My Favourite YouTube Creators

I watch a lot of YouTube. I don’t know if I do YouTube “right” but this is my approach:

• Have a very extensive subscription list
• Every few days, scroll my subscriptions and add interesting videos to my Watch Later list
• Consume the list in one of two ways:
  • Shuffle when I don’t know what I want to watch
  • Selecting videos the look good in the moment

It doesn’t take a lot to get into my subscription list but, on the other hand, it doesn’t take a lot to get cast out either.

My son - who also watches a lot of YouTube - asked me who my favourite creators were, I realised I didn’t have a clear answer. His approach is to “curate the ultimate feed” - very different to mine. I like to be in control.

This post then is me trying to capture the YouTubers who I’m enjoying. It will be an ecletic mix and I’ll add as I go through. I’ll probably miss people initially but will update as I go. Initially, I’ll just list though it might evolve into categories over time.

• Ali Gallop - this guy is an amazing YouTuber - he’s a film maker with opinions. He seems to be enjoying life and sharing the ups and downs. I appreciate his voice, his shots and his creativity. If I ever manage to make YouTube a priority then I’d love to have a scrap of his skill.

• Ryan Twomey - I can’t decide if Ryan belongs on this list. He’s a van lifer which is something I enjoy following along with. Each video is effectively a day in the life and him cooking a meal in the van. I first found him when he did a few unnarrated day in the life which I really enjoyed. His current stuff, I often watch 50-75% of (hence my uncertainty about whether he belongs on this list). Seems like a nice guy and I enjoy his shots and his cooking.

• Maxx Webster - I’ve been loving this guys videos. He’s been renovating a old coach house - practical and hands-on, seeing the space evolve slowly over time, appreciating the length of time and depth of energy and expertise needed for a project like this.

• Thomas Heaton - I’m relatively new to this creator. Another van guy but he’s also a photographer. I mix between him building and travelling in his van in the UK and him scouting locations and taking interesting photos.

• No Boilerplate - the first technical channel on my list. Tristan is a really interesting creator - he uses slides and voiceover talking on a variety of topics from Obsidian, to Rust, to ADHD. Always really interesting and really fast.

• Chris Hytha - another home renovator. This time with a Philedelphia row house. Engaging personality and interesting renovation project.

• Mythical Kitchen - I particularly like the Last Meal series. Lots of interesting discussion around death and eating.

• B1M - A fascinating channel about big engineering projects.

• vlogbrothers - I’ve been watching Hank and John Green for the past 20 years. It feels weird to add them to this list as they are just constants in the conversations my wife and I have. I could add Hank’s channel, SciSchow and all of the other projects that these amazing humans are involved in.