History. Everybody’s a product of it. Everybody’s affected by it. And in one way or another, I hope that your clicking on this article means you’re at least a little bit interested in learning more about it. If you’re not, maybe these channel recommendations will help you along. You may find it’s more interesting than you once thought.
Like many stuck-insiders with internet access over the past year and a half, my YouTube algorithm took me on a bit of a journey this year. From Chloe Ting challenges to 1950’s international high school debates to 9-second voiceovers of Twitter memes, I like to think I’ve experienced a wide range of the endless hours of audiovisual stimulation that YouTube has to offer.
The best thing to come out of my YouTube algorithm since the pandemic began, however, has to be the specific genre of video that I like to call “snarky history.” As their name would suggest, these videos are 1) about history and 2) wildly entertaining. Education and fun! What more could you ask for?
And thus, here you are. Here are my three favourite snarky and topic-wise history-adjacent YouTube channels for your enjoyment.
1. Extra Credits / Extra History
This may be a little bit like cheating since I technically knew about this channel long before the pandemic began, but we’re counting it because it only became a staple of my daily routine during the pandemic (I would watch videos while tidying, doing dishes, or working out). Extra Credits has a great team behind it that works hard to balance entertainment with historical accuracy—they even do a “Lies” episode at the end of each series explaining any details they fudged or omitted for simplicity as well as answering questions from viewers. The animation fits perfectly with the tone of their storytelling and they don’t just do history; they also talk about mythology, politics, and video games.
Choosing a favourite Extra Credits series is a hard decision because all of them are so interesting and well-done. I might go with either the Thermopylae videos or the Bismarck series. Highly recommend both if you’re looking for a starting point!
2. Overly Sarcastic Productions
I’m not the kind of person who will just subscribe to any old YouTube channel. I need to watch a few of their videos and get a feel for things before making any long-term commitments. But Overly Sarcastic Productions (OSP) had me sold immediately after I one day randomly stumbled across their channel trailer. It’s run by a pair of friends who go by Blue and Red (there’s also Cyan, Blue’s fiancee) and together they cover a wide variety of historical and mythological stories as well as talking about literature, tropes, and pop culture with the help of their animated avatars.
All of their videos are amazing (I’m starting to sound like a broken record here), but Blue’s History Hijinks series or any of Red’s Miscellaneous Myths videos are great places to dip your toes in if you really want to be entertained. In fact, why not watch their Pride Tales video in honour of Pride Month?
Check out the channel trailer here.
3. Oversimplified
This has been a more recent one. I’d always seen the Oversimplified videos hanging out in my recommended, but I never clicked on one until a couple of days ago when I discovered their more recent Napoleonic Wars video.
The tone of Oversimplified is a little more… absurd at times, but it’s very pointed and also highly funny. It’s got its own thing going, and it works especially well with its animation. As a bonus, the events they’ve covered so far happen to align really well with the Social Studies 20 curriculum in Alberta, if you’re into that sort of thing.
If you’re curious but not sold, just look them up and watch the first thirty seconds or so of any video. Here’s the Prohibition video. You won’t be disappointed.
Happy History-ing!