@DavidW, Heh, next thing he'll be making a river table in his RV that he has sold to some rich European for $60k! 
I liked how he mentioned that woodworking, and most trades, were looked down upon while he was in school, as if they were occupations of last resort for those not smart enough to put themselves into ridiculous debt getting a college degree so they could work at Starbucks. [end sarcasm]
I didn't manage to listen to all of it linearly, just skipped around and then went through the channel to see how much of a woodworker he was. Youtube maybe 12 or so years ago was really switching to algorithm based stuff probably not a lot different than what this guy published. it's part of imagining wore substance than there is and imagining you could do something. Looked through the video history because sometimes you find something like this because it hits the algorithm, and someone has a back catalogue letting you know they are the real deal. 12 or so years ago, whatever it was, Jay Bates and April Wilkerson started. I remember when they started because it was clear neither had any skills. I could figure that old guys would watch April Wilkerson and not notice that she was for a while only screwing together particle board and such. Bates was different - there wasn't anything other than the "i could imagine being that guy" and he gathered viewers quickly. Seemed like a nice guy, but for me personally, not what I was looking for. I wanted to see more Curtis Buchanan type stuff- something you can soak woodworking reality from, and ideas. there's not a lot. But it's not how the world works to cater to the group of folks like that.
I watched Roy and Vila when I was a kid, and a little of Norm. I couldn't tell you who other than Norm was on This Old House back then, but it was on and it was the 80s and I was a kid in a rural area. When you weren't doing anything else, TV was about it other than reading. I thought roy was "neat", but watching a few shows in the last 20 years, it's an entertainment show and George Wilson sort of relayed to me when I complained that there was almost enough information on the show each time I watched it to do something, but not quite enough". "You're missing the point, David. If the show was intended to be instructional, it would die. Most of the people watching it will be able to feel like they could do what they see and that would be enough". he was right. i watched a lot of episodes as a kid - it seemed accessible and Roy is the kind of chirpy always-on host. At least he was a housewright at the same time at CW when he had time to do that.
there were legit people working in the background on TOH. I would appreciate that part now and wish Vila talked less, but most of the audience wouldn't agree with that.
The youtube stuff just doesn't have much of anything for anyone unless they are thinking about taking up the hobby. the platitudes you mentioned, the invisible enemy who called the occupation second rate and so on. I live in a neighborhood where the diagonal neighbor is a contractor/carpenter/trim guy. He'll do a little of each of those. He retired at 61 and is now doing odd jobs for pleasure. He was the sole wage earner in the house. Next to me is a laborer, and then across from me is a painter. Everyone is retired but me. the younger folks in the neighborhood (i'm nearing 50) are white collar for the most part - mostly engineers and IT. I guess if you went over the hill to the gated neighborhood, a lot of the people would think they were above woodworking for a living, but some would wish they could. Their kids go to Carnegie Mellon instead of Pitt and they're on a different level. I'm glad I don't live in that neighborhood, but would love to find substance on YT.
I always liked posting videos on YT for quite a while - the algorithm kept my videos away from most people, but from time to time, i'd get one with 75k views or so, not expecting it. Japanese stones, discussing various oilstones, for whatever reason, they'd get a draw - no editing, just droned information that's 5 times as long as people would tolerate now unless it was pretty and you could buy something. it's not a hand wringing about what should be, it's what I'd like. What's out there is what is, you can't get too upset or dreamy about what could be or should be - that's kind of dumb.
The curtis buchanan videos to me, though, are gold. I wish there was more. I've been making a few stone boxes, just entirely by hand. they may not be chairs, but what curtis talks about is the kind of things that would lead to me making more interesting boxes. Doing them entirely by hand is a choice, I want to get a better feel for carving, but I want to see lines better and break out of straight things without the curved work being prescribed more or less (e.g., make guitars, you'll do some curved work, but you can't get too free with design - or shouldn't).
https://ofhandmaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/wp-17329880027718876356544216064652.jpg
https://ofhandmaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/wp-17347328554697810959710972651241.jpg
https://ofhandmaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/wp-17347328917601455865821323357643.jpg
The second box is kind of meh. But it's OK, it was an experiment. What it's missing is knowing what would look more interesting, and the answer to that is general, it's not how to make this box, it's what looks good design wise, we really see the design of things most of the time. Even as woodworkers, it doesn't mean the design has to be fancy or gaudy, but what looks good and doesn't elicit "eh....that part's...not quite it. almost but not quite".
I was a kid when norm showed up on this old house and then had his own show. As i remember it, Roy Underhill already had a show for a while and I grew up rural and it was easy to find on PBS. Living in the burbs now around a larger city, until we had the .x channels, it was hard to find the same thing on TV. Lots more local cooking shows, original content or WGBH content and others that weren't woodworking.
At any rate, I remember Bob Vila from the early show and then barely Norm. At some point, Bob was off the show and I could hardly figure out how that was possible - obviously I get it now. Roy's show I thought was "neat" as a kid - wouldn't it be fun to walk around with a tool box and hatchet and saw things. never though for a second about doing anything on either show, but that's how kids usually are with most things. I'd be annoyed watching either now because the guests or people doing something in the background know what I want to do. I watched a couple of Roy's shows in the last few decades and there's almost enough information in them to do something with and not quite enough. It's entertainment - not that he didn't work as the housewright intermittently at Williamsburg when time allowed, but it's not aimed at woodworkers. I just was surprised to see youtube manage to figure that out - looking back, I don't know why.
Back to the YT guy and the platitudes he talks about....does he really believe that? I've never heard anyone dog woodworking or carpentry here and I'm in the burbs.
