20 YouTube channels for self-development: recommended by Lifehacker readers

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This time we have collected popular science YouTube channels that you regularly watch and recommend to your friends. Benefits are overwhelming.

1. Vert Dider - there are many interviews and reports of scientists translated from English. But initially I came here for a specific purpose - to watch lectures by neuroendocrinologist Robert Sapolsky. Vert Dider's team translated his Stanford Biology of Human Behavior course well.

I learned about these videos from a friend who is struggling with depression. She advised me to watch a lecture on this disease. The video was helpful.

The fact is that I have bipolar affective disorder (BAD) with predominant depressive phases. It was difficult for me to explain to people why I sometimes behave strangely - for example, go into the shadows for a couple of weeks. But after watching Sapolsky's lectures, it became clearer how to talk about his condition to others. I would recommend using the theses of the scientist in a conversation with those who believe that this is a far-fetched disease.

Sapolsky himself even talks about complex phenomena surprisingly simply, without snobbery. And his conversations with students are almost not cut out of the videos, which creates the effect of presence.

2. «Physics from Pobedinsky» — hosted by Dmitry Pobedinsky, MIPT graduate and author books "Attic. Only physics, only hardcore! Actually, acquaintance with him began thanks to this work. I really liked the book, and I began to look for Dmitry in social networks. As it turned out, not in vain.

In his videos, the author explains how the world works. He answers questions from the “what if” series: “What if the wings are torn off the plane?”, “What if Sun becomes a black hole?”, “What if GPS disappears?”

My favorite playlistHuman». Thanks to him, I learned how the laws of physics affect us. And the author also gives interesting life hacks - for example, how to change your DNA at home or how to measure the composition of adipose tissue using improvised methods. I recommend to everyone!

3. «What about talking?"- Irina Shikhman's channel. Most of all I like the heading "Science". The host interviews scientists and researchers and talks to them about their professional activities in an accessible and understandable language.

I am very impressed by her sincerity and interest. She always honestly admires the hero, is surprised at his answers, asks tricky questions and at the same time is not afraid to seem stupid.

I like to watch "What about talking?" When I'm doing my home routine. Time passes with a double benefit!

4. Oh My Art are reviews of exhibitions and art spaces. Presenter Julia Pankratova lives by art and shares her knowledge with the audience with pleasure.

For example, I remember a video about the Tretyakov Gallery, where at that moment an exposition of Vrubel's works was organized. This is one of my favorite artists!

However, since I live in another city, I did not have the opportunity to go to it. And the Oh My Art channel helped - I was glad that there was an opportunity to visit the exhibition online.

5. My gap impartially explains the economic and political situation in the world. I started watching this channel on the recommendation of my husband - and I did not regret it! It helps fill in my gaps in this area. Thanks to My gap, I manage to keep abreast of events.

6. «Here is the English"- a simulator for language learners. Here are collected interviews with celebrities, clippings from cartoons and games in English. With the help of these videos, you can improve your auditory skills well.

There are subtitles in the videos - but, in my opinion, the quality of translation was better before. The creator of the channel, Ivan Matyukhin, kept the language alive. And now, with the advent of a new presenter, there is a feeling that you are doing English At school. However, I really like the old editions! I especially remember the analysis of the interview with Tom Hardy. As he says - it's just a brain explosion!

7. Arzamas - a channel dedicated to art, literature, music, culture.

I found out about him when I was studying for my art history exam. Tired of sorting out lecture notes, I just started to type in the names of artists in the search. Arzamas was in the first line of the issue. As a result, thanks to him, I was able to answer additional questions on the exam and got a score higher.

I liked that instead of dull one and a half hour lectures, you can watch short videos of 10–30 minutes each, which help to understand the issue. For example, preparing for the theme of 19th century painting, I studied the work of key artists of that time with the help of Arzamas videos. It's also cool that there were separate videos about their main works - for example, analysis Édouard Manet's Bar at the Folies Bergère.

I recommend that you familiarize yourself with this channel, especially with one of the playlists - Arzamas Video Libraries. It contains short overview videos, which are good if you want to understand some issue without reading a bunch of articles: “Game history in 17 minutes”, “Ancient Rome in 20 minutes”, “History of Russian culture in 25 minutes” and so on.

I know that many people like to listen to such lectures. If you do not have a YouTube premium subscription, then it does not matter: Arzamas has a separate platform with a podcast.

8. Tamara Eidelman channel* - Honored Teacher of History. It was given to me by YouTube algorithms. Before that, I had only heard of her. So, seeing a familiar surname, I decided to look and was not disappointed.

For me, this is more of a repetition of the material covered - a lot is already known. But I like the way Tamara Eidelman organizes information by topic. This makes it possible to see analogies where you did not notice them before. And, of course, learn new facts.

Plus, Tamara Eidelman's position on many humanistic issues is close to me. So I feel cozy and comfortable on her channel: it’s always nice to know that you are not the only one who shares some beliefs.

I would highly recommend watching her episodes. Russian history of the XX century. They will make it clear how our country became the way we see it today.

* Tamara Eidelman is included in the register of individuals acting as a foreign agent.

9. Alpha Centauri — a cool channel for space lovers. I stumbled upon it while following SpaceX's Falcon Heavy missions. Alpha Centauri broadcast live from rocket launches and comment on what is happening in plain language.

They also have a lot of themed playlists. For example, about the Hubble telescope» or about how to live on the ISS. In general, a lot of interesting things about space with a beautiful picture and an understandable presentation!

10. «Anthropogenesis.ru"- the channel is dedicated to human evolution and the" fight against obscurantism. I started watching it about three years ago when the flat earth theory was gaining popularity. Such ideas annoy me, and I tried to understand why in the 21st century such nonsense has supporters.

The channel publishes lectures from the forum "Scientists against myths", where they not only refute misconceptions like the harm of GMOs and genetic weapons, but also explain the nature of their popularity. After watching the videos, flat earthers and other obscurantists will not have a single chance to win the argument!

Favorite speakers are Panchin and Drobyshevsky. The first skillfully destroys myths in the field of biology, the second tells interesting stories about the evolution of homo sapiens.

11. Channel Irina Yakutenko is a molecular biologist and science journalist. During the COVID‑19 pandemic, she released many videos that made it possible to understand what was happening in general. Thanks to them, I was able to make the right decisions - for example, about vaccines.

In addition to the topic of COVID‑19, she has videos about scientific news in various fields. Everything is very clear and interesting. For example, you can to know, for what the Nobel Prizes were awarded this year and why so many people believe propaganda.

12. «CUBE” - on this channel a number of programs. I especially loveBurnout line». During the program, the psychologist asks questions that help determine whether the participants have a particular problem - alcohol addiction, low self-esteem, fear of success. Viewers can also check themselves against this checklist.

I also love the programOwn / someone else's». At its core is a game similar to the mafia. Two participants differ from the other six in some way. For example, most of those present are humanitarians and only two are techies. And the first ones should figure out the “strangers” with the help of leading questions.

Thanks to their discussion, you can learn a lot about various areas of life: what characterizes certain mental illnesses, with what situations people of various professions face, what guides idealists who have an unshakable opinion on some question.

13. Lina Diana's channel psychologist and gestalt therapist. She analyzes interviews with famous people, analyzing their psychotypes and behavior in a given situation. It helps a lot to understand yourself and others.

I also love her sectionPSInder”- in it, Lina analyzes profiles from Tinder. This is also very entertaining and useful! It helps to understand how to identify inadequacies and what red flags to pay attention to.

Thanks to Lina Dianova's channel, I identified problems with self-esteem and realized what can be done about it.

14. «Topless”- a channel about a variety of facts about the world around us. The list of topics is very extensive. The author asks questions about whether a man can give birth, where we could live on Mars, what is gender. I think the motto of "Topless" is: "be interested - develop."

I like that Ian is a simple guy, without snobbery. I have a feeling that we are on the same wavelength. He presents information in an entertaining way. Therefore, while watching his videos, I relax, but at the same time I increase the level of general erudition.

For example, I remember a video about the superinfection pandemic and harm antibiotics - Last Chance Pill. I used to live with a sense of imaginary security about my health. There was an idea that any cold can be cured. However, it is not. The fight against viruses is still going on.

15. …and Action! is a channel about cinema and culture, as well as about artistic techniques in directing. The videos are video essays with a pleasant voice-over.

When I discovered the channel, the first thing I looked at was an analysis of the scene from "drive». It made a big impression - I realized how just one situation shown in the film can characterize the characters, their thoughts, motives and transformation.

And one of the latest videos “…and Action!” was dedicated toThe legend of the wolves». The author drew attention to how the geometry of the drawings affects the character of the characters and the audience's feeling.

This channel is very cool! He helps me form a new vision. Now, when I watch a movie, I try to pay attention to the details and artistic techniques used in the film. I decipher the author's idea.

16. Redroom is Yegor Zyryanov's channel about interesting historical facts and personalities. I came across one of his videos on YouTube. I was immediately hooked by the fact that he speaks about everything in a clear, accessible and non-judgmental way. I have always been interested in following the lives of people, and not how abstract states developed, so I consider Egor's channel a godsend.

He does not give dry information with dates and names, but talks about the personal relationships of monarchs and their wives, nobles and servants. Most of all I like the heading "History of stupidity”- about the most grandiose fuck-ups in history. For example, about how the king of Portugal crowned a corpse, or about how the impostor Timothy Dexter got rich.

17. «Kalinkin!"- a cool channel about literature from Zhenya Kalinkin and Dasha Kasyan. Together they analyze classical works and playfully discuss the plot and the personality of the writer. I think this is a good start for those who want more read! Thanks to them, I took a different look at Gogol and Pushkin.

18. SHANKANAKA — the blog of the Chinese Mun Xue, who lived in Russia for several years. She talks about the peculiarities of her native culture and life, the experience of studying and living in the Russian Federation, as well as the differences between the Chinese and Russian mentality.

When I found her video, I admired the amazing level of language proficiency. At the same time, in one of the videos, she even made out what it was like to think and speak Russian. It turns out that our language, unlike Chinese, is very dynamic. Thanks to prefixes in verbs, for example, we immediately understand the direction of action - to bring, to carry. There is no such thing in Chinese - you need to compose whole phrases. It is interesting to look at the native language through the eyes of another person.

In addition, Moon Xue tells amazing things about Chinese culture. For example, that there is a strong cult of childish appearance and that all celebrities look too young. Or that the Chinese work very hard - 6 days for 12 hours, and all because of high competition. This kind of information is very broadening.

19. «Hulinomics». Author of the channel and the eponymous books — Alexey Markov, Candidate of Economic Sciences. He has videos aimed at practice: how to budget, what should be in investment portfoliowhere you can't invest. As well as videos of a theoretical nature - for example, about what caused the hegemony of the dollar.

I like the erudition and informal presentation of the author. So you understand: this is a long-haired rocker in a cowboy hat, who sits in front of Metallica posters and talks about the economy. He also has a non-standard approach to the choice of topics and ideas for videos. It is unlikely that anyone else would have found a video about how to make money on investing in alcohol, why you can’t read Kiyosaki and what the marshmallow myth is.

20. Mikhail Kazinik's channel. An amazingly talented specialist who talks about the influence of classical music on a person. In addition, he shares very interesting and little-known facts about various composers. It was thanks to his channel that I fell in love with the classics. Now I listen to it every morning and notice positive changes in my condition. I advise everyone to watch his video!