# Map Men

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/map-men/

5 people recommended Map Men in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 12 months, in 6 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Video essays on maps and borders, including what counts as a country, that people recommend as good background viewing.

Summary written by Claude from 5 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Consistently good, recommended videos (3 comments in the sample): "Map Men did a great video on the reverse of this" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48295658)) "map men ones are typically good" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46168576)) "You should watch Map Men." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47341093))
- Background on maps and borders (2 comments in the sample): "For background, I would recommend this video from the Map Men" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47145932)) "on the difficulty of deciding what is or isn't a country" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48997418))

## Other YouTube channels people recommend

- [3Blue1Brown](https://hackerapproved.com/p/3blue1brown/): 79 recommend, 13 mixed, 4 criticize
- [Veritasium](https://hackerapproved.com/p/veritasium/): 37 recommend, 4 mixed, 12 criticize
- [Technology Connections YouTube channel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/technology-connections/): 36 recommend, 2 mixed, 2 criticize
- [Asianometry](https://hackerapproved.com/p/asianometry-youtube-channel/): 23 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Map Men", https://hackerapproved.com/p/map-men/ (5 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.