The Various Theravada Traditions What are the various specific traditions in Theravada Buddhism?
If you could please describe, compare, and contrast each of them
that would be greatly appreciated.

May you be well.
People believe that something is true, that it is not true, or that it maybe is and maybe isn't true.
There are major factions like this.
These are split as to which texts they assume to be true and worth studying.
To understand the various sections of thravada one has to look into how commentary &amp; culture has been developing since the beginning and how it shaped the current traditions, teachers, translations &amp; the translators.
There has been an tremendous change in how available the texts have become in the last 100 years, beginning with translations &amp; more recently the internet, it is unprecedented.
The teachers who shaped what is now the monastic Sangha like Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw, Ven. Ajahn Chah and many others are now either dead or soon dead.
Therefore the Sangha is rather slowly evolving new methods &amp; understanding.
Many people are now interested in reading the Sutta more so than listening to a particular teacher or a commentator, people have access to the original texts and want to do their own analysis.
This is also rather unprecedented because historically only a few commentators have had access to texts and people had to get information 2nd hand from a teacher.
Ie nowadays the factions are divided as to:

Burmese Ven. Mahasi &amp; Non-Mahasi
Thai as those who believe that maybe Buddha lives in Nibbana those who don't.
Thai who draw from Mahasi
In Sri Lanka, those who believe that Ven. Nanavira was Ariya and those who don't.
In Sri Lanka, those who draw from Mahasi and those who don't.

Some people analyze controversy by controversy and don't fit well into these broad classifications, ie those who accept some commentary but not all of it. I think this will be the norm in the future.
In regards to Mahasi, he follows commentary, seemingly all of it and then some. It is basically a mainline commentary based tradition and Mahasi Sayadaw produced a lot of commentary work himself.
Other than this it seems like the small monasteries require more conformity and a lot of the monastic division based on vinaya regulation as much as doctrinal differences.
As to Yuttadhammo, he mostly follows Mahasi as he was trained but i don't think he subscribes to everything.