Climate Town - Does a decent job explaining climate-related topics and still makes them interesting.
Jay Foreman - Very funny map trivia.
JerryRigEverything - A bit too much promotion on some stuff, but really comprehensive tear downs.
MIT OpenCourseWare - learn good.
Pop Culture Detective - Deconstructive pop culture tropes that make you think a lot.
SNES drunk - retrogaming (not just SNES) but well done, 0% additives just prime content.
stacksmashing - electronics trivia and hardcore reverse engineering.
The National Gallery - If you're into history, this is an excellent channel about art trivia. I'm not much into art and this is always top quality for me.
Tom Scott plus - Tom Scott does British telly stuff like playing board games or chasing people on the streets with an apple tag.
Voices of the Past - This is slow, exhaustive history for nerds. Worth it if you want to let the story wash all over you.
Vox - slightly left leaning great journalism, albeit sometimes too brief to explain complex topics.
Weird History - They get some stuff wrong, but it's still entertaining.
Project Farm - Wanna buy an angle grinder? Now you do.
Insider - Had a series of "How Real Is It?" videos that let professionals describe stuff seen in movies, and it is both entertaining and a learning experience.
Corridor - Some stuff of dubious quality but if you're interested in FX, it's good.
LegalEagle - Law is hard, but is law fun?
brian david gilbert - Existential horror camouflaged as comedy.
PBS Space Time - Good but hard space science.
BurtBot - Orcs with normal voices.
Joel Haver - Neat if you're into deadpan humor.
Taskmaster - Probably some of the best british television available in YT.
Bonus round:
Practical Engineering - How stuff is built but explained well enough that even I can understand it.
Plus, use FreeTube, not You Tube. Don't be a slave of their terrible algorythm and all the recommendations will turn out to be of your taste.
Ben Eater. He’s been explaining the low level details of how computers work. Literally building a functioning computer from nothing but a cpu and a breadboard. Incredibly good explanations.
Tom Scott, he has done a video every week for like 10 years. Sort of a science travel adventure nerd. His videos are generally short and interesting.
Veritasum - Science guy with some interesting topics
Donut Media - If you like cars, they do some interesting and funny things while not being complete asshats.
The Proper People - Abandoned places, nice videos and respectful exploration.
Cash Jordan - Gives tours of NYC apartments from tiny studio apartments up to multi-million dollar penthouses.
Geography Geek - A lot of interesting geography-related facts.
Knob Feel - Short and sweet reviews of various knobs.
Vice Grip Garage - If you are interested in how old cars are repaired and have lots of time, he has many ~1.5 hour videos of dragging old cars out of the bushes that haven't ran for 20 years, getting them mostly running, and driving them home.
Polyphonic - Interesting video essays about various music and musical artists.
Some More News - a disheveled and sarcastic anchor does a deep dive into a current topic
Contrapoints - an ex-philosopher does a really deep dive into a topic (sometimes a concept or a phenomenon, sometimes a particular person or event), with incredibly high production value and costumes. Unfortunately this means she only puts out 2 videos a year, but they're now usually 1-2 hours long.
Podcasts - some have YT channels, but often no video, so if you're looking for something to watch, this may not be helpful
Behind the Bastards - a deep dive (often 2+ hour+ episodes) into different historical or current terrible people
Maintenance Phase - two journalists talk about various health, diet, and wellness scams and misconceptions
If Books Could Kill (no YT channel) - Michael Hobbes from Maintenance Phase and Peter from 5-4 talk about "airport books"--bad pop science books
You're Wrong About - Sarah Marshall and Michael Hobbes (until late 2021) talk about pop culture misconceptions, everything from O.J. to the Satanic Panic to Iran-Contra and more.
Sort of in the same vein is NotJustBikes, who has really great insight on subpar American infrastructure compared to other developed countries.
(https://youtube.com/@NotJustBikes)
Adam Something - Mostly about civil engineering and public transportation, but also a ton of commentary on the right wing from a European leftist perspective.
Ladyknightthebrave - Film theory and criticism.
King Arthur Baking - Just solid baking videos.
Tasting History with Max Miller - Cooking show about historical foods with brief dives into the dish's history.
Oversimplified - Short animated videos on history.
F.D. Signifier - Black leftist takes on society, politics, and pop culture.
Lindsay Ellis - Now retired from YouTube due to harassment, but excellent film theory and criticism, originated the current film theory video format.
Chinese Cooking Demystified - Chinese cooking videos that focus on how it's actually done in China.
All Gas No Brakes/Channel 5 - Modern gonzo documentary news.
Breadsword - Film theory and criticism.
Contrapoints - Leftist trans commentary on philosophy, political theory, pop culture, and basically everything.
Luetin09 - Incredibly deep dives into Warhammer 40,000 lore.
Check out this video from Practical Engineering, a channel about teaching us about our constructed world, when it works and when it fails. https://youtu.be/jxNM4DGBRMU
Has anyone mentioned Knowing Better yet? Guy makes fantastic videos explaining a wide variety of topics. Some of his latest ones have been very in depth analyses about periods on American history, though he has covered many more subject as well. Highly suggested if you like long form content.
Another channel that I love is Captain Dissilussion. A guy dressed as a superhero breaks down the special effects behind hoaxes and viral videos, usually with a lesson in the end. Great channel even if you don't know anything about special effects, you can learn a lot about how effects are done, how to spot them and then be surprised when the guy flexes his own (better) version of the effects at the end.
LEMMiNO is extremely good. His older content is neat but his newer stuff is highly polished 30 min-1 hour ish long documentaries on miscellaneous mysteries like Jack the ripper or DB Cooper
Depends on the genre you prefer, but I'll try to cover a lot of bases for anyone who might be interested. I'll break it up into 2 comments cause it's not letting me post so I might have hit the character limit lol.
Part 1
If you like let's plays, I think Letsgameitout is one of the most consistently entertaining channels. His videos are a good length, not so long that they drag out, but not so short that they feel like they're done too soon, and he uploads frequently enough to not feel like it takes ages for a new video to come out, but not so frequently that it feels like he sacrifices quality.
If you like games but not the format of most let's plays, or just like general humour and don't mind most videos being game related, then DougDoug is hilarious. He streams on twitch but edits the streams down for YouTube. Seeing him interact with his twitch chat is really entertaining, and his shenanigans involving AI are also great as well. A good entry video for his content is probably the pajama Sam video he made recently where he tries to get chatgpt to beat pajama Sam, and the ai gets more and more unhinged as the video goes on. But it is one of his longer videos so you can also try any of his other videos. Another good one would be the one where he gets two halves of his twitch chat to compete against each other in GTAV using chat controls a la twitch plays pokemon. There's also GameChamp3000, who does a lot of gaming challenges, but she doesn't upload as often sadly. But her videos are very high quality and the lengths she goes to in order to get around a road block can be pretty crazy.
If you like diy or humorous educational stuff, then electroboom is a very entertaining channel and also very informative when it comes to electricity and engineering. He's the guy who made the diy electric guitar. Basically he's an electrician who does projects where he tries to make something from scratch, and along the way he shows all the wrong ways you can do something by doing them himself and then getting hurt by it slapstick style. He's shown how he fakes a lot of the stunts to assure his audience that he's not putting himself in danger (though he has also confessed to some real near misses like the Jacob's ladder incident), but he's good at making it look really convincing which somehow adds to the humour. He's also good at telling jokes on top of the slapstick. Similar channels like his include William Osman, Michael Reeves, and I did a thing. But of the 4 of them Electroboom and I did a Thing upload the most consistently I think, though shout out to Michael Reeves for being the most insane of the 4 lol.
If you like just regular educational channels, then I've heard veritasium is good, and there's also Mark Rober though he's not just education, he also does some fun experiments and even dabble in dealing with scammers. There might be some controversy from when he made a video about autism because I heard he was promoting an autism advocacy group that was possibly tied to autism speaks (which is largely hated by the autistic community), but I'm not super informed on that and idk if he addressed it. His video about it was positive towards autistic people since his son is autistic though, so if that's a sticking point for you then you can always look into it and draw your own conclusions. It's not usually a topic of his videos though so if it's not a deal breaker then you can just watch any of his other videos and ignore that one.
If you like drama and video essays then TRO aka The Right Opinion is probably one of my favourite channels for that type of content, because he's really good at portraying every side fairly without coming across as obnoxiously neutral. He's also good at covering topics in a way that feels thorough without dragging on for too long.
EthosLab. He is my favourite YouTuber, and has been for over 10 years now. He's super chill, and his Minecraft videos always make me happy. Sure, other channels may have more content or more entertainment value, but when it comes to sheer vibes, Etho is unmatched.
I follow some Canadian van dwellers. I like Foresty Forest best. He just goes around Canada and sometimes the USA climbing mountains with his dog, and living in his van.
Air Safety Institute - https://www.youtube.com/@AirSafetyInstitute - they cover recent GA crashes, all sorts of stuff related to airplanes and what not. Really interesting and well presented.
She's a scientist with a PHD in Astrophysics and does deep dives on specific topics, generally from the angle of science communication and how it often fails that topic in some way.
Her videos are very simple and low production value, but packed with information. She's a great communicator and you walk away from each video, not just with better knowledge on a topic, but also with a sense of where the holes in that knowledge are. Like where the limits of the metaphor being used to covey the topic to you exist.
When it comes to food, stay away from non-professional channels like Tasty or even websites like Allrecipes.com. The recipes may turn out to be disasters - pro sources always test and retest their recipes.
German guy visits scrapyards to find tools and other items to repair out repurpose.
AudioPilz
Aka. Bad Gear. Reviews of synths and drum machines. Goes over the pros and cons, mostly cons. Does AV audio demo and 2 song demos with music videos made from retro cartoons and tons of meme content.
David Hilowitz Music
I guess I would call this mostly unusual music stuff. Lots of unusual and found or cheaply made diy instruments. He uploads sample libraries for then as well so you can make songs with them too.
Rose Anvil
Dissects shoes and boots so you can find footwear worth the cost.
Anton Petrov - Science and Space news
Postmodern Jukebox - Modern songs in different styles
Legal Eagle - A lawyers take on modern events, movies, etc
Ze Frank - I am unable to describe, just give a video a watch
Anything with Simon Whistler, he has too many channels to list
Munro Live - An engineering firms take on new cars.
nicola white mudlark - Very good if you like history.
Nick Zentner (@GeologyNick) has been delivering college level lectures and seminars in geology for years. He has several lecture series ranging from 101 level, senior College level, to breaking research. He also has many shorts and onsite presentations.
Noraly (@ItchyBoots) has been traveling around the world via motorcycle for 6 or so years. She's currently traversing western Africa, and has hundreds of hours of backlog. She has previously traveled from India to the Netherlands, and then from Argentina to Alaska (with a break for COVID).
And a few more which I think are great but YMMV depending on your particular interests:
city planner plays
historia civilis
junkyard digs
tech ingredients
Scott Manley
BobbyBroccoli
summoning salt
tl;dr: if you only pick up one name from all these comments, let it be jon bois. He's made some of the most compelling content I've ever seen, especially the "pretty good" series. Money back guarantee, you will not be disappointed.
tl;dr for real: jon bois, climate town, electroboom.
@yousuckatcooking - entertaining cooking and legit recipes!
@fortnine - amazing quality motorbike channel. Even if you don't ride its very educational and entertaining.
Little Chinese Everywhere
I've traveled in China a lot and she goes to places I've never had the opportunity to, asks so many well thought out questions to the locals, and does an excellent job editing it together. Great channel if you like travel stuff
The B1M
Incredible channel about construction and architecture. Because they cover worldwide you get a big of regional information. The videos are high quality with tons of business details you would have to pay for premium subscriptions to get before.
Maigomika
New channel about a couple who moved to a very rural part of Japan and their challenges. It isnt stuffed with info, they let the environment lead the pace and fill in little details here and there. Beautiful imagery with a bit of home cam style that really brings the viewer into their world.
I really like Potholer54 - he doesn't do any ads so youtube NEVER promotes his videos. He will read, cite, link all his sources and more importantly, will respond to misrepresentations of science in the media. He will usually explain the science behind the articles he sources and explain why the media gets it wrong.
I've also found Skip Intro is really good regarding copaganda. He has some great videos on a lot of the media I was exposed to growing up and its good to reexamine it with a more modern take. He also dunks on paw patrols which is fucking terrible.
I scrolled quite a ways and did not see anyone mention "Well, there's your problem". Its a podcast about engineering disasters with slides and pronouns.
Sam Holmes Sailing. I know nothing about sailing and somehow stumbled across his videos. He makes vlogs about his solo sailing adventures. They are relaxing to me for some reason.
An extremely down to earth travel channel about a guy who mostly just drives around exploring the American West and sleeping in his car.
He finds all kinds of hidden gems you have never heard of and he researches and tells you a lot of interesting details about the areas he visits. But the videos are very chill and he talks about some of the more mundane details of his trip that would be cut from most channels videos.
It is extremely relaxing to watch, really feels like you are hanging out and going on a road trip with your buddy.
He recently announced that he'll be taking a break from content creation, so this is the perfect time for you to binge watch everything he has made in the past 3 years.
MrBallen is a guy who retells storys in a very compelling way. Stories of murder-cases, odd occurences, sinister events, etc.
This channel is really worth listening/watching (and also binging). I discovered his channel two years ago and follow it ever since. The videos length unsually varies between 15 to 30 minutes. Although the video's thumbnails and titles appear like it is clickbait, each video is well-made and worth a watch! Almost every Sunday a new video is uploaded.
Legit Street Cars, Primitive Technology, Ghost Town Living, Donut (their older stuff is better than newer), Colin Furze (older stuff also better than new, but newer stuff is bigger, more expensive projects as his channel has grown), Blackmail Studio and Wristwatch Revival. Those are the YT channels I'm constantly watching (along with Critical Role, but excluded due to length of episodes).
Edit: Oh and SpyroPyro does some awesome stuff with Lasers.
I've really enjoyed Strange Parts (Also Stranger Parts for longer format) over the years. He's been through a lot and the videos show some of that. But I think he's doing alright again now and has interesting things frequently.
I also really enjoy Simone Giertz, she's an excellent follow, also has gone through a lot (brain tumor for one) over the years but is still enjoyable.
Adam Savage Tested - It's Adam Savage from mythbusters etc, but doing his own thing and being a geek about it. I really enjoy his personal content. I greatly dislike Mythbusters and most forms of TV media.
ProjectFarm - Independent testing of all kinds of things. If you need to know how tools compare to each other without worrying about sponsor money, Todd is excellent. His methods aren't perfect, but they are good enough for what he is trying to do and for understanding somewhat practically how the various things compare.
If you are ok with a little more spasticity, Colin Furze is always up to a cheeky bit of fun.
Zach Freedman - Prototyping and 3d printing but make it fun and full of puns and sarcasm and a dash of nonsense
Mr Carlson's Lab - If you like electronics and very long format, chat while working style content. This is a great one.
DownieLive - Has good travel videos, especially liked his Alaska series, the canal series was neat and he has multiple unique train ones that are interesting.
I've started to check out Alice Cappelle after watching a good video on the counter points to the 15-minute city.
Music
Lauren Babic - Metal singer, does lots of covers, has her own stuff too, but I enjoy her stuff a lot. She's my favorite singer along with Courtney LaPlante.
Ichika Nito - Lots of really chill, intricate, technical guitar, I wish he'd do more long format stuff but he's fun to listen to. Similar playing to Covet and Polyphia but generally solo and easier going.
Not a channel, but some resources. The addons are all open source. Also unfortunately many subreddits that had quality channel suggestions have been either banned due to being "unmoderated" or are lost to time. Please post any finds here or help archive them if you can. The Datahorders community is a great place to start!
check channelcrawler dot com, but the main thing about any social media is you get on look at what you went there for in the first place and get off never scroll and watch recommended videos best case scenario you lose 2 hours scrolling or get mk ultra'd into buying door dash every night