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I'm looking for something that has cheerful and interesting content about food, crafts, nature, science, history, gardening, culture, or random interesting stuff. It SHOULD NOT have popup or video ads. A comment section that's actually fun is a big plus. Reddit forums are totally fine.
Not into advice columns or politics.
Imagine FFA minus the interminable wank and all the topics I'm not interested in. Or Bored Panda from the years when it had actual enjoyable content about stuff like "This Russian artist makes cakes that look exactly like Faberge eggs" or "My hobby is creating fairy gardens for the field mice that live in my garden." Or Metafilter but without every other comment being "We're all doomed and I long for the merciful death of all humanity" or "You may think that's a cute article about creating fairy gardens for the field mice that live in your garden, but fairy gardens are actually highly problematic."
Rec away!
Not into advice columns or politics.
Imagine FFA minus the interminable wank and all the topics I'm not interested in. Or Bored Panda from the years when it had actual enjoyable content about stuff like "This Russian artist makes cakes that look exactly like Faberge eggs" or "My hobby is creating fairy gardens for the field mice that live in my garden." Or Metafilter but without every other comment being "We're all doomed and I long for the merciful death of all humanity" or "You may think that's a cute article about creating fairy gardens for the field mice that live in your garden, but fairy gardens are actually highly problematic."
Rec away!
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https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2016/05/violent-rabbit-illustrations-found-in-the-margins-of-medieval-manuscripts/
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I have sinkholed myself into Cakewrecks now and just came across this one and I'm dying.
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TV Tropes is TOO good of a time sink. I have to mostly avoid it or I emerge three hours later.
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https://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/
It might be too art-process-specific for you (a lot of it is plein-air painting process videos), but he also tends to post various interesting stuff generally related to art or the creative field, like how Netflix makes its thumbnails (the video is fascinating!).
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Which unfortunately is not high volume, so doesn't exactly last very long as a timewaster.
(I use Metafilter myself, but am highly selective about which threads to follow.)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Cm8N55Rzw
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Dearest (Substack. With comments). Antique jewelry, comes out once a month or so, with old ones on the website. The format is usually her picking out pieces from current auctions and talking about them or jewelry fashions of the time, or whatnot. Click the "Share" button then click out of the popup message to see her old entries.
AI Weirdness (Ghost. No comments.), in which Janelle Shane tries to get AI to do things.
Answer In Progress (Occasional Substack, YouTube, podcast via Patreon.) YouTube channel by 3 friends who try to answer questions like "Where's my sofa?" (inquiry into global shipping slowdowns) or who attempt to answer deep questions about the human condition by writing AI programs. All 3 presenters are POC, and one of them has partnered with the History Channel to do a series called History Remade.
Everything is Amazing (Substack) A newsletter about curiosity, chasing down randomly sparked ideas.
I know you said you're not into advice columns. Nick Cave has an advice column, The Red Hand Files. In which he is unfailingly kind and thoughtful.
And then two which I have only just subscribed to, and not yet formed an opinion upon. They're both by the same person.
Tedium, which is a series of deep dives into whatever he's interested in. Seems to be somewhat tech-adjacent, but there's things like a history of WD-40, why anthropomorphism dominates cartoons, and why charging cables are made of braided nylon.
MidRange. Much shorter looks at the things he's interested in.
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https://orbis.stanford.edu/
Plan your trip like an ancient Roman traveller.
https://www.officemuseum.com/
With lovely sections like "Staplers, Paper Fasteners, Paper Clips" and "Check Protectors."
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Here's a description of the project, with a few examples:
https://mymodernmet.com/japan-designs-kimonos-for-tokyo-2020-olympics/
And here's a translation link to all the kimonos:
https://kimono-piow-jp.translate.goog/kimonolist.html?_x_tr_sl=ja&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US
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If you only use it a few times, or spread out over time, it's free; you can buy more credits, which lets you use the site more, but that means creating more things, not features that are pay-only.
My most recent creation is this.
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Ask a Manager (pretty decent comment section)
Tom and Lorenzo (Fashion commentary, but more broad than that might initially sound, haven't looked at the comment section in ages)
Go Fug Yourself (Also fashion commentary, but often from a different angle, includes a weekly link roundup and frequent discussion posts about topics like TV shows, favorite beauty products, what everyone is currently reading.)
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(Sometimes I just go to the DW popular offsite feeds list and browse. Also https://melannen.dreamwidth.org/network?show=f for what my friends are subscribing to via rss. Though that might not work for everybody, if one of your circle is subbed to spammy political news.)
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Neil Patrick Harris has a newsletter called Wondercade that is fun, has some recipes, and his husband shows up sometimes.
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B.Dylan Hollis on tiktok started making odd sounding vintage recipes during Lockdown, and reacting to how they taste. Spaghettio jello mold sorts of things. Unfortunately I just lurk there and have not found a way to link without a wall o text url, but it should be searchable.
If you're already a fan of Cakewrecks you might know about Jen's crafting and decorating blog Epbot.
https://www.epbot.com/
There is some serious discussion of depression but most of the content is....their Ghostbusters halloween house decor, the Boba Vet costume build, the time they recreated the Sherlock BBC set in someone's living room, etc. Right now it is a little Christmas-craft heavy.
Hope these help.
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r/quilting is a consistent delight, as is r/illegallysmolanimals and r/illegallysmolcats
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The guy has a slow, meditative voice. There are no flashy cuts or graphics. Just one guy explaining what's wrong with a piece of furniture, cleaning it, making new parts to replace the unrestorable, putting veneers back in place, and restoring the pieces to glory. I swear his voice is damn near ASMR.
It's such a perfect little moment of chaos coming into order, of things getting better.