment, learning, inspiration, motivation and everything beyond. I have carefully built my subscriptions and I consider my YouTube account almost sacred, in a way. I keep updating my subscriptions and carefully tune my recommendations to align with my interests. In this post, I'm exploring a bunch of channels that I have found resourceful and valuable to me in a wide range of categories. I'm including my favorite videos from each of these channels to give you a glimpse. I'm not going to cover channels with music videos, movie trailers, etc., as they are relatively more popular and dependent on individual preferences, regional work and artists. Stay tight, we're going in. Don't hold thy breath.
Science
Veritasium — Veritasium is the most fun YouTube channel for learning science and mathematics. I have been following Veritasium for almost 7-8 years now and Derek's content never fails to make me think. If you're looking for fun science experiments, debates and duels, debunking science myths, thought experiments, and scientific and mathematical history in a credible way with references, this is the definitive place to go.
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell — Kurzgesagt present their explanation of science phenomena and concepts in their own style, and their animations are some of the smoothest and vivid ones I've ever seen. They have got a small team of content writers, animators, researchers and one narrator dude, who work together seamlessly to present complex science topics in a visually accessible manner. I've been following them for a few years and every video is a perfect cocktail of soothing narration, solid content, and immaculate animations.
The Action Lab Shorts — This channel is meant only for YouTube Shorts and I find this more fulfilling to scroll endlessly compared to Instagram reels. The shorts from this channel contain quick science experiments and explanations. It's like taking a small refreshing bite of watermelon on a hot summer's day and it makes you want to take more. The creator of this channel also has his own full fledged channel with longer videos.
Quanta Magazine — I followed this channel recently and they have equally amazing content on several topics in science, mathematics, biology and technology. Below is one video that I watched thrice to be able to grasp the importance of the concept explained in the video. It was mind blowing.
James Webb Space Telescope — This is JWST's official YouTube channel and I've been following the progress over the last couple of months. On the day I was writing this, it had aligned all the mirrors and took an incredible capture of a target star. NASA announced that it's seemingly exceeding expectations. I'm very excited to see the possibilities this telescope will open up.
Books
Jack Edwards — Apart from Goodreads, Jack's channel is my go-to place for fiction book recommendations and reviews. He's a literature major from the UK and he's got a captivating way of narrating and reviewing books. If you want to get a virtual tour of bookstores, book hauls, reading vlogs, etc, this is my recommendation. Jack also has his second channel called Jack in the books, and I'm subscribed to them both.
Steph Bohrer — Jack's American counterpart is Steph Borher and again, a great channel for book recommendations and reviews.
Jenn Im — Jenn Im has more of a generic channel with content on vlogs, health, beauty, books, maternity, etc and I did get a good list of non-fiction book recommendations which turned out to be great reads. Jenn also has a book club on Instagram.
Ted-Ed — I'll never get tired of the riddles posted by Ted-Ed with amazing animations. They also post educational videos on several topics. The best part about this channel is that they provide a platform for independent creators and narrators to collaborate with an independent animator and the end product is so satisfying. Their videos are just 5 minutes long on an average, and is dense with information.
Wendover Productions — Wendover Productions is a very unique channels where they explore very interesting topics related to Geography, countries, transport systems, logistics, etc. They essentially post content about how the world works.
WIRED — I watch wired exclusively for their videos on expert answers and explanations. Experts in various fields answer basic questions from Twitter and explain things in 5 levels of difficulty. It's very informative.
Ali Abdaal — Ali has been one of the most influential people on YouTube for me. He makes videos on productivity, time management, life lessons, study tips, personal finance, book recommendations, tech reviews, and entrepreneurship and has been a great example of how to grow a business online. The content speaks for itself, please explore his channel.
Matt D'Avella — I could say the same about Matt D'Avella and I have been an admirer of his content on financial knowledge, minimalism, and important life skills.
Nate O'Brien — Nate makes content on personal finance, investment options, minimalism, non-fiction book recommendations, etc. He was a big influence on me in minimal living, not hoarding stuff, getting free of social media addiction, etc.
Einzelgänger — I've only scratched the surface of this channel but I've found their videos on Taoist and Stoic philosophies resonate a lot with me and made me calmer in stressful times.
Ryan Holiday — One can't speak of stoicism without mentioning Ryan Holiday. I read a page of his book "The Daily Stoic" every day — it contains one page of stoic wisdom designed to be read every day of the year and I resonate with it a lot. Ryan is also a great YouTuber and his lessons on stoicism are very valuable.
Mark Manson — Mark Manson is the author of the New York Times Bestseller, "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck". Mark Manson covers a lot of practical life advice, research studies, and conclusions on several aspects of human psychology.
Lana Blakely — I resonate with a lot of her ideas on life, seeking meaning, simplicity, etc. Her channel has a very soothing vibe to it, and I've also picked up a couple of book recommendations from her.
Peter McKinnon — Anybody who follows photography on YouTube will stumble upon Peter McKinnon. His channel is one of the best shot channels on YouTube, and he covers a lot of photography and videography including basic lessons, camera reviews, camera gear reviews, and of course some great videos of several projects he has worked on.
Chris Bray Photography — I took a free 2.5-hour introductory course on photography from Christ Bray's channel. The concepts are well explained and he covers a lot of ground in the course. I'm totally new to photography and I have saved his course to my YouTube playlist. He does have a great catalog of videos on photography.
When it comes to technology and gadgets, I keep it simple and follow only Marques Brownlee and MrWhoseTheBoss, the two biggest tech review YouTubers. They cover pretty much everything, but I also follow Unbox Therapy as I like unboxing videos.
Podcast channels
Lex Fridman — I love Lex's questions a lot. I use this channel interchangeably with his podcast on the podcast app, and here's a favorite podcast episode from Lex where he interviews Elon Musk.
JRE — The Joe Rogan Experience is one of the best podcasts ever. Joe Rogan observes a lot and asks insightful questions. He has a wide range of guests and some of these episodes are thoroughly entertaining. My favorite episode is one where he interviews Naval. I watch this video once every month and every time I get something new out of it.
Naval — Speaking of Naval Ravikant, he's a tech investor, entrepreneur, and co-founder of AngelList. I have listened to all episodes of his podcast thrice, with transcripts, and keep coming back to it. I have recommended his podcasts to all my friends who have a similar kind of vibe. His thoughts on happiness, peace, health, wealth, knowledge, and entrepreneurship are deeply rooted in first principles and he breaks down all the topics to their basics. That's why I find his thoughts to be solid and timeless. His clarity of thought is extraordinary and I have learned a lot from him.
Huberman Lab — The best health podcast ever. Dr. Andrew Huberman is a neurobiologist from Stanford University and he has his own podcast about several topics on health and everything related to the human body. He presents facts and figures with solid references and always bases his opinions on studies and research. Again, I use this channel interchangeably with the podcast app but the information is the same.
Jonna Jinton — Jonna is from Sweden and she lives in the northern wilderness of Sweden. Her videos are the most beautifully shot videos ever. Her narration and the music are so tranquil. I've spent hours together watching her videos. She documents her life in northern Sweden — the long days and nights, the change of seasons, her travels, her cabin, her dog Nanuk and of course, the northern lights and the stunning star-studded sky. She also owns a small jewelry business online.
In most cases, it's not just the channel I like, but also the people behind the channels. These creators have certainly served as inspirations for me to start my own journey online. They have worked hard to build an audience for themselves and are independent creators on the internet. If any of these sound interesting to you, please watch their content and consider subscribing to their channels. Also, if you have any channel recommendations, hit me up. As always, thanks for reading. Peace out!
