CGP Grey: the videos Hacker News recommends
Not the channel's most viewed videos: the ones HN commenters kept linking with real commentary. The top pick, "Try to Rule Fairly and You'll Be Overthrown", hN treats it as the standard short summary of how power and political incentives work, applied to governments, companies and workplaces.
- 15 HN recommenders 15 months 2016–2025explainerHN treats it as the standard short summary of how power and political incentives work, applied to governments, companies and workplaces.
- 11 HN recommenders 11 months 2014–2026explainerHN has recommended it for a decade as the standard explainer on automation and unemployment, though skeptics later cite it as an example of overconfident predictions.
- 12 HN recommenders 11 months 2018–2025explainerHN commenters repeatedly recommend it in longevity and aging threads as a concise, fun case for fighting aging.
- 12 HN recommenders 11 months 2012–2024explainerHN's go-to short explainer for the City of London versus London, cited in many finance and UK threads.
- 10 HN recommenders 8 months 2020–2025explainerA staple recommendation in new year and goal-setting threads, with many commenters adopting yearly themes.
- 10 HN recommenders 10 months 2015–2025explainerHN's go-to explainer for why FPTP leads to a two-party system, linked in countless voting-reform and US politics threads.
- 11 HN recommenders 9 months 2015–2024explainerHN commenters point to it as a clear, short explanation of one-directional disease spread and the core argument of Guns, Germs, and Steel.
- 6 HN recommenders 8 months 2015–2023explainerHN recommends it as the standard short answer whenever someone confuses Britain, the UK and England.
- 17 HN recommenders 8 months 2020–2022explainerHN recommends it constantly in work-from-home, burnout and procrastination threads as practical advice for separating work from life at home.
- 14 HN recommenders 9 months 2017–2024explainerHN reaches for it in every identity theft and data breach thread as the clearest, most enjoyable short explainer of why SSNs make bad identifiers.
- 11 HN recommenders 8 months 2017–2026explainerHN recommends it widely in advice threads on depression, habits, and goal setting as a funny, memorable way to see what to do by seeing what not to do.
- 7 HN recommenders 7 months 2012–2021explainerHN's go-to link whenever ranked-choice voting or voting reform comes up, because it explains the mechanics quickly and entertainingly.
- 7 HN recommenders 8 months 2019–2023explainerHN recommends it as the quickest clear overview of the Brexit options, though later commenters note it predates the final outcome.
- 6 HN recommenders 7 months 2015–2023explainerA favorite entry point to the weird history and privileges of the City of London.
- 7 HN recommenders 7 months 2015–2021explainerHN's default link for explaining STV in any thread on voting reform, ranked choice or gerrymandering.
- 7 HN recommenders 7 months 2016–2025explainerHN returns to it constantly in consciousness and decision-making threads as a clear, entertaining explanation of split-brain.
- 9 HN recommenders 6 months 2020–2023explainerIt is the default link in any thread about boarding or deplaning order, praised as an excellent, clear treatment.
- 6 HN recommenders 6 months 2015–2025explainerHN links it constantly in threads on social media, polarization and outrage as the canonical explanation of why angry content wins.
- 6 HN recommenders 6 months 2016–2026explainerHN cites it as a concise, well-illustrated explanation of traffic flow, in threads on congestion, self-driving cars and driving habits.
- 5 HN recommenders 5 months 2021–2025explainerHN commenters point to it as a masterpiece of humorous archival detective work and a great watch about books and libraries.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2017–2025explainerHN longevity fans point to it as a concise, fun statement of the case for fighting aging, and some say it changed their minds.
- 5 HN recommenders 5 months 2012–2026explainerIt is the go-to short explainer HN links when voting system alternatives, MMP or German-style elections come up.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2025explainerHN recommends it whenever zip codes, addresses or geospatial data come up, as a clear explanation of the hidden pattern in post codes.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2020–2026explainerCited again and again in terminology debates as a convincing source that many American Indians prefer the term Indian.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2012–2020explainerHN shares it as a short summary of why copyright length matters and the history of Disney-driven term extensions.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2016–2025explainerHN commenters use it as a short, persuasive primer to send to non-technical people in debates over encryption backdoors and decryption legislation.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2017–2023explainerHN recommends it as a 101-level crash course on the keys to power, and says it changed how some viewers see political discourse.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2015–2024explainerHN links it as the clearest short explainer of jury nullification and how the jury system works, often in threads on prosecutors and trials.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2013–2024commentaryBrought up in nearly every discussion of AI tutors and the future of schooling as the original Digital Aristotle idea.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2015–2020explainerLinked in electoral-system discussions as a quick, clear argument against the electoral college.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2018–2020explainerOffered as the quick, clear explainer on US federal land ownership whenever land use in the West comes up.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2024–2026explainerLoved for its zoom-out tour of physical scales and recommended alongside other paper-size and scale-of-the-universe discussions.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2016–2020explainerHN recommends it as an entertaining overview in any thread about border oddities.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2015–2022explainerHN recommends it as a short, clear illustration of how first-past-the-post misrepresents voters.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2018–2023explainerHN recommends it as a classic on why some animals are suited to farming and domestication and others are not.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2012–2023explainerPointed to as the canonical concise case against pennies whenever coin abolition comes up.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2013–2017explainerHN links it in caffeine threads as a quick, clear explanation of caffeine's effects.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2022–2025explainerHN people point to it as a fun summary of how messy airport codes are, especially in threads on aviation falsehoods and code collisions.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2016–2020explainerPointed to in threads about mind uploading and teleportation as a good, accessible look at personal identity.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2020–2022explainerRecommended in hexagon-grid threads as a fun but informative overview, and sometimes dropped as a light joke.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2011–2019explainerHN people link it as the simple go-to explanation of DST and of how irregular time zone rules complicate scheduling.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2023–2026commentaryLinked whenever flag redesigns come up, and credited as hugely influential on how people think about flag design.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2016–2020explainerCited in threads on borders, Taiwan's status and how many countries exist, as a quick explanation of why recognition is political.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2022–2023explainerReferenced as a fun side tangent whenever the name Tiffany comes up in a thread.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2020–2024explainerBrought up in four-day-week and work-schedule threads as the 'Weekend Wednesday' idea.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2013–2022explainerHN commenters cite it in monarchy debates as the explainer claiming the royals make money for the UK, with some disputing it.
- cited 3× 0 months 2016–2022explainerCited as a short explainer when Antarctic governance comes up, including as an analogy for governing Mars.
- cited 3× 0 months 2014–2022explainerCited as a fast, entertaining explanation of EU membership tiers when EU politics comes up.
- cited 3× 0 months 2016–2026explainerHN uses it as the go-to link whenever someone conflates Holland and the Netherlands.
- cited 3× 0 months 2012–2017explainerCited as the standard example of algorithmic redistricting when gerrymandering and electoral reform come up.
Questions
Which CGP Grey video does Hacker News recommend most?
Try to Rule Fairly and You'll Be Overthrown: recommended in 15 different months by 15 HN users between 2016 and 2025.
Is this every CGP Grey video?
No. Only videos that at least three different HN users linked, in at least three different months, with at least a sentence of their own commentary. That filter is what makes the list useful.
Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.