The Great Courses
Recorded lecture series on history, science and economics, on disc or by subscription
Recorded lecture series by academics, sold since 1990 on tape, DVD and download and now streamed by subscription, a service that traded for a few years as Wondrium. A course runs from a dozen to several dozen half-hour lectures on one subject: geology, the history of economics, the Roman republic, how the immune system works. People watch on a treadmill or in the evening in place of television, and the format suits anyone who wants a structured tour of a field before reading the books. Individual courses are pricey to buy outright; the streaming plan is a modest monthly fee.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Bill GatesDoes it
Microsoft co-founder · Gates Notes reading lists
He says he has watched a lot of lecture series online. In his 2023 holiday list he was still recommending Timothy Taylor's three economics series on Wondrium to friends and family, more than a decade after he first watched them.
Source: Gates Notes: Great books, courses, and music for the holidays
Aimed at the same thing
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Syncs your highlights and resurfaces them a few at a time
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 recommends it - App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Website and app blocker
Software that makes distracting sites genuinely unavailable on a schedule
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it, 2 recommend it - App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it
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DEVONthink
DEVONtechnologies
Document and information manager for Mac and iOS with local, indexed databases
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it
App entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.