When it comes to the current final frontier, Linux phones, what brands/models would be the best option? Or are you all really recommending iPhones?

Not open source, but apparently not fully closed source either: https://vivaldi.com/source/.

As would I, but where exactly are we going comrade?

I thought this was a really fascinating video, since Apple Explained is one of the biggest Apple-Stans on youtube. He finally realized that his favorite company is wrought with greed, and was willing enough to make a video about it. The content or his ideas don’t necessarily matter; it’s his revelation that’s intriguing.