Ask HN: YouTube/Podcast Recommendations | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: YouTube/Podcast Recommendations

15 pointsyodsanklai23 comments

I grew sick of youtube recommendations. The algorithm prioritizes professional youtubers and clickbaity videos, which most of the time I'm not interested in. Also the disappearance of the dislike button makes it even more difficult to filter out uninteresting content.

I'm mostly interested in podcasts that I can listen to during my evening walks, so rather long formats. I'm interested in a wide range of topics. Not so technical that it would require intense focus, but also not overly dumb content.

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I've been listening to Blowback which is a podcast about USA's intervention in countries/wars they have whole seasons on Korea, Cuba, Irak, etc. it's pretty informative and can be sorta funny sometimes.

My only issue is that I wish it was less US-centric, I know it's the whole point it's just that I'm not from the USA and I wish I could find more like this for other countries.

If you're interested in creative writing or reading critically, I highly recommend the Writing Excuses podcast [0]. The podcast was started by Brandon Sanderson (he wrote the Mistborn series as well as The Stormlight Archive), Howard Tayler (he made the webcomic Schlock Mercenary), and Dan Wells (he wrote I Am Not a Serial Killer). The episodes are on the short side (15 minutes), but I find that it strikes a nice balance between feeding you information and giving you something to ruminate over.

There are 5 hosts in the current season (I am admittedly a bit bummed that Sanderson isn't participating right now as a main host), with a comprehensive range of perspectives across media. For example, DongWon Song[1] is a literary agent and former editor, while Mary Robinette [2] is a puppeteer, short story writer, and a voice actress.

As a little bonus (with longer-form content), Brandon Sanderson has a series of recorded lectures from his 2020 college creative writing course [3]. He does a nice deep-dive into the minutiae of constructing a story from start to finish, with additional considerations for publishing near the end. I have to admit I'm a little biased as I'm trying to write more in my free time, but the lectures offer a lot even for those who don't write or plan to write. Just getting a closer look inside the mind of an author has greatly impacted the way I read and scrutinize books.

[0]: https://writingexcuses.com/

[1]: https://www.dongwonsong.com/about

[2]: https://maryrobinettekowal.com/about/press-kit/

[3]: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSH_xM-KC3Zv-79sVZTTj...

"I grew sick of youtube recommendations"

totally agree, the recommendation algorithm is kind of weird, if you watch something, it keep pushing similar ones, is it really users want? and to an extreme, after a while, the whole recommendation list only covers very limited topics, it is kind of building a castle for yourself, isolated from the rest of the world, haha ...

I'll throw my hat in the ring with The Jim Kleiber Show [0].

I'm an American with an electrical engineering and intercultural communication background who used to work in innovation consulting and then for the past 12 years has built tools to help us communicate how we feel. I've run workshops and trainings in the US, Europe, and Africa, often on conflict resolution.

While I don't have many long-form conversation episodes yet, I hope to add more on a pretty feverish pace, to create a library of episodes from which people can pick and choose.

However, I did an episode recently talking about music-assisted and psychedelic-assisted therapy [1] with someone who has a Masters in Music and Ayurvedic healing, and a while back talked about secret ballots and potential downsides of transparency in US Congress [2] with a former NASA engineer who now researches Congress for a living.

I'm looking to create different types of segments and also hope to provide a more interactive way for people to engage with podcasts, with a website that has search/filter/sort features, interactive transcripts, and a forum attached to it where people can talk with others who listened to the episode.

Anyways, I'd just be honored if you take a look at the site, listen to an episode, and/or just give me some perspectives on what you hope to hear these days in podcasts.

[0]: https://www.jimkleiber.com/show

[1]: https://www.jimkleiber.com/tjks_caleb-w-cliff-music-assisted...

[2]: https://www.jimkleiber.com/tjks-32/

I've been really enjoying Mark Manson's The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck podcast. He's the best selling author of a book by the same name. Despite the crude name there is a great deal of in depth discussion on a variety of interesting topics and some interesting guests.

Was coming here to post the same thing. I've read one of his books.

Slightly off topic but why do they constantly zoom in and out and switch cameras? Are they editing out pauses or ums? I find it very distracting from the otherwise excellent content.

I’ve never actually watched it, I just listen to it while I’m working or driving.

Might be obvious, but the Aquired guys are really good story tellers about big companies, not just tech. The podcasts where they covered Nvidia were really good. I also enjoyed the Cosnole Wars, Nintendo, Nike and NFL episodes.

For long form conversations, I strongly recommend Conversations with Tyler Cowen. Lex Friedman is also good. But if I have to pick one, it will be Tyler Cowen, mainly due to the host. The variety and depth of knowledge that Tyler posses is awe inspiring. I do not get bored listening to his questions. But I get bored listening to Lex.

If I've to recommend some episodes, Vishy Anand (Chess), Lazarus Lake (Endurance Running), Can't find this: an interview with a guy who is walking around the world. He is currently crossing China and walking East. And many more ...

The "Fall of Civilizations" Podcast by Paul Cooper is a outstanding long-form History Podcast. Definitely worth a listen.

BBC In Our Time - eclectic topics, great hosts.

Aria Code by WNYC - introduces an aria and then plays it. Great opera primer for opera newbs.

I’ll share mine as it fits most of your conditions save for not being particularly long. It’s a daily legal news show ostensibly for attorneys but with a mostly non-attorney listenership: (“Minimum Competence” - https://minimumcomp.com).

Try Kagi's new "Small YouTube": https://kagi.com/smallweb/?yt

I've been on a prison binge lately, so I recommend Ear Hustle. A podcast from prisoners of San Quentin prison about life behind the iron bars.

Chris Williamson's Modern Wisdom and My First Million are always a great listen.

Ones I currently listen that might fit the bill are: Modern Wisdom, Lex Friedman Podcast, Conversations with Tyler, History on Fire.

Try to add your favourite YT channels to your rss app. That is what I do.

Tyler Cowen, as others have mentioned, is great. It's my favorite listen.

If you are interested in the nature of creativity and the artistic process, Rick Rubin's Tetragrammaton is worth a listen. Because of his status as a top producer, he gets the biggest names in the field, but includes lesser known talent. I recommend Ed Norton. And anything with John Frusciante.

Lex Fridman (everyone thus far has misspelled his name haha) -- I frankly just don't get it. He seems to struggle with interviewing, even the framing of basic questions. He has a strange (and to me superficial) obsession with the idea of love. He gets good guests, but squanders the opportunity more often than not. Ymmv but definitely popular.

Andrew Huberman's podcast or Peter Attia's The Drive are both great if you want science-based discussions on specific topics related to health and wellness.

I'm personally very interested in complexity science and a fan of the Santa Fe Institute, so I like their podcast 'Complexity'. Think physics meets the life sciences from leading academics.

I just search xxx podcasts where xxx is the topic I am interested in. Filter for 20 mins and plus and find something in the first page.

the problem is that I don't always know what I'm interested in. It's hard to filter content since the dislike count has been hidden. And I don't have 20 min to spend every time I feel like watching a video. All of this is the point of the recommendation algorithm, which unfortunately is failing on youtube because of SEO. Ideally, it would be nice to have a community-run recommendation algorithm.

I can recommend these: Lex Friedman podcast, More or less: behind the stats, Planet Money, Big Technology, Hard Fork.

Check out Asianometry on YouTube. Covers a whole range of topics I've found very interesting.

Fyi Lex Fridman is pop sci infotainment.

looks like thats what OP wants on his walks

I recommend https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/unhook-hide-youtube... to cut out all the bullshit on YT. I am still addicted, but I actually search for things now or just watch stuff from channels I am actually subbed to and if they suck or bore me I unsub, I not get lured into some bullshit.

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