I personally think Youtube is the modern threat to 'conventional' TV. I may have come to dislike Google & all its twatinations, but also hugely respect some of the people providing interesting content on their system using just a camera and can-do spirit. Using 'Normal' TV's The Repair Shop as an example - Could be a fascinating half hour on detailed coverage of remarkable skill, but has to waste our time with lachrymose prime-time TV bollocks, at the expense of real documentary value. What non-WW2 stuff are people watching? Easy to miss stuff there. The WW2-themed things bubble to the top here, obviously, but I'm intrigued by what else has caught people's eye? Some of my subscriptions: This Old Tony: This is the threat to conventional TV. Interesting, amusing, clever. The master. https://www.youtube.com/c/ThisOldTony/videos AvE: Sweary Canadian. A language all his own that has leached into my own vocabulary. Click! https://www.youtube.com/c/arduinoversusevil2025/videos OxToolCo: That laugh... Tom's a clever bastard, no doubting. https://www.youtube.com/user/oxtoolco/videos Vintage Machinery: Keith can be a bit of a bloviator, but lordy I'd like his space & skill. https://www.youtube.com/c/KeithRuckerVintageMachineryorg/videos Steve Summers: Gentle & fascinating chap. (Though I'd like to see him properly angry...) https://www.youtube.com/c/SteveSummers/videos Watch Wes Work: Cynical/funny man works on vehicles almost completely alien to me, and yet... https://www.youtube.com/c/WatchWesWork/videos Heavy D Sparks: Once you get past the slightly shouty tone - highly entertaining/positive stuff. https://www.youtube.com/c/HeavyDSparks/videos Edd China: Nerd! https://www.youtube.com/c/eddchina/videos Colin Furze: A Lincs loony, but a talented/directed one... 11.5M well-deserved subscribers. https://www.youtube.com/c/colinfurze/videos Jay Leno's Garage: Dave55 put me onto it. Cheers, Dave. In-depth vehicular nerdery. https://www.youtube.com/c/jaylenosgarage/videos Fireball Tool: Pleasantly excitable Septic, again with some real skill & interesting content. https://www.youtube.com/c/FireballTool/videos Ghost Town Living: After a while, you feel like Brent's an online friend. A strange one, with some odd subterranean habits, but I've enjoyed his channel more than most. https://www.youtube.com/c/GhostTownLiving/videos What are you watching? ~A
I don't have TV anymore but I watch a lot of the Tube. Most of the channels I watch are related to my interests in military history and firearms, but not all. I strongly recommend the following: 1. Drachinifel, a British engineer who goes into deep, deep depth on naval history and the architecture of warships, from Drake right up through 1945. Excellent content in every respect from a guy who knows his stuff, essential for anyone interested in the naval side of WWII and/or the Great War. Also amusing. Drachinifel - YouTube 2. Gun Jesus. What can I say? Many of you already know Ian McCollum, who is knowledgeable, scholarly, and highly entertaining all at the same time. I always learn something from watching him, if only how to have good safe fun with interesting firearms. Forgotten Weapons - YouTube 3. Bloke on the Range. Bloke is a fubsy British expatriate in Switzerland who shoots in his spare time, often with historic weapons. He is an expert on/admirer of the Lee Enfield and the Garand, and if you are interested in WWII era arms you should watch him. His pal Fabien (known as Chap) is French and spends a lot of time with French arms--the Chassepot, the MAS 36, etc. Their Switzer buddies Budi and Pascal know all about Swiss military history and Swiss firearms. Very informative and entertaining. Bloke on the Range - YouTube 4. C&Rsenal. This is an admirable series put together by two amiable South Carolinians, Othais and Mae. Othais (that's right operator, Othais) is a hulking gentle giant with a lumberjack beard, and Mae is a perky and attractive young woman. They started a series on WWI firearms as part of the Great War centennial and they are still going strong. They have covered even obscure types like the Belgian Comblain and the Austrian Werndl, and since most WWI arms showed up in WWII you should definitely check their channel. Othais is a demon researcher who gives exhaustive historical background. Mae does most of the shooting and since she is about the size of an average WWI soldier she offers a realistic user's perspective. Lots of information and lots of fun. C&Rsenal - YouTube 5. Paul Harrell. Paul is very American and so I think more of an acquired taste for non-Yank viewers. Most of his gun videos cover handguns, but he also does some stuff with shotguns and rifles. Unlike most American gun channel hosts, Paul almost never touches on political questions and he absolutely never pimps for gun or ammo manufacturers. Neither is he a dogmatist or a regurgitator of received opinions; on the contrary, his approach is always pragmatic and he knows that what may work for one shooter may not be right for another. He loves to take received opinions about guns and put them to the test. His delivery is somewhat strident, but like the late lamented R. Lee Ermey he has an excellent sense of humor and a repertoire of amusing stock expressions. Paul Harrell - YouTube 6. British Muzzleloaders A chubby Canadian gentleman who covers the whole history of British service longarms from the Brown Bess up through the No. 4. He seems to know everything, not only all the technical details of the weapons but the training, tactics, and equipment that went along with them. If you want to know what the loading drill for the Pattern 1853 was or how many Martini rounds a soldier carried in his ready pouches then this channel is for you. britishmuzzleloaders - YouTube
People keep telling me I should look into that. A mate even met him recently & bugged me to enquire. I shall do so.
My favourite channel is the KEXP live music sessions. A Seattle based radio station that pick up the best of new indie/post punk type bands for sessions like John Peel used to. They’ll happily fly UK bands over the pond and are often instrumental in promoting them early doors.
Argh. I missed out SVSeeker. https://www.youtube.com/c/SVSeeker/videos One of Youtube's finest loons. Or... most sensible participants. What did you make today? Quite honestly, the question has affected my life. Uncomfortable if I don't have an answer to that lingering query.
I've become increasingly aware that I'm no longer capable of watching moving images....It began with noisy cinemas, then shit on TV...and the incoherence and gobbledegook of you-rine-tube just compound it. If anyone has anything important to say, please, just shut the f*ck up and write a proper book about it.
Gun Jesus and Colin Furze are always worth watching. My personal favorite channel I always get moist eyes with emotion when I see what an almost obscene effort is made in restoration/reconstruction
Another who enjoys Drachinifel's content- particularly the Drydock episodes. I like Redcoat History's stuff as well. Plenty of Peninsular War and Zulu War content and some great guests. Redcoat History Away from war stuff Barn Find Hunter has some interesting finds and a nice manner when he talks to people. Barn Find Hunter Archives Scott
CuriousMarc https://youtube.com/c/CuriousMarc If you have a passing interest in vintage electronics, computers, and space tech. Start with the Apollo Guidance Computer restoration series.
Ronny Dahl https://www.youtube.com/user/RonBacardi666/featured Primarily a channel about 4x4ing, off-roading, overlanders, touring, adventures and camping. and mostly covers the modification and customizition of Australian 4x4's (so a lot of Toyota's) Channel has sorta 3 main aspects though. Modified: Showcasing of various 4x4 (and the odd 6x6) and their modification and customization. Reviews: Vehicle and equipment reviews Trips: Footage of 4x4 overland trips and tours. So between these there's a good mix of technical and engineering stuff , plus some stunning off the beaten track views of Australia
Great thread. Here are the some of ones I look at, in addition to Jay Leno's Garage and Drachinifel https://www.youtube.com/user/PeriscopeFilm https://www.youtube.com/c/MarkFeltonProductions https://www.youtube.com/c/BritishMovietone https://www.youtube.com/c/britishpathe https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTankMuseum https://www.youtube.com/user/relproductionsusa (Tractors) https://www.youtube.com/c/AACAMuseum https://www.youtube.com/c/OldTVTime/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/nuclearvault/playlists https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDjxhKJxLspP93wqFjXZ7ng/videos (Planes, Trains & Automobiles) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzb4TuqhlVVCTw3FfGHVSOA/videos (Tractors) https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChieftainsHatch https://www.youtube.com/c/BattleshipNewJersey https://www.youtube.com/c/MyClassicCarTV/videos EDIT: Forgot about this guy. Best gun channel around. I don't think he has ever used the word 'tactical' https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvB3solmhqtgDeLpD-yTtfg
Drachnifel is great, but you won't listen to the Septic, will you? I like both of these, Dave I wished the USS Alabama would have a similar channel. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are some I watch Techmoan - Old audio technology. Based in the UK May sound boring, but he is very interesting. https://www.youtube.com/c/Techmoan. The History Guy - Entertaining, US based but has broad range of interests. https://www.youtube.com/c/TheHistoryGuyChannel Feli from Germany - A twentysomething Deutschlander now living in the US Midwest. https://www.youtube.com/c/FelifromGermany Ward Carroll - Modern Naval Aviation. Well, "modern" as in the 80s & 90. He was a RIO on Tomcats. https://www.youtube.com/c/WardCarroll Lehto's Law - An attorney's channel. He can get boring sometimes, but the subjects aren't https://www.youtube.com/c/stevelehto The Professor of Rock. - 70s, 80s & 90s Rock A great channel. Probably one of my favorites. https://www.youtube.com/c/ProfessorofRock Lost in the Pond. A Limey living in the US babbles about his observations here. https://www.youtube.com/c/LostinthePond SEC Shorts - Probably won't generate much interest from the Limeys here, as it is US Collegiate Football. Not discussion, but comedy that might go over your collective heads. https://www.youtube.com/c/SECShorts1
The BBC shouts at the licence fee payer these days. Constant adverts for dreadful programmes about detecting crimes. Nobody seems to be able to adjust the output level on sound to match a set level. It's probably a trick to grab attention. You Tube videos about mending bicycles are good. The trick to fitting a toughened tyre to a Brompton 16 inch wheel is to turn the gas oven on and heat the tyre over the vent: but this lady manages to do it cold without breaking her fingernails ( and she is not wearing shoes ):
Not WW2 stuff? Oh dear. I also like The Chieftain's Hatch, and the Tank Museum youtube channel. Lately the Tank Museum videos have gotten quite annoying, with ads in the middle of the episodes. They're really trying to get people to give them money directly for them. A lot of the accounts I follow on YouTube are either musical artists or related to video games. I'll skip those. I do like the comedic bits that Alasdair Beckett-King does. https://www.youtube.com/c/ABeckettKing I also very much like this account on which lately the man has been presenting a series of videos on premise "time-displaced Mark Twain presents movie reviews and other online content". His 'reviews' of the new Dune and the original Star Wars are incredibly cynical and very very funny. e.g. introduces the Star Wars movies as a "series of beloved toy commercials". https://www.youtube.com/c/dianidevine
This chap gets to some odd places.... https://www.youtube.com/c/baldandbankrupt This chap lives in France, collects copper antiques and likes architecture.... https://www.youtube.com/c/SeansWorld1/videos This couple does some interesting walks around Cornwall.... https://www.youtube.com/c/CornishWalkingTrails/videos Russian movies/TV series` with english subtitles.... https://www.youtube.com/c/StarMediaEN The whole series of "Vietnam,10,000 day war" from the 1980s.... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3H6z037pboFiRbJuCFSNxxZcu99vAihC The whole series on "The Great War" from the 1960s.... www.youtube.com/user/nookie077/videos?sort=dd&query=great+war&view=0&page=4
History Debunked is something I watch regularly. Simon Webb produces interesting videos on society, particularly in the UK, and is always interesting but frequently depressing. He's not a fan of modern society! history debunked - YouTube
This chap's good. Sort of repetitive, as the mechanisms seem very 'standard', but I can cheerfully watch him for an hour over vapid terrestrial TV. Also with the added bonus of including tool references I do not need, but now want... I may take a few old pocket watches I have apart. What could possibly go wrong... Destroyed Vintage Elgin A-11 Military Watch Full Restoration