Tom Scott — Best Videos According to Hacker News

explainer

Why Electronic Voting Is Still A Bad Idea

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott still has the best argument against e-voting IMO [1].”

11 HN recommenders · 2020–2026

explainer

YouTube's copyright system isn't broken. The world's is.

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott explains the situation and the solution best.”

13 HN recommenders · 2020–2024

commentary

This Video Is Sponsored By ███ VPN

Tom Scott

“It's well worth the seven and a half minutes to watch it, IMO.”

9 HN recommenders · 2019–2026

explainer

I promise this story about microwaves is interesting.

Tom Scott

“The whole story is worth a watch since Tom Scott does an admirable job of explaining”

9 HN recommenders · 2021–2026

explainer

British Plugs Are Better Than All Other Plugs, And Here's Why

Tom Scott

“There's the obligatory Tom Scott video here, which always gets shared, deservedly so”

3 HN recommenders · 2019–2025

explainer

YouTubers have to declare ads. Why doesn't anyone else?

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott has a great video on the inconsistency that online influencers and youtubers have to declare ads/product-placements while traditional media does not.”

6 HN recommenders · 2021–2024

explainer

This giant model stopped a terrible plan

Tom Scott

“I learned of this plan via this short Tom Scott video. Fascinating.”

5 HN recommenders · 2018–2026

explainer

Why Do Reversing Trucks Not Beep Any More?

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott has a fascinating video that describes how this is changing”

3 HN recommenders · 2016–2026

explainer

Why Snow and Confetti Ruin YouTube Video Quality

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott has a good video where turns up and down the quality live so you can see it in a single video”

3 HN recommenders · 2018–2024

explainer

Gender Neutral Pronouns: They're Here, Get Used To Them

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott has a great video on grammatical gender that is worth a watch”

3 HN recommenders · 2013–2015

explainer

A Million Dollars vs A Billion Dollars, Visualized: A Road Trip

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott has a great video on it”

3 HN recommenders · 2021–2026

talk

Emojli: Behind the Scenes and Why You Should Never Build An App

Tom Scott

“There is a wonderful talk by the founders of emoj.li about how it was all a joke which got out of hand.”

3 HN recommenders · 2016–2019

explainer

Why this British crossroads was so dangerous

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott has a good video for anyone looking for a visual of this phenomenon”

3 HN recommenders · 2020–2025

documentary

How the US Postal Service reads terrible handwriting

Tom Scott

“This Tom Scott video shows some of the surprising (to me) lengths to which the USPS does go to figure out the right address”

4 HN recommenders · 2022–2026

explainer

I thought this rotating house was impossible.

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott did a video last year that has a great 3D render of the system”

4 HN recommenders · 2023–2024

commentary

I tried using AI. It scared me.

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott's video[0] makes a very good argument: we don't know where we are on the technology curve.”

4 HN recommenders · 2023–2025

talk

The Art of the Bodge: How I Made The Emoji Keyboard

Tom Scott

“I saw a good talk on it from Tom Scott some time ago[0] which I think is relevant.”

4 HN recommenders · 2018–2024

explainer

Why “No Problem” Can Seem Rude: Phatic Expressions

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott has an excellent video that addresses this very issue.”

3 HN recommenders · 2021–2023

explainer

This Is Your Brain On Stale Air

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott did a great video on it a while back”

2 HN recommenders · 2019–2025

explainer

In Norway, Everyone Can Know How Much You Earn

Tom Scott

“Interesting video about somewhat public tax returns, and hence salary, in Norway and other Nordic countries.”

2 HN recommenders · 2016–2021

explainer

This 1970s tank simulator drives through a tiny world

Tom Scott

“This tank simulator from the 1970s is a great example of early VR”

2 HN recommenders · 2024–2025

explainer

Why Web Filters Don't Work: Penistone and the Scunthorpe Problem

Tom Scott

“He talks about how it's impossible to implement with all edge-cases, easy to circumvent”

2 HN recommenders · 2017–2026

explainer

Why Britain Uses Separate Hot and Cold Taps

Tom Scott

“Short video by Tom Scott on the subject for those interested.”

2 HN recommenders · 2015–2025

commentary

The Worst Typo I Ever Made

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott has a great video on his "Oh Shoot" moment”

2 HN recommenders · 2020–2026

documentary

These tunnels are designed for 100,000 years

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott has a great video[0] about the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository in Finland[1]”

2 HN recommenders · 2021–2024

explainer

The hidden background noise that can catch criminals

Tom Scott

“less detailed but pretty accessible video [1] explaining how mains hum forensics work”

3 HN recommenders · 2022–2025

explainer

How many robots does it take to run a grocery store?

Tom Scott

“I thought this was an interesting insight into what a fully-automated grocery store looks like.”

2 HN recommenders · 2021–2026

explainer

Hold music used to sound better. Here's why.

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott did a video on it.[0] It basically boils down to telephone switches starting to compress the audio.”

2 HN recommenders · 2018–2023

talk

Single Point of Failure: The (Fictional) Day Google Forgot To Check Passwords

Tom Scott

“It's basically the scenario Tom Scott laid out about what would happen if Google stopped checking passwords”

2 HN recommenders · 2018–2023

explainer

The Artificial Intelligence That Deleted A Century

Tom Scott

“I'd like to also recommend his other work of speculative fiction: The Artificial Intelligence That Deleted A Century”

1 HN recommenders · 2021–2025

explainer

The Lava Lamps That Help Keep The Internet Secure

Tom Scott

“There's a good Tom Scott video on this too.”

1 HN recommenders · 2017–2024

demo

Real Life Emoji Keyboard!

Tom Scott

“emoji-ized keyboards like Tom Scott did (as a stunt)”

1 HN recommenders · 2019–2024

explainer

This Video Has 77,321,815 Views

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott made a wonderful video a while back about open APIs, and about how they (mostly) died out[0].”

2 HN recommenders · 2020–2026

explainer

Does the language you speak change how you think?

Tom Scott

“I recommend this Tom Scott video on the issue”

1 HN recommenders · 2023–2024

comedy

Welcome to Life: the singularity, ruined by lawyers

Tom Scott

“will rapidly be looking less and less like satire.”

1 HN recommenders · 2013–2026

explainer

The Hidden Rules of Conversation

Tom Scott

“This video covers the concept pretty well”

1 HN recommenders · 2020–2026

explainer

If these pumps ever stop, part of Germany floods.

Tom Scott

1 HN recommenders · 2021–2026

explainer

The Disaster That Changed Engineering: The Hyatt Regency Collapse

Tom Scott

“Grady from Practical Engineering has a great explainer of what went wrong”

1 HN recommenders · 2017–2021

explainer

The artificial gravity lab

Tom Scott

“I never really got it until I watched the Tom Scott video”

1 HN recommenders · 2022–2025

explainer

The centuries-old debt that's still paying interest

Tom Scott

“Quite an interesting video, definitely worth a watch!”

1 HN recommenders · 2021–2026

explainer

How to slow down a stock exchange

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott did a nice video [1] on IEX's setup with 38 miles of fiber”

1 HN recommenders · 2019–2023

explainer

The moiré effect lights that guide ships home

Tom Scott

“the one that Tom Scott visits here”

1 HN recommenders · 2024–2026

explainer

why typing like this is sometimes okay.

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott has a nice intro video about this”

1 HN recommenders · 2020–2024

explainer

Will YouTube Ever Run Out Of Video IDs?

Tom Scott

“There's a Tom Scott video [2] that describes Youtube video IDs as 11-digit base-64 random numbers”

1 HN recommenders · 2021–2026

explainer

The Most Dangerous Stretch of Water in the World: The Strid at Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire

Tom Scott

“The original video is pretty interesting”

1 HN recommenders · 2016–2023

explainer

Making an international standard cup of tea

Tom Scott

“TL;DR is that the standard is used for the most consistent tea, not most tasty/enjoyable tea”

1 HN recommenders · 2018–2023

explainer

The city of golf carts

Tom Scott

“Tom Scott did a good video on the city”

1 HN recommenders · 2020–2022

explainer

This clock was famous, but the internet ruined it.

Tom Scott

“Fascinating to see how it worked then and how it works now.”

1 HN recommenders · 2022–2023