Then & Now

Subscribers 543K

Videos 216

Views 40.0M

Channels Like Then & Now

Then & Now creates video essays about History, Politics and Philosophy, delivering deep-dives and analysis rather than quick tutorials or vlogs. The channel posts long-form content with topics like fascism, authoritarianism, populism, and state power, and averages about 88.8K views per video with 216 videos published since joining in 2016, roughly 0.2 uploads per week.

Similar Channels

We found 44 YouTube channels similar to Then & Now

#1

CrashCourse view on YouTube ▶

83% relevance

Subscribers 16.9M

Videos 1.6K

Views 2.2B

Appearances 24

SERP 100%

Similarity 72%

history of authoritarianism ideology and governance bureaucracy and statecraft

Both target broad audiences with concise, structured explanations of complex political themes using history-focused content, aligning on searches like history of authoritarianism and governance, though CrashCourse's presentation is more rapid and classroom-style (83% match: high search overlap; content 72% indicates similar topics but different style).

#2

TED-Ed view on YouTube ▶

65% relevance

Subscribers 22.4M

Videos 2.3K

Views 4.5B

Appearances 10

SERP 65%

Similarity 66%

history of authoritarianism rise of populism state power mechanisms

Similar in delivering accessible, idea-driven explanations of political topics such as the rise of populism and state power mechanisms, with substantial search overlap on those queries but slightly differing in narrative depth and length (65% match; search 65%, content 66%).

#3

Korczyk's Class

64% relevance

Subscribers 35K

Videos 77

Views 2.9M

Appearances 10

SERP 52%

Similarity 72%

global politics analysis political legitimacy theories nationalism and identity

Shares global politics analysis and theories of legitimacy and nationalism, matching on queries about political legitimacy and identity, yet Korczyk's Class emphasizes a more opinionated or classroom-style critique (64% match; search 52%, content 72%).

The School of Life YouTube channel thumbnail

#4

The School of Life view on YouTube ▶

62% relevance

Subscribers 9.6M

Videos 1.1K

Views 980.9M

Appearances 16

SERP 54%

Similarity 67%

political philosophy bureaucracy and statecraft political theory critique

Similar focus on political philosophy and critique of statecraft, with overlap on queries about bureaucracy and governance, though SoL tends to philosophical and reflective tone rather than data-driven history (62% match; search 54%, content 67%).

The Paint Explainer YouTube channel thumbnail

#5

The Paint Explainer view on YouTube ▶

58% relevance

Subscribers 1.8M

Videos 141

Views 260.9M

Appearances 5

SERP 33%

Similarity 74%

political philosophy ideology and governance power and ideology

Both cover political philosophy and ideologies in governance with attention to power dynamics, yet Paint Explainer blends visual-art style explanations, resulting in high content overlap but lower search alignment for some political terms (58% match; search 33%, content 74%).

#6

Big Think view on YouTube ▶

55% relevance

Subscribers 8.6M

Videos 9.9K

Views 1.0B

Appearances 5

SERP 29%

Similarity 73%

political philosophy authoritarian resilience colonial legacy implications

Shares interest in political philosophy and implications of colonial legacy; audiences overlap on these topics, but Big Think features broader expert-led interviews, causing moderate search overlap and strong factual/analysis content similarity (55% match; search 29%, content 73%).

Content Landscape

Discovered competitors include CrashCourse (83% match) and TED-Ed (65% match) as top rivals, both sharing overlapping queries on history of authoritarianism, ideology and governance, and state power mechanisms. Korczyk's Class (64% match) also competes with global politics analysis and nationalism topics, while The School of Life (62% match) and The Paint Explainer (58% match) contribute to political philosophy and ideology-related searches. Then & Now has 543K subscribers, which is significantly smaller than CrashCourse (16.9M) and TED-Ed (22.4M) but larger than Korczyk's Class (35K) and The Paint Explainer (1.8M). The common threads include history, political philosophy, and governance topics, with overlapping queries like history of authoritarianism, rise of populism, and political theory critique.

Video Highlights

Didn't Make the Cut

38 additional channels that were close

Rank	Relevance	Channel	Similarity	Subscribers	SERP	Appearances
#7	55%	Academy of Ideas	79%	2.0M	18%	5
#8	54%	Vox ▶	71%	12.7M	29%	7
#9	54%	Hoover Institution	76%	1.1M	21%	6
#10	53%	Kraut	76%	604K	19%	3
#11	53%	TEDx Talks ▶	67%	44.2M	32%	13
#12	53%	Ryan Chapman ▶	74%	538K	21%	6
#13	52%	Red Pen	78%	43.2K	13%	4
#14	52%	Sociologylearners	72%	11.7K	21%	4
#15	51%	YaleCourses ▶	70%	1.7M	23%	5
#16	51%	Heimler's History	67%	1.2M	27%	6
#17	51%	Fredda	75%	138K	15%	1
#18	51%	True Sage	77%	37.6K	12%	1
#19	51%	Robert Reich	76%	1.5M	12%	3
#20	51%	Pursuit of Wonder	75%	3.4M	14%	2
#21	50%	Money & Macro	74%	647K	15%	1
#22	50%	Centre for Geopolitics	73%	10.4K	15%	2
#23	50%	Wendigoon ▶	73%	4.6M	15%	3
#24	50%	ENDEVR	73%	1.4M	15%	2
#25	49%	The Institute of World Politics	72%	26.3K	14%	2
#26	49%	Al Jazeera English	59%	17.5M	33%	5
#27	49%	TED ▶	70%	27.2M	17%	6
#28	48%	Belfer Center	72%	36.8K	12%	1
#29	48%	Trends Journal	72%	67.7K	12%	1
#30	48%	In the Kimdom	68%	57.3K	17%	2
#31	48%	Jaydone History ▶	71%	193K	13%	5
#32	47%	Prof. Dr. Zia Ahmed	71%	7.0K	12%	2
#33	47%	The Federalist Society ▶	70%	108K	12%	1
#34	47%	GLOBAL GENIUS	68%	43.1K	15%	1
#35	47%	Eduta	63%	1.4K	22%	6
#36	46%	Brookings Institution	68%	163K	13%	2
#37	45%	HISTORY ▶	66%	15.2M	14%	2
#38	45%	The New School	66%	196K	15%	1
#39	45%	DMRU Academy	66%	1.3K	12%	1
#40	44%	The New York Times ▶	66%	5.1M	12%	1
#41	44%	DW News ▶	63%	6.2M	16%	5
#42	44%	Redeemed Zoomer	63%	678K	15%	1
#43	43%	Penn Medical Ethics & Health Policy Online	63%	1.2K	12%	1
#44	42%	FRANCE 24 English ▶	62%	3.5M	11%	2

Search Queries Used

historical philosophy political philosophy history of authoritarianism rise of populism global politics analysis 20th century history ideology and governance cultural nationalism economic oligarchy state power mechanisms bureaucracy and statecraft democracy and decline power and ideology political theory critique historical ethics philosophy of power democratic decline patterns authoritarian resilience populist rhetoric analysis state surveillance history economic inequality roots bureaucratic control mechanisms ideology critique methods political legitimacy theories constitutional erosion trends economic imperialism history colonial legacy implications nationalism and identity civic virtue and decay soft power history political realism overview revolutions and reforms statecraft in history philosophy of governance

Frequently Asked Questions

Which YouTube channels are most similar to Then & Now?

Then & Now's biggest competitors on YouTube are CrashCourse (83% match, 16.9M subscribers) and TED-Ed (65% match, 22.4M subscribers), with Korczyk's Class (64% match, 35K subscribers) also listed. They share a focus on educational or explanatory content and storytelling around complex topics.

What type of content does Then & Now make?

Then & Now creates informational content exploring historical and political themes, as suggested by video titles like The Fascist Ideal, The Rise of the Authoritarian-Curious, and How to Make a Fascist. The channel uploads roughly 0.2 videos per week and averages about 88.8K views per video.

How do we determine which channels are similar to Then & Now?

We analyze Then & Now's recent videos, generate topic-relevant search queries, check YouTube search results, and compare the meaning of each channel's content to measure similarity. The result is a ranked list sorted by SERP overlap, semantic similarity, and search appearances.

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