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Essential videos of 2017

41 of the 113 videos uploaded in 2017 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: 24 · Hank: 17

  • 2017-01-10 · John · What Is the Real Unemployment Rate? · Economics, explainer
    • After the BLS reported 4.7% US unemployment for December, John explains why claims of a 'real' rate from 6% to 38% differ (labor force participation and the U3-U6 measures) and argues that, however measured, unemployment is low but could be lower, while median household income has not fully recovered, so the debate should start from agreed facts. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A careful explainer of competing unemployment measures with an explicit argument about agreeing on facts before debating them.
  • 2017-01-17 · John · How Young Is History? · History & curiosities, explainer
    • Comparing the 1,900-year-old Pantheon with the Lascaux paintings (15-20,000 years old) and the far older Chauvet paintings, John argues that history is not a line of progress: almost everything we take as natural or inevitable is very new, so our progress is fragile and today's conditions result from choices we make together. (00:02:28)
    • Why it is here: A compact argued essay with many dated claims and a clear position on progress, history and collective choice.
  • 2017-01-31 · John · Understanding Trump's Executive Order on Immigration · US politics & society, explainer
    • John explains what Trump's executive order on immigration says (a 90-day entry ban on seven nations, a 120-day halt to refugee admissions, Syrian resettlement suspended indefinitely) and argues it is poorly targeted against terrorism, legally confused and a dangerous statement about refugees, asking viewers to listen to refugees' stories. (00:01:56)
    • Why it is here: A detailed, sourced policy explainer with clear factual claims and an argued position on refugees and terrorism.
  • 2017-02-03 · Hank · Are We Making Things Worse? · Nerdfighteria, letter vlog
    • Thanking John for his immigration video, Hank worries that talking politics on Vlogbrothers deepens the echo chamber, but says he will not hide his beliefs (on climate change, marriage, discrimination, fear of immigrants) and will use his platform for them some days; he launches a weekend sale of refugee-support art posters for refugee resettlement organizations that lost federal funding. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: An argued statement of why Hank speaks about politics on the channel, with clear positions and a concrete fundraising action.
    • Replies to: 2017-01-31 Understanding Trump's Executive Order on Immigration
  • 2017-02-14 · John · Human Life Is Getting Better. Faster Than Ever Before. · Global development, explainer
    • Prompted by the 2017 Gates letter, John contrasts 1998 with today (falling child mortality and absolute poverty, rising vaccination), relays the letter's case that foreign aid, vaccines, infant care, nutrition and contraception work, and argues that ending absolute poverty and child mortality within 20 years is possible and up to all of us. (00:00:17)
    • Why it is here: A dense, data-driven argument about global progress and what drives it, with a clear moral claim about how to judge humanity's success.
  • 2017-02-24 · Hank · Doing Bad Things To Make Good Things Happen · Philosophy & meaning, letter vlog
    • Hank explains why he jumped off the 'Machiavellian train' he rode as a younger man (good people must do what bad people do to win): trust needs people not to be pawns, outcomes are uncertain and often unreached, and there is no final end, since every decision is an end in itself; he now discards ideas that require defying his values and believes tiny actions make humanity work. (00:00:15)
    • Why it is here: An argued personal ethics essay with four distinct reasons and a stated change of mind.
  • 2017-02-28 · John · You Are Here · Nerdfighteria, letter vlog
    • Back from NerdCon: Nerdfighteria, John remembers Esther Earl, whose grave he visited and whose friendships began in the brothers' old BlogTV chat, and argues that ten years of Vlogbrothers are about people making things together, since fandoms are made interesting by the people who build communities around content; he thanks Nerdfighters for being here. (00:00:16)
    • Why it is here: A sincere essay on what fan communities are, grief and gratitude, with a coined past/present-tense line.
  • 2017-03-07 · John · Hoping for an Airport Reunion: One Refugee Family's Story · US politics & society, story
    • John tells the story of Burmese refugee Saw Kyar Aye, who fled forced labour, met his wife Thet Thet in Malaysia and waited over four years, through a clerical error and an executive order, to be reunited with her and their son in Indianapolis, a reunion John witnessed; with a new blanket ban announced, he argues the debate on refugee numbers must start by seeing refugees as people. (00:03:56)
    • Why it is here: A sourced, carefully argued story with factual claims about Burma, refugee vetting, crime and wages, and a clear position on the blanket ban.
  • 2017-03-10 · Hank · Do I Have ADHD? · Health, letter vlog
    • Hank, diagnosed as a child with a sensory processing disorder, describes his attention problems and asks whether he has ADHD (maybe); he argues disorders are ongoing impairments, that he is less impaired thanks to family, teachers, a fitting situation and economic advantages such as an early computer, and that no one has to figure out their own mind alone. (00:01:38)
    • Why it is here: A personal but carefully argued reflection on disorders as impairment, environment versus treatment, and the role of luck and help.
  • 2017-03-24 · Hank · I Disagree with Me (Thoughts from Lake Powell) · Science & nature, documentary visit
    • At Lake Powell, the reservoir of Glen Canyon Dam, Hank explains why dams were built and the problems the lake faces, and argues against an environmentalism that frames nature against humans and technology: he loves both nature and the dam, wants contradictory things, and says he needs to disagree with himself. (00:01:58)
    • Why it is here: A thoughtful essay that makes an argued, self-questioning case about environmentalism, backed by history and checkable figures.
  • 2017-03-28 · John · Why Can't America Have a Grown-Up Healthcare Conversation? · US politics & society, explainer
    • John argues that America cannot have a grown-up health care conversation: the system is expensive and underperforming, but because about 70% of Americans like their own care, every reform (the ACA, the Republican bill, Medicare for All, deregulation) involves trade-offs, and leaders pander unless voters accept them. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A dense, sourced policy explainer whose central argument (no reform without trade-offs) is carefully made.
  • 2017-04-11 · John · Making the World's Largest Ball of Paint · Philosophy & meaning, letter vlog
    • John uses the world's largest ball of paint in Alexandria, Indiana, painted by thousands of people since 1977, to argue that the worship of individual genius is misguided: art and life are layers added to a shared sphere, and your layer matters even when it is painted over. (00:00:58)
    • Why it is here: A compact argued essay against the lone-genius view of art, with a consoling claim about why ordinary work matters.
  • 2017-04-18 · John · Framing · Internet & YouTube, letter vlog
    • John argues that every video and social media feed is a framed, curated construction: telling the truth means choosing which true story to tell, public lives are self-portraiture rather than reality, and remembering that about himself may help him understand others. (00:00:40)
    • Why it is here: A compact, argued essay on authenticity and framing, with Sontag as evidence and a concrete personal example (VidCon Europe and his OCD).
  • 2017-04-21 · Hank · The Adpocalypse: What it Means · Internet & YouTube, explainer
    • Explaining the Adpocalypse, Hank argues that YouTube ads, its whole business, are precarious and undervalue viewers; after advertisers fled over ads on vile videos and the algorithms tightened, he asks whether the radio-era ad model is a holdover and predicts creators will find other ways to be paid. (00:00:51)
    • Why it is here: A substantive, numbers-backed analysis of creator economics with a clear argument about advertising's limits and alternatives.
  • 2017-04-28 · Hank · Can You Trust Mainstream Media? · US politics & society, letter vlog
    • Hank argues that the growing sense that all expertise is false is dangerous: news media and feeds reward hot takes and drama, but actual mainstream journalism remains valuable, expert-driven truth-telling, and the blame lies partly with readers, himself included, who choose the hot takes. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A sustained argument about trust in journalism and expertise, with causes, a defence of mainstream news and a self-indictment.
  • 2017-05-05 · Hank · Sick and Tired · Economics, letter vlog
    • On his birthday, discouraged by the House health care bill and the fight against net neutrality, Hank calls his representatives and, inspired by John's thumbs-up video, thanks call-takers; he argues via his 'appreciation deficit theory' that money compensates but does not appreciate, and that non-transactional appreciation matters. (00:01:32)
    • Why it is here: A clearly argued idea (pay is compensation, not appreciation) built from a political-calling anecdote.
  • 2017-05-09 · John · Your Neighborhood, Your Life Expectancy · Health, explainer
    • Citing new research, John argues that an American's zip code can affect life expectancy more than smoking or exercise, that the gap is driven by poverty, access to care and other factors, and that its growth in the US, unlike in most rich countries, is not natural and is deeply wrong. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A data-driven argument with a clear moral point; the numbers and the claim that the gap is not natural carry the video.
  • 2017-05-19 · Hank · Should I Have a Baby? · Personal life, letter vlog
    • Answering the DadCast's most common question, how to decide to have a child, Hank says you can't know in advance; six months into fatherhood he lists what is hardest and what is unexpectedly best, endorsing doing hard things rather than having kids, and says parenthood really is great. (00:00:22)
    • Why it is here: A sincere, carefully itemised account of parenthood's costs and rewards with a clear point about deciding and doing hard things.
  • 2017-05-26 · Hank · Some Rough Advice for the "Real World" · Everyday life, letter vlog
    • Addressing the class of 2017, Hank argues that not finding a job you love is normal: careers, diplomas and job interviews are recent cultural constructions, basing self-worth on them makes happiness hard, school was for learning, and the job everyone has is making themselves. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A sincere, argued piece of life advice with several distinct claims (work is about people and attitude, careers are new constructions, school is for learning, no one changes the world alone).
  • 2017-05-30 · John · What Should We Keep? · Internet & YouTube, letter vlog
    • Prompted by his one photo of himself at 23 and an academic library's offer to preserve Brotherhood 2.0 and Nerdfighteria material, John argues that internet users create far more than they preserve, that not everything should be archived, and asks viewers what from Nerdfighteria should be kept. (00:00:29)
    • Why it is here: A reflective essay with a clear argument about digital preservation and what is worth keeping, plus a concrete ask.
  • 2017-06-02 · Hank · The Paris Accord: What is it? And What Does it All Mean? · Science & nature, explainer
    • As the US pulls out of the Paris Agreement, Hank explains how fossil fuels drive climate change and how the voluntary, unenforced agreement divided emission goals among countries, argues it was a gigantic, successful step worth its costs, and says he is ashamed of the US withdrawal. (00:01:42)
    • Why it is here: A dense, argued explainer with many checkable numbers and a clear position on the withdrawal.
  • 2017-06-13 · John · Cheyenne, Wyoming · Books & writing, letter vlog
    • John explains 'Cheyenne, Wyoming', his shorthand from Rushmore for being absent while deeply immersed in a project, mostly writing: it frees him from body and loneliness but takes him from his family and may yield nothing; replying to Hank's productivity video, he argues creative work needs unrecognized time, space from others and a return home. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A sincere, argued essay on creative immersion with personal costs and a clear counterpoint to Hank's productivity advice.
  • 2017-07-04 · John · Civil Twilight · Science & nature, letter vlog
    • On vacation by Lake Michigan, John reflects on sunsets and civil twilight: their beauty is cliché yet universal, the physics of scattering does not rob them of beauty but cannot convey the feeling, and, echoing Toni Morrison, the world's beauty can simply be enough without being photographed. (00:00:29)
    • Why it is here: A short, carefully argued essay on beauty, cliché, science and documenting experience.
  • 2017-07-07 · Hank · My Earthquake Story - (And Thoughts About Numbers) · Everyday life, letter vlog
    • From a minor 5.8 earthquake at his house and the 2010 Haiti quake, Hank argues that numbers like the Richter scale, AP scores or view counts tell something real but not everything: people are not their numbers, and what matters is what your 'shake' does and who you share it with. (00:01:19)
    • Why it is here: A clearly argued essay on measurement and self-worth, built from a concrete example.
    • Replies to: 2017-07-04 Civil Twilight
  • 2017-07-21 · Hank · On Condom Failure · Health, explainer
    • Hank unpacks the '2% condom failure rate' he learned in sex ed: it means pregnancy per year of perfect use, not per act; the risk compounds over years (about 20% over 10 years, 1 in 3 over 20); typical use gives about 20% a year; and implants and IUDs work as well in typical as in perfect use. He wishes sex ed had taught this better. (00:00:10)
    • Why it is here: A careful explainer of how one statistic is misread, with explicit numbers and a closing argument for better sex and statistics education.
  • 2017-07-25 · John · What OCD Is Like (for Me) · Health, letter vlog
    • John describes what his obsessive-compulsive disorder is like for him: intrusive thought spirals that hijack his consciousness and compulsions that try to calm them, not the visible neatness of the popular image or a romanticized superpower; Turtles All the Way Down began from that experience, and he urges anyone worried about their mental health to seek help. (00:00:13)
    • Why it is here: A careful first-person account of OCD that separates the lived experience from stereotypes and stigma, with a clear message that mental illness is treatable.
  • 2017-08-01 · John · Death and How to Avoid It (...for a while) · Health, explainer
    • Prompted by reaching for Purell while driving, John explains that although human life is improving in almost every way, US preventable deaths from unintentional injury rose 23% (2010-2014) through falls, drug overdoses and car accidents; distracted driving is the main reason road deaths rose in 2015, and he reminds himself that inattentive driving is the greatest threat to his health. He ends with a Turtles signing update. (00:00:53)
    • Why it is here: A data-driven explainer on preventable death with a concrete, fixable takeaway, plus a message of support to people living with substance abuse.
  • 2017-08-04 · Hank · Why Bullets are Good for the Environment · US politics & society, explainer
    • Hank explains the 1937 Pittman-Robertson Act, which funds wildlife management and land conservation from a tax on guns and ammunition: fear-driven gun buying under Obama raised its revenue from $310 million to over $800 million, so a Republican president is, weirdly, worse for conservation. He then plugs DFTBA Games' ROLF Kickstarter and VidCon Australia. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A compact policy explainer with specific figures and a counterintuitive argument about gun sales and conservation funding.
  • 2017-08-18 · Hank · What I've Been Thinking About · US politics & society, letter vlog
    • After Charlottesville, Hank tells a story from their mom, raised in segregated Birmingham, who worried that black teachers in Orlando would not teach her sons as well; he argues that white Americans must talk about race because not needing to is a privilege, that tribalism is innate but empathy can be expanded, that racism is America too, and that progress in tolerance is an unfinished process he wants to work on for life. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A sincere, carefully argued essay on race, privilege and progress anchored in a family confession.
  • 2017-08-22 · John · The Causes of Cholera · Global development, explainer
    • John explains that cholera, once a pandemic killer, was beaten mainly by sewers and clean water, describes the worst cholera outbreak in decades in war-torn Yemen, and argues that fewer people would die if the world paid attention: donating helps, and attention itself shrinks the empathy gap between rich and poor worlds. (00:00:58)
    • Why it is here: A tightly argued explainer with checkable figures and a clear moral claim about attention and empathy.
  • 2017-08-25 · Hank · Trust and Fire - Thoughts from the Smoke · Philosophy & meaning, letter vlog
    • With his Montana valley choked by wildfire smoke and the eclipse just past, Hank argues that trusting experts is not an appeal to authority but to a process of checked work (statistics, peer review, science); accepting scientific consensus beats one's own hunch, and discarding systems of trustable expertise is individualism taken to a dangerous extreme. (00:00:28)
    • Why it is here: A clearly argued defence of trusting expertise, with a precise distinction between appealing to a person and to a process.
  • 2017-08-29 · John · 40 · Everyday life, letter vlog
    • Turning 40, John says he once saw adulthood as a destination and an existential death, kept his 20s light to avoid it, but now loves having roots and would not be younger: adulthood is underrated and not a destination, and his settled life feels wilder and more precious than ever. He then reports finishing signing 200,000 Turtles All the Way Down sheets, announces next week's first-chapter reading, and asks Nerdfighters to donate to flood relief. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A personal essay with a clear, well-hedged argument about adulthood, followed by concrete book and relief announcements.
  • 2017-09-01 · Hank · What Everyone Gets Wrong About Global Warming · Science & nature, explainer
    • Hank argues that a warmer Earth changes the probability of weather, not any one year's outcome: each hurricane season is one dot from a probability curve, single years show no trend, but more energy and carbon shift the curve toward stronger, wetter storms, making rare years and worst-place hits like Harvey and Katrina less rare and changing what counts as a 100-year flood. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A compact explainer whose one idea (think in distributions, not single years) is the whole content and is argued step by step.
  • 2017-09-19 · John · Why Cities? · History & curiosities, explainer
    • John asks why humans moved from hunting and gathering to cities, which at first meant worse health, more disease and more work; after reviewing theories he argues settlements eventually made life better by almost any measure, above all through reading and writing, but that every way of life has trade-offs depending on what we take the meaning of life to be. Closing, he celebrates Hank's novel announcement. (00:00:31)
    • Why it is here: A compact argued history: costs of early agriculture, rival theories, and a case that cities paid off over the long run.
  • 2017-09-26 · John · Trump and Russia: An Introduction to What We Know (and What We Don't) · US politics & society, explainer
    • John lays out what is confirmed about Russia's interference in the 2016 US election and the Trump campaign's Russian contacts: the meddling, the 'thing of value' law, Flynn, Comey's firing, Mueller and the Trump Jr. meeting. He argues much is suspicious but none of it is unambiguous evidence of collusion, and almost everything is still unknown. (00:07:17)
    • Why it is here: A careful, sourced explainer that separates confirmed facts from speculation on a major live political story.
  • 2017-10-27 · Hank · The Secret to my Productivity · Everyday life, letter vlog
    • Hank shares his secret to productivity: he takes every creative project 80% of the way to as good as he can make it and releases it, because 'best' is subjective, multiple, invisible and changing, the last 20% costs most of the work, and shipping often teaches more than polishing. (00:00:31)
    • Why it is here: A compact argued piece of advice on creative work with a clear structure and several distinct claims.
  • 2017-11-03 · John · Because We're Here · Philosophy & meaning, letter vlog
    • As the Turtles tour ends, John recalls watching Hank perform since 2008 and tells how, during a 2005 depression, Amy Krouse Rosenthal turned the WWI soldiers' song 'We're here because we're here' into a proclamation of togetherness and hope, which he believes is the correct response to history. (00:00:36)
    • Why it is here: A carefully argued personal essay on hope, meaning and togetherness built on one story.
  • 2017-12-05 · John · On the Movies · Books & writing, announcement
    • In Los Angeles, John restates that books belong to their readers but admits the author is present in the book and must decide on its behalf; recalling his fears and luck with The Fault in Our Stars film, he announces that the same studio and production company will try to make a Turtles All the Way Down movie. (00:02:09)
    • Why it is here: A sincere reworking of John's long-held view on authorial ownership, plus a first-hand account of why he sells film rights and the OCD-portrayal challenge of adapting Turtles.
  • 2017-12-12 · John · 2017 is the Best? · Global development, list
    • Fed up with 2017, John lists five ways it is actually kind of the best: record charitable giving, polio nearly ended, record lows in poverty and highs in schooling and literacy, healthier babies (Liberia's child mortality down two-thirds) and the Project for Awesome, whose fundraiser for Save the Children and Last Mile Health begins tonight. (00:00:20)
    • Why it is here: A data-driven argument that human life keeps improving through deliberate investment, with specific checkable numbers, tied to the P4A ask.
  • 2017-12-19 · John · History Is Happening · Internet & YouTube, letter vlog
    • Tired, struggling with OCD and compulsive scrolling that makes history feel like something happening to us, John says the 11th Project for Awesome (almost $2 million raised) reminded him the social internet can make the world suck less and, via Raj Panjabi's 'no condition is permanent', that we are not mere passengers in history. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: A sincere, argued essay on agency and history, using P4A as evidence against powerlessness.
  • 2017-12-26 · John · LEAVE IT IN 2017 · Personal life, list
    • In a public version of the year-end letter his therapist suggested, John tells his future self to leave in 2017 the feed (algorithms built to keep him scrolling), wild swings about the social internet, sports-driven moods, career over sanity, excess LaCroix, snark in comments and the idea that the avatar is the person, while keeping exercise, real-life community events and sharing his writing. (00:00:00)
    • Why it is here: Several argued claims about the social internet, attention and treating others online as people.

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