Society and Culture

With so many young gay and lesbian teens committing suicide as they struggle to come to terms with their sexuality, a channel like I'm From Driftwood has become more important than ever. Through its intimate documentary portraits of LGBTQ people, the stars and the ordinary Joes and Janes, gay and lesbian folks learn they are not alone. And the rest of us learn these people aren't all that different from the rest of us. These are powerful lessons indeed.

If you believe the Bollywood movies, India is a colorful and cheery place where people sing and dance in the street. The team from Video Volunteers tells a very different story with their local news channel IndiaUnheard. As its name suggests the webseries puts cameras into the hands of marginalized people and encourages them to reveal the true India.

Bill Streeter celebrates the music and culture of his home town in the webseries, Lo-Fi Saint Louis. Series dealing with music and the arts are a dime a dozen, but the focus on The River City helps to set this one apart. The videos are professionally produced, and the use of high-definition video makes them a real pleasure to watch.

The Montana State University has created an impressive educational nature and science series in Terra: The Nature of Our World. The production is slick and the videos diverse and informative. The website design isn't very intuitive though, with viewers needing to scroll up on pages to see the videos they're looking for. This unique design takes some time to get used to.

Craigslist TV tells us the stories behind the weird and wonderful ads posted on classifieds website, Craigslist. Anyone who's ever browsed the site can see the potential of this documentary series, but the episodes are a bit uneven. Some of the attention-seeking subjects are grating, but there's also some really interesting tales to be told.

Just like Fight Club without the weirdness comes White Collar Brawler, a documentary series which follows the transformation of two pals from office drones to amateur boxers. With episodes being produced every couple of days we really begin to bond with these men looking to add some spark to their ordinary lives.

We all know the importance of charity, but philanthropy isn't the popular of topics to talk about. Christina Gagnier and Jonathan Harris look to change all that with their weekly chat show This Week in Cause. Interviews and even a dose of celebrity-focused charity help to make this society and culture program compelling viewing.

An educational web channel is rarely one to get excited about, but TED Talks seems to buck the trend. The diversity of its lectures, which tackle such quirky topics as "The Technology of the Heart" and "Inside an Antarctic Time Machine" is surely key to its success. There's also an awful lot here; with more than 750 videos to choose from there's bound to be more than a few that interest you.

Documentary series RADAR aims to switch us on to the exciting projects going on in the world around us. Each episode looks at an innovative arts initiative or event in a personal and revealing way. The diversity of the stories and the intimate nature of their delivery have seen RADAR last well into its third season.

If there's an internet joke that’s passed you by, make sure you check out Know Your Meme. This original documentary series explains the most popular internet memes and their place in the world. These lighthearted, yet informative episodes are very comprehensive and surprisingly fascinating for internet newbies and viral video fans alike.