Part 2

If you like video essays that aren’t specifically about tea, or like social justice topics, then some good channels for that are Contrapoints, Shaun_vids, and SomeMoreNews. Their styles are quite different from each other but they cover a lot of the same or similar topics related to current events. Shaun_vids is the type to do a lot of in depth research about the groups he’s talking about. He’s more clinical, but also very thorough. Contrapoints comes in from a more emotional standpoint, not in the “feelings trump facts” way though, it’s more like Hbomberguy is logically intelligent and tackles topics from that angle, while contrapoints is very emotionally intelligent, and tackles topics from that angle, addressing why different groups might feel a certain way and how they developed that mindset or how it influences their behaviour. Her video on incels is a great example of this, and is a really interesting video about those communities and the mindsets of the people who join them. I also really like her theatrical presentation, and she’s very good at giving the other side of things a fair overview while not compromising her own views or being too gentle/forgiving with assholes or bigots. SomeMoreNews is the most confrontational out of the three. They also do a lot of research on the topics, but their style is very much like John Oliver, but with more of a news anchor theme rather than a talk show theme, and the host has more of a defined character that he plays rather than just playing “himself”, though his personality does come through a lot too.

Come to think of it, John Oliver is another good channel in that genre since I think most episodes of Last Week Tonight have been uploaded on YouTube. He’s very comedy focused but of these 4 his show has the most resources and as a result his show is possibly the most backed up by research on every topic he covers. Not that the others are lacking on that end by any means. But if you want actual on-screen citations from papers and studies, then his probably comes in first, followed by SomeMoreNews in second, and Shaun_vids (also known as just Shaun) in 3rd. Contrapoints comes in last but mostly just because the stuff she generally tries to tackle is the emotional side of things more than the statistical side of things (which can be just as, if not more valuable when tackling these topics. She has a reputation for deradicalizing a lot of alt right people for a reason), but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t cite her sources. She has an academic background and it shows. So it’s not a criticism by any means, more a sliding scale of what each channel focuses on. So depends on where your preferences lie if that style of video appeals to you.

If you don’t want to watch stuff about politics or social justice but still like video essays, then obviously VSauce is a good channel to binge, but if you want a channel that uploads more often and is currently uploading, then I guess it depends on what kind of topics you like. My tastes are really varies in this genre so I’d probably need more specifics if this is what you’re looking for. Music? Movies? Theme parks? A little bit of everything? Debunking videos? Tv shows? Behind the scenes stuff? Archaeology? Space? True crime? Anime? Video games (as in it’s an essay about the games, not a lets play or gaming challenge)? Let me know if you’re interested in any specific recs in this genre or if you’re up for a little bit of everything. The only channel that comes to mind that covers a wider range of topics is Folding Ideas, which is a great channel. But everyone else I tend to watch is usually more niche to some degree.

If you like more casual reaction content with funny people riffing off stuff they see online, then there’s Chad Chad, Danny Gonzales, Drew Gooden, Cody Ko, and people in that general circle. They tend to reference other similar channels a lot so watching them can expose you to others if you like that genre. I only recently discovered Chad Chad who is really funny imo.

If you like less casual reaction content, as in movie/show reviewers, I have a lot, so if you’re specifically interested in that let me know and I’ll make it a separate post.

Some more random recs that didn’t really fit into any particular category:

Any Austin. He does video game stuff, but not like any other channel, he does stuff like determining the unemployment rate of video game cities, or reviewing all the inns and restaurants in Skyrim, or talking about weird locations in video games that people don’t usually notice or think about. One video series he has is seeing which video game characters in various franchises take the longest to drown. The topics he chooses are often very oddball but his delivery is so entertaining he manages to make the most mundane topics fun to think about. He takes the unemployment videos so seriously to the point of comedy, talking like he’s a legitimate auditor and even printing out the reports and having a presentation at the end like he’s at a meeting. He’s good at making this so absurd that it’s comical, but in a very deadpan kinda way.

DNSL. I’m not really sure how to describe him other than as a very successful troll who messes with people in online games. He doesn’t go too far and most of his targets are assholes, so it doesn’t feel too mean, more absurdist lol.

Sushi Ramen. He’s like if a Japanese game show was a person. His vids are in Japanese, but with subtitles on most of his videos. He’s very funny and has done some wacky things. It’s hard to describe what he does exactly, kinda like Jackass mixed with a prank show mixed with some of the comedic diy style channels.

Scary Interesting. Stories about various disasters and tragedies. There are lots of channels like this, but scary interesting is the only one that I stuck with. I like the variety of stories, they way they’re told, na how there aren’t any bells and whistles, just some imagery put on screen to match whatever’s happening or the setting, or from the event if available, and the guy telling the story. He tells them well without drawing them out too much or being sensational or over dramatic, while still including enough information to understand what’s going on. Does lots of cave diving stories or mountain climbing stories, but also dabble in murders and disappearances and other various topics. Morbid but fascinating, and not all his stories have bad endings so it’s not all depressing.

That’s not all I have by a long shot but I tried to pick out the ones that stood out to me the most without getting bogged down in specifics, but if anyone wants more specific recs then let me know and I can elaborate or add on to what I’ve mentioned already.