Items14The creator’s order
  1. 1Vox (website)Vox (website)Vox's YouTube channel The channel most people picture when they hear "news explainer." Vox launched in 2014 around the idea of explanatory journalism, and its video team turns policy, history and maps into tight, beautifully designed pieces that are easy to share with someone who does not follow…0
  2. 2Johnny Harris (journalist)Johnny Harris (journalist)His independent YouTube channel Johnny Harris produced and hosted the Emmy-nominated Borders series at Vox before building his own channel, and nobody makes a map, a desk of documents and a voiceover feel more like a thriller. Watch with your critical faculties switched on, though. Critics,…0
  3. 3TLDR NewsTLDR NewsThe TLDR News channels: UK, EU, Global and Business The fastest way to get from a confusing headline to the arguments behind it. Founded in 2017 by computer science graduate Jack Kelly and based in London, TLDR splits its output across separate channels for British, European and world politics,…0
  4. 4CaspianReportCaspianReportA long-running channel for the strategic logic behind a region's headlines. CaspianReport has been analyzing geopolitical trends for more than a decade, and its narrated videos are at their best when they explain why a pipeline, a strait or a border shapes what governments do. It ranges across…0
  5. 5RealLifeLoreRealLifeLoreGeography first, news second, and that is the point. RealLifeLore explains current events by starting with terrain, rivers, borders and population maps, so a story about a disputed region or a struggling country suddenly has a physical shape. The animated maps are clear enough to rewatch with a…0
  6. 6PolyMatterPolyMatterIf China is in the news and you want more than a two-minute clip, PolyMatter is the channel to queue. Its animated essays on economics, international relations and history return to China again and again, in multi-part series on its politics, economy and society, and the clean, minimal visuals keep…0
  7. 7Sam DenbySam DenbyWendover Productions, his explainer channel Sam Denby's Wendover Productions is about how the world works, and its best videos explain the logistics and economics underneath a news story: why shipping routes, airlines, supply chains or a country's geography make an event unfold the way it does.…0
  8. 8PerunPerunAn hour of slides on military logistics sounds like homework, and it has become one of the most rewarding things on YouTube. Perun's lecture-style presentations, published roughly weekly, have primarily covered international events since February 2022, above all the war in Ukraine, through defense…0
  9. 9William Spaniel (YouTube channel)William Spaniel (YouTube channel)The channel for turning a crisis into a question you can reason about. William Spaniel is a political scientist at the University of Pittsburgh who studies political violence with game theory, and he has been making game theory videos since 2009. His analysis of wars, negotiations and threats asks…0
  10. 10Money & MacroMoney & MacroAn economist's take on the economic stories in the news, from inflation and central banks to trade and growth. Joeri Schasfoort, who earned his PhD and lectured at the University of Groningen before founding Money & Macro, builds his videos around charts and data, and the channel's own promise is…0