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Best Language & linguistics videos, as recommended on Hacker News

62 videos about language & linguistics that Hacker News commenters keep recommending, mentioned between 2008 and 2026. Mostly explainer, lecture, comedy. Channels that come up most: Tom Scott, TEDx Talks, CGP Grey, WIRED. Sorted by how consistently HN recommended them over the years.

The most recommended is George Lakoff: Moral Politics: HN commenters repeatedly say it changed how they hear political speech and recommend it for understanding why opponents are not simply stupid.

• lectureGeorge Lakoff: Moral PoliticsUniversity of California Television (UCTV) · 3 HN recommenders · 2016–2024
• commentaryStephen Fry Kinetic Typography - LanguageBuilt By Matt · 4 HN recommenders · 2012–2025
• comedyWhat Languages Sound Like To ForeignersSara Forsberg · 6 HN recommenders · 2014–2021
• musicAdriano Celentano - PrisencolinensinainciusolLe Pietre Rotolanti · 6 HN recommenders · 2016–2024
• lectureIrving Finkel | The Ark Before Noah: A Great AdventureThe Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures · 4 HN recommenders · 2021–2025
• lectureCracking Ancient Codes: Cuneiform Writing - with Irving FinkelThe Royal Institution · 3 HN recommenders · 2020–2024
• talkHow to learn any language in six months | Chris Lonsdale | TEDxLingnanUniversityTEDx Talks · 5 HN recommenders · 2014–2019
• lectureThe Unanswered Question 1973 1 Musical Phonology Bernstein Nortoncagin · 4 HN recommenders · 2018–2023
• lectureRSA ANIMATE: Language as a Window into Human NatureRoyal Society of Arts · 2 HN recommenders · 2011–2022
• lectureJorge Luis Borges: This Craft of Verse Lectures - thepostarchivethepostarchive · 3 HN recommenders · 2019–2022
• explainerThe US Has More Tribes Than the World Has CountriesCGP Grey · 4 HN recommenders · 2020–2026
• comedyGeorge Carlin - Euphemismspoyani · 4 HN recommenders · 2014–2025
• explainerA London Accent from the 14th to the 21st CenturiesSimon Roper · 3 HN recommenders · 2021–2024
• documentaryThoth's Pill - an Animated History of WritingNativLang · 3 HN recommenders · 2019–2023
• explainerThe Zipf MysteryVsauce · 4 HN recommenders · 2018–2024
• explainerThe surprising pattern behind color names around the worldVox · 4 HN recommenders · 2017–2025
• explainerAnagrams, but where you can break apart letters: "Anagraphs"suckerpinch · 3 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
• commentaryStephen Fry on the Joys of Swearinggsmokeyjoe · 5 HN recommenders · 2011–2016
• explainerWhy are British place names so hard to pronounce?Map Men · 4 HN recommenders · 2021–2024
• talkMusic as a Language: Victor Wooten at TEDxGabriolaIslandTEDx Talks · 3 HN recommenders · 2017–2018
• explainerRapping, deconstructed: The best rhymers of all timeVox · 3 HN recommenders · 2019–2023
• lecture23. LanguageStanford · 3 HN recommenders · 2015–2024
• comedyI made a talking bananaUseless Duck Company · 3 HN recommenders · 2018–2023
• commentaryConlang Critic Episode Twelve: Toki Ponajan Misali · 3 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
• interviewThe Concept of Language (Noam Chomsky)UW Video · 3 HN recommenders · 2021–2024
• explainerGender Neutral Pronouns: They're Here, Get Used To ThemTom Scott · 3 HN recommenders · 2013–2015
• tutorialHow to write cuneiform with Irving Finkel and @preservethings I Curator's Corner S4 Ep9The British Museum · 3 HN recommenders · 2023–2025
• explainerShakespeare: Original pronunciation (The Open University)OpenLearn from The Open University · 4 HN recommenders · 2013–2025
• explainerwjan Misali · 3 HN recommenders · 2021–2023
• podcastEdward Gibson: Human Language, Psycholinguistics, Syntax, Grammar & LLMs | Lex Fridman Podcast #426Lex Fridman · 2 HN recommenders · 2024–2024
• explainerAccent Expert Gives a Tour of U.S. Accents - (Part 2) | WIREDWIRED · 2 HN recommenders · 2021–2025
• explainerVocal Fry: what it is, who does it, and why people hate it!Dr Geoff Lindsey · 2 HN recommenders · 2024–2026
• interviewHacker Interviews: Larry WallThe BXI · 2 HN recommenders · 2013–2024
• explainerWhy “No Problem” Can Seem Rude: Phatic ExpressionsTom Scott · 3 HN recommenders · 2021–2023
• explainerRhyme: Why Eminem is one of the most impressive lyricists everLibrary of Alexandria · 2 HN recommenders · 2014–2022
• demoTry this bizarre audio illusion! 👁️👂😮 - BBCBBC · 2 HN recommenders · 2011–2020
• explainerAccent Expert Gives a Tour of U.S. Accents - (Part One) | WIREDWIRED · 2 HN recommenders · 2021–2025
• musicThe Epic Of Gilgamesh In SumerianPeter Pringle · 3 HN recommenders · 2021–2025
• musicJake Thackray 'Molly Metcalfe'TallPiler · 2 HN recommenders · 2013–2024
• talkDuolingo -- the next chapter in human computation | Luis von Ahn | TEDxCMU 2011TEDx Talks · 2 HN recommenders · 2011–2012
• comedyGeorge Carlin on Soft LanguageCappyNJ · 2 HN recommenders · 2013–2024
• talkThe Stuff of Thought | Steven Pinker | Talks at GoogleTalks at Google · 2 HN recommenders · 2010–2026
• explainerOne Typo, Wrong ContinentCGP Grey · 2 HN recommenders · 2022–2025
• demoCan Japanese People Read Chinese? (Mandarin, Simplified)That Japanese Man Yuta · 2 HN recommenders · 2020–2021
• comedyGeorge Carlin - Euphemisms & political correctnessaaron pryor · 1 HN recommender · 2019–2022
• explainerCan Japanese People Read Chinese? (Kanji)That Japanese Man Yuta · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2024
• comedyA Bit of Fry & Laurie Concerning LanguageFun English Lessons · 1 HN recommender · 2023–2026
• music"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes (Official 4K Video)alyankovicVEVO · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2024
• explainerTiffany: The Name That Cheats DeathCGP Grey · 1 HN recommender · 2022–2023
• documentaryThe odd accent of Tangier VA - American Tongues episode #3People Like Us - The CNAM Channel · 1 HN recommender · 2010–2025
• comedyGrzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz (HD)trouchelle · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2025
• explainerHow big is a billion? - NumberphileNumberphile · 1 HN recommender · 2014–2024
• explainerDoes the language you speak change how you think?Tom Scott · 1 HN recommender · 2023–2024
• explainerThe Hidden Rules of ConversationTom Scott · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2026
• lectureStephen Krashen on Language AcquisitionMark Rounds · 1 HN recommender · 2018–2025
• explainerMovie Accent Expert Breaks Down 32 Actors' Accents | WIREDWIRED · 1 HN recommender · 2017–2019
• comedyHow English sounds to non-English speakersBrian and Karl · 1 HN recommender · 2013–2017
• documentaryNo Béarla Series 1, Episode 1.An Ghaeilge · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2025
• explainerwhy typing like this is sometimes okay.Tom Scott · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2024
• lectureStephen Krashen: Language Acquisition and Comprehensible InputTarek Hamza · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2022
• otherOriginal Pronunciation - Hamlet | To Be, or not to be... | Ben CrystalShakespeare on Toast · 1 HN recommender · 2018–2025
• talkPolitics and Language | Noam Chomsky | Talks at GoogleTalks at Google · 1 HN recommender · 2008–2018