Can I also recommend getting hold of a copy of "seamanship in the age of sail". I've always had a latent fascination for just how they managed to manoeuvre relatively massive ships around well before the steam engine came of age. It's the only source I've ever came across which really goes into enough information to explain it to the limit of my curiosity. The page showing how a sailing ship was worked up and down a tidal river using various methods blew my mind.

Just in case you weren’t aware, these guys have been doing deep dives on the series with a chapter by chapter breakdown, digging into every single reference and historical mention in the books. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lubbers-hole-a-pat...

After reading Aubrey-Maturin 5 times through I didn’t think I could appreciate it even more but this podcast revealed a whole new depth of awe for the author. Like Steve Jobs insisting the inside of the Apple II looked beautiful even if no one would see it level of craftsmanship.

There was a line from the philosophy book “Zorba” that went something like “happy is the man who before dying sails the Aegean sea”.

When I first read it I was like - yeah right, another exasperation l. But a few years later I happened to go to a sailing coarse in Greece (Thessaloniki) and OMG was the author right. There are a lot of seas / oceans about, but very few places with so many small islands to scoot about. And honestly going on a boat as a tourist does not really prepare you for the experience of sailing yourself. When the wind powers the boat there is no noise, you’re just gliding through with the power of your wit and ages of engineering.

Dolphins swim around you, cause its fun for them and no smelly propellers, and the camaraderie you form with your fellow sailers is intense, cause you depend on each other for survival.

And at the end of the day you anchor in some cosy beach, swim around and go to the local taverna for cheap drinks and amazing food.

Sailing the aegean sea is definitely something you should do at least once before you die.

I also recommend people check out the Horatio Hornblower books, which not only inspired the Aubrey/Maturin books but also the Sharpe books, Hemingway, and even Star Trek.

They are a little less contemplative than the O'Brien's works but no less excellent.

I also recommend novels about fictional British captain Horatio Hornblower [1] for those who like sailing and Napoleonic Wars.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Hornblower

I've found that the Thomas Kydd and Alan Lewrie novels covering the Napoleonic era also scratch this itch.

Second this. Talk about a binge watch but the journey was so worth it.

The launch had me in tears.

For the uninitiated: Dude buys a rotten sailing yacht. Rebuilds it from the keel up, starting with sourcing the lumber! Lots of tedium and ups and downs… and oh so much amazing craftsmanship!

Spoiler alert: it’s beautiful.

Make use of subscriptions, dislike your dislikes, like your likes and liberally hide/remove things from your feed you dont want. Also make sure to prune your history from time to time, especially if you watched "junkfood" and dont want more recommendations for it. The algorithm catches on quickly. My feed is pretty decent and relative to my interests.

I don't use these but you might want to check things like CuriosityStream or Nebula.

Everyone has different interests though. e.g., I went through the whole series of PacificNorthwestHillbilly videos of rebuilding a 1950's Caterpillar bulldozer. You might not care in the slightest.

> curated

Here's one with some good stuff https://theawesomer.com/category/videos/

It's ironic you say that as that is where these videos have been coming from more and more (YouTubes recommendation algorithm).

Nine times out of ten, this one included, I'll see the video on YouTube THEN here in HN.

If you're interested in the subject particularly, the channel "WWII US Bombers" has very dry but information dense and extremely well researched videos. Most of what he does is present period documents about all manner of aspects about US bombers from WW2, from the operation of computing gun sights to effectiveness of various tactics, he dives into the nitty gritty of things you probably never even thought to wonder about.

I am a big fan of Lucas Pope (the creator) and tall ships :) Return of the Obra dinn is one of my favorite games, I highly recommend it.

Bonus fact: Lucas Pope publishes very interesting dev logs [1] that go into depth both on the setting and the technical challenges.

[1] https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=40832.0

Watch everything at 2x and you waste half as much time.

Indeed Swedish, but the master shipbuilder running the shipyard was Dutch [1]. Perhaps that’s the source of the mention?

Funnily enough, I was at the Vasa museum yesterday in Stockholm! I enjoyed it very much, would recommend to anyone visiting Stockholm. Incredible salvage achievement.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Hybertsson

Also keep an eye on https://www.gotheborg.se/en/about-gotheborg/ in case they decide to go on another expedition. Highly recommended.

If you like Hornblower, you should read the Aubrey Maturin series.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series

With the Hornblower time period, I'd point to the video on 18th century ships on the same channel instead. There's a lot of subtle differences, even putting aside the size differences of the ships.

How Things Work was extremely formative for me

I don't think the intent was to use the video as a vehicle to make some political point, since he hasn't for any of his other videos. So I think this one had what you mention just as a ass-cover to preempt any anybody getting overly sensitive and trying to accuse him of making the opposite sort of political point.

It's not like he ends with a lecture to educate people about what happened, he just makes it known with brief and general language that he's knows some bad shit happened and he's not glorifying those acts. Somebody who was clueless about all of it would more or less remain so; it's a message directed towards people who are already familiar with the subject and might conceivably be offended by his video if he didn't include the end bit.