Any other authentic channels I should check out about the mastery of a skill or craft?
I've been following his woodworking channel for 10 years — and I have no interest in woodworking myself. I've never come across someone who is 1) 99th percentile at the craft, 2) probably better at videography than the craft itself, and 3) will literally walk you through his line of thinking while including all the dumb mistakes he thought along the way.
Hikaru has a similar way of explaining high-level chess and coming off as human, but the quality of Frank's stuff is nearly unparalleled, in my opinion. It's like watching an absolute master of his craft have a beer with you and explain his 4D chess moves in an Explain Like I'm 5 years old format.
Highly, highly recommend watching him.
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned 3Blue1Brown yet, who is perhaps the single most influential figure in popular mathematics today. https://www.youtube.com/@3blue1brown
StezStixFix a very funny channel about fixing electronics, mostly SMD stuff over microscope: https://youtube.com/@StezStixFix
Baumgartner for fine art restoration: https://youtube.com/@BaumgartnerRestoration
Sebastian Lague for game development videos: https://youtube.com/@SebastianLague
Our Painted Lives for oil painting: https://youtube.com/@OurPaintedLives
I could keep the list forever (maybe I spend to much time in YouTube)
Doug has spent over 10 years building a 73ft steel hulled sailing vessel from scratch, to be donated for research use by students. He literally bought steel plates and welded it into a frame. The vessel launched mid last year and the channel follows just about every aspect of its construction. Doug learns and builds just about every component, from its desalination system, casting his own propellers, and just about everything else.
I'm a very mechanically inclined individual, and figured this out when I was about 8 years old. I spend multiple hours a week watching all sorts of DIY content on youtube and have pretty much learned how to fix just about anything. Doug is a huge hero in my book, and I wonder if I'll end up like him one day.
Scott Manley - https://www.youtube.com/@scottmanley - While not a craft, he does a very good job explaining a lot of cool things about space.
Stuff Made Here - https://www.youtube.com/@StuffMadeHere - He's an engineer that does a lot of zany projects spanning software, hardware, and mechanics. His wife was pregnant, so it looks like he's taking a break from videos right now.
Welding Tips and Tricks - https://www.youtube.com/@weldingtipsandtricks - I basically learned to welded from this channel.
Sustainable Gardening, Self Sufficient Me
General cooking, Adam Ragusea
Seafood Cooking, Kimagure Cook
Chocolate mastery (demonstrations), Amaury Guichon
3D Printing Tips, Teaching Tech & CNC Kitchen
Everything Coffee Related, James Hoffman
Seafood: Kimagure Cook (https://www.youtube.com/@kimagurecook)
Asian (mostly Chinese) film analysis: Accented Cinema (https://www.youtube.com/@AccentedCinema) -- fills the 'Every Frame a Painting'-shaped hole in my life
Anime-style drawings: Naoki Saito (https://www.youtube.com/@saitonaoki)
E.g. "The Best Way to Cook Steak" https://youtu.be/uJcO1W_TD74
Building a house from selection of land through to selling at auction.
Don't read the comments, half his fans seem to hate him now for turning an art channel into an engineering channel. But that's why I watch!
And then for one of my hobbies https://m.youtube.com/@idaemonplasmo for building better model kit aircrafts.
Not sure if they are masters of their craft, but they make their craft more accessible/enjoyable for me.
Weaver Leather Supply from Chuck Dorsett for anything leather related. https://www.youtube.com/@WeaverLeatherSupply
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6e8wfdmIuLEDpO3rd5jO...
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNNHQbT3rbzXwLY0E_-o9...
sreetips for goldrefining: https://youtube.com/@sreetips
And of course MrCarlsonsLab for old electronics restaurations: https://youtube.com/@MrCarlsonsLab
Ben Heck Hacks
Curious Marc
Great Scott
There's more idk if it's what you're looking for but yeah I try to watch more useful content but I still watch let's play type stuff.
Shango does a great style of troubleshooting and funny commentary along the way. Literally restores desert find TV sets to working.
Automotive, mechanics, and tinkering with engines mustie1 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcSeeATlWJJbXpOZRYOfaDg
He brings you along and explains to the user in a friendly way that makes you feel like you're in the garage with
https://www.youtube.com/@DIYPerks/videos
Been working back through his videos but just generally the quality of the stuff he comes up with is amazing to me. Loved the bellows he made for cooling a PC instead of fans, and the desktop PC that fits into a 50mm thick desk.
Crafting ASMR of the highest caliber.
I love to watch Adam Neely's and 12Tone's channel about music theory. I don't understand everything they say, but the topics are usually very interesting. I also enjoy 8bitmusictheory and, as you can imagine from the name, it's focused on game music.
I hope you enjoy them :^)
Adam's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AdamNeely
12Tone's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTUtqcDkzw7bisadh6AOx5w
8-bit Music Theory's channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/8bitMusicTheory
edit: oh, forgot to say, but `my mechanics` is truly amazing!
These guys in a remote Indian village cook for hundreds of [needy] people at a time. There is no modern cooking machinery involved. Their methods and enthusiasm are fun to watch!
I don't do metalwork, but have often appreciated Clickspring's videos[3]
1: https://www.youtube.com/@RichardRaffanwoodturning
2: https://www.youtube.com/@PhilAndersonShadyAcresWoodshop/vide...
I also recently found https://youtube.com/@KyleRoyerKnives
From his video making this sword https://youtu.be/53_cuLhObr8
It was fascinating to see the details and the work required to make one sword.
Ex-Tesla/Apple automotive engineer who manages to make the realm of working on your own car seem less daunting, with a nice side of witty humor. I love his videos - he has a video series where he's currently fitting a Tesla powertrain into a 70-year old Jaguar, which I find somewhat amusing.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rF_r5JwMPLSu9sc0QjAkQ
One of many good modern real life industrial scale family farm channels.
Good use of fixed cameras, drone cameras, flying while driving big combines, etc.
Seeding, lambing, ripping out old foundations to build new sheds, water tanks, seed silos, it's all there.
TA Outdoors
Simon, A bloke in the woods
The MCQBushcraft Archive
Joe Robinet
Ovens Rocky Mountain Bushcraft
Some highlights are his c&c machines he built and a robotic industrial arm he built. Also covers things like electrical motors, cad design tips, mechanical design.
Fine carpentry, less step by step, more overview by step w/o explanations: https://youtube.com/@ISHITANIFURNITURE
"repairing neglected power equipment": https://www.youtube.com/@jcondon1
A carpenter who is using hand tools exclusively. He's an enthusiastic user of the "roman workbench" -- essentially, a regular, low bench with holes for "bench dogs" or holdfasts. His instructions on how to build and use are really good, here's a section for these: https://yewtu.be/playlist?list=PL6p4OzXAymr15zd5p-46R71vtEWj...
I also like the laid-back manner in which he speaks. Seems like a nice guy.
Advoko Makes: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mRc7ZDRcgrQ
It’s hard to sort out the good teachers from the wannabe influencers. I also don’t mind hearing suggestions for video stuff outside of youtube.
does not teach ‘mastery’ but he teach much about what to look at when buying car..have car issue..avoid get scam by mechanic.
his speaking style like old grandpa. very enjoyable and improve my ability to understand spoken english too so not use chatgpt when doing work
The tag line is "This is not a fitness channel. This is a skill channel." Kettlebells. Clubbells. Bodyweight exercises. Building functional strength. There are no overt sales pitches.
Mark's instructional style is no-nonsense. Note his use of visual and verbal cues to get you to remember good form. And then there are the "Nerd Math" videos where he whiteboards workout progressions. Great stuff for HN readers!
The creator has quite a soothing demeanour.
Also Project Binky by Bad Obsession Motorsport shows fascinating fabrication skills even for people not interested in Motorsport like me
Edit: Ha, just clicked OP's link. They linked my mechanics. He's simply amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw9t0oA3fHkxx1PgYpiXr...
Security - https://www.youtube.com/@hak5
A legend in the Twisty Puzzling circles.
https://www.youtube.com/@SuperAntoniovivaldi/videos
I still cannot explain why I can spend hours watching his videos walk through a solve of a layer-by-layer solution and his Ghost Cube/Ultimate shape shifter explanations are just so easy to follow.
Awesome framers - funny construction guy
Essential craftsman - folksy grandpa construction guy
Adept Ape - funny heavy equipment repair
Tom scott - engineering interest bits... short and fun
Smartereveryday - brilliant engineer shows how things work from rockets to carburetors
Laura Kampf is a great woodworker, but her attitude makes the channel.
AvE is a Canadian weirdo who does a little bit of everything. I'd explain better if I knew what he's even saying half the time.
There are many copy-cats and fake click-bait channels out there now, but this guy pretty much invented the genre of "no talking, guy makes stuff with his bare hands from scratch" videos, and one of the few that's not complete bullshit.
Underdog Electronic Music School: https://www.youtube.com/@OscarUnderdog
Great advice on making electronic music, techno, etc.
Core Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/@Core-Electronics
They have great electronics/maker tutorials about Arduino, RasPi, etc. Adafruit is an obvious other source.
Jeff Geerling: https://www.youtube.com/@JeffGeerling
Great videos about RasPi, clusters, homelabs, Kubernetes and lots more.
https://www.youtube.com/@thatdudecancook
"thatdudecancook" (terrible name, I know!) has shown me some amazingly simple techniques that have radically improved my cooking:
https://www.youtube.com/@ChineseCookingDemystified
If you're into Chinese cooking, then the Chinese Cooking Demystified channel is excellent. This is not your lemon chicken from the mall food court… They deep-dive into all the regional cuisines and present non-mainland-China-friendly recipes and techniques. It's a real eye-opener.
https://www.youtube.com/@LanceHedrick
For coffee, as others have said, James Hoffman, but also check out Lance Hendrick if you want crazy amounts of detail:
https://www.youtube.com/@AaronandClaire
Aaron & Claire regularly produce ultra-simple, fast, imaginative Korean dishes.
https://www.youtube.com/@HowToCookThat
Ann Reardon does some interesting baking-oriented stuff, but even better, her debunking videos are the real gold.
https://www.youtube.com/@SmokingDadBBQ
I'm getting into BBQ & smoking (bought a Kamado) and found SmokingDadBBQ informative.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj4KP216972cPp2w_BAHy8g
For something really out-there, Wilderness Cooking (again, a terrible name) is intriguing. It's this guy living in what looks like a pretty remote village in Azerbaijan doing traditional outdoor feasts. Warning: not even remotely vegetarian-friendly.
+1 for Adam Regusea and J-Kenji Lopez-Alt.
He also makes an effort to only promote science backed advice, in a video titled "the only 3 supplements you need", he lists creatine, protein, and pre-workouts (mostly the caffine). He's goes on to elaborate the positive and negatives each, and even goes on to say essentially that if your sleep is bad, no amount of creatine or protein is going to make a meaningful positive difference in your muscle growth. His channel is a great resource for bodybuilding and even if that's not your ultimate goal, it's a fantastic and realistic resource for fitness in general.
His videos really helped me avoid serious body dysmorphia. He has a great series on natty or not, where he describes who is likely taking steroids, what kind of physique is healthy to keep, and how common it is for people that show up on under fitness tags to be on steroids. This leads to a lot of struggles with body dysmorphia, especially at the age when kids become interested in fitness, and how it's struggling is not limited to any gender. There are similar creators like Jeff Nippard, Stephanie Buttermore but Virtuvian Physique is my favorite creator. I also really enjoy his humor. He has placed multiple times over many years at body building competitions and he has a BSc with a double major in Human Physiology and Economics from the University of Western Ontario.
https://www.youtube.com/@VitruvianPhysique/videos
I also really enjoy Adam Neely who exists in the music sphere on youtube, a educational music creator/composer. His approach to music is founded on jazz, he has a BA from Berklee in Jazz Composition, and a Master's in Jazz Comp from The Manhattan School of Music. He discusses music theory of more mainstream songs and trends in music. I really enjoyed his breakdown of the music theory of the song Castaways from the children's show Backyardigans, a bossa nova song inspired by Samba de Orfeu, and his deep dive into the the history of the song as well as the genre. The budget for the children's show was way more than I imagined, for one of the Rossini songs, they used 25 musicians and the show also had a dedicated choreographer, Beth Bogush to help create the dance/choreo seen in this animated kids show. Adam Neely breaks down the chrods and tempo and fun key change used for the song Castaways, with the song being in 2/2 time. The idea of a descending bass line being an analogy of a sinking ship they are singing about.
https://www.youtube.com/@AdamNeely/videos
Nahre Sol is also one of my favorite music creators. She is a respected composer [2] who makes content about different genres of music as well as how she processes them as a classically trained musician. She makes an effort to explain the more nuanced things in music but doesn't oversimplify the music or process in any way. It feels like a musician talking to other musicians while still being understandable without formal music theory training. She's been a guest host of NPR's Performance Today and I really enjoyed her videos PBS Digital's youtube series Sound Field. It was really interesting to watch how a classically trained composer approaches music in a relatively new genre like lofi hiphop, which in my opinion was created by the internet. She has a Bachelor's in Piano Performance from the Juilliard School.
https://www.youtube.com/@NahreSol/videos
Writing this list, I noticed I value educational content over anything else. In my opinion the ultimate mastery of a skill or craft can be judged based on how easily someone can teach it to a novice. I really enjoy watching a deep dive videos about something I'd incorrectly assume is very simple. There's something really charming about a passionate person sharing the hidden complexity of something. I also really enjoy all of their humor, which some would call sometimes "gen-z" sometimes "nerdy".