More Than LOL Catz and Nutshots

Even before a year ago I used to get a little annoyed when I would hear people say things like "Youtube is nothing but lol catz and nutshots." Back then I only used Youtube for finding music videos (usually of old 80s songs that happened to be stuck in my head) and watching Ted Talks, but even then it annoyed me that anyone could imply it was a site with nothing of real value.

Then about a year ago I found myself wanting to comment on some video, so for the first time ever I actually logged in to Youtube. Shortly thereafter my Ted Talk viewing combined with some views of old Bill Nye videos made Youtube start suggesting other educational videos to me.

2013 was the year I actually learned something new every day, and loved every minute of it. Today I am going to share win you some of the most enjoyable educational channels I have found on Youtube, so you too will want to slap anyone who thinks Youtube is nothing but a waste of time.



1. Crash Course

Crash Course is a channel run by two brothers, Hank and John Green. Between the two of them they have expertise on a wide variety of subjects. While I have frequently used Hanks videos to explain complex science concepts to Robbie, John's Green series on World History and US History have kept me fascinated through multiple viewings.

Picking a favorite video out of the scores of great videos they have done has been hard, but I think I will give a tiny edge to these two for changing my views on the War of 1812 and WWI.

2. V Sauce

V Sauce is like Bill Nye for grown ups (though Robbie loves him too). He takes questions that we all used to wonder about as kids, then in a fantastic, thorough, yet round about way brings us the answer. This is another channel that picking favorites is really hard, but here is a couple of great ones.

3. Numberphile

This is channel run by a group of Maths professors from Cambridge. Even though I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about math, I find I am constantly learning things from them, and yet most of their videos are completely understandable by Robbie. My favorite video of theirs is when they explained how the allies cracked the Enigma code in WWII.

4. Ted Talks

I couldn't make this list and not include the channel I started with. Ted conferences bring in experts in a variety of areas to discuss their work. There are talks covering almost any subject you can imagine, but my favorites are the ones by Hans Rosling (only some of which are here).

5. Ted ED

Ted Talks for kids. Below is one of Robbie's favorites.