Review: Kurzgesagt

“Kurz gesagt” is German for “in a nutshell”, and that’s what these videos are: short animations that explain complex ideas. The team is based in Germany, but the videos are in impeccable English and the quality of the animation is top-notch.

Given that most of these videos are 5-10 minutes long, some complex topics (like addiction, or ISIS) of course aren’t explained with any depth. But the team usually does solid research and provides an up-to-date view of what’s known. Here are just some examples I like:

• the Fermi Paradox videos (part 1, part 2) are beautiful takes on a familiar problem. I didn’t learn anything new from watching these, but I enjoyed them for their artistic merit.
• their video from 2015 about the refugee crisis in Syria is perhaps their most controversial, and has been viewed more than 10 million times. I don’t agree 100% with its take, and many people obviously vocally disagree. Even if you do, it’s technically well done and packs a lot of information.
• their video on fracking is a more typical explanation of a complex topic that was in the news a lot when they made the video. I personally found it useful when I was first learning about fracking.

There’s a lot to explore here, and I recommend subscribing to their channel without any hesitation. By now, they receive nearly $18,000 in funding from nearly 5,000 Patreon donors every month. That gives you an idea how much people love their stuff.