----------- Space / Futurism -----------
- Isaac Arthur: https://www.youtube.com/@isaacarthurSFIA
He releases weekly 40-minute episodes covering topics like far-future engineering, aliens, planetary science, and all sorts of insane questions most people would never think to ask let alone spend 40 minutes answering. I stumbled upon this channel in 2020 and am so glad I did.
- John Michael Godier: https://www.youtube.com/@JohnMichaelGodier
He produces similar content to Isaac Arthur but in shorter chunks, generally 20 minute episodes that are the ideal content for falling asleep (in a good way).
- Event Horizon: https://www.youtube.com/@EventHorizonShow
This is a podcast from John Michael Godier featuring longer episodes and interviews with guests.
- History of the Universe: https://www.youtube.com/@HistoryoftheUniverse
This is a series with 60-90 minute episodes released every 2-6 weeks. The production quality is insanely high, and the content is generally related to cosmology and history of science, often presenting answers to questions in a form of narrative from early scientists to modern day cosmologists.
- PBS Space Time: https://www.youtube.com/@pbsspacetime
Host Dr. Matt O'Dowd narrates ~20 minute videos, released every 2-4 weeks, exploring questions related to cosmology and theoretical physics.
--------- More General Science ---------
- World Science Festival: https://www.youtube.com/@WorldScienceFestival
Most WSF videos are 2-3 hour long conversations between host Brian Greene and either a single guest (like Stephen Wolfram recently) or a panel of a few guests. Brian Greene is an excellent moderator who possesses an unrivaled ability to articulate and ask thoughtful questions about the most complex of abstract concepts, in a way that a non-expert can understand and appreciate them.
- Closer to Truth: https://www.youtube.com/@CloserToTruthTV
Robert Lawrence Kuhn interviews guests in multi-part 10-20 minute videos asking deep questions about topics like consciousness, cosmology, physics and philosophy. Some of these episodes are old uploads, but I believe some of them are new as well. He's had some excellent guests, like Roger Penrose, Leonard Susskind, Nick Bostrom, and many others.
- Theories of Everything (TOE) Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@TheoriesofEverything
This one is more of a guilty pleasure, and it's a bit of a fringe channel that built most of its following from the UFO sub-culture. But the host Curt Jaimungal is highly articulate and asks thoughtful questions of guests that might not join other more mainstream podcasts. His open-mindedness has attracted a wide range of guests, from Lue Elizondo and Steven Greer, to Noam Chomsky and Stephen Wolfram. Generally speaking the guests are more weighted toward the "Intellectual Dark Web" variety, but don't let that stop you from watching. I first encountered this podcast because it was the only one to interview Salvatore Pais, the researcher whose name is on the US Navy patents for technology so futuristic that most consider it disinformation (I agree).
---------- Computers / Infosec ----------
- Flashback Team: https://www.youtube.com/@FlashbackTeam
Every few months, they release a new video showing reverse engineering techniques and exploring various exploits they found. I normally don't watch tech content on YouTube, but these videos are always worth it, with unexpectedly rich information density on-par with exploit writeups, and presented in a way that takes advantage of the video format.
- Darknet Diaries: https://www.youtube.com/@JackRhysider
I listen to this podcast on Spotify, but it's worth including here because it's actually the only podcast I listen to. The episodes are great and Jack is a solid narrator. I recommend starting with episodes 99 and 100 about NSO Group.
- Suckerpinch: https://www.youtube.com/@tom7
Maybe tom7 will release a video this year, I hope he does, because they're all worth a watch. I don't even know how to describe them other than saying he does weird things with computers...
- Serve the Home: https://www.youtube.com/@ServeTheHomeVideo
This channel posts reviews of small form-factor computers like routers and and SoCs. I don't watch it frequently, but occasionally there is a video that piques my interest. It should be interesting to anyone who likes content about homelabs.
- Jeff Geerling: https://www.youtube.com/@JeffGeerling
Featuring content vaguely similar to ServeTheHome, Jeff Geerling posts videos about building things with Rasperry Pis and the like. It's a bit too clickbaity for me but he does have some decent content.
--------- Wholesome Pranks ---------
- Ed Bassmaster: https://www.youtube.com/@edbassmaster
The king of character acting.
- Ross Creations: https://www.youtube.com/@VlogCreations
The king of dead-pan humor.
- sidequestz: https://www.youtube.com/@side.questz/shorts
Underrated character actor with dead-pan humor.
---------------- Chess ----------------
- Ben S. Chess: https://www.youtube.com/@benschess
You never know when he might release a new 5 minute video. It might be in six months or it might be next week. But it will be worth it.
- Daniel Naroditsky: https://www.youtube.com/@DanielNaroditskyGM
Danya is the best chess instructor on YouTube.
--- Mainstream Honorable Mentions ---
Most people have heard of these so I won't describe them, but they're always worth a watch. If for some reason you haven't heard of one of these, I suggest you click:
- Stuff Made Here: https://www.youtube.com/@StuffMadeHere
- Numberphile: https://www.youtube.com/@numberphile
- Veritasium: https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium
- 3Blue1Brown: https://www.youtube.com/@3blue1brown
- Kurzgesagt: https://www.youtube.com/@kurzgesagt