For me: 1.) Cicada 3301 - Lemmino [17:53]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2O7blSSzpI
2.) Why gravity is NOT a force - Veritasium [17:33]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRr1kaXKBsU
3.) The cost of Concordia - Internet Historian [48:48]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh9KBwqGxTI
4.) Fast inverse square root - Nemean [20:08]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8u_k2LIZyo
5.) The dark side of the Silk road - Barely Sociable [1:14:45]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpMP6Nh3FvU
Sorry, i’m a nerd. If you are not: only watch no. 3; it’s funny.
- terribleplan ( @terribleplan@lemmy.nrd.li ) English12•1 year ago
Bill Wurtz’s history of the entire world, i guess and its predecessor history of japan. They both blur the line of “documentary” a little, but are very good, and his music (beyond those videos) is also great.
Most any of Qxir’s or Plainly Difficult’s videos.
I could probably go on, but my nerd is showing maybe a little too much, and I watch way too much youtube.
- ShittyKopper [they/them] ( @ShittyKopper@lemmy.w.on-t.work ) English11•1 year ago
Hbomberguy’s entire channel is a goldmine. It’s hard to pick just one so instead here’s three, in decreasing order of silliness
All of them are about 2 hours long each
Aside from that, Cathode Ray Dude’s recent The Unholy Saga of Phoenix Hyperspace is quite good, though it’s a really computer nerd-y topic.
And finally, if we’re allowing conference talks, literally anything Deviant Ollam has his name attached to tends to be really good, though he does tend to repeat stuff between his talks. Here is four that’s different enough from each other:
- terribleplan ( @terribleplan@lemmy.nrd.li ) English4•1 year ago
I totally forgot to mention Deev’s talks in my answer. I have watched most of them several times, and enjoy the different versions/twists on talks he’s given on elevators such as Elevator Obscura: Hacks and Curios in the Lift Industry vs Pit/Penthouse. Great stuff.
- Fenosi ( @Fenosi@lemmy.fmhy.ml ) English7•1 year ago
Shoutout to Lemmino! I love his video about Jack the Ripper.
- dill ( @dill@lemmy.one ) English3•1 year ago
Yes! It’s so good
- gina ( @gina@lemm.ee ) English7•1 year ago
I created a playlist of the recommendations here and thought I might as well share: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9W-RMmS6ewK9p8OtJEKXtClpXEibXEIU
I also added this video on the Boeing 737 Max from MegaProjects, and a couple on a subject near and dear to my heart: Boy Bands of the 90s:
- calhoon2005 ( @calhoon2005@aussie.zone ) English7•1 year ago
Not full documentaries, but Tom Scott on YouTube does great little 5-10 minute explainers.
https://youtube.com/@TomScottGo
Edit - added YouTube channel
- carnha ( @carnha@lemmy.one ) English6•1 year ago
Defunctland’s Disney’s Fastpass: A Complicated History is a fantastic dive into the logistics of managing a giant crowd over several years, from approaching it as an engineering problem all the way to exploiting the system for profit. It’s such a fascinating problem to me, and it’s presented in an engaging and fun way. The rest of the channel is fantastic too!
I’ll also recommend Fascinating Horror - these aren’t fictional horror stories, these are real disasters told in an incredibly detailed but highly respectful way. They don’t just explain the disaster and why/how it happened, but also the regulations that came afterwards to make sure these would never happen again. They’re all high quality, but if you want a starting point the Nutty Butty Caves will give you a good idea what the channel is about.
- Zagorath ( @Zagorath@aussie.zone ) English4•1 year ago
Ooh, Defunctland was also the creator of my choice. But I went with Disney Channel’s Theme.
- blackstrat ( @blackstrat@lemmy.fwgx.uk ) English5•1 year ago
I keep watching this little short every once in a while: The Missile Knows Where It Is… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZe5J8SVCYQ
Psychocybernetics?
- Joe ( @Joe@kbin.social ) 4•1 year ago
Anything by CGPGrey but specifically Humans Need Not Apply
- JamesBean ( @JamesBean@kbin.social ) 4•1 year ago
Philosophical Analysis of Dark Souls - The Gemsbok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpf3KQBIoCY
I think it might be the best analysis video about a game anywhere on the internet.
- Zagorath ( @Zagorath@aussie.zone ) English3•1 year ago
Disney Channel’s Theme: A History Mystery. A documentary by Defunctland about the previously unknown composer of the Disney Channel’s signature theme.
- sucodedijkstra ( @sucodedijkstra@bolha.social ) English1•1 year ago
Very insightful video with a personal touch from the author and some things that will let you thinking for a long time, excellent recommendation!!
- Lenguador ( @Lenguador@kbin.social ) 2•1 year ago
If you can get past the weird framing device, the Plinkett reviews of the Star Wars prequels are an excellent deep dive into the issues with those films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI&list=PL5919C8DE6F720A2D
Jenny Nicholson’s videos are great, but her documentary on “The Last Bronycon” is special, as the realization dawns on you while watching that she has more connection to Brony culture than you might have guessed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fVOF2PiHnc
- HatchetHaro ( @HatchetHaro@kbin.social ) 2•1 year ago
I really enjoyed this video by Freya Holmér talking about Splines. Awesome resource for game devs.
- Gonzozilla ( @Gonzozilla@kbin.social ) 2•1 year ago
Anything from Oversimplified channel. History made funny and fun. I never learnt about the Aussie vs emu war growing up here. https://youtu.be/BXpu6tbFCsI
- kksgandhi ( @kksgandhi@lemmy.ml ) English2•1 year ago
I’m a huge fan of “The Alt Right Playbook”, which breaks down the dirty tactics the alt right uses to recruit people.
Also a huge fan of “In search of a flat Earth”, which looks at conspiracy theories, how they evolve, why people believe in them, and why “the shape of the Earth might actually be the least relevant part of the flat Earth conspiracy”.
- Adi2121 ( @Adi2121@lemmy.ml ) English2•1 year ago
Summoning Salt’s The Quest to Beat Matt Turk. https://youtu.be/TBR9ypSOTGQ
It is one of Salt’s greatest videos, and showcases some of the best editing and storytelling I’ve ever seen on YouTube. Probably the best part is that you can go in with no knowledge of the game, like I did, and come out fully understanding everything about the game.