Quiet favorites: few mentions, all of them insistent
These never went viral on HN. Each was linked by three to six people, but at least 60% of those comments were strong recommendations, the kind that say "drop what you are doing and watch this". 110 videos, ordered by how unanimous the praise was.
- Rotten Tomatoes Trailers documentary recommended in 5 different months by 4 HN users, 2013–2015HN commenters recommend the film itself as an eye-opening account of how drug laws drove mass incarceration and militarized policing.
- Jenny Nicholson documentary recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2024–2026HN people strongly recommend it as the best overview of the Galactic Starcruiser and a case study in misaligned incentives and poor guest experience, engaging despite its length.
- Alessandro Grespan music video recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2021–2024Commenters repeatedly call it a favorite and a mind-blowing introduction to jazz.
- Strongly recommended as a clear, accessible survey of the CRDT landscape.
- Recommended as a jaw-dropping, must-see talk that gives an amazing intro to static analysis alongside Might's personal story.
- thepostarchive lecture recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2019–2022Strongly recommended as under-appreciated lectures showing Borges' erudition, delivered in a hypnotic voice from memory.
- HN repeatedly names it the best, most intuitive explanation of eigenvalues, and a gateway to the whole linear algebra series.
- HN treats it as the classic go-to for learning atomics and memory ordering, recommended over books.
- Sean Carroll lecture recommended in 5 different months by 5 HN users, 2021–2025HN commenters recommend the series as engaging, substantial physics with just enough math for non-specialists.
- Jamin Gray talk recommended in 5 different months by 3 HN users, 2016–2021HN commenters repeatedly link it as the best concise answer to the question of why go to Mars when problems remain on Earth.
- Commenters call it a mind-blowing, beautiful talk and cite it among their favorite tech talks.
- Masood Boomgaard comedy video recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2022–2024HN commenters recommend it as funny anti-motivational comedy that also touches on real truths about productivity and the rat race.
- Fans name it as a favorite 3Blue1Brown video, praising its detective-story treatment of the inscribed square and rectangle problem.
- Steve Brunton lecture recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2020–2023HN recommends the series as an approachable but rigorous way to learn control theory, with good production quality.
- John Bartholomew tutorial recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2015–2023Strongly recommended as a way to improve at chess, since it explains the basics and common mistakes at each rating level.
- HN considers it one of the best game networking talks, with insights that carry over to distributed systems generally.
- David Kuckhermann tutorial recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2009–2018Frequently recommended in RSI and wrist pain threads by people who say the stretches relieved their own symptoms.
- Glen Maddern tutorial recommended in 4 different months by 3 HN users, 2015–2017Commenters credit it with opening their eyes to JSPM and using it to choose build systems.
- David Bull documentary recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2020–2026HN commenters hold it up as a top-tier long-form process video, recommended whenever the Great Wave or Hokusai comes up.
- PyCon 2019 tutorial recommended in 4 different months by 4 HN users, 2019–2021HN calls it a brilliant, mind-bending introduction to lambda calculus for programmers.
- Strongly recommended as a mind-bending, approachable explanation of aperiodic patterns, even enjoyable with kids.
- HN commenters recommend it as an engaging, high-quality introduction to the Bronze Age Collapse and praise the channel generally.
- Commenters call it a must-watch, funny and entertaining demonstration that morality has natural roots in animals.
- American Masters PBS tutorial recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2019–2023HN people call it a favorite cooking video and a model of mastery, showing two omelet styles in about five minutes.
- HN commenters call it one of the best and funniest Onion News Network videos and a sharp parody of teen girls.
- HN commenters strongly recommend it as a thoughtful talk on tech worker ethics that has not aged.
- The British Museum tutorial recommended in 2 different months by 3 HN users, 2023–2025Recommended as the best short, funny and approachable introduction to cuneiform on YouTube.
- HN repeatedly recommends it as a delightful talk that makes music theory click and introduces Clojure and Overtone.
- A favorite on Ask HN lists of programming YouTube channels, praised for mind-blowing systems and graphics programming and a watchable coding style.
- HN repeatedly recommends it as an approachable, math-light route to understanding mass and the Higgs field.
- Praised as a long but rewarding conversation, with commenters especially liking Bach's emphasis on modelling as a skill and his bridge between mind and computation.
- Repeatedly called an excellent, practical introduction that covers a lot in two hours and explains issues academic textbooks skip.
- DRS_Education documentary recommended in 5 different months by 4 HN users, 2020–2026HN commenters strongly recommend it for its account of how the Jacquard loom and punch cards led to computers.
- Strongly recommended as a beautiful demonstration that APL can be read and reasoned about step by step.
- HN commenters call it a favourite Veritasium video, praised for how a simple equation reveals surprisingly complex patterns.
- Recommended to people with chronic pain, fatigue or RSI as a rigorous but balanced case that pain does not always mean injury.
- Recommended as an enjoyable, accessible talk for building intuition about higher dimensions.
- BAMM.TV talk recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2012–2017HN commenters recommend it for insight into Kalanick's background and how his past failures shaped his mindset at Uber.
- HN recommends it as the simplest, most approachable introduction to quaternions, useful for people working in games and robotics.
- Jaimie Stuff video recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2011–2020HN commenters point to it as the start of a gripping, wonder-inducing build saga by a prolific maker of ambitious mechanical projects.
- Recommended as an absorbing masterpiece of craftsmanship, often raised in threads about watches and clockmaking.
- Ingsoc75 documentary recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2013–2017Recommended as a classic documentary on military training and the psychology of going to war.
- Strongly recommended as a formative talk on privacy, especially for its argument that voting with your feet fails as a privacy strategy.
- OKGoVEVO music video recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2018–2026Commenters recommend it as a creative music video shot entirely in zero gravity, citing it in threads about parabolic flights and space.
- Jon Bois commentary recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2019–2024HN commenters recommend it as a funny, well-told retelling of one of the strangest sporting events ever.
- HN recommends it as an accessible introduction to longevity research that changed some commenters' views.
- Recommended as a well-researched rebuttal of the idea that Nintendo simply forgot an optimization flag.
- FreeCAD 0.20 For Beginners | 1 | Setup , preferences and navigation | Easy Tutorial for Learning CADMangoJelly Solutions for FreeCAD tutorial recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2023–2024HN recommends it as an excellent beginner series that fills FreeCAD's gap in learning material.
- Praised as a beautiful, understandable proof and a favorite among 3Blue1Brown videos.
- Praised as an excellent, accessible account of why the kilogram's definition changed, in redefinition threads.
- omnray demo recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2014–2015Commenters who struggle with tab overload use it to show what tree-based tab management looks like and recommend the extension.
- NativLang documentary recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2019–2023HN recommends it as a fun, amazing overview of writing systems whenever the alphabet or cuneiform comes up.
- Commenters rate the whole playlist as high-quality, clear teaching that builds foundations from memory and machine instructions up to different paradigms.
- Posy explainer recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2023–2026Recommended as a meditative, geeky tour of alternative display designs.
- Recommended as a favorite among practical Blender guides from a hugely productive solo artist.
- HN commenters recommend it as a corrective to enterprise blockchain marketing and as an explanation of what makes Bitcoin distinctive.
- UncommentatedPannen explainer recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2017–2018Praised as an engrossing, in-depth look at SM64 mechanics that is surprisingly compelling to watch.
- HN recommends it as an excellent speech from Watsi's founder, especially on keeping a nonprofit aligned with the people it serves.
- Summoning Salt documentary recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2018HN recommends it as a gripping entry point into speedrunning and as a model of a well-made history video.
- HN commenters keep recommending it as the best video for newcomers who want to understand how Git works technically.
- Curt Jaimungal interview recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2025–2026HN recommends it as a fascinating, mind-expanding interview on bioelectricity and non-reductionist biology.
- The Centre for Computing History lecture recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2022–2024HN commenters recommend it as an excellent deep dive on the real Colossus, full of stories about unsung engineers.
- HN recommends it, and the whole channel, as a clear and deeper-than-usual physics explainer.
- HN readers recommend it as a thorough, practical introduction to Postgres fundamentals and optimization for application developers.
- mikeselectricstuff demo recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2017–2022Recommended as an entry point to a favorite electronics channel, valued for deep knowledge and no showy bravado.
- ESOTERICA lecture recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2023–2024HN users recommend it as an impressively well-sourced, academic look at the origins of the Abrahamic religions.
- OUTDOORS55 tutorial recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2025–2026Recommended by commenters who say its practical, scientific explanations finally taught them how and why sharpening works.
- HN recommends it as a typical example of Tom7's technically astounding and playful videos.
- HN commenters recommend Arthur's Fermi Paradox videos as a thorough, clear treatment of the subject.
- barrettproduction music video recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2021–2026HN commenters share it as a favorite audiovisual experience, with some calling the sync the best thing they have seen.
- MangoJelly Solutions for FreeCAD course recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2025HN users recommend MangoJelly's thorough tutorials as the best way to learn FreeCAD properly, since trial and error doesn't work.
- The Quagmire lecture recommended in 3 different months by 3 HN users, 2018–2023Strongly recommended for its funny, human account of Los Alamos, which one commenter calls almost a stand-up act.
- HN recommends it as a strong founder talk that shows how formidable and practical Young is, with advice delivered through a beaver metaphor.
- MEGA - Museum of Electronic Games & Art demo recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2014–2019Commenters hold it up as proof that 2600 programming is alive in the demoscene and as one of the most impressive demos ever made on the hardware.
- HN recommends it as a mind-blowing and fun introduction to logic programming for working programmers.
- Recommended as the clearest footage of a whip tip going supersonic, and cited in shockwave discussions.
- Praised as solid, research-backed advice on front-end web performance.
- HN recommends it as an entertaining demonstration of how powerful algorithmic gerrymandering can be.
- HN calls it a great, impressive engineering project involving real-time trajectory calculation.
- Entrepreneurship.org talk recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2017–2022HN recommends it as the classic counterpoint to Silicon Valley growth-at-all-costs startup thinking.
- HN fans praise Bisqwit as a favorite programming YouTuber and this video as an excellent look at dithering.
- HN recommends it as the best talk from Sonic Pi's creator, with live-coding examples and technical and teaching insights.
- theeloved1 demo recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2015–2023HN people share it as a classic example of sleight-of-hand mastery whose ending is mind-blowing.
- HN commenters call his x86 internals talks spectacular and mention them whenever low-level processor surprises come up.
- HN rates it among the best gaming video essays and Ahoy as one of the best creators on the platform.
- Geoff Cumming explainer recommended in 2 different months by 2 HN users, 2011–2015Recommended as a vivid visual demonstration of how unreliable p-values are.
- Recommended as a fascinating insider account of how the F-22's software makes it easier to fly than a Cessna.
- Recommended as a funny, engaging look at how Perl's quirks create real security vulnerabilities.
- Commenters bring it up in threads about life advice and aging as the best advice they have heard, namely to ignore advice and do your own thing.
- HN recommends it as an entertaining and inspiring Blender talk, and often links it in threads about learning Blender.
- Fullstack Academy lecture recommended in 5 different months by 5 HN users, 2019–2024Repeatedly recommended as one of the most approachable introductions to lambda calculus and combinators.
- ConceptVBS tutorial recommended in 5 different months by 5 HN users, 2013–2020HN loves it as an example of old-school instructional film that makes how a differential works fully understandable in clear, simple language.
- HN users recommend it as an excellent, accessible overview of how modern chips are produced and why EUV matters.
- HN raves about it as one of the best conference talks, showing a master's creative process and sound design.
- Steve Yegge demo recommended in 5 different months by 5 HN users, 2022–2024HN people recommend it as an excellent, convincing overview of Emacs for newcomers and skeptics, shown by someone who clearly loves it.
- udiprod explainer recommended in 5 different months by 3 HN users, 2017–2021HN commenters call it one of the best visual explanations of the wave, particle and measurement relationship, free of silly metaphors.
- The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures lecture recommended in 5 different months by 4 HN users, 2021–2025HN recommends it as a funny, fascinating talk on cuneiform tablets and the ancient world by an engaging curator.
- HD Retro Trailers video recommended in 5 different months by 5 HN users, 2019–2024HN commenters use it to point people to Threads, which they call the most harrowing depiction of nuclear war and say should be mandatory viewing.
- HN commenters strongly recommend it as a fun alt-history of the web and bring it up whenever people muse about how the web could have been different.
- HN commenters recommend it as one of Veritasium's best videos and one that has aged well.
Showing the 100 best-scored of 110. Use search to find the rest.