My Favourite Youtube Channels (for Learning & more)

Youtube Jul 21, 2019

I love using Youtube. It's one of my major time-sinks, and rightfully so, because it's home to some of the best content producers out there. However, everyone knows what Youtube's dark side is like. The recommended videos that I see when I'm logged out and (especially) those on the Trending tab leave me thinking "Why ?" at best, and "I've lost all hope for humanity" at worst.

So, I have to try very hard to tame its capricious and often immoral algorithm. After many hours of scouring and back-linking, I've gathered a list of channels over the years which I'm sharing now because I think you will find them as awesome as I do. I've categorized them under Learning, Tech/Electronics, Science, and Films/Vlogs/College.

Learning

What I've Learned

WIL is a severely underrated channel by Joseph Everett. It's taught me a lot regarding nutrition, productivity, the mind, and a lot more. The videos are engaging, well-researched, thought-provoking, AND funny. I HIGHLY recommend you check it out. My favourite videos:

Max Joseph

The guy who taught Casey Neistat editing has a Youtube channel of his own, where he produces Netflix-quality documentaries and uploads them for free. His editing skills are simply un-paralleled. Favourites:

Charisma On Command

Charlie breaks down interactions and explains the social principles behind why some people are so charismatic, while others gain trust quickly, and yet others never seem to lose an argument. I've learned a lot about psychology, social interactions, and relationships. Definitely recommend. Favs:

Tom Bilyeu

Tom hosts Impact Theory, where he interviews successful people from all paths of life, Health Theory, where health professionals talk about improving your well-being, and Relationship Theory, where his wife and himself tackle relationship issues. It's helped me find many awesome people and books. Favourites:

Matt D'Avella

Matt is one of the best vloggers out there, with unmatched visuals and filmography. His videos tackle productivity, minimalism, self-improvement and more. He occasionally also challenges himself to try out new things and habits, such as journalling for 30 days. Oh, and he has nice biceps. Favourites:

Counter Arguments

This channel dismantles the arguments put forward by the Average Joes (the masses) and the celebrities-turned-preachers who have something to say on just about anything. What's unique here though, is that the arguments are not presented in a derogatory manner; Instead, they're informative and take a neutral stance. It's an intellectually enriching experience, like all debates should be. Favourites:

exurb1a

The weirdest, funniest videos that are simultaneously informative and entertaining; Guaranteed to give you an existential crisis. Favourites:

Thomas Frank

Thomas makes videos for people who want to learn about learning and productivity, regardless of their path of life. As the sources for his videos largely overlap with mine, I usually use this channel to review the lessons I've learnt (from books I've read, etc). Occasionally, I find new, shiny gold nuggets of information. Favs:

After Skool

Home to short, concise explanations of the world's ideas using beautiful animations and one a many whiteboard markers.

The RSA

The RSA is like TEDx, but with better ideas, better people, and better everything, actually. It's home to "world-changing ideas, world leaders, RSA Animates, self-improvement, talks, debates, interviews, animations and loads more".

The Futur

Amazing channel for designers and entrepreneurs. Chris Do is a master of what he does. Love their stuff.

Honorable mentions: Nathaniel Drew, PowerfulJRE, The School of Life, Pat Flynn, Freedom in Thought, Hidden Forces & High Intensity Health.

Tech/Electronics

TechAltar

Marton's channel is a unique blend of technology and business strategies. I especially love his The Story Behind series, where he explains "unexpected and unexplored trends in our technology industry", such as why phone prices don't reflect performances.

Favourites:

The Artificial Intelligence Channel

A bit more on the academic side, but the videos never bored me- they're fascinating, actually. Topics covered include trans-humanism, anti-aging, synthetic exploration... everything sci-fi, basically. Favs:

Fireship

Here you'll find tutorials about Flutter, Angular, Javascript and more. They're very well made and easy to understand.

GreatScott

An electronics junkie who makes cool projects. His Electronics Basics series is also top-notch.

Honorable mentions: MKBHD, Dave Lee, Computerphile, & Flutter.

Science

SmarterEveryDay

A hugely popular science channel that delves into awesome scientific phenomena, like:

Domain of Science

Dominic Walliman explores and explains scientific topics, like quantum mechanics. He also maps out fields of science, which I'm a huge fan of because it illuminates the connections between different sub-fields. Favourites:

Steve Mould

Steve makes videos on everyday weird things and cool science experiments.

Deep Look

A channel that looks into the lives of abnormal animals. Weirdly satisfying to watch.

Honorable mentions: Veritasium, Eddie Woo, jbstatistics, PBS Space Time, Sixty Symbols, Looking Glass Universe, minutephysics, Scishow Psych, TierZoo & Second Thought.

Films/Vlogs/College

Every Frame a Painting

"A series of video essays about film form" by Taylor Ramos & Tony Zhou. I absolutely love this channel (it has ended since then though, sadly) because it dissects the art and complexity film-making. It made me appreciate details in my favourite movies that I hadn't even noticed before. Definitely recommend. Favs:

Arpi Park

Arpi is the most unique & genuine internet personality I know of. He also has great taste in music and a master of Show-and-Tell™. He's a Stanford (❤!) undergraduate who posts videos (shitposts) about Stanford, university, and life. Absolutely love the guy. Favs:

Deanna See

A young Singaporean who's wildly ambitious & punny. She vlogs and makes videos that touch on science/computer science. She's so good in fact, that she has won the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, ASEAN Youth Video Contest, and much more. Favs:

Crimson Education

Pretty fun channel with a pretty fun host that explores the life, campuses, and stories of various university students. They're also a college consulting company, which they make no effort to hide (which is both good and bad, depending on how you look at it).

Honorable mentions: Casey Neistat, Bernardo Bacalhau, Nathaniel Drew, austinmcconnell & John Fish.

Wrap-up

That's about it (for now). You may notice that I crammed a couple channels into a separate honorable mentions. The reason for this is two-fold: a) I got tired of linking back to all the channels/videos (My back hurts now), and b) I don't watch some of these channels as much as the rest because they're less consistent/entertaining/relevant to me.

I'm always excited to find new channels,so if you have any suggestions or favourites that I missed, drop them down below! 👇🏼