Brady Haran

Brady Haran is a British-Australian filmmaker and former BBC journalist who produces multiple educational YouTube channels in collaboration with academics and scientists. His channels include Numberphile (mathematics), Periodic Videos (chemistry), Sixty Symbols (physics), Computerphile (computer science), and several others. Haran acts as the filmmaker and interviewer across these projects rather than as a subject matter expert, working with university researchers to communicate their fields to general audiences.

Numberphile, his most viewed channel, features mathematicians from universities including Cambridge, Oxford, and other research institutions discussing number theory, recreational mathematics, and mathematical puzzles. The channel has collectively accumulated hundreds of millions of views. Periodic Videos, produced with the University of Nottingham and featuring Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff, was among Haran's earlier projects and has produced videos for every element in the periodic table.

Haran's model relies on relationships with academic institutions and individual researchers willing to participate. The format is interview-based, which means the accuracy and depth of the content depends on the experts involved rather than on Haran's own technical knowledge. Critics of specific videos have occasionally noted oversimplifications, and in some cases mathematicians have publicly corrected or debated points made in Numberphile videos, particularly around popularized treatments of topics like the sum of infinite series.

Haran runs the channels independently and funds them primarily through Patreon and YouTube revenue. He operates from the United Kingdom and has spoken about the challenges of sustaining multiple channels over long periods. He also produces the Hello Internet and Unmade podcasts with academic collaborators.