vlogbrothers
Season 2014
Two brothers who reconnected via YouTube and now connect with hundreds of thousands of awesome people every day.
Where to Watch Season 2014
114 Episodes
- The Golden Gate Bridge Didn't Collapse!!
E1The Golden Gate Bridge Didn't Collapse!!In which Hank talks about why we think the world is super screwed up and getting worse every day when, in fact, the world is pretty OK and getting better every day. There's so much good news every single day that cataloguing it would require all the newspaper in the world. - Are Poor Countries Doomed?
E6Are Poor Countries Doomed?In which John discusses the three myths at the center of Bill and Melinda Gates's 2013 annual letter: 1. Poor countries are NOT doomed to remain poor. 2. Foreign aid is NOT a waste of money. (In fact, health aid at least is an astonishingly good investment.) 3. Saving children's lives does NOT lead to overpopulation. (In fact, decreasing infant mortality has consistently slowed population growth all over the world.) - Happy Third Chocolate Day!
E13Happy Third Chocolate Day!In which Hank discusses the Valentine's day, one of the three candy-based holidays in America. Why do we have candy-based holidays in America? I don't know, probably because we get to choose the gods we worship and the god we've chosen is chocolate. We could do worse. Also, he discusses the Olympics and how weird they are and why we value these weird things and how it doesn't really matter why because caring is valuable for it's own sake. - The Cost of Fun
E17The Cost of FunIn which Hank breaks down the costs of various kinds of fun...though, of course, not all funs are created equal. I do want to say that, whatever you enjoy, don't let anyone belittle that for you. I was kinda disparaging toward TV...but I also love TV...I just don't know if I could love it 34 hours per week. The point of enjoyment is enjoyment so...yeah...whatever floats your boat! - Understanding Ukraine: The Problems Today and Some Historical ContextE18
Understanding Ukraine: The Problems Today and Some Historical ContextIn which John discusses the crisis in Ukraine, and how the influence of Russia and Europe have shaped Ukrainian politics for centuries. REMINDER: Educational videos are allowed to be more than four minutes long. - Thoughts from a CruiseE19
Thoughts from a CruiseI went on a cruise...which is not something I ever thought I'd do. It was marvelous and extremely peculiar and, yes, definitely made me feel guilty. But immensely valuable...not just because I go to do amazing things with amazing people, but because it helped me understand how hard we will work, how much we will pay, the crazy things we'll do...to get to community. People are hardly individuals, there is nothing so valuable as nestling into the warm comfort of a trusted community and I'm so happy to have that and, occasionally, to be able to help others get to it. - Question Tuesday: TFIOS Movie, Existential Crises, and Symbolism
E20Question Tuesday: TFIOS Movie, Existential Crises, and SymbolismIn which John Green answers real questions from real nerdfighters on a range of issues from why writers use symbols to whether there are more stars or grains of sand on earth. - 13 Things to Know about Concerts
E5313 Things to Know about ConcertsGoing to shows has always made me anxious, but I also tend to find them to be uniquely wonderful experiences that I can't imagine missing after their over. So I wanted to offer up some advice for people who might be nervous about going to shows. A couple of things I thought of after I made the video include: 1. Make sure that you're headed to a part of town you'll be safe in and have a very good and stable plan for getting home. 2. It's usually pretty easy to meet performers after the show, but they often have to move their own equipment and the venue will require them to be out by a certain time, so understand if they can't hang. If you have any other advice, make sure to list it in the comments. - The Future of Nerdfighteria
E54The Future of NerdfighteriaIn which John discusses dragons, dinosaurs, and the future of the nerdfighter community, including more IRL nerdfighter gatherings, more ways to learn through Crash Course, more charity projects year-round, thinking about how and whether to add pre-roll advertisements to the vlogbrothers channel, and the fact that WE ARE GOING TO BE ON AFC WIMBLEDON'S SHORTS. What would you like to see more/less of in nerdfighteria in the future? Let us know in comments. - Touring with a Rock Band in 1,8X&,00B Simple Steps
E55Touring with a Rock Band in 1,8X&,00B Simple StepsIn which Hank Green takes you through a day in the just completed western US tour of Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers, Driftless Pony Club, Harry and the Potters, Rob Scallon, and Andrew Huang. It was ridiculously fun...thanks so much to everyone who came out to the shows. - Exciting Announcements and Mosquito-Borne Illnesses
E56Exciting Announcements and Mosquito-Borne IllnessesIn which John discusses his forthcoming trip with Bill Gates (yes, that Bill Gates), his health anxiety, the worldwide threat of mosquito-borne illnesses, health anxiety, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, the tyranny of Hollywood in re haircut frequency, and the arrival of pre-roll advertising on the vlogbrothers channel. - EVERY VLOGBROTHERS PUNISHMENT!
E57EVERY VLOGBROTHERS PUNISHMENT!So I got a little confused about who owed what punishments and then we went a little overboard and with the help of a team of Nerdfighting researchers rooted out the cause and effect of EVERY SINGLE PUNISHMENT ON VLOGBROTHERS SINCE JANUARY OF 2007! - Ambiguous Victories and Real Progress: Behind the Beautiful Forevers
E58Ambiguous Victories and Real Progress: Behind the Beautiful ForeversIn which John continues the Nerdfighter Book Club's discussion of Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Are there unambiguous victories? How should we approach our understanding of and relationship with charities domestic and international? I look forward to reading all of your thoughts in comments when I get back. - Towering Mountains of IgnoranceE59
Towering Mountains of IgnoranceThis was a somewhat challenging topic to take on in four minutes, so here's a little more explanation. I'm not saying that we don't know things...we know lots of things. But particularly when it comes to social and cultural and economic stuff, we really don't. It's so hard to run experiments on the real world, that we tend to do the studies and then no one changes their mind and everyone explains the data in a different way. But you can run the "Harry Potter" experiment again with different inputs because "Harry Potter" can only happen once. Of course, there are people who are much better at guessing than other people because they know much more about the situations. People who understand, at least, what is and is not possible (which is an excellent place to start if you're trying to, say, create an independent Palestinian state.) Same goes for running a business...you will never take the most successful course, because there are infinite courses and only one maximum one. But some people are very good at finding good courses because they understand their customers and their markets and their employees and have fairly accurate constructions of reality as it relates to their business. But the idea that it is the responsibility of every person to have an opinion on everything that matters...and then cling to that opinion as an important part of their identity, sucks. I don't like it. I would rather we discuss these things in terms of values, which is really where our opinions tend to arise from anyhow. So when asked "how do we create more jobs in America" we don't really try to answer that question. We try to answer the question "How do we create more jobs in America while promoting our own personal values?" For things like "How do you end a war" or "How do you feed hungry people" or "How do you eliminate poverty?" I'm going to admit straight up that I don't know...and defer to the experts because they know a heck of a lot more than me. I do - PUNISHMENT OF PAIN AND SCIENCE!E61
PUNISHMENT OF PAIN AND SCIENCE!In which Hank is Punished by sharing the science of pain while he experiences various forms of pain. If you're wondering, the most painful thing I did, oddly enough, was the brain freeze. I think I pushed it past the place where you would normally get a brain freeze by a couple of slurpee sips and that caused a really significant ouch. Second most painful was the funny bone....then the muscle stress. - Happy Esther Day!E62
Happy Esther Day!Today is the day to tell someone you love them...even if it's hard...especially if it's hard. You can support This Star Won't Go Out, the charity created by Esther's family in her memory, at http://www.tswgo.org or by buying TSWGO stuff: http://dftba.com/artist/58/This-Star-... (All proceeds to go to the foundation.) - Who Owns a Monkey's Selfie? And a Song About Meningitis!
E63Who Owns a Monkey's Selfie? And a Song About Meningitis!Due to brain fog, I didn't explain any of the copyright stuff particularly well, but (in summation) a photographer is suing the Wikimedia Foundation (the people who create Wikipedia) for acting as if a photograph is in the public domain when he believes it is not. The only way to determine who is correct is to have a judge decide...that's how copyright law works, which is really weird. I mean, the question also becomes, if I drop my camera and it takes a really great shot...do I own that picture or not, just because the force of gravity took it. Also, I'm curious whether the work of a non-human owned by a human (like a dog) would pass to that human. Just like something created by a piece of computer software would be owned by the person who owns the software. It doesn't change this case because no one owns that monkey. ANYHOW! Feel better John, and let's hope Calvin Harris doesn't sue us :-) - EBOLA! (...meningitis)
E64EBOLA! (...meningitis)In which John is diagnosed with ebola by the Internet but turns out to be suffering from viral meningitis. How should we imagine novel diseases and how should we combat them? And why do we only focus on diseases that we fear will affect "us"? How does the way we imagine "us" shape the way we respond to disease outbreaks? Questions like that are examined while meningitis headaches are lamented. - The Bizarre State of Copyright
E65The Bizarre State of CopyrightIn which Hank discusses what intellectual property is, and how copyright is increasingly being policed by dumb robots that don't have very much to do with the law, but have everything to do with it just being REALLY COMPLICATED and there being terrifyingly massive amounts of media to regulate. - Baby Names: Thoughts from Rural Ethiopia
E66Baby Names: Thoughts from Rural EthiopiaIn which John Green visits rural health care centers in Ethiopia with Bill Gates and Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellman and learns about how Ethiopians are working to improve health outcomes with minimal resources. - Kidneys, LlamaJohn, Frankenstein, Back to School, and The Nerdfighter Online Video Workshop!
E67Kidneys, LlamaJohn, Frankenstein, Back to School, and The Nerdfighter Online Video Workshop!Who's got time for a description! Here are the links! http://LLAMAJOHN.COM - Help out for John's birthday (and help developing economies). - Food Is Weird: Understanding Agriculture in the Developing World
E68Food Is Weird: Understanding Agriculture in the Developing WorldIn which John Green flies in a helicopter with Bill Gates in Ethiopia, investigates a new form of cursing, and discusses agricultural reform--specifically, how the UN's World Food Program is trying to improve maize yields in Ethiopia. If you can break the vicious cycle of low incomes leading to low harvests, agricultural productivity per hectare (NOT HECTACRE) can increase dramatically, as we've seen in China and Brazil. It seems boring, I know, but this is a big reason hundreds of millions of people have emerged from poverty in the past 30 years. So hopefully it will happen in Ethiopia! But, as usual, the truth resists simplicity. - Going to College (in Ethiopia)
E73Going to College (in Ethiopia)In which John talks to students at Addis Ababa University (and Bill Gates) and discusses the diversity and complexity of contemporary Ethiopia. Friendly reminder: YouTube adds a second to videos for mysterious reasons; by extensive precedent, this is not punishable. - Hanging with High School Hank
E74Hanging with High School HankIn which Hank goes through a lot of old stuff that he found in his house while moving. Nostalgia is weird...someday I'll be watch this video and feel nostalgic about feeling nostalgic... My instagram is hankgreen, if you want to see those little John and Hank pictures :-) Very excited about the new house...we will have more room for PROJECTS! And no, not small-human projects. - Gettin' Real with Hank
E79Gettin' Real with HankIn which Hank talks about how cool and weird the things we are able to do are, how he still feels insecure and sad anyway, and how overwhelming decisions have been freaking him out, and that a simple solution suggested itself (was suggested by his brother.) - Bill Gates and John Green Discuss ProgressE80
Bill Gates and John Green Discuss ProgressBill Gates and John Green discuss progress in Ethiopia, designing technologies for poor countries, improving childhood nutrition, the blessings and limitations of capitalism, and Ethiopia's road to achieving middle-income status by 2025. Many thanks to @brandonbrungard for making these videos! - Keeping it EVEN REALER
E81Keeping it EVEN REALERIn which John discusses his overwhelmedness, his confusion, his health, and the priorities of the nerdfighter community. Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey helping us to understand what you guys want us to make, and thanks again to all who helped raise so much money to bring clean water to people in Ethiopia: http://water.org/johngreen - Hong Kong Protests ExplainedE82
Hong Kong Protests ExplainedWhy won't China let Hong Kong have free elections? Has Hong Kong ever had free elections? What is Hong Kong even? Why can't China just lay off? What's going on here? Why can't the world JUST BE STABLE!? Thank you to Hong Kong Nerdfighters for helping keep me informed, and my research-helper people who have elected to remain unnamed despite the fact that they are some of the world's foremost experts on China and totally just let me call them and chat. - I Kind of Hate Batman
E83I Kind of Hate BatmanIn which John reveals why he thinks Batman kind of sucks, both as a billionaire and as a Superhero. A couple edits: 1. Obviously some crime is caused by horrible sociopathic monsters. 2. Bruce Wayne has done SOME constructive stuff for Gotham. Like he built a mass transit system, although it was of course later destroyed. But also, to be fair, Bruce Wayne did many other things for Gotham in some of the comics series, including funding hospitals and schools and the police department. (NOT IN THE MOVIES, THOUGH.) 3. I did not acknowledge the existence of my massive nose zit in this video. That was a mistake, and I apologize for it. - I Kinda AM Batman
E84I Kinda AM BatmanIn which Hank rebuts John's stance on Batman by observing that Batman is not a fantasy of individuals, but a personification of anger and frustration at injustice AND our collective ability to act to make the world better. And then he proposes his own reason for being frustrated with Batman...because if he (and every other title-card, mass-culture hero) is supposed to personify and thus represent all of us...why do they always represent the same groups over and over and over again? - A Minor Crisis
E85A Minor CrisisIn which John discusses three things, that quickly become seven, including AFC Wimbledon's stunning and beautiful victories (both IRL and IFIFA), the bank of nerdfighteria's current situation, the tenth anniversary edition of his first novel, Hank's unexpected appearance on his television, and his burgeoning midlife crisis. - The Paper Towns Movie IS HERE!
E89The Paper Towns Movie IS HERE!In which John takes you behind the scenes of the movie adaptation of his novel Paper Towns, introducing you to the director, producer, and cast members Jaz Sinclair (Angela), Justice Smith (Radar), and Halston Sage (Lacey). Also there is a brief attempt to expand the definition of octothorpe. - Mustaches and Movies: Day One of Paper Towns
E91Mustaches and Movies: Day One of Paper TownsIn which a briefly mustachioed (and newly glassed) John talks about the first day of shooting the Paper Towns movie, the astonishingly nice trailers and toilets of movie sets, the lovely Nat Wolff, and the strangeness of watching things be imagined into reality. - New Crash Course and Pizzamas!
E92New Crash Course and Pizzamas!In which Hank talks about the last three years of Crash Course and the next year. Thanks to everyone who has made it possible for us to help teachers teach and learners learn. Here's to three more years! And also a bunch more after that! - Lacey and Angela Question Tuesday: Pizzamas Day 2
E94Lacey and Angela Question Tuesday: Pizzamas Day 2In which John (Executive Producer), Jaz Sinclair (Angela), and Halston Sage (Lacey) answer real questions from real nerdfighters about the Paper Towns movie, their favorite Beatles, and other topics of interest. - The History of Pizza John!E95
The History of Pizza John!In which Hank is, ok, maybe a little overwhelmed...but also attempts to condense the spirit of eight years of Vlogbrothers into a single anecdote and maybe doesn't do too bad of a job. Also, since he's the person writing this description, that was a pretty egotistical thing to say. - The History of Pizza and the History of John: Pizzamas Day 4
E96The History of Pizza and the History of John: Pizzamas Day 4In which John Green discusses the history of the world's most perfect food, which was impossible for almost all of human history, and then discusses the history of what was once England and the U.S.'s most common first name. - Combines and Movie Magic: Pizzamas Day 6
E98Combines and Movie Magic: Pizzamas Day 6In which John rides a combine for the corn harvest in Indiana and then returns to the Paper Towns movie set, where he learns some cinematography from the professionals, goofs off with Nat Wolff, and generally fails at executive production. - How to Never Feel Embarrassed Again
E99How to Never Feel Embarrassed AgainIn which Hank wonders at some stories of his own humiliation, and why he feels it sometimes, but not other times. The trick is finding people and places that support you in being you so that you are comfortable feeling right even after finding out you are wrong. - Announcing VidCon 2015!E101
Announcing VidCon 2015!VidCon registration is officially available at VidCon.com. In which Hank shares a video he edited together with footage from VidCon 2014, and a song from Kina Grannis https://www.youtube.com/user/kinagrannis And discusses the things that are going to be the same and different at VidCon next year. - Tyler, Ingrid, Troye, Hannah, Mandy, Jenn, and Rosianna Visit Paper Towns
E103Tyler, Ingrid, Troye, Hannah, Mandy, Jenn, and Rosianna Visit Paper TownsIn which the Paper Towns movie set is visited by some of my favorite YouTubers, including Tyler Oakley, Ingrid Nilsen, Troye Sivan, Hannah Hart, Amanda Steele, Jenn McAllister, and Rosianna Rojas--which gives me the opportunity to ask silly questions. - A Brief History of Homestar RunnerE106
A Brief History of Homestar RunnerIn a collaborative video Hank and Ryder introduce you (or re-familiarize you) with the majesty of Homestar Runner. In a lot of ways it was the very first broadly successful online video project. Pretty much everything we do here on YouTube is in some way based on trails The Brothers Chaps blazed. Our history, people! It is here! - Jelly Face, Sharpie Face, Peanut Butter Face, and Mummy Dancers: The 2014 Project for Awesome
E110Jelly Face, Sharpie Face, Peanut Butter Face, and Mummy Dancers: The 2014 Project for AwesomeIn which a very sick John discusses the 2014 Project for Awesome, which has raised more than $1,200,000 for charity. John also does peanut butter face with banana eyes while his heroic wife Sarah does jelly face, and then Hank is a dancing mummy. Learn more at http://projectforawesome.com - BUTFARTMAN Is Coming To Town!E111
BUTFARTMAN Is Coming To Town!In which Hank edits together a ton of the best moments from this year's Project for Awesome. Of course, no one can be there for all of it but, this way, you can catch a glimpse! I'd like to edit together some of the more intriguing episodes, but this will have to do for now. Thank you all so much for your giving your time, talent, and/or money. The Project for Awesome really is unique in the world of giving, and the charities we give to are always so astounded and enthused by what is often surprising but very needed money. Thank you all. I'm so pleased to be a part of this community.
