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Essential videos of 2014

37 of the 114 videos uploaded in 2014 were judged high on "words matter": the ideas are the point of the video, so reading or watching for the argument pays off — a reading guide, not a best-of list. Each entry gives the thesis (with a link to where the argument starts) and one line on why it was judged idea-dense. Back to the overview.

Main speaker: John: 23 · Hank: 14

  • 2014-01-03 · Hank · The Golden Gate Bridge Didn't Collapse!! · Global development, list
    • Replying to doubters of John's good-news video, Hank argues that psychology, probability, entropy, the gradualness of good and confirmation bias make the world seem worse than it is; the world is okay, so be cautious but not pessimistic. (00:01:11)
    • Why it is here: A numbered argument about why good news is hard to believe (negativity, probability, entropy, gradual good, confirmation bias), with checkable claims and stated positions on inequality, incarceration and climate.
    • Replies to: 2013-12-31 GOOD NEWS: 14 Reasons 2014 May Be the Best Year Ever
  • 2014-01-10 · Hank · Global Warming and the Polar Vortex · Science & nature, explainer
    • Hank explains the polar vortex and argues that local cold is the wrong lens on global warming: the word 'global' is the hard part, so he thinks of it as an increase in energy trapped in the atmosphere. (00:00:57)
    • Why it is here: An argued reframing of global warming with checkable claims (polar vortices, 4 degrees Celsius, US 1.9% of world area) and a proposed alternative name.
  • 2014-01-21 · John · Are Poor Countries Doomed? · Global development, explainer
    • Drawing on Bill and Melinda Gates's new letter, John argues that poor countries are not doomed, foreign aid is not a waste, and saving children's lives does not cause overpopulation — and that rich countries benefit too. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: An argued case against three development myths, built on many numeric claims (child deaths, income growth, aid budgets, polio cases).
  • 2014-02-04 · John · Should We Raise the Minimum Wage? · US politics & society, explainer
    • John argues that evidence since Card and Krueger's New Jersey study shows minimum-wage rises cost few jobs and reduce poverty, making them 'the cheapest lunch available', and that as an employer he favours paying a living wage. (00:01:11)
    • Why it is here: An evidence-based policy explainer with specific empirical claims (Card and Krueger, the poverty elasticity) and John's own position as an employer.
  • 2014-02-07 · Hank · Kill All The Humans · Philosophy & meaning, letter vlog
    • Hank asks whether humanity, the root of the environmental crisis, is worth it, and concludes that it is: human creation is as marvellous and unique as nature, and we create more than we destroy. (00:00:52)
    • Why it is here: A sincere argued essay stating Hank's view of humanity's worth against its environmental harm, plus project announcements and a promise.
  • 2014-03-04 · John · Understanding Ukraine: The Problems Today and Some Historical Context · World affairs, explainer
    • John traces Ukraine's history between Russia and Europe (Crimean War, Stalin, the 1954 Crimea transfer, independence, the Orange Revolution, the 2013-14 protests) up to Russia's move into Crimea, sets out two competing narratives, and argues Ukraine needs decades of stability. (00:05:16)
    • Why it is here: A dense explainer of a live crisis with many checkable historical and demographic claims and an explicit framing argument (two narratives, the need for stability).
  • 2014-03-14 · Hank · Sexual Abuse, Consent, and Culture · US politics & society, explainer
    • Hank argues that a culture casting sex as predator and prey, and refusing to talk about it, enables ubiquitous sexual abuse; relationships need consent, and he announces a task force, a video series and partnerships against abuse. (00:00:15)
    • Why it is here: A deliberate, carefully worded argument on consent and the culture enabling sexual abuse, with a working definition of abuse and concrete community commitments.
  • 2014-03-18 · John · Is the American Dream Real? · Economics, letter vlog
    • John argues that, by mobility and pay-gap data, equality of opportunity is greater in Denmark, Slovenia and other developed countries than in the US, so the American Dream is a dream; systemic inequality of opportunity hurts all Americans. (00:00:51)
    • Why it is here: A data-driven argument: international mobility and gender pay-gap figures, the gap between American belief and data, the innovation trade-off and a worry about the US future.
    • Replies to: 2014-03-14 Sexual Abuse, Consent, and Culture
  • 2014-03-25 · John · I Gotta Go: Signing Off and Thinking about Inspiration · Nerdfighteria, letter vlog
    • Noticing Hank skipped the sign-off, John traces the vlogbrothers' sign-off and style to Ian Shoales, a radio commentator they loved as kids, and argues art is not lone genius but people building on influences across time and space to make the world suck less. (00:00:43)
    • Why it is here: A personal genealogy of the channel's conventions (Ze Frank, Ian Shoales) that grows into John's definition of art and a successful creative life.
  • 2014-04-04 · Hank · Mass Incarceration in the US · US politics & society, explainer
    • Hank argues that US mass incarceration is a cruel, costly, short-sighted failed experiment: America is good at punishment but neglects corrections, though today's prisoners are tomorrow's neighbors. (00:00:19)
    • Why it is here: A dense, argued policy case with many statistics and coined lines ('tough on crime' vs 'tough on criminals', 'wars on people').
  • 2014-04-11 · Hank · What Boys Look For in Girls · Everyday life, letter vlog
    • Hank argues that attraction standards vary arbitrarily across cultures, so nobody, and especially young women told their worth lies in pleasing men, should base self-worth on being attractive: you exist for your own sake. (00:01:28)
    • Why it is here: An argued essay on self-worth and gendered beauty standards with a memorable closing line.
  • 2014-04-22 · John · Understanding the Central African Republic · World affairs, explainer
    • John explains the Central African Republic's conflict from independence to the Séléka and anti-balaka violence, arguing that we ignore complicated stories without clear good guys and bad guys and must make room in our stories for the world as it is. (00:00:24)
    • Why it is here: A dense explainer with many checkable historical claims and an argued point about narratives, attention and good versus evil.
  • 2014-05-02 · Hank · Hank vs. Hank: The Net Neutrality Debate in 3 Minutes · Internet & YouTube, explainer
    • Hank stages a debate between himself as an internet user and as a cable company, arguing that ISPs should not sell fast lanes, then asks viewers to tell the FCC to classify broadband as a common carrier service. (00:00:12)
    • Why it is here: A compact argument for net neutrality with specific claims (Comcast and Netflix, paid fast lanes, competition) and a concrete call to comment to the FCC.
  • 2014-05-16 · Hank · The Myth of Greatness · Philosophy & meaning, letter vlog
    • Comparing Missoula (70,000 people) with Renaissance Florence (also 70,000), Hank argues great people are everywhere and that being remembered as great is circumstance; interesting things happen wherever people find what they are passionate about, as Nerdfighteria did for him. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: An argued essay against the idea of special great people: greatness is everywhere, fame is circumstance, and importance comes from belief.
  • 2014-05-20 · John · Deserving · Philosophy & meaning, letter vlog
    • Prompted by Hank's video on the Renaissance and circumstance, John argues his TFiOS success is luck and privilege, not desert; believing we deserve our fortune breeds self-centred myopia, and since we are not our luck, gratitude and helping each other are the right response. (00:00:16)
    • Why it is here: An argued essay against framing fortune and misfortune as deserved: luck and privilege explain success, and gratitude and cooperation are the proper response.
    • Replies to: 2014-05-16 The Myth of Greatness
  • 2014-06-06 · Hank · Thoughts from the TFiOS Premiere! · Books & writing, letter vlog
    • Hank, back from the TFiOS premiere in New York, argues that while the trend is to hide complexity behind effortless perfection, Vlogbrothers shows how things are made, and says the film is great and adds to understanding of life, love and hurt. (00:01:35)
    • Why it is here: An argued reflection: the hidden-systems question from Shades of Milk and Honey, the claim that entertainment hides complexity while Vlogbrothers exposes it, and Hank's view of what the film does for viewers.
  • 2014-06-10 · John · Our Old Friend Complexity: Behind the Beautiful Forevers · Global development, recommendation
    • John opens the Nerdfighter Book Club discussion of Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers, arguing that its first four chapters complicate easy ideas about poverty, corruption, microfinance and charity, and that luck drives the narrative. (00:00:28)
    • Why it is here: A reading of a nonfiction book on a Mumbai slum: layers of complexity in poverty, corruption, microfinance and charity, the rich-need-the-poor reading, official poverty measures, and luck.
  • 2014-07-22 · John · Ambiguous Victories and Real Progress: Behind the Beautiful Forevers · Global development, letter vlog
    • John, discussing charity in the Nerdfighter Book Club pick Behind the Beautiful Forevers, argues that charity's results are rarely unambiguous, that givers should look at what charities do and how well, and that we must embrace complexity while data shows real progress. (00:00:16)
    • Why it is here: An argued essay on how to judge charity and aid (complexity, data versus anecdote, real progress), built on a close reading of the book.
  • 2014-07-25 · Hank · Towering Mountains of Ignorance · Philosophy & meaning, letter vlog
    • Hank argues that we confuse thinking with knowing: opinions on complex social questions are value-based guesses that people tie to their sense of self, and the truest thing he can say is 'I don't know'. (00:00:20)
    • Why it is here: A compact argued essay on knowledge, opinion and identity; the claims are the content.
  • 2014-07-29 · John · Listen: Thoughts from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia · Global development, documentary visit
    • Visiting neonatologist Dr. Mulualem Gessesse's NICU in Addis Ababa, John argues that Ethiopia's falling child mortality comes from supporting Ethiopia's own health strategy, that aid must listen, and that the world's poorest children are our kids too. (00:01:22)
    • Why it is here: Reports concrete health statistics and an argued position on how aid should work (listening, local strategy) and on whom we count as our own.
  • 2014-08-12 · John · EBOLA! (...meningitis) · Global development, letter vlog
    • John, recovering from viral meningitis after the internet 'diagnosed' him with Ebola, argues that the West African outbreak spreads because of poor health infrastructure and that Americans make it about a vague 'us', which helps no one. (00:01:04)
    • Why it is here: A compact argument about disease, infrastructure and othering, with checkable death comparisons and two forecasts.
  • 2014-08-15 · Hank · The Bizarre State of Copyright · Internet & YouTube, explainer
    • Hank explains copyright, patents, trademarks and fair use, and argues that on YouTube copyright is now policed by Content ID rather than by law: not the fairest or most legal solution, but the only possible one, and kind of cool. (00:02:05)
    • Why it is here: A structured explainer of intellectual-property law ending in a stated judgement about Content ID.
  • 2014-08-19 · John · Baby Names: Thoughts from Rural Ethiopia · Global development, documentary visit
    • Touring Ethiopia's tiered rural health system with the Gates Foundation, John argues that the real heroes are Ethiopian health workers, volunteers and mothers, and that the true reason babies are now named at birth — birth certificates — shows heartwarming narratives and boring bureaucracy can coincide. (00:00:13)
    • Why it is here: A reported visit with checkable claims about Ethiopia's health system and an argued point about narratives versus records.
  • 2014-08-26 · John · Food Is Weird: Understanding Agriculture in the Developing World · Global development, explainer
    • John explains why food is a weird commodity that traps poor farmers in vicious cycles of low capital and price collapse, and argues that breaking them, as a World Food Programme project in Ethiopia tries to, matters a great deal though there is no magic bullet. (00:01:51)
    • Why it is here: An argued explainer of agricultural economics with checkable yield, poverty and malnutrition figures and a stated position on poverty work.
    • Replies to: 2014-08-19 Baby Names: Thoughts from Rural Ethiopia
  • 2014-09-09 · John · Bill Gates and John Green Discuss Global Health · Global development, collab / interview
    • In a bonus conversation filmed at an Ethiopian health center, Bill Gates tells John that primary health care and vaccines have sharply cut child deaths, and argues that health is the central lever for a poor country to escape the poverty trap. (00:01:08)
    • Why it is here: Bill Gates gives checkable child-mortality and vaccination figures and argues a causal chain from child survival to lower fertility and growth.
  • 2014-09-09 · John · Going to College (in Ethiopia) · Global development, documentary visit
    • Drawing on his meeting with Addis Ababa University students during his Ethiopia trip with Bill Gates, John argues that Africa and Ethiopia defy the one-place stereotype: Ethiopia is both poor and rising, and children saved by global health can grow up to study. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: An argued essay against African stereotypes with checkable enrolment and child-death claims and students' own views on emigration, internet access and duty.
  • 2014-09-22 · John · Bill Gates and John Green Discuss Agriculture · Global development, collab / interview
    • In a bonus conversation, Bill Gates tells John that better seeds, fertilizer, advice, credit and insurance could triple African farm productivity despite market failures, and that, climate change apart, poor farmers' prospects are mostly a positive story. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: Gates makes checkable claims (tripling productivity, agriculture's 2% employment share in rich countries) and a causal argument about correlated credit risk and market failures in poor-country farming.
  • 2014-09-23 · John · Looking Away · Global development, letter vlog
    • John admits that in Ethiopia he kept looking away from suffering children and worried mothers, argues that changing the world means not looking away but listening, and, since the people he met named water as a basic need, asks viewers to donate to a Water.org fundraiser matched by Bill Gates. (00:00:52)
    • Why it is here: A sincere argument about looking away and listening as the basis of real help, with checkable claims about Ethiopia (child death down by more than two-thirds in 20 years, almost half without clean water) and a matched-fundraiser ask.
  • 2014-09-29 · John · Bill Gates and John Green Discuss Progress · Global development, collab / interview
    • In a bonus conversation, Bill Gates tells John that after smallpox the focus is polio, then malaria; that good inventions must be matched to poor countries' needs; that capitalism's windfalls should go where a dollar saves most lives; and that Ethiopia's falling child death and its 2025 middle-income goal are a largely untold positive story. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: Gates makes checkable claims (smallpox certified 1980, polio hoped by 2018, Ethiopian child death from over 15% to about 8%, middle-income by 2025) and argues how giving should be targeted.
  • 2014-10-03 · Hank · Hong Kong Protests Explained · World affairs, explainer
    • Hank explains the Hong Kong protests through Hong Kong's colonial history and economic value to China, Beijing's need to look strong and stable, and its plan to pre-select candidates for Chief Executive, hoping China might yet find room for democracy. (00:01:31)
    • Why it is here: A current-events explainer full of checkable historical and economic claims (dates, lease, stock exchange and currency rankings, electoral college size) and an argued account of Beijing's motives.
  • 2014-10-10 · Hank · I Kinda AM Batman · Pop culture, letter vlog
    • Hank answers John's anti-Batman video: Batman is a simplified reflection of all of us who do the good that makes the world work, but, built to represent everyone, blockbuster heroes keep under-representing the same groups and reinforce a white, male default. (00:00:27)
    • Why it is here: An argued reply essay: Batman as a mirror of collective everyday good, the cost of simplification, and the critique that mass-market heroes reinforce a white male default; closing P4A perk ask.
  • 2014-10-21 · John · Ebola: What IS Terrifying · Global development, explainer
    • John argues that the small US Ebola outbreak is not what should frighten Americans; the worsening West African epidemic is, and because of globalization threats to anyone's health are threats to everyone's. (00:01:06)
    • Why it is here: A dense news explainer with many checkable figures (cases, survival rates, WHO targets and costs), two forecasts and an argument against travel bans and us/them thinking.
  • 2014-10-31 · Hank · Ten Terrible Reason to not Vote (and two good ones) · US politics & society, list
    • Hank, addressing young Americans before the November 4, 2014 elections, rebuts common excuses for not voting (only not caring and being unable to reach the polls are good ones) and argues that young people's votes would decide thousands of elections. (00:00:12)
    • Why it is here: A point-by-point argument with checkable claims (jury duty, same-day registration, turnout figures, democracies in 1900) and a clear position on whether one vote matters.
  • 2014-11-19 · John · The Future of the Project for Awesome: Pizzamas Day 8 · Global development, announcement
    • Interrupted by Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne on the Paper Towns location, John announces P4A 2014 moves to December 12-13 and proposes a split: day one for efficient global poverty and disease charities with matching money, day two for Nerdfighteria-chosen charities with real discussion instead of comment spamming; he asks for feedback. (00:01:47)
    • Why it is here: Sets out the reasons and the concrete proposal for restructuring P4A 2014 and asks for community feedback.
  • 2014-12-02 · John · What You Eat Of Those You Love · Global development, letter vlog
    • John uses his family's Thanksgiving norovirus, started by his one-year-old daughter, to argue that only cheap rehydration solution separates a funny family story from disaster, so we must keep working to decrease world suck. (00:01:24)
    • Why it is here: The closing argument (luck of access to 50-cent rehydration solution; an unjust world does not absolve responsibility) is the point and is carefully worded, with global child-death figures.
  • 2014-12-23 · John · Agloe, New York · Books & writing, letter vlog
    • Home after the Paper Towns shoot, John tells how the paper town Agloe, New York, invented by mapmakers, became real, and argues that imagined things shape reality; readers and the film made Agloe real again, and he thanks them. (00:01:23)
    • Why it is here: An argued essay: fictions and constructions become real, Paper Towns is about misimagining others, and readers made Agloe and the book real; plus the Agloe history.
  • 2014-12-30 · John · Racism in the United States: By the Numbers · US politics & society, explainer
    • John argues from data on criminal justice, hiring, education, health care and wealth that systemic racial bias against African Americans in the US is not debatable, while urging listening to people affected by racism. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A data-driven argument that systemic racism exists, with many quantitative claims (sentencing, arrests, callbacks, school courses, health care, inheritance) and a stance on data versus voices.

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