Does Drachinifel do good research? Interview

[@QuizmasterLaw]

1. Drach's research is far better than most people's 2. He's an awesome narrator 3. And beloved due to excellent moral character I'm so glad this isn't clickbait hitpiece and am really happy at the interview! You might include his picture and "interview" because people will love to see an interview of drach!!!

[@veritasetcaritas]

I really appreciate the effort he put into this interview, especially the details of his research process. I decided to use his channel profile picture because I thought more people would be familiar with it. I will put "interview" in the title if the entire title can fit within 45 characters!

[@veritasetcaritas]

I managed to squeeze the word "interview" into the title!

[@bengreen171]

oh man. If Drachinifel was actually a bad researcher, he'd have to be the greatest fantasist since Nelson asked for some new binoculars for Christmas.

[@veritasetcaritas]

He would be a very convincing fraud.

[@hughboyd2904]

Well played!

[@MatthewChenault]

I met him personally at the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News earlier this year. For those curious, his personality is the same outside of KZbin as it is with his video content, which is rather refreshing.

[@veritasetcaritas]

Yes, he's real quality and totally authentic.

[@MatthewChenault]

@@veritasetcaritas, that is the highest praise anyone can give him. In addition, he doesn’t let his political beliefs cloud his videos, which makes his content all the better. I can’t say the same for certain other history KZbin channels. Take History of Everything as a good example of many of the problems with “history” channels on KZbin; he basically does what Drachinifel has already done (albeit with less detail) and throws in his political biases in the mix.

[@VintageCarHistory]

Drach is quite inspiring in his passion for quality research. Indeed, He inspired me to begin a history KZbin channel and was quite supportive; giving advice, encouragement and even doing a bit of voice work for me.

[@odothedoll2738]

Fun Fact about the HMS Hood, Jon Pertwee was going to be stationed on there when it sank but was transferred last minute for officer training. For my non whovians in the room that would be the third doctor. I mean thank Christ, he was one of the best things about classic Doctor Who!

[@veritasetcaritas]

Wow, that was close!

[@sylvarogre5469]

My favorite Doctor.

[@ianhodgson221]

Not to mention he was known as Chief Petty Officer Pertwee of H.M.S, Troutbridge ( BBC Radio programme The Navy Lark) and when the programme was being broadcast and he was playing Dr Who there were lots of joking references to him being the Doctor

[@wbertie2604]

​@@ianhodgson221 and as I understand it, Barker and Pertwee wrote some of their own dialogue for the series too.

[@sorakagodess]

My recommendations for your future interviews: 1 - you have the habit of loudly responding the interviewee mid his sentency with "uhu" "yes" "of course" and so on wich is really distracting and also make really hard to hear the person you are interviewing. 2 - this is more of my opnion, but, since you are interviewing a person it is better thqt they do a lenght introduction of their story in the field be it their own experience or family, since it start sounds as if you were being interviewed. I dont wanna be mean, this is trully my constructive criticism and i think you future interviewings would be way better in the future if you changed just these 2 points, but over all great video as always.

[@veritasetcaritas]

Thanks for your suggestions, no ofense taken. I have already recorded eight of these responses, but I will attempt to edit out some of my affirmations. When it comes to introductions, I tell the person beforehand that they can introduce themselves to whatever extent they feel comfortable. Some people are happy with a long introduction, but others don't want to talk about themselves much at all, and especially don't want to share many personal details, so I have to leave it up to them.

[@kaykek7174]

I agree with your first point. But let's get to what's actually important here - who is that in your pfp?

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@kaykek7174 oh that's me.

[@veritasetcaritas]

Oh, maybe you weren't talking to me!

[@sorakagodess]

@@veritasetcaritas yeah, i didnt think about that detail, some people wont share much leaving you with the need of speaking on that, on that i need to say sorry since i didnt think indepht before writing.

[@silentotto5099]

Don't be fooled!!! Drach probably gave veritas et caritas some hardtack and upped his rum ration for the good review. Seriously though... I knew a fair amount about history before I discovered Drach, and when he hit on a topic I knew something about he got it right. That, coupled with his willingness to identify and acknowledge uncertainty, gave me the confidence to trust him when it came to areas that I knew less or nothing about.

[@veritasetcaritas]

He's a good faith researcher.

[@lyallfurphy]

Most nervous one minute and twenty seconds

[@m.streicher8286]

If he told me drach did bad research I would've just come to the conclusion that he was wrong.

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@m.streicher8286 good take!

[@bigneto95]

​@@m.streicher8286if what he does is bad research i would be scared of how high the bar of quality got

[@ian_b]

I was terrified one of the last few things I trust was about to be torn away from me!

[@m.streicher8286]

@@ian_b haha right... glad I'm not crazy ...or were both crazy...

[@neongrey333]

Oh, I've never heard of this youtuber; sounds really interesting. Glad to know going in that he's doing good work! (and it's a nice change of pace to see good history being highlighted for once, haha) I'll make sure to head over and subscribe to him after.

[@veritasetcaritas]

Thanks!

[@Xsiondu]

Oh you have thousands of hours of happiness coming your way.

[@Theonixco]

@@Xsiondu Yes _Thousands_

[@samsignorelli]

Beware....Drach's channel is a rabbit hole deeper than the Challenger Deep....and VERY satisfying.

[@SalemK-ty4ti]

Been a subscriber from nearly the beginning. Great channel content and excellent entertainment.

[@veritasetcaritas]

He's a top tier history KZbinr.

[@rienkhoek4169]

If Drachinifel didn't do proper research i would not trust anything on YT anymore. I'd say he is the benchmark.

[@rchas1023]

One of his principal skills is his dry humour! He is worth listening to, if only for this.

[@veritasetcaritas]

Definitely!

[@Masterhistory1492]

While Drach’s research method is accessible and provides invaluable sources in many video descriptions, it would be better if he exhaustively lists even the archival material. I only speak as someone whose MA thesis relied heavily on archival collections.

[@veritasetcaritas]

Yeah, he has decided to list his references in more detail going forward. He does such good research, i think it would be very valuable for him to even list the archival sources so people know where to look especically if they are studying at an academic level.

[@itsmedjoom987]

This was my main like, gripe in a way of his sourcing and videos, but I’m glad he’s going to be more thorough going forward.

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@itsmedjoom987 yeah we discussed this quite a bit.

[@johnreid2851]

13:59 are the digitised records referred to also resubmitted to the archives? If not, is there an effort to crowd source a digital archive (online or otherwise)?

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@johnreid2851 I don't know, would need to ask Drach.

[@wbertie2604]

He seems to have gone quiet of late, but maybe also interview Ed of Armoured Archives? He also does good research and seems to spend a lot of time in the archives.

[@veritasetcaritas]

Thanks, I wasn't familiar with the channel but I'll take a look.

[@blainedunlap4242]

He doesn't do research. He already knows everything. He was with Nelson at Trafalgar. Jellico at Jutland and Spruance at Midway.

[@axelgonzalez2806]

Very excited about this video as a someone who had a huge itch to find out what your voice sounded like on natural conversation instead of the learned KZbin educator voice you have in all of your other videos lol

[@veritasetcaritas]

I'll be interested to see your opinion on how my conversation voice and narration voice are different!

[@tomtech1537]

@@veritasetcaritas as a Melbournian, I would guess that you grew up in North Shore Syd? It is interesting that you appear to have picked up the "professor" tone and clipping (kinda similar to Constitutional Clarion in diction).

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@tomtech1537 actually I was born in Perth as a second generation immigrant, and my accent used to be so British that even some of my classmates thought I was British. I later lived in Tasmania, and then Melbourne, before moving to Taiwan, where I've lived for 20 years. The "professor" tone is a product of my career in Taiwan, as an English teacher, corporate trainer, and university lecturer.

[@tomtech1537]

@@veritasetcaritas couldn't have been more wrong if I tried :).

[@randomchannel-px6ho]

Weird suggestion but do you know Esoterica / Dr. Justin sledge? He'd be a good person to talk to about the whole Tik history "Communism and everything else I don't like is really gnosticism somehow" thing, and conspiracies about secret cults more generally.

[@veritasetcaritas]

I don't know him, but I know of him. His channel is fantstic, and of course his academic qualifications have given him a commanding knowledge of the subects he covered. I am sure he wouild find TIK's analysis of Gnosticism laughable.

[@bryanstephens4800]

He also has had fascinating interviews

[@Jebediah1999]

Might help if you turned down your mic. Your rconstant interjections of responses is jarring the flow of your guests repiles.

[@AlphaAurora]

Thank you for doing a quick Bottom Line Up Front!

[@PoseidonDiver]

Thanks to both you!

[@veritasetcaritas]

Thanks!

[@CoronisAdair]

Not a fan of what your thumbnail / title implied, had a quite negative initial reaction. Was happy to discover the actual content debunked the implied.

[@veritasetcaritas]

Oh that's unfortunate. I thought the use of the image of Google Scholar, as opposed to just Google, would help indicate Drach does proper research. I also stated explicitly in the video description that he does good research, but I understand people won't read that unless they click on the video first, and the thumbnail does influence people's decision about whether or not to click.

[@EDKguy]

Drach often uses the word "further" when he should use "farther"...Maybe it's the other way around 😂 Drach is great and he sounds like Mr Peabody!

[@veritasetcaritas]

He's fantastic.

[@Loganberrybunny]

Just passing through so apologies if I'm ruining a long-standing running joke or something! But writing as a Brit myself, "farther" is fairly rare in British English, although not incorrect. It's standard BrE to say, eg, "The ship was further away".

[@EDKguy]

@@Loganberrybunny Thanks for the background and cheers!

[@manjsher3094]

My own research says no. Stockton Rush.

[@Xsiondu]

Thank you for pronouncing his name for me. I just politely nodded all these years.

[@tomtech1537]

Haha yeah I just remember him by "French Dreadnoughts; when hotels go to war"

[@veritasetcaritas]

Checking how to pronounce his name was one of the first questions I asked!

[@Dosisgreat]

Nice to showcase good historians

[@veritasetcaritas]

Yes I thought it was about time!

[@marsar1775]

damn, talk about a clickbait title! but i aint mad, this was a great video. If drach were to be a fraud, hed be putting in so much work to make it believable itd almost be easier to just tell the truth XD

[@veritasetcaritas]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. This is the first in a series, and to save you time all of the KZbinrs I'm interviewing will be good researchers.

[@Nonsense010688]

This will be intresting

[@sorakagodess]

Fucking agree, never clicked so fast djsjajaja

[@veritasetcaritas]

It's all good!

[@Nonsense010688]

@@veritasetcaritas I realized after a few seconds and I was kinda clamed. Not because I suspected him to be actually bad but because I view him in high regards.

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@Nonsense010688 I've been watching him for years, and love his channel.

[@normtrooper4392]

I await this video with bated breath

[@veritasetcaritas]

It's all good!

[@normtrooper4392]

@@veritasetcaritas 😭😮‍💨 thank goodness. I was literally watching his latest video

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@normtrooper4392 I've been watchinhg his channel for years, love it.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

He definitely does great research it does not make him infallible, for example if the papers he was reading were not totally accurate or he feels he has enough information for the video and doesn't dig deeper.

[@veritasetcaritas]

Yes, he explains in the video how he makes decisions about whether or not to examine further.

[@Drachinifel]

Definitely an issue with any historical research, it can also be insoluble when there are few sources available and they all disagree, for example when I did a video on the Battle of Actium, no two period sources agree so you have to interpret.

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@Drachinifel not to mention the research process is always constrained by strongly time, which makes it impossible to investigate every topic to exhaustion.

[@Wallyworld30]

When I saw the TItle I thought... OMG, First TIK and now Drach?? Tell me it isn't so!!! I'm relieved that Drach is as amazing as I thought he was and hasn't fell down some god awful rabbit hole like TIK did.

[@veritasetcaritas]

I've interviewed half a dozen history KZbinrs in this way, and I've selected those who are transparent about their research process. I believe it will be an informative series.

[@tomtech1537]

Hahah this was my *exact* fear but for Veritas lol

[@silentotto5099]

TIK did good analysis of various battles, but when he started to delve into national socialist ideology he totally lost me. I already knew much of what he was saying was very poorly informed and it left me feeling like I was listening to a Nazi apologist.

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@silentotto5099 yeah it's because of his libertarian leanings, he has to make history fit his ideology.

[@tomtech1537]

@@silentotto5099 Agree, but I don't think it would be fair to put him in the same basket as an apologist. He definitely went off the deep end with transparent arguments trying to force Nazis into socialism/far left in order to tar socialism/economic left with Nazi. Can't comment on the accuracy, but he is unparalleled on the battle of Stalingrad in breadth and depth and think his political crusade brings the quality of all his work he has done over _years_ into question.

[@SpiritOfMontgomery]

God I’m so nervous lol

[@veritasetcaritas]

No need, he's all good!

[@essexclass8168]

He claims the Kamchatka did not single-handedly defeat multiple japanese torpedo boats off the coast of Africa with a collectivized riding pistol after trailing them all the way from the Denmark strait, he is clearly a fraud.

[@punksci6879]

I'm glad he isn't a shit heel, it's hard to tell with channels like this.

[@tomtech1537]

Veritas updates his profile pic and seems like he is about to go after someone who seemed super legit .... palms sweaty, hopefully hasn't fallen off a cliff 😂

[@veritasetcaritas]

It's all good!

[@thindigital]

Who else clicked away from the USCG hearing to watch this?

[@anonviewerciv]

I would have thought his research was good. The bigger issue for me is (from what I've seen so far) is his videos are basically podcasts that don't show any pictures, diagrams, or other visual content. I'm on KZbin, a video platform, so I expect information to be conveyed to my eyes, not just my ears. ❌🖼📊

[@veritasetcaritas]

Depends on which videos you watch. I find in quite a few of his videos he choses very specific and accurate historical photos and video from archives of war footager. His torpedo videos are a case in point.

[@kalinmir]

what do you mean? he shows relevant pictures when there are such, even in his QnA 3h+ monstrosities

[@anonviewerciv]

@@veritasetcaritas Yeah, I've been hearing indications he's starting to use more visuals. Perhaps I'll check some recent videos, if I am reminded.

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@anonviewerciv he's going to be citing his sources more in future as well.

[@nebufabu]

IDK if you can find any other YTer who did show what a Yarrow boiler actually looks like when talking about the thing. He may not be big on editing/animation but the stuff he shows is often actually rare or obscure archival docs.

[@mathewkelly9968]

It's naval history not much to f up honestly . It's a pretty facts based subject not much room for "ideology" to get in the way .

[@simonnance]

Maybe not in terms of modern "culture war" ideology, but there are plenty of badly thought out hot takes in naval history

[@ThorstenKreutzenberger]

veritas "backdoor" caritas

[@SkylerinAmarillo]

Great guy, usually right, but does have a tendency to make things up that he thinks are obvious but turn out not to be, usually related to human behavior or reasoning.

[@veritasetcaritas]

A few examples would be helpful.

[@SkylerinAmarillo]

@@veritasetcaritas He does it frequently. Usually he'll presume that someone in the past is motivated by something he imagines he or people he knows would do. He doesn't always understand US Navy culture in the 1930's and 1940's. Sometimes he doesn't know regulations and just assigns an arbitrary motivation that he imagines instead of a regulation. Otherwise, he is usually spot on.

[@stripeytawney822]

Quit overtalking him!!

[@stripeytawney822]

About 15 minutes I am done. Let the man talk. RIGHT RIGHT YEAH YEAH.

[@rorkgoose1774]

Whatever Drachinifel is, he is a Royal Navy fanboi, especially for the period of sailboats. His "expertise" ends once the United States Navy eclipses the RN. He knows almost nothing about naval matters before the RN became a dominant power. He is akin the Adm. King of the USN during WW2, but in reverse, with regard to the USN. That said, if you want to know something about the RN, especially sailboats, give him a listen, but bring a pinch or two of salt.

[@fezparker2401]

use that pinch of salt to put on the chip on your shoulder.drac does loads of U.S stuff.he merely ends at ww2 and has explained why.perhps you should actually watch some.and the R.N was the premier navy in the age of sail,even then drac has done guides on many ships that are not british.

[@joseSanchez-ej2oh]

Kalm

[@jontaylor1652]

He's one of those who re-Write history because whether he's correct or not people just believe him.

[@Mr_Squiggle]

Don't talk 🦜 over your guest when he is speaking. Really distracting and he doesn't speak over you when you are talking.

[@koopanique]

Seriously this is infuriating