Here’s a soothing 3-minute visualization that zooms in and out across the known scales of the Universe — from the tiniest particle to the vast cosmic web. This higher perspective makes me feel both small and a miracle. — CD 

The Red Hot Ball Experiments Instagram channel has nearly 500,000 subscribers. Each video begins with a close-up of an item, such as a kiwi fruit, a bar of soap, a deck of playing cards, or a glass jar of honey. Then, a red-hot iron ball is placed on the object. We then get to see what happens to the object for the next minute or so. Must-see TV! — MF

I spend too many hours a day watching YouTubes. Many of the channels I subscribe to produce content as good as or better than anything produced by PBS, cable TV, and your average documentary. For free. For a fantastic example of world class content on YouTube watch this Veritasium episode on Blue Lasers. Turns out blue lasers were “impossible” to create, but after decades of an insane amount of work by one crazy guy in Japan, they are now possible and all the cheap screens we have in our lives now are due to him. Veritasium tells this amazing human story, with heaps of illuminating technical detail on why blue lasers were nearly impossible and how they work, all in a brilliant 33 minutes. — KK

I have been researching the state of space technology, and the current ambitions of various countries and companies for space exploration and settlement. By far the best source for official plans, programs in progress, and technological breakthroughs has been a stellar YouTube channel called The Space Race. It’s fun, visual, clear, insightful, succinct, and highly informative. Its back list of hundreds of videos have answered all my “future of space” questions. — KK

YouTube is in its infancy as an art medium. Bobby Fingers is a surrealist, who has posted only 4 videos on his channel, but they get 750,000 views. His long videos are masterpieces of meticulous art craftsmanship, elaborate prank puzzles, indie music, deadpan comedy, all disguised as one of the best maker tutorials I’ve ever seen. It is very hard to describe their obsessive weirdness and elegant absurdity. Start with his first, “Drunk Mel Gibson Arrest Diorama.” Be sure to watch to the end. His art is the videos. — KK

Science explainers on YouTube are a whole new genre. My two favorite YouTube science explainers are Steve Mould and Derek Muller at Veritasium. Both take an unusual phenomenon and explain it using clever demos, visits to experts, and intricate experiments. Veritasium in particular will stage elaborate productions just to memorably demonstrate a single point. Veritasium excels at weighty counter-intuitive propositions such as “electricity doesn’t move”, while Steve Mould likes to start with small oddities and curiosities that have larger consequences. Both have been releasing videos for years and have deep archives of hundreds of visually compelling, fun explanations. — KK

A new genre of experiences has emerged on YouTube. A bunch of channels offer quiet walks in high resolution. The creators hold a stabilized high def camera with binaural audio and walk around Tokyo at night, or Times Square in snow, or London in the rain, or the back alleys of New Delhi, all without narration. I can hear the ambient sounds and see all the ordinary things usually edited out of sizzle reels.  It really feels like I am there. These virtual walks allow me to travel without traveling. Some folks just watch for the soothing calm it gives them. I enjoy the tiny distinctive details of places I am “returning” to and a way to check out places I’d like to go. There are dozens if not hundreds of channels, often specializing in regions. A few I watch: Nomadic Ambience (NYC, Japan, Iceland), Virtual Japan (Japan),  Watched Walker (London, Paris, Spain), Keezi Walks (India, China, Vietnam, South America). Google “quiet virtual walk” for your destination. — KK

Technology Connections is a fantastic YouTube channel for learning about the inner workings of everyday items. With a bit of lighthearted humor thrown in, the videos break down complex concepts into easy-to-understand explanations, and give me a greater appreciation for the technology I use all the time, like smoke alarms, water heaters, and microwave ovens. — MF

If you want to experience Japanese overnight train rides without actually being there, the best way is to watch this YouTube channel. An anonymous creator produces 15-20 minute videos that showcase the amenities of sleeper trains in Japan. The videos provide an inside look at the lounge cars, dining cars, showers, snacks, and beds on board the trains. The creator has also produced a video that details the experience of staying in a $14 per night ninja and geisha themed capsule hotel in Osaka. — MF

This live feed of a watering hole in the Nabib Desert streams live 24/7. I drop in a couple times a week and I’ve seen so many different animals sharing the waterhole. I’ve seen zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, ostriches and lot of different birds. The camera has a microphone and night vision, so you’re always connected to this magical and awesome wildlife. — CD

The most positive and uplifting channel on YouTube might be YesTheory. A small band of travelers and filmmakers immerse themselves in strange places (staying with Amish family), challenging situations (total darkness for 5 days), and long periods cruising out of their comfort zone in order to grow and become better people. Their motto is “seek discomfort.” They do it with humor and integrity (for 7.5 million subscribers), so their adventures truly are encouraging and inspiring. — KK

Every week for 6 years we’ve recorded a podcast featuring the cool tools of a remarkable person. Earlier this year we paused the podcast, but we have now relaunched it as a video-cast in the same format. Every Friday I interview a remarkable person and ask them on screen to show and tell 4 of their favorite tools. This program, called the Cool Tools Show and Tell, streams on our YouTube channel. And the audio channel of each session will resume streaming on the old Cool Tools Podcast subscription for those who only want to listen. I really look forward to each session because I am always surprised by what interesting cool tools people will recommend. — KK

Recomendo reader Andrew Denny says, “I really love the YouTube Channel of Big Clive, a soft-spoken Scotsman. He tears down cheap electronic products — often really cheap no-name stuff from ebay — to explain how they work. I have no idea about electronics at all, but I love watching it and I’m gradually learning.” I’ve been watching Big Clive videos for a couple of years, myself. — MF

I finally decided to pay for YouTube. Now with YouTube Premium I see no ads of any kind. Given the many hours I spend every day on YouTube this upgrade has been life changing. I already had an adblocker on my browser, but that did not work 100% of the time, and I also watch a lot of YouTube on my TV via Roku, which can’t block ads. For $12 per month all that nonsense is gone, and I get YouTube music as well, which can stream in the background if wanted, and download videos for offline (airplane) viewing. Thanks to my friend Hugh, who kept insisting I needed Premium; you were right. — KK

My family loves watching this YouTube series about the day in a life of various people in Japan. The creator, Paolo, spends an entire day with different workers — a game programmer, a firefighter, a butcher, a ramen chef, a hotel staffer, and so on. He records them from the moment they wake in the morning until they go to bed at night. Each episode is about 15 minutes long. — MF

Seth Godin sent me a link to this YouTube video of juggler Michael Moschen, who bounces balls inside a giant wooden triangular structure. The balls make a pleasant percussive sound, and once Moschen gets going with multiple balls, the performance is spectacular. — MF

When I subscribe to a YouTube channel, I like to be surprised by the next episode. My favorite four YouTube channels these days are crafted by inspiring creators who keep me anticipating what in the world they might do next. They are all makers with an upbeat perspective. — KK

In order of the unexpected:

1. Ali Spagnola. Ali is a genius musician, a painter, a maker, a savant, and a comedian. She takes great care in making totally silly things, and does them with humor. She loves to try things that aren’t going to work. Her astounding musical transformations are worth subscribing alone.

2. Beau Miles. An Australian adventurer who settled down with a family and creates mini-adventures around his settled life, like walking 96 km to work carrying nothing, not even money. He has a lovely can-do spirit, and the miraculous ability to find adventure in the ordinary.

3. Simone Giertz. Simone is an unabashed maker, but likes to make “stupid” things that are closer to art – like her famous chopping the top off of a Tesla to turn it into the Truckla, a Tesla pickup truck. Her projects are dreamlike and friendly weird, and also inspiring.

4. Van Niestat. Brother of famous YouTuber Casey Niestat, Van is charting his own path with idiosyncratic mini-videos that are either book reviews, or love letters, or personal confessions, or documentaries about an idea. His channel is young; I’m not sure where he is going but for sure it’s not where the rest of YouTube is headed. He is an original.