Part of the problem is not wanting to get to the bottom of things - entertainment over investigation - and part is trying to find a good place to start.
I read a book about the origins of WQXR, the first US classical radio station. A challenge was finding the right mix between the basics and more obscure music. If the listeners never heard Beethoven's fifth or
Eine kleine Nachtmusik, they're fine programming choices. But classical fans would want something more challenging that could turn off the newbies.
That's why I like
FT. They know how to get you up to speed, but then provide new information and theories, healthy scepticism, and often some light humor. For the same reason I like
The Why Files on YouTube. A recent episode about the Peter Williamson disappearance (below) tells the story with a good amount of detail, but then goes on to express serious doubt because of a lack of primary sources of information. They then go on to more about quantum mechanics and the Many Words theory, saying there is still some possibility that the worlds do communicate with one another.
I'm of two minds on this. Cheesy AI and CGI images can annoy, but you still need something to fill the time and space if you don't have a lot of real documentary material. I've seen countless UFO and cryptozoology shows that pad the visuals with the same generic CGI footage over and over, and it gets tired quickly. But consider the same two examples I've used already:
FT has covers and story splash pages that are created with computer assistance, but guided by human hands. And
The Why Files has lately been illustrating its stories with AI footage, but it's there to tell the
specific story. Despite a few details being off in this video - steering wheels on the wrong side, a shoulder patch that reads "ROLICE" - it saves us from staring at the host for the whole show.
BTW if you're new to this series, don't worry; you actually get to like the wisecracking goldfish after a while. And it may take some viewing of early episodes to get some inside jokes. (Mrs. Williamson looks a lot like the host's wife.)