Here's some of the 1% that isn't slop.
Educational
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@animagraffs - 3d "how it works" videos - moslty focused on transportation (plains, trains, ships,pirate ships etc)
@BranchEducation - 3d "how it works" videos - focused on computer parts and chip manufacturing
@JaredOwen - 3d "how it works" videos - less focused on a niche. Ranges from escalators, bowling allies to the automated Krispy Kream Donut baking line.
@FireAlarmDude5967 - all about fire alarms
@ExplainingComputers - misc computer/linux content
@NewMind - 3d videos - broad "engineering" topics
@pcsecuritychannel - mostly testing anti-virus software
@PracticalEngineeringChannel - modern infrastructure; roads, damns, power, irragation, etc.
@RoadGuyRob - road infracstructre, covering unique places throught the U.S. You may enjoy his anti-ai-ad about 8min into thisVideo
@TheCarCareNut - car mechanic with excellent advice on taking care of your car, dealing with dealerships, spotting sketch shops, etc.
@USCSB - The US Chemical Saftey Board makes great videos about their investigations into various fatal refinery, and other major chemical, accidents.
Documentary-style explorers
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All are similar descriptions - find somewhere or something intresting and go make a video about it. Tom Scott does a particularly good job of focusing on the actual people involved with the thing.
@Tom Scott
@ChrisSpargo
@osullivanluke
Educational entertainment
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@xkcd_whatif -the creator of xkcd is making his "What If?" book into a series of short youtube videos (5-10 min, not youtube shorts)
@TechnologyConnections - videos about 5% technology, 5% history and 90% rants on how we already have the technology to do things better, but just don't.
@JamesButlerWellAndSepticLife - septic buisess owner. Understands that a being a decent boss gets people to stay in a job shoveling shit.
@JerryRigEverything - phone tear downs. His afordable wheelchair buisness and some actual philanthropy work in Africa (not just raising money and passing it some random donation jar, but actually going there, being involved and respecting the peole there) make the occasional sponsered video justified.
@lauriewired - computer scientest with content I barley understand.
@MichaelMJD - computer nerd looking at retro technology
@LGR - computer nerd looking at retro technology
@lockpickinglawyer - picking locks
@CaptainDisillusion - visual fx artist shows us how alot visual fx are created
@shadiversity- honestly some their new stuff isn't to my liking. Old stuff about castle design and armor was good.
@stevelehto - lawyer's commentary on various legal stories. Avoids political stuff like the plauge. Has radio talk show vibes (he used to be a radio host)
@bigclivedotcom - teardown of cheap electronic devices to see how they work.
@TechnologyConnextras - videos about the refrigeration cycle dicussed as other videos
Craftsman/artists
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@BobbyWhite - jewler, very well produced videos
@Brick_Crafts - making a massive lego city (and other lego projects)
@Nerdforge - artistists making cool things, mostly fanatacy theme
@tested - Adam Savage, knowm for Mythbusters. Shop/build vlogs, tours of prop museams, features other creators and a regular q&a stream offering all kind of various craftsman advice.
Entertainment
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@cool_cammy - comedy videos with dry humor and very early YouTube vibes
@GarnComedy - australian comedy sketch channel
@VivaLaDirtLeague - New Zeland sketch channel - mainly tech retail, and video games. Had a few great series on mental health awareness.
@syzt17 - if you like anime, this animator recreated some popular scenes with characters replaced with Tom & Jerry characters. It's better than it sounds written out.
@Tantacrul - does "UI teardown" of popular audio/music software. definitely has a unique sense of humor. Also the guy behind the Audacity redesign and has great video explaining why the choices were made.
However I put him here specifically for this video. I highly recommend for anyone with a kid. He dug deep to find out exactly how a teen was led to sucide by people on a form and the lenghths they go draw kids/teens in, manipulate them, destroying their psyche and cover it all up.