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Christmas

holiday · in 48 videos (2007–2025)

The December holiday, which Hank said in 2007 he was 'kinda over' and John usually hates but enjoyed in 2009, expecting his first kid with family around.

Videos by year: 2007: 11 · 2008: 5 · 2009: 1 · 2010: 3 · 2011: 2 · 2012: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2025: 2

Also known as: Xmas

Threads

Also named in the threads: Happy Dance Project: compilation of the brothers' and Nerdfighters' happy dances (2007) · The brothers' 'movie magic': footage shot on another day presented as today's (2007) · Hank: eat a blenderized Christmas meal or give a one-hour public concert, as voted by Nerdfighters (2007) · Truth or Fail game-show videos (2009) · John and Sarah (the Yeti) are expecting a baby (2009) · Awesome Socks Club: monthly sock subscription (2016) · PodCon 2 (Seattle, January 19-20, 2019) · Hank: the James Webb Space Telescope will launch in March 2021 (2020) · Good Store: the brothers' store and subscription box at good.store giving all profit to charity (2023) · Sun Basin Soap: the brothers' charity soap subscription made with Botanie (2023) · The Book of Good Times Kickstarter (2024)

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

Katherine Green (13) · Awesome Socks Club (5) · Good Store (5) · DFTBA Records (7) · No textual communication (2) · Kickstarter (2) · Sydney Green (4) · Foundation to Decrease World Suck (3) · Mike Green (4) · world suck (4)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2007

  • 2007-03-01 · Brotherhood 2.0: March 1, 2007: Sophistication. And balls. — John: For Christmas 2000 John bought Hank a DVD player and Hank gave John two pairs of white tube socks; John jokes Hank is still making up for it. (playful) — 00:00:31
  • 2007-11-23 · November 23rd: BLACK FRIDAY! — Hank went to the mall to sort out his feelings about Christmas: he is 'kinda over it', finds it hard to care, and doesn't think he's alone. (hedged) — 00:01:21
    • Hank says the holidays give people time off work only to stress out about spending the money they made. — 00:01:21
  • 2007-11-27 · November 27th: Eagle's Nest, Blogger's Choice and Shopping — Hank objects to the article's claim that the mainstreaming of Green is taking Christmas away: he is not taking Christmas away but trying to make it suck less. — 00:01:16
    • Hank cites a New York Times article saying 80% of Americans wish Christmas were less materialistic. — 00:01:16
  • 2007-11-30 · Nov. 30th: A CHRISTMAS RANT — John: Noting that Hank has railed against the commercialization of Christmas, John says he is also opposed to Christmas: he likes the religious holiday but nothing about its secular side. (playful) — 00:00:39
    • In a comic list John says he dislikes Uncle Sam, red with green, outdoor Christmas lights (a waste of electricity), reindeer, elves unless played by Liv Tyler, toy soldiers, eggnog and indoor Christmas trees. (playful) — 00:01:09
    • Saying he does not believe in a past golden era, John gives his basic rule: he likes everything about Christmas that was thought up before 1800. — 00:02:07
  • 2007-12-20 · December 20th: HANK SHALL BE PUNISHED! — John says Hank and Katherine's Christmas presents might not arrive by Christmas although he bought them in time, jokingly blaming the Postal Service for not inventing instant delivery. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:39
    • John settles on two punishment options for Hank; Nerdfighters will vote and Hank must do the winner. Option one: eat a blenderized Christmas meal including at least ham, eggnog and Christmas cookies. — 00:02:59
  • 2007-12-26 (said on 2007-12-25, implied) · Dec. 26th: Christmas, Manga, and Goat Poop — John says he is back where it all started, at Mom and Dad's house in Asheville, admits he is filming on Christmas Day rather than the 26th, and marvels it has been 361 days. (playful) — 00:00:10
    • John calls this one of his favourite Christmases, first because of the Happy Dance Project, which has made him happy nearly every minute for days and which he thinks will be his cure for sadness. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:47
  • …and 15 statements more in 2007 — all statements of 2007

2008

  • 2008-02-11 (said on 2008-02-12, implied) · Nerdfighters Blurbing Book Club! — Hank tells John he finished the Christmas books John gave him and Katherine; he passed one ('Mouse' as heard) on through a used bookstore and may keep another to reread. (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • 2008-12-18 · Introducing...The Awesome — John tells Hank his Christmas present is a Heifer gift, jokingly 'five llama butts', since you can buy part of an animal. (playful) — 00:01:10
  • 2008-12-22 · A Christmas Song! — Hank's comic song says Jesus is the one man who gets nothing for Christmas, though he hasn't been bad and it is his birthday too. (joke) — 00:00:00
  • 2008-12-29 · Comment Haters and Christmas — Hank says he heard John had a pretty good Christmas and received, among other things, a personal trainer. — 00:01:51
    • Hank says he received Rock Band for Christmas; it has been fun but hard, and his wrists hurt. — 00:02:21
  • …and 1 statement more in 2008 — all statements of 2008

2009

  • 2009-12-23 · Amazing Christmas Facts With John and Hank — John says he usually hates Christmas but is into it this year (2009): he and his wife expect their first kid, and Hank, Katherine, Mom and Dad are all there. — 00:00:34 · also in: John and Hank Hanging Out but they Keep Getting Younger and More Pixelated
    • both: The brothers say Alabama was the first US state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday, declaring it a state holiday in 1838. — 00:01:03
    • Christmas did not become a US national holiday until 1870, so for almost the first 100 years of the union it was not one; the brothers note there were fewer national holidays then. — 00:01:24
    • Hot cockles is a game, associated almost exclusively with Christmas, in which a blindfolded person is hit by someone in the room and must guess who hit them. — 00:01:24
    • Hank says Jingle Bells was originally a Thanksgiving song, which is why it never mentions Christmas; a fact check says it was written in 1857 for a Thanksgiving program by James Lord Pierpont. (doubtful: 1857) — 00:03:18

2010

  • 2010-05-28 · How To Do Everything — recommendation: John demonstrates tying a tie (small end shorter, big end over, under, around and through), after joking that one should always choose a Christmas tie. (playful) — 00:00:29
  • 2010-12-27 · To: You - - From: The Vlogbrothers — ask: Hank asks John what he got for Christmas, so that he can then tell John everything he got; at the end he asks Nerdfighters too. — 00:00:07
  • …and 2 statements more in 2010 — all statements of 2010

2011

  • 2011-11-28 · Stuffed with STUFF! — announcement: Hank: For its third-anniversary Cyber Monday sale, DFTBA Records charges $3 shipping per order anywhere for three days; international orders may not arrive before Christmas. — 00:02:26
  • 2011-12-26 · Project for Awesome and Truth or Fail — Hank plays another edition of Truth or Fail, a game show in which he gives two purported facts and viewers click the true one, this time on Christmas carols. — 00:01:27
    • Truth or Fail option one: PNC Wealth Management yearly prices the gifts in The Twelve Days of Christmas, and this year (2011) the seven swans a-swimming were the most expensive at $6,300. (playful, unsure) — 00:02:18
    • Truth or Fail option two: The Twelve Days of Christmas, written in 1909, is still under copyright after repeated extensions and cannot be performed on the show. (playful, unsure) — 00:02:18

2012

  • 2012-03-06 · Know Your News! Understanding the Syrian Revolution in Under 4 Minutes — John says Hafez al-Assad was Alawi, a Shia sect with unusual beliefs: unlike most Muslims, Alawis don't hold praying five times a day mandatory and they celebrate Christmas. — 00:01:27
  • 2012-11-23 · Black Friday: An Accident of History — Hank: As stores and consumerist culture pushed Christmas shopping earlier, Thanksgiving became the barrier, so Black Friday became the tipping point into the holiday shopping season. — 00:01:09
    • Black Friday is billed as the biggest shopping day of the year, but Hank says that is untrue: Americans procrastinate, so Christmas Eve is the biggest. (doubtful: Christmas Eve) — 00:01:30

2013

2015

  • 2015-12-25 · On Hating Christmas — Hank notices that in recent years some people, in the lead-up to Christmas, try to define exactly what Christmas is and complain it is not being done right. — 00:00:01
    • Hank voices others' complaints: too much consumption, neglect of religious and historical roots, traditions co-opted from harmed cultures, Santa anagrams to Satan, Christmas Eve consumerism. (satire) — 00:00:12
    • Hank says holidays and rites of passage are lenses focusing culture into visible forms; as our biggest holiday, Christmas exposes the parts of culture that clash with our worldview. — 00:01:01
  • …and 2 statements more in 2015 — all statements of 2015

2017

  • 2017-11-24 · The Bizarro History of Black Friday: (AND 2017 CENSUS!) — Hank says Black Friday is actually the day Christmas shopping begins, so companies lower prices a lot. — 00:01:51
  • 2017-12-22 · Christmas Questions Answered (With Katherine and Hank) — Hank: Asked whether Christmas is like the films, Hank says it is exactly like Die Hard. (joke) — 00:00:16
    • Asked for another good Christmas movie, Hank names It's a Wonderful Life. — 00:00:22
    • Answering the films question, Hank says real Christmas has feasts, presents and stockings: all the tropes are there. (playful) — 00:00:36
    • Hank says Katherine has a real love affair with Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas and talking about it makes her cry. (playful) — 00:01:22
    • Katherine Green: Katherine's problem with Christmas is that after long preparation it is suddenly over, leaving her to put everything away. — 00:01:31
    • Americans don't observe Boxing Day: they call it the day after Christmas and go back to work. (playful) — 00:03:09
  • …and 4 statements more in 2017 — all statements of 2017

2018

  • 2018-11-23 · Four Jokes from a Two year Old — announcement: Hank: PodCon has a gift special this weekend: tickets aren't discounted, but US buyers get an 'I Like Podcasts' pin mailed before Christmas. — 00:03:08
  • 2018-12-21 · The Psychology of Package Thieves — a guest: One thief's group was just having fun until they realised a package was almost certainly a toy for a child to open on Christmas morning; then it stopped being fun. (hedged) — 00:01:18
    • Hank reminds viewers that John won't have a video next Tuesday (25 December 2018) because that day is Christmas. — 00:03:44
  • …and 2 statements more in 2018 — all statements of 2018

2020

  • 2020-01-21 · Gifts That Changed My Life — John says giving cash would leave everyone better off but seems thoughtless, so instead an imagined Aunt Agatha gives an Outback Steakhouse gift card every Christmas. (playful) — 00:00:00
    • John says his wife Sarah has solved the problem: every Christmas she gets him a Liverpool jersey, exactly what he wants. — 00:00:29
  • 2020-11-27 · Finally Launching this Project!!! — announcement: Hank says he will make a video about a delightfully creepy Christmas story he found online, collaborating with its artist, who will sell it. — 00:03:08
    • As someone who runs an e-commerce company, Hank advises ordering Christmas purchases now because the country's shipping infrastructure is already at its limit. — 00:03:30
  • 2020-12-04 · The Christmas Creature — announcement: The description says The Christmas Creature sold out on Erin's store, so a pre-order is up at DFTBA.com. — video description
    • Hank shares a book by Erin Kubo that he saw as a Twitter thread twelve months ago and loved so much he turned it into a video: a reading of The Christmas Creature. — 00:00:03
    • Hank reads the poem: to appease the Christmas creature children pass strange tests, climb the hill with offerings and a mirror, and get their stolen toy back, now in the creature's debt. (fiction) — 00:00:20
    • Hank says it is good to examine our aesthetics but also to indulge them, hence the Christmas Creature, the Ratatouille musical, the P4A calendar and the socks. — 00:03:33
    • Hank says Erin Kubo sells physical copies of The Christmas Creature on her website, linked in the description, as are the calendars and the socks. — 00:03:44

2021

  • 2021-09-03 · What the Heck am I doing? — announcement: Hank: Two other things Hank and John wanted out by Christmas won't be, which is frustrating; Hank says they will happen eventually and be greater for the wait. — 00:02:39
  • 2021-12-24 · 29 Days of Astronomical Terror — announcement: Hank would not normally release a video on Christmas Eve, but people who worked for decades on one of the most exciting instruments ever built are launching it on Christmas Day. — 00:00:00
    • The launch is scheduled for Christmas morning at 7:20 a.m. Eastern Time. — 00:03:24

2022

  • 2022-11-22 · John's 2022 Gift Guide — announcement: John tells Hank, spoiler alert, that he is getting a donation to Partners In Health for Christmas. (playful) — 00:03:24

2023

  • 2023-11-24 · It Wasn't Supposed to be Thanksgiving Yesterday — Hank says that in 1939 FDR on his own moved Thanksgiving to the second-to-last Thursday (23 November 2023) of November to give people more shopping time before Christmas, announcing it on October 31. — 00:01:27
    • Hank says Thanksgiving can now fall anywhere from the 22nd to the 28th of November, which he finds annoying, and the rule added a few days to the Christmas season. — 00:02:55
    • Hank says FDR was a little bit right: in years with more days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, US employment numbers significantly increase. — 00:03:04
  • 2023-11-28 · John's (Mostly Book) Holiday Gift Recommendations — announcement: John does his yearly holiday book roundup of books to give as gifts, this year (2023) adding three non-book recommendations. — 00:00:00
    • John tells Hank what he wants: another Viridian Sun bath box, sent to his house and wrapped by Hank, on Christmas Day. (playful) — 00:03:50

2024

  • 2024-06-14 · Some Reasons why People Suck — Hank says social technologies hold society together: church, marriage, fashion, Christmas, soccer, the idea of a border and the word vegan are human-created things that change behavior. — 00:01:38
  • 2024-09-24 · The Forgotten Viral Video that Could Never be Made Today — Hank: The song was also a hit with the X-Files crew, and two people who worked on the show filmed and edited a music video for it purely to play at their Christmas party. — 00:03:24
    • Hank says the video is not made to go viral, not a cause video like We Are the World, not a cameo-packed Taylor Swift video, but an amateur office Christmas party video that happens to star Whoopi Goldberg and George Clooney, which makes it special. — 00:03:53
  • 2024-09-26 · Something Very Strange Has Been Happening to Me — announcement: Hank says a nicer hardcover with nice paper costs $27, and two extra dollars guarantee shipping by Christmas. — 00:03:06
  • 2024-09-30 · Put a little bit of cinnamon in it — announcement: Hank says the Book of Good Times is linked in the description and believes all hardcovers guaranteed by Christmas have sold out, while the rest remain available. (hedged) — 00:03:59
  • 2024-10-02 · What I learned from the weirdest day of my life — announcement: Hank does not think any of these multi-copy options can be guaranteed for Christmas, and apologizes. (hedged) — 00:04:52
  • 2024-12-20 · Fine, I'll Talk About the Drones… — In a channel comment Hank says the likeliest outcome is people getting Christmas presents early and trying them out without knowing the local rules. (hedged) — creator comment
  • …and 1 statement more in 2024 — all statements of 2024

2025

  • 2025-11-24 · Good Store Holiday Gift Guide LIVE with Hank and John — announcement: John notes that Awesome Socks Club subscriptions can now be given as six- or 12-month gift subscriptions, so the joy lasts beyond Christmas morning. — 00:03:33
    • Answering 65 viewers, John says US customers must order by December 8 for delivery by Christmas. — 00:21:54
    • John says that after trying the MeUndies collaboration underwear he was converted within a day: cheaper, better and better fitting, so that is Chris's Christmas present. — 00:23:26
  • 2025-12-12 · The Economics of a YouTube White Noise Video — announcement: Hank says orders placed now from Good Store or DFTBA.com will probably, though not guaranteed, arrive by Christmas or the end of Hanukkah. (hedged) — 00:04:54
  • …and 1 statement more in 2025 — all statements of 2025