I keep thinking I should look into this MrBeast drama, then I remember I just do not give a single fuck.
I went through a h3h3 phase when I was like 20, then realised that any YT drama is just toxic and it’s best to avoid it entirely.
I miss Tom Scott, just made quality videos with none of the BS. Nothing over the top, just interesting content from a genuine guy who cares about his audience.
Technology Connections is a nice breath of fresh air in the YouTube space if you want something tech related
He’s GREAT! I just wish he had more content… but then it probably wouldn’t be as good. I guess I really wish I hadn’t already binged his whole channel!
Cathod Ray Dude.
EDIT: There is also
-
Calum - dude does weird deep dives on niche topics like secret bunkers from WWII, snow mobiles or camper planes.
-
Our Own Devices - mostly 10min videos on old military devices.
I also like Tech ingredients, thought emporium. Though more on the practical here’s what I did rather than informational/educational
Destin at Smarter Every Day and Steven Mould seem like solid guys, and content similar to Tom Scott if you haven’t seen them.
Destin’s religion is a turnoff for me along with the inclusion of children. His reactions are way too over the top, too. Used to watch it a bunch but have slowly drifted away.
I definitely hate religion but I haven’t noticed any on Smarter Every Day. Does he talk about god? Recently I watched him talking to a researcher about the proton motors that power bacterial flagella and he kept saying he was getting emotional from noticing design features he’s had to implement himself on machines. But he didn’t say a word about god while doing that. It makes me emotional too just in wonder at the complexity of life.
EDIT: as I was shown by another member, he absolutely talks directly about god at the end of the video - I hadn’t watched far enough.
Destin at Smarter Every Day
I enjoy his content and like him and his style but I still have a bitter taste in my mouth from him being a former missile guidance engineer at Redstone and making this low-key military ad series. I mean he has been pretty upfront about his past career and such but he also knows that his channel is probably watched by a lot of children.
I don’t know, something feels off about it.
Channels with absolutely zero drama that are still active and I would describe as " interesting content made by someone who cares about it" :
-
cracking the cryptic: solving sudoku puzzles twice daily
-
chessnetwork: explaining famous chess matches and occasionally playing online chess, but with none of the bro culture that has grown up around chess recently
-
Folding ideas: great video essays about film or modern phenomena like NFTs
-
Technology connections: already reccommended, but in depth explanations about how electronics work
-
Language Jones: videos about linguistics and learning new languages
-
Numberphile/StandUpMaths- interesting math videos
If you like gaming YouTubers, there are plenty who try their best to stay drama-free.
RTGame, Spiffing Brit, AmbiguousAmphibian, Dunkey, Game Grumps, General Sam just to name a few.
i would add tomatoanus for speedruns. really appreciate that he makes a point to remind people to be kind to themselves.
I’d like to add to the list a few entries on history and physics channels:
-The Histocrat: in depth video essays regarding the history of many neolithic to bronze age cultures around the world as well as the history of several mythological creatures.
-Fall of Civilizations: podcast describing a detailed picture of many ancient cultures around the world, from their beginings to their golden ages to their fall.
-North02: EXTREMELY detailed videos (sometimes bordering on documentaries) about many stone age cultures and topics, I loved his essay on neanderthals and just how long it was.
-Trey the Explainer: great YouTube channel talking about many topics that often dive into history. I recommend watching his video on the first joke in history.
-Angela Collier: AMAZING channel regarding physics with the great Angela Collier, if I remember correctly she has a PhD and has explained many physics topics history of physics and physics as an academic field.
-PBS SpaceTime: I think this one is WAY more recognized but in case it is not, this channel is physics oriented and also provided very detailed explanations of many topics of the field.
Primitive Technology: Just a guy out in the forest making stuff by hand, absolutely no talking, no drama. It’s somehow relaxing to watch. He may have even built the camera itself out of sticks and stones.
I think it’s awesome that the silent vibes were an accident. He just didn’t want to have to explain everything while he was doing it and found it easier to summarize in the closed captions afterward. People fell in love with the vibe, so he kept it up.
you can just make up two stupid names in your head and get all the benefit of youtube drama - here:
did you hear than Zzzamboney copied a video from Mr457? Turns out that the latest in ZB’s “I’m a chicken” series is actually 457’s “Birdalike” vid but with the turkeys swapped for chickens.
You might like Anton Petrov. He’s a science youtuber that does a different video every day. He mostly focuses on space science but he’s pretty uncontroversial. I like his videos a lot.
Anton is the GOAT if you’re into space. He basically spends all his time reading recent scientific papers and then summarizes them for a general audience without exaggerating or editorializing like you see with most other science reporting.
He’s perfect for anyone with a deep love of science who wants to keep up with the very latest developments but doesn’t have the time to keep up with the ‘literature’.
If you’re into space youtubers i also recommend Dr Becky. She’s an astrophysicist who specializes in black hole research.
Check out Camping with Steve. It’s the antithesis of drama. Dude just wants to sleep weird places and have a quiet beer, as far as I can tell.
Steve is a good man and he deserves all the success he finds. Him losing people close to him so close together must’ve been incredibly tough and I’m happy he hasn’t hung it up yet.
RIP Beautiful Wife and Crazy Neighbor. They’ll be waiting for him in the hereafter with a trusty Step 2
I think Atomic Frontier is the closest channel we have to Tom right now, though I would never say that on his comment section. He might get too pressured lol
SmarterEveryDay is nice too, though that’s more focused on engineering stuff.
If you like “car stuff,” Sleeperdude is top of the charts, and I’ve got a list of other channels too many to list here. Language? RobWords. Math? Numberphile and Stand-up Maths. General interesting stuff? Joe Scott (unrelated).
I’m desperate for drama-free car stuff. I was excited that Pumphrey stepped away from everything to start his own channel, then his first video was him emotionally talking into the camera for 45 minutes.
And since you’re desperate, I’ll throw down a bunch for you here:
Aging Wheels bart Bart’s Car Stories driving 4 answers Ed’s Auto Reviews FortNine Junkyard Digs Mortske Repair Moto Control (motorcycle riding advice) Robot Cantina (doesn’t get nearly enough love) SuperfastMatt The Bearded Mechanic
I’m working on starting up my own channel for motorcycle revivals, I think there’s room for one more, but I am not ready to advertise it yet.
You are so cool for not caring about exploitation of vulnerable people by one of their peers.
haha wait till you see the generation of fuckups that growing up on youtube will produce. The Elsagate generation will be a special and wholly new kind of damaged.
You can feel free to not give a fuck but you will still have to deal with the consequences as they age into society with all the moral framework of a spiky haired n-bomb dropping shock streamer.
Right lmao.
Younger folk, all the content you think about being on the “darkweb?” That was just the web. 🤣