October 3, 2025
Many years ago I realized I was spending $120 a month just to have How It's Made on while I ate dinner, and canceled my subscription. It was tough at first, but over time I've found replacements.
Not being willing to subscribe to a streaming service means I miss out on things like Strange New Worlds or Andor, but I don't have the will to subscribe and unsubscribe when something I want to watch is being made.
So instead I have a bunch of channels I follow on Youtube. There are enough of them that I see something new most every day. Here are a few of them:
Technology Connections: In-depth descriptions of various technologies from coffee makers to catalytic converters, and histories of technologies like LaserDisc. The videos tend to run about a half-hour each, but they're worth it.
The Tim Traveller: Travelogs of weird, occasionally out-of-the-way places like the Saarland in Germany, or visiting the French town of Nancy to ride their trams that can't decide whether they're trams or buses.
Control City Freak: Road trips via Google Maps of the highways and byways of America. He did a series of all the one- and two-digit interstates in the country, and since then has been doing US routes, three-digit interstates, and the occasional international highway; frequently centered around the opponents of his favorite teams -- the (MLB) Royals and (NFL) Chiefs.
Flawless Cleaning Services: A small cleaning business based in one of the London boroughs, who goes around donating their work to people who need it but can't afford it -- typically people who've had bouts of illness or are just older and on limited incomes. They started out with pressure washing and some light groundskeeping, but have also done long-term projects like roof repairs and interior renovations.
Plainly Difficult: Histories of disasters, often caused by poor planning, lackadaisical attitudes, or both. Lots of bridge collapses, factory explosions, and the occasional radiological mess.
Techmoan: Histories and reviews of retrotech, usually AV equipment from the 70s or 80s.
Auto Shenanigans: Focuses on the roadways of the UK. Their current series is "Great British Road Journeys", visiting all places great and small on trips based on the original Michelin Guide Book from 1923. Previously they did "Secrets of the Motorways" and "All the Motorway Service Stations".
Jago Hazzard: A rail nerd, in a good way. Stories from the (now two-century-old) British rail network, as well as the railways that later became the London Underground, and related histories.
Geoff Marshall: Another rail nerd, whose channel I found shortly after I visited the UK the first time around, doing "Secrets of the Underground" for a channel called Londonist. On his own channel he creates series centered around the Underground (like the "Decades" series he's doing now) and the network in general such as his previous "All the Stations" videos.
James Hoffmann: A coffee turbo-nerd. He goes into great detail about every step of the coffee-making process, from videos about growing the plants, to a series about the ways of creating decaf, to ways to get the most out of the coffee you buy with things like Moka pots, Aeropresses and various types of coffee grinders.
That's not all of the channels I follow; I left out some comics nerdery here, a maker or two, and a Doom gamer for example. Maybe I'll make a part two at some point. But if you've ever wondered what I do with my time when I'm not taking part in morally-dubious capture and imprisonment of wildlife or screaming at an unnaturally-colored owl, this was a sample of it.
