Besmart

Joe Hanson is the host of Be Smart on YouTube and holds a PhD in molecular biology, making him one of the few science creators on the platform with genuine research-level credentials. Beyond the lab, he's built a career as an award-winning science communicator and journalist, which explains why the channel feels more like rigorous journalism than a classroom lecture.

Yes — Be Smart is the evolved identity of the channel that originally launched as It's Okay to Be Smart, which is why the website is still itsokaytobesmart.com and the Instagram handle remains @okaytobesmart. The name tightened over time while the core mission of giving deep answers to simple science questions stayed the same.

Yes, Be Smart is produced in partnership with PBS. Joe Hanson describes himself in his Instagram bio as making @okaytobesmart for @pbs, which gives the channel an editorial standard and institutional backing that most independent YouTube science creators don't have. That PBS connection also means the content goes through a layer of fact-checking and review uncommon at that scale.

Joe Hanson earned his doctorate in molecular biology, which is why Be Smart's coverage of genetics, cellular processes, and life science carries more depth than the average pop-science channel. His research background shows up clearly in episodes tackling topics like genetic chimeras, viral evolution, and how HIV spread long before anyone identified it.

Joe Hanson is based in Austin, Texas, which he notes in his Instagram bio. Austin has become a notable hub for independent media creators, and Hanson has been part of that scene while producing science content that reaches a predominantly American audience alongside a strong UK and Canadian following.

The #IDidAScience hashtag is a recurring community tag Joe Hanson has used to invite viewers to share their own experiments and science moments. It's a deliberate extension of the channel's philosophy that science isn't something you just watch — it's something you actually do — and it helps turn a passive audience into an active community.

The phrase captures Joe Hanson's on-screen persona precisely: he's credentialed enough to go deep (a molecular biologist with a doctorate) but warm and self-aware enough to lean on dad jokes rather than academic distance. The "science dad" framing has become central to Be Smart's identity, signaling that the channel is built for genuinely curious adults rather than students sitting through a required lecture.

Recent sponsors on Be Smart's YouTube channel include Planet Wild, KiwiCo, Squarespace, Henson Shaving, and AnyDesk. The lineup is notably coherent — an environmental action platform and a STEM kit subscription for kids sit naturally alongside a science education audience, which likely helps sponsor integrations land better than they would on a less niche channel.

Despite Joe Hanson's molecular biology background, Be Smart spans well beyond life science. Recent videos have tackled atomic physics, octopus cognition, climate and heat stress, space science, and the century-long hidden history of HIV — anything that qualifies as a deep answer to a question most people haven't thought to ask. The channel's own description frames it as covering "science and the rest of the universe."

Be Smart has surpassed five million subscribers on YouTube, placing it in the Mega tier and among the largest science education channels on the platform. What makes the scale more striking is that its engagement rate runs well above the category median — a combination that's rare for educational content at that size.