I find a tool to make long author talks like reading chapters

[Amelia]

Lately, I’ve been collecting talks and interviews by my favorite authors on YouTube. You know the type—two hours of conversation that I fully intend to watch, but halfway in, I always get involved in other things. By the time I come back, I’ve completely get lost in the timelines.

A few days ago, I found something that’s been quietly saving me: Y2Doc. It’s quite easy to use. Just see here: https://y2doc.com/. Paste the video link, and it gives you a sum-up of what was said (or displayed), almost like a friend jotting down notes for you during class. Not bullet points, but the actual flow of the conversation, with little signposts and timestamps so you can jump straight to the bits you care about.

I tried it first with a book review video of the whole 2025 year. I intended to note down every book I was interested in and upload on kindle later on, but soon I found I had to rewatch it again and again and didn’t remember where to locate. So I used this tool to help me with that. It can generate Markdown files that allow me to edit whatever I like based on the video. It can be saved as pdf for later reviewing. You can start building a knowledge base and pick what you like in that. It feels like skipping to your favorite chapter in a novel.

Now I’ve started keeping these notes alongside my reading journal. If a book I’m reading or an author I’m following comes up in a talk or something, I can grasp the key points right away. It’s like having a companion to my reading experience.