Did any of you buy the course yet and can report back? I have to admit that I’m still curious - and might buy it myself at some point. (Before you posted this, @Chris, I didn’t even know it existed, and now I want it. Aaargh.)
In the meantime, I’ve started working down the list I posted above, and the aforementioned 16 part rendering/shader series by Catlike Coding (basically a "how to build everything the Standard Shader does) is absolutely fantastic. It goes above and beyond any other free tutorial I’ve seen - it’s more like a book in its detailedness and length.
I hope I’m not being spammy by highlighting the link again. I’m just so happy I found this gem and felt like it deserved a more prominent place than hidden in the list. 
PS: I also discovered the Makin’ Stuff Look Good YouTube channel and it’s equally fun to watch and informative. He’s mostly doing breakdowns of effects and how to recreate them in Unity. My only complaint is that there’s not more of them.