How to Learn Everything: The MasterClass Diaries

The cooking classes are really good, especially the Thomas Keller ones. Some of the ones from writers / creative types are interesting just for the insight into their personalities in a format different from their usual presentation - for example Steve Martin basically talking about being Steve Martin. That said, the vast majority of what's on Masterclass is just fluff. In fact I'd say that as time has gone on, it feels like the subject matter is getting more and more nebulous "Famous person teaches creativity!" Also, at least on my Roku the app has gotten much harder to actually find content and visualize the full scope of what's available.

It ain't glamorous, but I really like Wondrium (formerly The Great Courses). Some of them are clearly quite dated (look like they were filmed 20+ years ago) and the professors don't always have great presentation skills, but the actual content is generally strong.

What this article really emphasizes (intentionally or not) is that MasterClass is really about entertainment and inspiration--not really a class in the way we normally think of the term. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

It's always struck me that a lot of the classes, e.g. Aaron Sorkin on screenwriting, are perhaps the worst things to teach via a celebrity on camera.

Often you don't need someone at the pinnacle of a field to teach you, you need someone who is just a little ahead of you. I still remember in uni one of the best tutors was a phd student.

MC to me always looked a bit like the Discovery Channel: interesting stuff, but will you really be any better afterwards? It's interesting that maybe the thing that satisfies her the most was the cooking, in other words the class where you actually practice the thing you're learning. How many of the other teachers even asked for that?

Say you had a programming class on MC. (Maybe they do?) Do they tell you to actually write code and debug it? Are there exercises? What I'm getting at is sometimes the teacher doesn't teach, but the student learns.

The Chris Voss class on negotiation techniques is fantastic. Specifically the mock sessions with the salary negotiation in particular.

I read his book (which is also excellent) but seeing him "live" and playing both sides of the negotiation was really an eye opener into how basic techniques, simply delivered can lead to large impacts.

I highly recommend it to engineering folks. The "mirroring" mock session is also excellent for learning basic people skills.

That one thinks they can learn something like directing, acting, screenwriting, etc. by watching a few videos has got to be hubris. The prices are really high for what you get, too. I saw Aaron Franklin's masterclass about BBQ. For $90, you get a (admittedly nicely produced) rehash of one of his $15 books + free content he puts on YouTube. Even if you're just getting it for inspiration or entertainment, you can get better value elsewhere.

I would absolutely watch a MasterClass from Steve Ballmer on how to give technology presentations.

My issue with Master Class is your locked into a 1 year commitment.

The Nas hip hop class is the only one of interest to me and it's only like 2 hours.

I love Nas, and consider him to be one of the greatest musicians of all time. I'm not paying 200$ for a 2 hour movie of him

Dan Brown's class on writing thrillers was the most helpful writing instruction I've had. Really helped me organize my process.

I think it's a result of three things- He's very good at what he does, he understands in detail how he does it, and he knows how to explain what he does.

The downside is I think very few people meet all three of those points. Most Masterclasses fall short.