Favorite YouTube 2025
Overwhelmingly thankful YouTube Wrapped didn't mention how many hours I spent watching videos.
YouTube is back on the menu, boys. #OrcsScreaminginBackground
It was really cute that I tried to rebrand my YouTube list into an “essays” list last year, creating the pretense that I would also *read* some essays, but look, I was ambitious and a fool. So back to a YouTube-only playlist we go.
Since I plan on alternating between referrals for individual videos and recommending entire channels, I’m not going to give awards for this one, since I have no idea how to balance that in a fair way.
I will of course include links, because it would be weird if I didn’t.
Some More News
Not *technically* a new exposure for me this year, but I found them at the end of last year, and didn’t watch much of their content at the time.
Some More News is, surprise, a news-centric channel. They report, with a dry, whiplashing, occasionally juvenile kind of humor, about modern events. They lean left, but are not of the left, and will dish out judgement on all political alignments, which works for me, as we share a united skepticism and disdain for American politicians and political divides in general.
I share them because they go out of their way to do three things that I don’t find in most other news sources:
1. They cite tons and tons of sources, rather than baselessly blurting things out into the internet, an all-too-common and lazier alternative you’ll find in most other news spaces.
2. They avoid generalizations and vagueness as much as is realistically possible. They use precise definitions, counter-definitions, minutia, and examples to clearly define what they mean when they talk about or criticize something/someone.
3. They remember previous news subjects and return to them later on, after those subjects have left the volatility of the active news cycle. This effort to update us on things that might otherwise be forgotten by the haste of modern reporting is a commendable effort, and can provide much-needed context into how the cards actually fell in situations beyond the original moment that drew our attention to it. Spoilers: with time and information, a lot of things end up not being what the media (whatever “the media” is to you) says it is.
Jacob Geller - Fear of Dark
Quite possibly, somehow, in this year of our lord 2025, my favorite YouTube video essayist, Jacob Geller, released what might be my favorite of his essays so far. A difficult title to hold, because I’ve said that probably ten times previously.
The newest installment in his “Fear” series, Jacob approaches humanity’s long-documented curiosity of, and aversion to, the dark. As is his style, it’s comprehensive and holistic, approaching the subject from a variety of viewpoints, lenses, and philosophical angles so that no major perspective is left unexplored. In so doing, he brings into sharp clarity how infrequently we really grapple with *true* darkness, and the effect it can have on people. For example, did you know the world record for days spent alone, in absolute darkness, is 500? 500 days alone, unable to see anything at all.
Whatever you think would happen to you is wrong.
But you can find out precisely what would happen in this video.
Daryl Talks Games - Games About Letting Go & What Artificial Romance Does to People
Two suggestions on this one. I’ve followed Daryl Talks Games for a few years now, and in 2025, he released two of his best essays to date.
Games About Letting Go is exactly what it sounds like: an introspective, sober take on the nature of mortality, relationships, and tragedy on both sides. In it, he dissects a handful of games that tackle the pain of saying goodbye to those you love, of giving up a dream, of finding peace on the other side of hard choices.
What Artificial Romance Does to People is likewise exactly as it reads on the tin. As technology evolves, our capacity to create ever more realistic forms of parasocial relationships via video games or similar technologies also evolves. What does love mean, when there’s no human connection to be found? Why would someone care about this? Why is it some people’s entire world? What does that say about wider society in general?
Zoe Bee - The Many Myths of Meritocracy
Like with last year, in attempting to summarize Zoe Bee, I end up just looking a bit dull, because she’s way smarter than me and would probably do a much better job at the task. Nevertheless, I’ll try my best.
Two-and-a-half hours long, this exhaustive, brilliantly articulated dissection of meritocracy as a concept, and the Western world’s expectations/interpretations/utilizations of that idea, is one of the most worthwhile watches I found this year. Zoe really gets into the bones of the subject, approaching it from nearly every conceivable angle—academically, politically, socio-psychologically, culturally—and ultimately…why what you think meritocracy is, is probably wrong.
It’s all a bit…complicated and inconsistent and contradictory. I insist you just watch the video and let her speak for herself. This is probably one of the most important video essays to come out in 2025. Something you believe will probably be challenged. Embrace that.
Babe1Babe2 - My Dad Beat Dark Souls As His FIRST GAME & It Changed Him
If you know anything about the game Dark Souls, and you read that title, you’ve stopped reading this and are already pulling up the video.
If you’re still here, this is the gist: Dark Souls is notoriously a very difficult video game, demanding exceptional levels of patience, especially from players not familiar with any of the games that it has since inspired.
But when you’re retired and have time to kill, you know what you can do? Learn how to play, and eventually overcome, a very difficult game. You’ll probably think video games were a mistake along the way, but maybe, just maybe, you’ll come out the other side with an appreciation for both your own ability to achieve the unachievable, but a medium of art that you’d written off before.
Super Eyepatch Wolf - Void Stranger: A Game for Lunatics
I never would have played the indie game “Void Stranger,” and probably still won’t, but I’m glad I know it exists and that SEW made a video on it, because holy shit, hahaha, this game is crazy.
What at first seems like a relatively unassuming, vaguely ominous little video game rapidly and violently upends your expectations, over and over and over and over, until by the time you reach the end (there…there is an end, right? I still don’t know) it’s nearly unrecognizable from how you began. This is true in how the developers crafted the gameplay, the story, and even just the general functionality of the user interface.
Void Stranger is an absolute head trip, with surprisingly deep lore and a story of love (???) at its center. But also, some of the most mind-crushing puzzles, dizzying power-ups, and hostile swerves you’ve ever seen in a game.
There is a point in this video, after the character gains the upgrade to have wings, and your jaw will drop.
Discover Connection - I Hitchhiked Across America
It’s challenging, trying to summarize a three-hour experience dense with humanity into an even shorter review, especially when that three-hour experience is already itself a summary of a 30-day journey. There’s inevitably going to be so much lost in translation that it renders whatever words I say as relatively generic.
So I’ll keep it simple: in an effort to prove that people really aren’t as terrible as we feel they are on the internet, a couple guys travel across America, surviving entirely off the kindness of strangers. It’s extremely funny and heartwarming. If you watch any video on this list, this is probably the one I recommend most.
Lindsay Ellis - The Unforgivable Sin of Ms Rachel
Breaking news: empathy is a sin now. Or, if you don’t believe in sins, it’s a morally useless waste of energy.
Entire books have been written about this. The era of compassion is dead (not that an era dominated by compassion ever really existed, but some people would have you believe there was one), and the era of militant progress and stalwart individualism has begun. No more weak feelings and sentimental ruminations.
And Ms Rachel is the worst of the lot. She supports Hamas, is anti-semetic, and is dangerous for your children.
Lindsay Ellis, one of the most prodigious video essayists in YouTube history, came out of retirement to make a video that calmly, succinctly, and categorically addresses all the notions of “toxic empathy” as what it is. Nonsense. Bullshit, to be spicy.
Segments of the American population would have you believe that empathy deserves to be left behind. Ellis makes the case for why it needs to be embraced now, more than ever, and that Ms Rachel of all people doesn’t deserve the misplaced hatred that’s been lobbied against her, especially from Zionists and other Israel-supporting parties.
Ish - 1000 Players Simulate Civilization: Rich & Poor
I don’t play or care about Minecraft, yet I’ve watched many hours of Ish’s content due to its high production values and riveting organic storytelling.
The concept is exactly what it sounds like. Ish and his team create a custom Minecraft server designed to facilitate a social experiment: 1000 players, divided into two sides. The rich side and the poor side. Let them go and see what happens.
Everything. Everything happens. It’s freaking incredible.
Taylor Lorenz - ChatGPT is Becoming a Religion; Why People are Roleplaying Robot Racism
I’m going to need you to take a deep breath before watching either of these videos (or just about anything on Lorenz’ channel), because you’re going to see a side of humanity that will likely feel uncomfortable, but in like, an exciting new way.
A tech journalist by trade, Taylor Lorenz explores the intersection of human nature, culture, and the cross pollination of those things with our burgeoning new technologies. In both of her videos “ChatGPT is Becoming a Religion” and “Why People are Roleplaying Robot Racism,” you are likely going to come out the other end feeling like humanity as a whole is doomed. Which is probably true, but you should at least understand why. Because if there’s any hope of that not being the outcome, it will require each of us to pull our heads out of the sand and do whatever morsels of work we can to combat it.
The simple truth is this: regardless of what you believe, whether in evolution or creationism or whatever else, we should all be able to agree that the human design is not equipped to deal with the accelerating rate of technology’s influence on our reality. These videos put a finger on new ways that people are struggling to adjust to technologies that transform faster than we do.
XanderJ - Stop Defending Nintendo
It’s not a surprise to anyone that pays attention to the industry that Nintendo, as a company, is full of tools. Just absolute jackwads. We adore and love them for the influence they had on our childhood, and the adventurous creative maneuvers they make in their consoles and first-party game design—as we should, because the creatives in Nintendo are still worthy of praise. But holy cow, they have lost so much goodwill with their fans, and this video chronicles why.
The short answer is corporate interference due to new leadership. A tale as old as time.
Nintendo in 2025 is kind of an awful company. But however bad you think they are, they’re actually so much worse.
Floydson
A late entry to this list. Floydson made a name for himself in the YouTube gaming sphere as the guy who plays “100 Days of [insert game here]” wherein he will play 100 in-game days and summarize the results into a relatively digestible 1-2 hour video. His brand has expanded a bit since then, but maintains the same core idea.
Floydson has become one of my new favorite background voices. His soft, Australian accent and lack of annoying vocal cadence make it easy to relax into whatever he’s talking about. But also, his channel satisfies a similar content itch as Let’s Plays, which have steadily fallen out of popularity. The way he edits his videos allows him to give you more about the game in less time, and punctuate the best parts of the experience.
There are several games I’ve always wanted to try, but knew I never would because they were either too long, or not a type of game I am typically inclined to enjoy. I was able to enjoy and semi-experience them vicariously, and without dropping 20-40 hours on each like I’d need to with most Let’s Plays.
Consistent quality, smart content design, and a pleasant voice makes Floydson the whole package.