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Sydney Green

parent · in 121 videos (2007–2026)

The brothers' mother; appears in videos from 2007 and in a 2013 Question Tuesday with their father.

Works: Good News Bridge

Speaks in 5 videos; this page lists what is said about them.

Videos by year: 2007: 28 · 2008: 8 · 2009: 10 · 2010: 8 · 2011: 8 · 2012: 7 · 2013: 8 · 2014: 3 · 2015: 10 · 2016: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2024: 1 · 2026: 7

Also known as: Mom, our mom, Mom Green

Threads

Also named in the threads: Hank asks John and viewers what to do with his misprinted EcoGeek business cards (2007) · The brothers' 'movie magic': footage shot on another day presented as today's (2007) · Hank: embarrassing moment sock puppet theater (2007 punishment) · Hank is asked to be interviewed for a Weather Channel show on global warming (2007) · Question Tuesday: weekly Tuesday question days for nerdfighters (2007) · Hank and Katherine's October trip: drive from Montana to Seattle, then fly on (2007) · Hank asks John to show his own box of childhood keepsakes (2007) · Hank goes through his box of childhood keepsakes at their dad's house (2007) · John's 1984 tee-ball 'all-star in our hearts' trophy (2007) · Paper Towns Tour (2008) · John finds and reads a picture book he wrote as a child, 'Happy New Year Streamers' (2009) · Hank loses his camcorder charger and cannot record new video (2009) · John and Sarah (the Yeti) are expecting a baby (2009) · John's toothache and root canals (2010) · Red Green's poop in the brothers' childhood Nintendo · John's six-year dream of owning a Chevy Volt comes true (2012) · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall (2013) · John's depression at 24 in Chicago: leave from Booklist, home to Orlando, and watching Harvey · Hank's trip to New York City for the TFiOS film premiere (2014) · John and Sarah's two-person book club before they started dating · Hank asks donors of more than $500 to join the P4A 2026 matching fund at projectforawesome.com/matching (2026) · Hank's Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis and chemotherapy (2023) · P4A 2026 edition

Often together

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

Mike Green (70) · Katherine Green (21) · Sarah Urist Green (20) · Henry Green (7) · Nerdfighter Ning (3) · Christmas (4) · Indianapolis (6) · New York City (5) · progress (3) · Brotherhood 2.0 (6)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2007

  • 2007-01-02 · Brotherhood 2.0: January 2nd — John says downloading Hank's 2-minute-1-second video took him 2 hours 13 minutes because he is at their parents' house, which has dial-up internet. (playful) — 00:00:03 · also in: Week 1 Condensed!
  • 2007-02-06 · Brotherhood 2.0: February 6th — Hank is still very excited about John having a baby, especially because then their mom may stop bothering Hank about it so much. (playful, hedged) — 00:02:07
  • 2007-03-16 · March 16th: Mom, ZeFrank, and Stock Options — Hank proposes that people could own stock in people: a child owns 51% of itself, parents 49% they may sell (e.g. 10% to a college), and the child may buy stock back. (hypothetical, hedged) — 00:02:26
    • Hank concludes that moms are great and do it all for nothing. — 00:03:18
  • 2007-03-29 · Brotherhood 2.0: March 29th: JUDGMENT FOR HANK — announcement: John gleefully tells Hank that Hank accidentally included him on a list of people he emailed about Mom, so Hank is going to be punished. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • 2007-05-11 · May 11th: Heroes — Hank: For Hank's birthday and Katherine's (next week (week of 14 May 2007)), Mom and Dad gave them two new bikes, so they can ride around town all the time. — 00:00:11
  • 2007-05-16 · Brotherhood 2.0: May 16: Beating the EBO into the ground — John: Correcting Hank's last video, John says he was born in Indianapolis but lived there only until he was three weeks old, not three years. — 00:02:08
  • 2007-08-27 · August 27th: Thanks Yous and Cameos — Hank reveals he has been with John since Sunday and kept it from Nerdfighters by not saying when he would see John next. (playful) — 00:00:41
    • Hank loves John's house and half-jokes he may not leave; Sarah and Katherine are there, and their parents have just arrived. (playful) — 00:02:05
  • 2007-09-04 · September 4th: Negative Suck Cubed Equals Awesome — John thanks Hank and Katherine for visiting last week (week of 27 August 2007); he and the Yeti had a great time. — 00:02:46
  • 2007-10-30 · Oct. 30th: My Name Is John Green. And I'm a Nerd. — John: Partly to get him to leave town and because they love him, his parents had a trophy made reading 'John Green, 1984, all-star in our hearts', his only childhood trophy, which he cannot find. (playful) — 00:03:16
  • 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
  • …and 38 statements more in 2007 — all statements of 2007

Also named in: June 13: Dominican Debacles, September 26th: Norbert Wiener

2008

  • 2008-01-08 · Sledding and YouTube Tag — Hank says his name is William Henry Green II, after his grandfather; his mom wanted to call him Hank, which he likes, though banks balk at checks made out to 'Hank'. — 00:03:26
  • 2008-07-08 (said on 2008-07-07, implied) · Hank Tried to Kill Me With a Hammer — Sydney Green: On the phone, the brothers' mom says it was the other way around (Hank tried to kill John) and answers yes when John asks whether he ever tried to kill Hank. — 00:01:40
    • John protests that he is getting the short end of the stick, since Mom seems to make the case that he was the inferior sibling. (playful) — 00:02:15
    • John sums up that, according to their mom, the meanest thing Hank did to him was try to kill him with a hammer, and his own was spilling red cough syrup on Hank's bedspread and hugging him too hard. (playful) — 00:02:33
  • 2008-09-04 · Paper Towns Tour Dates! — announcement: John announces an October 16 New York launch party for Paper Towns' release with Hank, their parents, the Yeti, Maureen Johnson and other authors; Julia Nunes is floated as a 'rumor'. — 00:01:12
  • 2008-11-04 · Election Night In Indianapolis! — both: The brothers note that Elizabeth Dole no longer has a job, thanking their Dad and Mom for not voting for her; 'we just don't like Elizabeth Dole'. (playful) — 00:00:44
  • 2008-11-27 · Thanksgiving in Asheville — John spends Thanksgiving 2008 at his parents' house in Asheville, North Carolina, 'where it all started' for him. — 00:00:00
  • 2008-12-18 · Introducing...The Awesome — both: They say they featured none of their own videos and no best friends, except a video their parents made. (playful) — 00:01:35

Also named in: SETTING THE QUESTION TUESDAY WORLD RECORD, Question Tuesday Returns (on a Wednesday)

2009

Also named in: Star Trek: The Movie, Review, I Will Call Him Louis: Australia Rocks!, Sell Outs!, I AM COMPUTER MAN!!!

2010

  • 2010-01-06 (said on 2010-01-05, implied) · 15 Hours in Target! — Hank feels a bit of a jerk complaining when John did nothing and has a root canal today, though John did break the rules of dental hygiene despite Mom buying them a toothbrush every year. (playful) — 00:01:27
  • 2010-02-15 · Hello Baby!! — John: Reason two: John recalls their mom showing his high-school girlfriends his baby pictures and doesn't want embarrassing stories about Henry reaching a large audience. (playful) — 00:01:43
  • 2010-03-05 · Red Green, the Nintendo, and HANK — John says the doors were locked overnight, so the suspects are the family and Red; he knows he didn't do it, and finds their parents unlikely since he thinks they liked the Nintendo keeping him busy. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:58
  • 2010-03-08 · GIGANTIC CHICKEN EGG!! — Hank's first point: nobody wants to touch dog poop, he never has unless asked, and he cannot imagine Jesus or their mom asking him to put it in the Nintendo. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • 2010-03-17 · Side-Boob is Not my Ultimate Concern — Hank: Family is always central to Hank's concerns, so he wishes his mom a happy birthday and plays her a song on party blowers. — 00:02:40
  • 2010-06-02 (said on 2010-06-01, implied) · The Case of the Poopy Nintendo — John: With Mom, Dad and Hank all denying it, John says it was Red Green, a home invader, or a lying family member, and insinuates that it was Hank. (playful) — 00:02:58
  • 2010-09-11 (said on 2010-09-10, implied) · Giant Baby Attack — John says he and Hank are in Sonoma, California, for Dad's 60th birthday party. — 00:00:49
    • Mom and Dad could not come because Mom broke her ankle, so the brothers celebrate Dad's 60th birthday without them and send them their love. — 00:00:57
  • 2010-12-27 · To: You - - From: The Vlogbrothers — Hank: A gift from his mom that Hank took for a musical instrument, enjoying the noise it made, turned out to be a cheese cutter. (playful) — 00:01:33
  • …and 2 statements more in 2010 — all statements of 2010

2011

  • 2011-08-03 · I Love My Brother — Hank tells his dad he loves him for being an excellent father who never complains about how weird his sons are, and his mom for being proud of them even when they did weird things. — 00:02:26
  • 2011-11-23 · Why are Barns Red and Kardashians Famous — Hank: By Green family tradition, Hank tells John what he's thankful for this Thanksgiving: his brother, his viewers, his family and his wife, fulfilling an obligation to their mother. — 00:00:03
  • 2011-12-12 (said on 2011-12-11, implied) · Our Grandfather — Hank says the brothers owe Papa a lot, beyond creating their mom, which was important to their existence and their happiness. — 00:00:27
  • 2011-12-28 · Goats Mating — John woke at Mom and Dad's house, admired the view of Western North Carolina from the porch and went for a walk. — 00:00:00
    • Mom and Dad raise goats and turn their milk into fancy soap and cheese; goats must have babies to produce milk. — 00:01:06
    • John watched a long courtship (beard-rubbing, tail-wagging), hid so as not to discourage the goats, and after misplaced humping saw them mate; he was glad Henry didn't see. — 00:01:27
    • Lost in thought, John got very lost in the woods; following water downhill, he found his trail by the skid marks from his fall, 'another life saved by dead leaves'. — 00:02:07
  • …and 3 statements more in 2011 — all statements of 2011

Also named in: Adorable Baby and Insufficient Cartography, NERD FACTOR

2012

Also named in: 21st Century Sherlock: A Sherlock / Doors Song

2013

  • 2013-01-15 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — John: For the finale John brings out the performers, his parents, Julie Strauss-Gabel, Jodi Reamer, Elyse Marshall who made the evening possible, Sean Titone, Katherine, Sarah (whom he first forgot) and Valerie2776. — 02:50:08
  • 2013-01-18 · Thoughts from Carnegie Hall — Hank thanks Neil Gaiman, Kimya Dawson, The Mountain Goats, Ashley and Daniel, Hannah and Grace, Elyse, their parents, their wives and all of Nerdfighteria for making the show possible. — 00:01:44
  • 2013-08-09 · What I Learned at VidCon — Hank thanks his wife, his parents and the VidCon team for supporting him, though he often doesn't know what he's doing. — 00:03:06
  • 2013-10-29 · Perspective — John: He called his parents, they agreed he should come home, and he tried to quit; Booklist publisher Bill Ott suggested a two-week leave of absence instead, one of the nicest things anyone did for him. — 00:01:17
  • 2013-11-26 · The Bank of Nerdfighteria — both: Hank appears beside John for a surprise reunion video; they point to the lending and donation links and look forward to a great P4A. — 00:03:34
  • 2013-11-29 · REUNION! Arm Wrestling, Drawing, and Questions with Hank and John! — The description says the brothers are in North Carolina visiting their parents for Thanksgiving and are thankful for each other, their families and viewers. — video description
    • both: They have turkey, not pizza, for a normal Thanksgiving; both prefer pumpkin pie, and there is only one pumpkin pie this year (2013). — 00:01:28
  • 2013-12-13 · Mom and Dad Green! Extra Special Question Tuesday — Hank introduces a special Question Tuesday in which his real mom and dad answer real questions from Nerdfighters. — 00:00:01
    • Sydney Green: Sydney says that, being Southern, they named Hank William Henry after his two grandfathers. — 00:00:36
    • Sydney Green: Sydney says she had no girl name for Hank because she knew he was a boy; the girl name for John was Elizabeth. — 00:00:59
    • Sydney Green: Sydney says John was always into embellishing the truth. (playful) — 00:01:44
    • Sydney Green: Sydney recalls that small Hank, who could not yet really talk, once got tired of John yelling at him and took a hammer to him. (playful) — 00:02:04
  • …and 7 statements more in 2013 — all statements of 2013

2014

  • 2014-06-06 · Thoughts from the TFiOS Premiere! — Hank says he came to New York for the TFiOS premiere, his first viewing of the film, and walked the red carpet with his wife; photographers published none of their pictures, but his mom took some. — 00:01:01
  • 2014-12-02 · What You Eat Of Those You Love — John says that over the last roughly 100 hours he, Hank, Katherine and both of their parents had norovirus. — 00:00:01
    • John names his one-year-old daughter as the family's patient zero: five days before Thanksgiving she woke from a nap and vomited on him, though he did not get sick then. — 00:00:53

Also named in: Hanging with High School Hank

2015

  • 2015-03-03 · What's in the Box in the Box in the Box? — John says he recently discovered a box of childhood memorabilia, unexplored for at least 10 years, and will find out what's inside. — 00:00:01
    • Finding a science and engineering fair participant badge, John jokes that their parents keeping his participant ribbon perhaps explains why Hank is the brother who took apart an adding machine. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:18
    • At the bottom is his baby milestones book filled out by their parents, recording their first words about him: Mom wrote 'he's ugly!' and Dad 'he's so purple!'. — 00:02:29
  • 2015-06-16 (said on 2015-06-13, implied) · Paper Towns Madrid with Nat Wolff! THE TOUR BEGINS — The description says the European leg of the Paper Towns press tour begins in Madrid, with John and Nat Wolff pushing through crushing jet lag. — video description
    • In Asheville, John's parents, 'noted American heroes Mom and Dad', will look after John's kids for the week while he is in Europe. — 00:00:16
    • Having dropped off the kids, John reaches New York just in time for the flight to Madrid, hoping to sleep the whole way, and finds Nat. (hedged) — 00:00:44
  • 2015-06-23 · Question Tuesday with Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff — John records Question Tuesday in the back of a movie theater in Berlin with Nat Wolff, who plays Q, and Cara Delevingne, who plays Margo Roth Spiegelman in the Paper Towns film. — 00:00:06
  • 2015-08-25 · Question Tuesday: The Goat Edition — John: Defending his goat knowledge against Hank, John says he made the internet's number one video about goat mating and has seen goats do it. (playful) — 00:01:46
  • 2015-11-18 · SUIT UP! A Very Fancy Reunion Video (Pizzamas Day 8) — John says their mom pressures them to name a new thing they're thankful for each year, rejecting repeats such as his kids ('you said that in 2011'). (playful) — 00:02:05
  • 2015-11-27 (said on 2015-11-26, implied) · Never Satisfied: The Story of Humans ¦-/ — Hank says his mother was born into an America where black people had separate schools and bathrooms. — 00:02:10
  • 2015-12-01 · John's Book Giving Guide for the Holidays! — John, admitting bias, says books make the best gifts because they last, in the mind and physically: he still has the Tom Sawyer copy his mom gave him at ten. (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • 2015-12-29 · How to Give Away Over a Million Dollars — recommendation: John shares a New Year's card by his and Hank's mother's artist friend Connie Bostic, 'We Must Live In Joy Through the Sorrows of this World', calling it the greatest of all time. — 00:01:57
  • …and 2 statements more in 2015 — all statements of 2015

Also named in: REUNION MINIGOLF

2016

  • 2016-07-05 · The Horizon Line — John: Their dad worked hard to get out of Indianapolis; he and Mom left for good a few weeks after John was born and never looked back. — 00:01:27
  • 2016-12-27 · The Best of My 2016 — John's first memory: attending the 100th running of the Indy 500 with his mom and dad and many friends. — 00:00:29

2017

  • 2017-06-20 · FIRST! Green Brothers Reunited Again — Sydney Green: Their mom, called on the phone, says it was John, not Hank, who fell out of a tree house. — 00:01:33
  • 2017-08-18 · What I've Been Thinking About — Hank says Mom told him a story a couple of months ago; as context, she grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, during segregation. — 00:00:00
    • After the family moved to Orlando, Mom was surprised that her sons would have black teachers and worried, like others in her friend group, that they couldn't teach as well as white teachers. — 00:00:23
    • Hank thinks it says a lot about Mom that she let him share the story, which does not make her look good and which she hadn't brought up for about 25 years. (hedged) — 00:00:46
    • Hank says it is hard to talk about race and we need to do it more; Mom wanted to help them talk about it. (hedged) — 00:00:57
    • Hank says that ultimately, unlike some of his classmates, Mom kept them in the classes they were assigned to. — 00:01:45
    • Hank says her decision wasn't heroic and her thoughts don't make her a monster: she was neither hero nor monster, and he can still be proud of her. — 00:01:49
    • Hank says Mom told him something he found really important: hate is so easy. — 00:02:01
    • Hank wants to learn from Mom that beliefs can change, empathy can grow, and the lifelong work toward a more compassionate, tolerant and just world is never done. — 00:03:22
  • …and 1 statement more in 2017 — all statements of 2017

2018

  • 2018-05-08 · Old Man Yells at Cloud — John says getting older need not mean yelling at clouds: his parents are wonderful models, having stayed passionate, hopeful and curious throughout their adult lives. — 00:01:02
  • 2018-09-04 · The Eisenhower Matrix — John's parents introduced him to the strategy as a kid; he has found it very helpful though hard to implement minute by minute, and will keep trying. — 00:03:18
  • 2018-09-18 · On the Participation Trophy — John's parents' solution: the family still visited his grandparents and he missed the game, but they had a trophy made reading 'John Green 1984 All-Star In Our Hearts'. — 00:01:56
    • John's parents always praised his effort more than his achievements; even now his mom says she knows he worked hard rather than congratulating him on an award. — 00:02:26
  • 2018-10-29 · PIZZAMAS IS HERE! — announcement: John: There is Pizzamas soap from Farmer Jane Soap, the goat-milk soap company John's mom founded, handmade with real goat's milk in Western North Carolina. — 00:02:07
  • …and 1 statement more in 2018 — all statements of 2018

2019

  • 2019-12-17 · The Best Days of My Decade — John: That Evening of Awesome included the Mountain Goats, Kimya Dawson, Neil Gaiman and many friends, with Sarah, Katherine and the brothers' parents all there. — 00:00:28
    • Many favorite moments were little: a Joan Mitchell show with Sarah, sprawling at VidCon with Rosianna, hamburgers with Hank, the Pettibon spiral, his mom's painting of his La-Z-Boy, laughing while filming Crash Course with Stan. — 00:03:18
  • 2019-12-27 · Why I'm Worried about 2020 — Hank is worried about 2020 because 2020 needs him to be, just as he needs his mom to worry about him. — 00:03:08

Also named in: ...Not My Proudest Moment

2020

  • 2020-01-21 · Gifts That Changed My Life — John shows the world on a turtle that his parents gave him, which means a lot to him because of its symbolic resonances. — 00:00:58

2021

2022

2023

  • 2023-08-22 · The Panera Phenomenon — John: The peppers are for John and his mom's annual hot sauce: he is making experimental fermented sauces with the early peppers, and the traditional family sauce later in the year. — 00:03:08
    • John says the family names its hot sauce every year; last year's (2022) was Societal Collapse Is in the Air, after something Timothée Chalamet said during a press junket. — 00:03:20
    • John asks viewers to suggest this year's (2023) hot sauce name in the comments, conveying that it will be hot but also fun, like August in Indiana. — 00:03:30
  • 2023-09-25 · PIZZAMAS IS HERE!!! — announcement: John shows Pizza John's hot sauce, which tastes much like the hot sauce he makes with his mom but cannot legally sell; it is US-only as food. — 00:03:00
  • 2023-10-31 · How to Make Hot Sauce for Just $65 per Bottle — The description says John and his mom make homemade hot sauce that costs $65 per bottle, takes about eight months and has a fairly high chance of catastrophic failure. (playful) — video description
    • John cannot sell the sauce, since it was not made in a commercial kitchen and would need about $80 a bottle to profit, so he gives it to family and friends for the holidays. — 00:02:50
    • Finishing the sauce leaves John a little less anxious: it is good to have hobbies, especially one shared with his mom. — 00:03:00
  • …and 2 statements more in 2023 — all statements of 2023

Also named in: New Office Tour!!

2024

2026

  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — John offers 20 prints of the Good News Bridge, which his mother painted after learning Hank's cancer was treatable rather than the worst case; John and his parents were on a walk there when they heard. — 01:00:55
    • John says his father Mike Green, who donated, helped run the P4A matching fund with Amy, and thanks his parents for making a P4A perk again this year (2026). — 01:02:42
  • 2026-04-14 · Babies. Babies. Babies. — John wants to show love for his mom, who has made many sacrifices and, having two boys, has not often received Mother's Day presents. — 00:04:23
  • 2026-06-23 · A Very French Reunion — John and Hank, greeting from a French barge, are on vacation for their parents' 50th wedding anniversary. — 00:00:00
    • John is very grateful to their parents for 50 long years of marriage, no small feat. — 00:06:34
    • John says a long marriage has an accomplishment piece and a beauty piece; they are lucky to be a close family with extraordinary parents who helped make them who they are. — 00:07:14
  • 2026-06-26 · No Video Today!! — Hank: The brothers are in France to celebrate their parents' 50th anniversary, a trip planned for about two years. — 00:00:58
    • Hank says the brothers' parents have made occasional appearances both in the channel's lore and on the channel. — 00:01:51
    • Hank says how lucky the brothers are to have wonderful, thoughtful, empathetic, values-laden parents who worked hard to do good in their world and support each other, their children and grandchildren. — 00:02:20
  • 2026-07-17 · The Terrors of Middle Age — Hank: What lands: a favourite artist's 30th anniversary of a breakout album, and their parents' 50th anniversary where they held their 25th, which Hank attended as what he thought was an adult. — 00:01:14
  • 2026-08-25 · The Great Thing about Infectious Disease — John's mother's life was different: she was two when the first polio vaccine came, eight when TB became curable with combined antibiotics, eleven at the first measles vaccine. — 00:00:58
  • 2026-10-27 · Should I Salinger… — John and his mom grow pepper plants to make their family hot sauce; tending them is another thing he might be doing if he ever Salingered. — 00:03:32
  • …and 4 statements more in 2026 — all statements of 2026