Nov
17
YouTube Channels I Enjoy and You Might, Too: Politics & Culture
Last month, I blogged on “YouTube Channels I Enjoy and You Might, Too: Science & Tech”, and this is the first of two follow-ups on different subject areas. Even the two terms “politics and culture” don’t quite communicate everything I crowd under this informational umbrella, so to speak. Add in societal issues and history and economics, however, and we’ll be getting close.
One source that addresses these matters and which I enjoy is PragerU, mostly via their videos. But, I don’t watch them on YouTube, preferring to follow email links to their website instead. Another good source is the inimitable Ben Shapiro at Daily Wire+, and I used to watch Shapiro — either on YouTube or their website — semi-regularly. But, somehow I disappeared from their email distribution list about three years ago, meaning I no longer get notified of new content; thus, I fell out of the habit of watching. (Yes, I am subscribed to them on YT, but I rarely follow those notifications.)
Of course, even with my “top-watched” YouTube channels, I don’t have the time to always watch them, especially not the longer 1-2+ hours videos. (Occasionally there is a topic I’m not sufficiently interested in, as well.) And — I shouldn’t have to say this — I don’t always agree with the positions taken, arguments used, or attitudes exhibited. That said, PragerU and Shapiro are quite good at sticking to facts and being civil and respectful (in contrast to many of their detractors). The same can generally be said about the people I list below.
First, we have “Gothix” (aka Vanessa Rosa), who I started watching/listening to years ago, not long after she began talking about socio-political and cultural issues. At the time, she described herself as “politically homeless”; she was also spiritually “homeless” and functionally agnostic. As she read and thought and talked through many issues both privately and online, I watched her identify more and more with libertarian and conservative ideas. After about a year or so of not watching her, I returned to find out she had become an avid follower of Jesus Christ and a conservative Christian. Hallelujah! 🙂
The woman is virtually fearless, taking on very controversial issues that include race and LGBTQ+, but always with respect, a listening ear, and a desire to understand the “other side”. You can listen to her in clips — either from her podcast or from some event where she was a paid guest — that mostly range from 5 min. to over an hour. She also streams live shows that last from about an hour to maybe 3.5 hours. Sometimes you will find her either interviewing someone or being interviewed online, and she has been involved in a few 1-on-1 debates and panel discussions.
Bottom line, Gothix is an interesting person who is worth listening to on these topics. Plus, how often to you see a Black goth, let alone a conservative one?!
The next two young ladies are only in their early-to-mid-20s yet have been talking and podcasting about socio-political and cultural issues since their teens. Like Gothix, Amala Ekpunobi is a Black woman who started out on the Left. But, she was red-pilled and walked away from the Democrat party. Before long, she was doing a podcast for PragerU, and now she flies solo. The tag-line for her show is “Just hanging out and talking about trending topics.”
Those topics often involve controversial movies/TV, tik-toks, news columns, political quotes, et al., usually having to do with political elections, laws, racism, LGBTQ+, feminism, etc. Amala’s livestreams (and occasional special episodes) typically run anywhere from 1 to 2.5 hours. I usually watch her shorter podcasts or segments from them, which average about 10 min. to an hour long. She also conducts interviews and has been known to occasionally give an offline speech or participate in a debate or panel discussion.
A very smart and fair-minded young woman.
The DailyWire+‘s The Comments Section with Brett Cooper — “an irreverent viral content and news review show offering an against-the-grain, laid-back perspective on today’s culture” — features another very smart and fair-minded young woman. I don’t think young Brett was ever a political activist, let alone on the Left, but she was a child actor in Hollywood, which is bad enough. The subject matter covered on her show is a lot like that on Amala’s, with a somewhat similar approach but a little different perspective in some ways.
You can catch Brett’s hour-plus livestreams or her regular podcast episodes, which typically are 10 to 30 minutes long. She occasionally covers something a little different (e.g., Apple Vision Pro; traveling; cooking) in her “Off the Clock” videos, which usually run 5-20 minutes.
Btw, despite some physical similarity, Brett is not related to Ben Shapiro. 🙂
The above YT podcasts are a great mix of educational, thought-provoking, and entertaining content in the “politics and culture” arena. In addition to those, I should mention a couple more that I enjoy catching bits of now and then. On the slightly snarky side, the “Michael Knowles Show cuts through the madness of our politics and culture, analyzing the top stories of the day.” For excellent commentary and “fun-but-serious conversations with fascinating guests… on important and controversial issues”, I am impressed with TRIGGERnometry with Brits Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster. Oh, I just thought of a third: street epistemologist Peter Boghossian has some interesting content, as well. His channel’s aims are “to restore free speech and open inquiry as non-partisan values [and] to reveal the implications of far-left ideological takeover.”
Feel free to tell me your favorite “politics and culture” channels, and stay tuned for a third entry in this series of YT recommendations….
