There’s some good content on youtube, which has been severely under-promoted. Let’s use this post as a free zone for promoting any podcasts or youtube channels that you like, which the rest of us probably have not heard of. But, for my part, I’ll focus on just this one which, shockingly, has only 131,000 subscribers.
Are you familiar with The Rest Is History? And, if so, why didn’t you tell me before now? [youtube, playlists]
The format is simple, which I like because I am tired to death with slickly-produced AI-narrated documentaries. [Not that I dislike AI, but people just use the boring default voice instead of David Attenborough. James Brown, or David Vader] it’s Dominic Sandbrook (a popular historian) and Tom Holland (another popular historian). They get into a wide range of topics and are generally thorough, interesting and funny. I’ve listened to lots of their 350 hours of video (!) and only ever noticed one point which I would argue with. By which, I mean, I’d like to have a good coffee-infused arguing bout with Holland over some of the things he said, because I believe he’d be fascinated and enlightened.
I describe them as “popular historians” because they are not hardcore academics who, as my father once said, “are historians who write only for other historians.” Dad says he wrote the 600-odd pages of “Paris, the New Rome of Louis XIV” as a sort of blog response-at-length for two of his friends. The problem with hardcore academics is they wind up knowing a huge amount about all sorts of things, but stay in their lane and don’t wander much. Holland and Sandbrook are clearly deeply knowledgeable about many things, but also have mastered the academic’s trick of being able to quickly present the congealed output of a massive amount of reading and extraneous facts. Reading between the lines it seems as though each episode is written by one or the other, who shares their notes, and they both chime in with interesting digressions or rather odd humor. I had encountered Holland when I read his book Rubicon, which is an excellent history of the beginning of the end of the Roman republic. Holland also wrote an interesting but not very popular book about the difficulty of finding a historical Mohammed, in spite of the fact that he is often claimed to be a historical character. I thought it was interesting but, like most atheists, I am not interested in arguing with – well, any more, I’m not interested in arguing with true believers. Fuck them thoroughly.
A good place to start might be with their short series (5 episodes) on Horatio Nelson [yt]. Or Lord Byron. Or the French Revolution. Or how Hitler came to power, etc. Some of this is familiar stuff and is covered elsewhere but Holland and Sandbrook do it with charm and a refreshing amount of energy. They obviously know (and have thought) about what they are discussing and bring the kind of opinions we all love: informed ones.
Anyhow, you may enjoy it, and here’s an episode to give you a flavor of the thing:
Yes, someone really needs to help Holland with his lighting. But, I’m interested in the topics not art cinema.
Check it out.
My disagreement with Holland relates to his episode about Hitler’s “madness”, in which he appears to not understand that Hitler’s bizarre racist theories are not home-grown nonsense by Hitler – they’re down-home American scientific racism, which Hitler even credited in a letter to Madison Grant writing that “The Passing of The Great Race is like a bible to me.” Yes, well, American scientific racism: Grant, Spencer, Popenoe, etc., sprung up thanks to Americans’ endless attempts to justify abusing black people. Grant was also anti-semitic, but didn’t make a big deal about it. Hitler did. Holland’s presentation of Hitler’s ideas makes it sound as though Hitler thought up all that cockamamie stuff about round skulls and nordics and aryans, when he actually learned his racism from an American. [stderr] [stderr]
atrocity guide has documentaries about cults, fringe beliefs, and more. should be of interest to skepty types. likewise the anti-pyramid-scheme girls, the main one I’ve watched being munecat, who also dunks on manosphere foolz. her video on sovereign citizens was huge. both munecat and atrocity guide surprised me with a bit of exclusive content, like, indie journalism that went above recitation of other sources laden with opinion.
I have several Channels on YouTube i follow. I will give 2:
Being dutch there is not much to be proud of,.. but our willingness to invest in active travel is one of those things. There are loads of channels on biking, but this is one of the best to explain the difference between usa-Canada and the Netherlands. And it doesn’t fixate on bikes. https://youtube.com/@notjustbikes?si=2X-LVxisq4lGuj8m
The other one is really Tech-nerdy on PV, house insulation, energy Storage, and future of green tech.
https://youtube.com/@undecidedmf?si=XOoYnJ94GAgcNWrt
I like Belle of the Ranch (https://www.youtube.com/@BeauoftheFifthColumn) who presents an article of news in a calm and reasoned way. She puts out 3 or 4 videos a day, so it ends up as a lot of content, but in 3 or 4 minute bites. I come away from the videos with a better understanding of the topic at hand. She also knows how to resist – one of the best quotes I’ve heard from her: “Don’t obey in advance.â€
I don’t follow anybody on Youtube regularly. I have gone there at times to bone up on subjects such as home repair, disc golf, popular music. Recently I notice that when I go there, the suggested videos include a lot of boobies, even though that is not one of the topics I have been using the platform to study. So there must be inherent biases in their algorithm which are distinguishable from my viewing history.
Tasting History with Max Miller is cooking and history mixed together. If the idea of cooking a steak the same way the Romans did, want to know the history of Buffalo Wings or are curious about what was served in Japanese-American internment camps this is the place. He goes over the history of the food and shows you how to make some.
Forgotten Weapons The channel for fire arms, both history and mechanics. It’s evolved beyond just forgotten weapons to anything Ian McCollum can get an actual example of. He explains the historical context of the gun, the specific history of the gun he has when he can. If possible he will take it apart, explain how it works and sometimes shoot it.
Lei’s Real Talk Political analysis of what is happening in China. With a government as obscure as the Chinese government this is shaky ground but she seems to have a good grasp of what is happening, why it’s happening and the hidden power structure of the country.
I’ve mentioned him before, but it’s on topic here:
https://youtu.be/mR0fQx_9UMQ?si=5tE_xE1i9fGzjB3U
Oh, that Tom Holland. You should read his books.
Note to self – read the whole thing before commenting.
He also wrote a bunch of historical vampire novels, kinda halfway between Anne Rice and Umberto Eco.
The Empire podcast by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand is excellent. They started with a focus on the East India Company and all the British shenanigans in the subcontinent and have widened their focus to other empires. I’m about two years behind, really should do something about that.
there’s a guy named kiwami that makes knives out of strange materials and sharpens them to where they can cut razor thin cukes
This guy is ex military and has a neat line in explaining why, despite it being 2024, modern warfare doesn’t look like Modern Warfare.
I’m quite enjoying Science Fiction with Damien Walker.
This is probably a good place to start: https://youtu.be/vRC0cK_MSA0?si=onanbT3YrjhJzv9S
Gylfi of Justicelandic has a visual point of view, and talks about the volcanoes (and everything else) of Iceland. He uses drones and does his best to get them into all sorts of interesting flight paths. If you want to know about Svartsengi or the Aurora Borealis, he will have this kind of information.
Grady of PracticalEngineering has a practical point of view, and talks about structures and their fail points. He does cute fairly accurate scale experiments in his garage, much safer than MythBusters. If you want to know about the supertanker in the Nile, or the Francis Scott Key bridge crash, he will have this kind of information.
I enjoy watching Dan (who is British) restore a chateau in France which burned and has been a ruin for 40 years. He started as Dan the Gardener at another Brit owned Chateau with a YouTube channel called The chateau diary’s, started his own YouTube channel, and now has his own Chateau that has floors and a roof that is not yet slated after a year of hard work. It’s a massive project that started by removing full grown trees from the piles of rubble that filled the main floor.
https://m.youtube.com/@escapetoruralfrance
I’m rather fond of this woman named Lisa who makes incredible soaps “ I Dream In Soap†and a woodworker named Mayuko . They’re relaxing and given the stress of watching the USA fall apart because of traitor trump, I’d rather watch a British woman make soap
These are all great suggestions, and I think my “free time” just vanished.
Tethys@#15:
That pretty much describes my every summer from 1964 until the late 1970s. My dad bought an old farm house in the south of france that had no roof, a tree growing out of the middle of the main room, etc. I grew up cutting slates (or lauzes in Patois) and doing light stone-masonry. I guess that was where I learned the ideology of “nothing is impossible if you are crazy stubborn” – this was a medium size farmhouse from the (1400s?) – I have also participated in some castle repairs and the idea of trying to solo a castle is more than I can think of. So much work!
badland@#10:
I read somewhere that “freedom from England day” is the most celebrated national holiday in the world, it’s just celebrated on different days, but some ridiculous percentage of the world celebrates it.
brightmoon@#16:
I’d rather watch a British woman make soap
I’d rather watch anything, up to and including the British Laundry Hanging Channel.
… Hitler’s bizarre racist theories are not home-grown nonsense by Hitler – they’re down-home American scientific racism…
With a foundation built by Martin Luther, the Catholic Church, and certain soreheads ~19 centuries ago who bitterly but partially rejected their religious roots and joined an exciting new cult which promised eradication of everything.
“In the Shadow of the Sword”? I remember initially mistaking it for a historical novel when I picked it up long ago as a paperback from a physical bookstore. Turned out to be a fascinating read anyway.