Map Men
Shares rank 36 of 43 YouTube channels by recommenders
Video essays on maps and borders, including what counts as a country, that people recommend as good background viewing.
5 people recommended Map Men in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 5 comments.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- mixed feelings
- 0
- warn against or regret it
- 0
The record
Recommended in 6 of 12 months
In 6 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 6 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 20% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 5 of the 6 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Consistently good, recommended videos
“Map Men did a great video on the reverse of this”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “Declassified CIA Cartography Maps from the 1980s” “map men ones are typically good”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Advertising as a major source of human dissatisfaction (2019) [pdf]” “You should watch Map Men.”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “Why the Global Elite Gave Up on Spelling and Grammar” Background on maps and borders
“For background, I would recommend this video from the Map Men”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “IDF Killed Gaza Aid Workers at Point Blank Range in 2025 Massacre: Report” “on the difficulty of deciding what is or isn't a country”
Comment from 21 Jul 2026 in “AI Agent – TRMNL”
Other YouTube channels people recommend
The four most recommended other YouTube channels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3Blue1Brown | 79 | 13 | 4 | 95% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Veritasium | 37 | 4 | 12 | 76% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Technology Connections YouTube channel | 36 | 2 | 2 | 95% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Asianometry | 23 | 0 | 1 | 96% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Map MenThis page | 5 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
Also compared with Gamers Nexus, Patrick Boyle YouTube channel, Project Farm and Smarter Every Day.
What people said
5 of the 6 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“on the difficulty of deciding what is or isn't a country”
“Map Men did a great video on the reverse of this”
“You should watch Map Men.”
“For background, I would recommend this video from the Map Men”
“map men ones are typically good”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.