9 videos · 9 hr 7 minLectures worth a weekend
These are the university lectures and classic talks that HN commenters recommend again and again, often with the words 'drop what you're doing.' Each entry is a single lecture, usually the first of a full course, so you can sample a great teacher and keep going if it clicks. The list opens with Feynman, moves through physics, math, computing and machine learning, then turns to people, ethics and writing.
Play all on YouTube- 156:04
Richard Feynman - The.Character of Physical Law - Part 1 The Law of Gravitation (full version)
Tinkerin' Thinkers · Picked by 6 · 2013–2022The first of Feynman's 1964 Cornell Messenger Lectures, building from planetary motion to what a physical law is, clear enough that commenters say no formal training is needed.
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AT&T Archives: Similiarities of Wave Behavior (Bonus Edition)
AT&T Tech Channel · Picked by 12 · 2014–2026J.N. Shive's Bell Labs wave machine demonstration, which HN calls the best introduction to waves of any sort, done with a contraption rather than equations.
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Lec 1 | MIT 18.06 Linear Algebra, Spring 2005
MIT OpenCourseWare · Picked by 11 · 2011–2020Gilbert Strang's opening lecture on the geometry of linear equations, HN's default answer to how to learn linear algebra properly.
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Lecture 1A | MIT 6.001 Structure and Interpretation, 1986
MIT OpenCourseWare · Picked by 11 · 2012–2024Abelson opens SICP by arguing that computer science is not about computers, the lecture one commenter says turned them from a UX designer into a programmer.
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1:08:40Lecture 1 | Machine Learning (Stanford)
Stanford · Picked by 11 · 2008–2020Andrew Ng's first CS229 lecture, recommended on HN as the original and more rigorous version of the course that taught a generation machine learning.
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1:28:13RL Course by David Silver - Lecture 1: Introduction to Reinforcement Learning
Google DeepMind · Picked by 9 · 2017–2026The AlphaGo lead's introduction to reinforcement learning, praised for clear explanations that pair well with Sutton and Barto's textbook.
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57:151. Introduction to Human Behavioral Biology
Stanford · Picked by 15 · 2012–2026Robert Sapolsky's first lecture on how genes, hormones and environment shape behavior, a series HN commenters keep calling the best course they have ever taken.
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54:56Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do? Episode 01 "THE MORAL SIDE OF MURDER"
Harvard University · Picked by 11 · 2013–2025Michael Sandel opens his Harvard ethics course with the trolley problem and a hall full of students arguing, a series HN says everyone should watch.
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1:21:52LEADERSHIP LAB: The Craft of Writing Effectively
UChicago Social Sciences · Picked by 15 · 2019–2026Larry McEnerney's session on writing for what readers value, which many HN users say changed how they write well beyond academia.