Facts taught in 2025

558 sincere fact claims from 2025; 304 come with figures. Each figure is shown as said, with what it measures, who it counts (for) and where it applies (in) when recorded (said, or clear from the context), its as-of date, the source the speaker gives (if any) and the extraction-time check. Where no as-of date was said, the one shown is implied (the date said in the video, else the upload date); relative dates such as "last year" keep their words and are resolved against that same date. "Unchecked" means nobody has checked it yet, not that it is wrong. Back to the overview.

Topics: Global development (158) · US politics & society (101) · Science & nature (75) · Health (59) · Books & writing (41) · Projects (29) · History & curiosities (19) · Everyday life (16) · Nerdfighteria (13) · Sports (13) · Personal life (12) · Internet & YouTube (10) · Philosophy & meaning (9) · Pop culture (3)

Global development (158)

• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says over 11 million children died before age five in 1995, and fewer than 5 million did last year (2024). (00:00:00)
  • over 11 million (deaths) — annual deaths of children under five · for children under five · in the world · as of 1995 · no source named · unchecked
  • fewer than 5 million (deaths) — annual deaths of children under five · for children under five · in the world · as of 2024 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says child mortality is still far too high and could be cut by another 50% with existing technology if we really wanted to. (00:00:29)
  • another 50% (percent) — possible further reduction in child mortality with existing technology · for children under five · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says about 46% of people born in the US in 1800 died before five, similar to rates thousands of years earlier, and by 1840 it had only fallen to 43%. (00:00:58)
  • about 46% (percent) — share of people born who died before age five · for people born · in United States · as of 1800 · source: Statista · unchecked
  • 43% (percent) — share of people born who died before age five · for people born · in United States · as of 1840 · source: Statista · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says that between 1920 and 1960 the chance of dying under age five fell from 18% to 3%. (00:01:27)
  • 18% (percent) — chance of dying under age five · for children under five · in United States · as of 1920 · no source named · unchecked
  • 3% (percent) — chance of dying under age five · for children under five · in United States · as of 1960 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says many things had to go right for that drop: insulin and antibiotics, safer surgery, and lower rates of absolute poverty, malnutrition and tuberculosis. (00:01:27)
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says our species is about 300,000 years old, with no meaningful progress on child mortality for over 99% of that time, and most of about 120 billion humans never reached 20. (00:01:56)
  • around 300,000 years — age of the human species · for modern humans · in the world · as of 2025-01-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • way over 99% (percent) — share of human history with no meaningful progress on child mortality · for modern humans · in the world · as of 2025-01-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • About 120 billion (people) — number of modern humans who have ever lived · for modern humans · in the world · as of 2025-01-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says someone born in the US now has a 99.1% chance of living to age 20. (00:01:56)
  • 99.1% (percent) — chance of living to age 20 · for people born now · in United States · as of 2025 · source: Social Security Administration · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says about 36% of people lived in absolute poverty in 1995 and about 10% do today. (00:02:26)
  • About 36% (percent) — share of people living in absolute poverty · for all people · in the world · as of 1995 · no source named · unchecked
  • about 10% (percent) — share of people living in absolute poverty · for all people · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says less hunger reduces both direct deaths from malnutrition and deaths from the weakened immune system that comes with it. (00:02:26)
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says safer circumstances in which to give birth have decreased both maternal and infant mortality. (00:02:55)
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says PEPFAR, which fights HIV/AIDS in impoverished communities, has saved over 25 million lives and kept millions of children from being born HIV positive. (00:02:55)
  • over 25 million (lives) — lives saved by PEPFAR · for people with HIV/AIDS · in the world · as of 2025-01-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says the Global Fund has also saved literally millions of lives. (00:03:24)
  • millions (lives) — lives saved by the Global Fund · for people with AIDS, TB and malaria · in the world · as of 2025-01-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John is heartbroken that the new US administration has completely frozen PEPFAR, Global Fund funding and almost all other foreign aid. (00:03:24)
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says tuberculosis still kills over 1.25 million people each year though curable and preventable, which he calls absolutely unconscionable. (00:03:53)
  • over 1.25 million (deaths) — annual deaths from tuberculosis · for all people · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says 2.6 million people died of TB in 2000, the year he graduated from college, so TB deaths have fallen by over 50% in 25 years. (00:03:53)
  • 2.6 million (deaths) — annual deaths from tuberculosis · for all people · in the world · as of 2000 · no source named · unchecked
  • over 50% (percent) — reduction in annual TB deaths since 2000 · for all people · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says tuberculosis is rising in rich countries; the US will see around 10,000 active cases this year (2025), a reminder that TB is airborne. (00:04:22)
  • around 10,000 (cases) — active tuberculosis cases per year · for all people · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says that if the so-called pause on aid is not amended to exclude diagnostics and medication, many people will die. (00:04:52)
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says interrupting HIV medication can be life-threatening, as can stock-outs of TB drugs. (00:04:52)
• 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says even a couple of weeks without TB treatment lets the bacteria evolve resistance, making infection more likely fatal and spreading drug-resistant TB, a threat to everyone. (00:04:52)
• 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John explains that TB is curable but not easy to cure: the bacterium's thick, fatty cell wall is very hard to penetrate, so it is hard to kill. (00:00:29)
• 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says a strep infection might be cured with about seven days of antibiotics, but TB needs several months, and in the past people often took antibiotics for years. (00:00:29)
  • seven days — antibiotic course needed to cure an infection · for strep infection · as of 2025-02-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • several months — antibiotic course needed to cure the disease · for tuberculosis · as of 2025-02-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • years — antibiotic course formerly taken to cure the disease · for tuberculosis, in the past · as of 2025-02-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says that with the current standard of care, drug-sensitive TB can be cured with four to six months of daily therapy, while drug-resistant TB takes at least six months and often much longer. (00:00:58)
  • between four and six months — duration of daily therapy needed to cure · for drug-sensitive tuberculosis · as of 2025-02-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • at least six months — duration of treatment needed to cure · for drug-resistant tuberculosis · as of 2025-02-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says people on appropriate treatment almost never spread TB, but untreated TB is extremely infectious: the average untreated case infects 10 to 15 more people per year. (00:01:27)
  • 10 to 15 (people) — people infected per year by one untreated case · for untreated tuberculosis cases · as of 2025-02-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says even a brief pause in treatment gives TB a good chance to develop drug resistance, so the drugs that worked before no longer work when treatment resumes weeks or months later. (00:01:56)
• 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says that by one estimate TB has killed about one in every seven humans who have ever lived. (00:02:26)
  • one out of every seven — share of all humans ever born killed by the disease · for all humans who have ever lived · as of 2025-02-11 (implied: upload date) · source: one estimate · unchecked
• 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says densely populated communities fared worse: in early industrial England about one in three people were dying of tuberculosis. (00:02:26)
  • about one out of every three — share of deaths caused by tuberculosis · for people in early industrial England · in England · as of early industrial era · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says the United States is currently the main funder of the TB response in impoverished communities. (00:02:55)
• 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says that although the US government can claim medicines are still flowing, he hears again and again from people on the ground, from Tanzania to Sierra Leone, who cannot get their TB medication. (00:03:24)
• 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says the Project for Awesome has raised over $22 million for charity in the last 19 years. (00:04:52)
  • over 22 million dollars (USD) — total money raised for charity over 19 years · for Project for Awesome · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says TB deaths have fallen by more than half in the last 25 years: that progress is under threat but still real, and it shows progress is possible. (00:05:21)
  • more than half (percent) — reduction in tuberculosis deaths over the last 25 years · for global · as of 2025-02-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-14 · Let's Do a Good — Hank says both organizations sometimes receive USAID funding and both serve populations that USAID also serves. (00:00:16)
• 2025-02-14 · Let's Do a Good — Hank says USAID's funding has been interrupted. (00:00:16)
• 2025-02-14 · Let's Do a Good — Hank lists the organizations' work: treating children for malnutrition, HIV treatment, supporting kids in war zones, reducing maternal and infant mortality, responding to disease outbreaks. (00:00:44)
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says James Watt, already famous for making steam engines more efficient and helping fuel the industrial revolution, began a new project at the turn of the nineteenth century. (00:00:00)
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says the steam engine led to everything from air conditioning to AirPods while releasing over a trillion tons of carbon dioxide and reshaping the climate. (00:00:00)
  • over a trillion (tons) — carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the steam engine · in the world · as of 2025-02-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — In a comment, John says the century-old BCG vaccine prevents severe TB in young children but is not very, possibly not at all, effective in adolescents or adults. — hedged: “possibly” (creator comment)
  • over 100 (years) — age of the BCG vaccine · as of 2025-02-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John notes Watt also invented a machine to copy sculptures and new ways of making chlorine to bleach textiles, and the unit of power bears his name. (00:00:29)
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says Watt became obsessed with a chemical treatment for phthisis after his daughter Jessie died of it at 15 in 1794 and his son Gregory fell ill. (00:00:59)
  • 15 (years) — age at death from phthisis · for Jessie Watt · as of 1794 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says Watt helped invent a device delivering nitrous oxide to the lungs to save Gregory, but it failed; Gregory died of consumption in 1804 at 27. (00:01:27)
  • 27 (years) — age at death from consumption · for Gregory Watt · as of 1804 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says Asheville was one of many American cities founded as a kind of tuberculosis colony. (00:03:13)
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says over a million people died of tuberculosis in 2023, more than died of malaria, typhoid and war combined. (00:04:37)
  • over a million — deaths from tuberculosis · for people worldwide · in the world · as of 2023 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says tuberculosis has caused over a billion human deaths in the last two centuries alone. (00:04:58)
  • over a billion — deaths from tuberculosis in the last two centuries · for humans · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John cites an estimate from Frank Ryan's book that TB has killed around one in seven people who have ever lived. (00:04:58)
  • around one in seven — share of all people who have ever lived killed by TB · for all humans who have ever lived · in the world · as of 2025-02-25 (implied: upload date) · source: Tuberculosis: The Greatest Story Never Told · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says COVID-19 displaced TB as the deadliest infectious disease in 2020-2022, but in 2023 TB regained that status, killing 1.25 million people. (00:04:58)
  • a million two hundred fifty thousand — deaths from tuberculosis · for people worldwide · in the world · as of 2023 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says in 2000 Ugandan physician Peter Mugyenyi spoke against the rich world's refusal to widen access to HIV drugs, while millions died of AIDS yearly despite effective antiretrovirals. (00:05:43)
  • Millions — deaths from AIDS each year · for people worldwide · in the world · as of 2000 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says the book is about the cure, why it was not found until the 1950s, and why since then we have let over 150 million people die of TB. (00:06:20)
  • over 150 million — deaths from tuberculosis since the cure was discovered · for humans · in the world · as of 2025-02-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says TB is a bacterial, airborne infection spread through coughs, sneezes or exhalations, and anyone can get it. (00:07:39)
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says between a quarter and a third of all living humans have been infected with TB. (00:07:39)
  • between one-quarter and one-third — share of living humans infected with TB · for all living humans · in the world · as of 2025-02-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says in most people the infection stays dormant for life, but up to 10% of the infected eventually develop active TB. (00:08:14)
  • up to 10% — share of infected people who eventually develop active TB · for people infected with TB · in the world · as of 2025-02-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-25 · EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS — John says weakened immunity from diabetes, HIV or malnutrition raises the risk of active TB; of 10 million who fell sick in 2023, over 5 million were malnourished. (00:08:14)
  • 10 million — people who became sick with TB · for people worldwide · in the world · as of 2023 · no source named · unchecked
  • over 5 million — people sick with TB who also experienced malnutrition · for people who became sick with TB · in the world · as of 2023 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-03-28 · Is This a Million Dollar Idea? — Hank says many of these YouTube white-noise videos have around 39 million views. — hedged: “like” (00:00:18)
  • 39 million (views) — views of individual white-noise videos · for YouTube white-noise videos · as of 2025-03-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-06 · Health CARE: Thoughts from Lima — John says mobile vans providing free chest x-rays now fan out through Lima doing active case finding. (00:00:29)
• 2025-05-06 · Health CARE: Thoughts from Lima — John relays a Venezuelan-born doctor: chest x-rays are first screened by AI software, sent to him via WhatsApp for review, then patients get GeneXpert tests confirming TB and its drug susceptibility. (00:00:58)
• 2025-05-06 · Health CARE: Thoughts from Lima — If the AI flags a different lung abnormality such as pneumonia or cancer, the patient is triaged and referred to a hospital or clinic. (00:00:58)
• 2025-05-06 · Health CARE: Thoughts from Lima — PIH helped fund the endTB trials in Peru, which showed shorter drug regimens can cure drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB; the Ministry of Health adopted them, so treatment means fewer pills for less time. (00:01:56)
• 2025-05-06 · Health CARE: Thoughts from Lima — John says innovations at Socios En Salud sites range from a simple walkway where TB survivors pace to test for post-TB lung disease to AI-assisted chest x-rays and advanced laboratories. (00:02:55)
• 2025-05-06 · Health CARE: Thoughts from Lima — John learned that TB rates among trans women in Peru are 15 to 20 times higher than in the cis population. (00:03:24)
  • 15 to 20 times higher — tuberculosis rate relative to the cisgender population · for trans women · in Peru · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-13 · I Have the BEST News — John says that in 2019 the latest statistics showed one in 17 women in Sierra Leone dying in pregnancy or childbirth. (00:00:29)
  • one out of every 17 (women) — lifetime risk of dying in pregnancy or childbirth · for women · in Sierra Leone · as of 2019 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-13 · I Have the BEST News — John says the $6.5 million was far from enough to build the Maternal Center of Excellence in Kono district: $20 million was needed just to break ground. (00:00:29)
  • $6.5 million (USD) — the Green family's donation · for Maternal Center of Excellence · in Kono District · as of 2025-05-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • $20 million (USD) — funding needed to break ground · for Maternal Center of Excellence · in Kono District · as of 2025-05-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-13 · I Have the BEST News — John says Good.Store's Awesome Socks Club and Sun Basin Soap together have raised $10 million for the Maternal Center of Excellence project. (00:00:58)
  • $10 million (USD) — money raised for the Sierra Leone project · for Awesome Socks Club and Sun Basin Soap · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-05-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-13 · I Have the BEST News — John says, thanks to the government and groups like PIH, Sierra Leone's lifetime maternal death risk fell from 1 in 17 to around 1 in 74, an over 60% reduction, though still too high. (00:01:27)
  • around 1 in 74 (women) — lifetime risk of dying in pregnancy or childbirth · for women · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
  • over 60% (percent) — reduction in maternal mortality over the last several years · for women · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-13 · I Have the BEST News — John describes the Maternal Center of Excellence as the capstone: 120 hospital beds, operating rooms for emergency C-sections, a huge blood bank and a NICU. (00:02:30)
  • 120 (beds) — hospital beds · for Maternal Center of Excellence · in Kono District · as of 2025-05-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John cites a recent estimate that within five years annual TB deaths will rise from 1.3 million to 2 million, and child mortality will worsen. (00:00:00)
  • 1.3 million (deaths) — annual deaths from tuberculosis · for all people · in the world · as of 2025 · source: one recent estimate · unchecked
  • 2 million (deaths) — projected annual deaths from tuberculosis within five years · for all people · in the world · as of 2030 · source: one recent estimate · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says premature mortality has fallen dramatically in 25 years, but HIV/AIDS deaths rose before falling because antiretroviral therapy was not widely available in impoverished communities until the mid-2000s. (00:00:29)
  • the last 25 years — period of dramatic decline in premature mortality · for all people · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says PEPFAR, a US-led program against HIV globally, has been hugely effective, saving tens of millions of lives, and has long had bipartisan support. (00:00:29)
  • tens of millions (lives) — lives saved by PEPFAR · for people with HIV · in the world · as of 2025-06-10 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says several Republican senators recently called cutting PEPFAR a red line, yet PEPFAR is in real danger. (00:00:29)
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says a reporter told him young doctors who only knew AIDS as a manageable chronic illness are now seeing people die of it, which John calls truly horrific. (00:00:58)
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says tuberculosis testing is 'in a coma', as one article put it, with millions going undiagnosed and therefore untreated. (00:00:58)
  • millions (people) — people with tuberculosis going undiagnosed · for people with TB · in the world · as of 2025 · source: one article · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says the cuts would save about $3 per American, less than one ten-thousandth of the federal budget, yet that $3 does so much good. (00:01:27)
  • about $3 (USD) — savings per American from the health aid cuts · for Americans · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
  • less than one ten-thousandth (fraction) — share of the US federal budget saved by the cuts · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says the US Congress is deciding whether to codify $400 million in cuts to PEPFAR and $500 million in cuts to other US health aid. (00:01:27)
  • $400 million (USD) — proposed cut to PEPFAR · for US federal spending · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
  • $500 million (USD) — proposed cut to other US health aid · for US federal spending · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says the Global Fund, which provides treatment and diagnostics against the world's deadliest infectious diseases, is also under threat. (00:01:56)
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says the Trump administration's latest budget proposal would cut US funding for the Global Fund by 50% and change how that funding works. (00:01:56)
  • 50% (percent) — proposed cut to US funding for the Global Fund · for US federal spending · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says the US now gives $1 to the Global Fund for every $2 raised by other partners, and the proposal would change that to $1 for every $4. (00:02:26)
  • $2 (USD) — partner money raised per US dollar given to the Global Fund (current match) · for Global Fund donors · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
  • $1 for every $4 (ratio) — proposed US match for the Global Fund · for Global Fund donors · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says they want about $2 billion in US federal spending for the Global Fund, about $6 per American a year; with PEPFAR's full budget, about $20 a year per American. (00:03:53)
  • about $2 billion (USD) — requested annual US federal funding for the Global Fund · for US federal spending · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
  • about $6 per American per year (USD) — requested Global Fund funding per American · for Americans · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
  • 20 bucks a year per American (USD) — cost of the Global Fund plus PEPFAR's full budget per American · for Americans · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says the Global Fund helped save 65 million lives in the last 20 years and PEPFAR has saved 26 million: 91 million human beings. (00:04:22)
  • 26 million (lives) — lives saved by PEPFAR · for all people · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
  • 91 million (lives) — lives saved by the Global Fund (65 million in 20 years) and PEPFAR (26 million) together · for all people · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says the US is not the only challenge: about 43% of the Global Fund's money comes from the UK and the EU, which are also pulling back on global health spending. (00:04:22)
  • 43% (percent) — share of Global Fund money from the UK and the EU · for Global Fund donors · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says chaotic, massive US spending cuts are the main reason hundreds of thousands have had TB treatment interrupted and millions living with HIV have been imperiled. (00:04:52)
  • hundreds of thousands (people) — people whose TB treatment was interrupted · for people with TB · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
  • millions (people) — people living with HIV imperiled by the cuts · for people with HIV · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-01 · Real Reasons for Hope — In the 1990s the WHO-recommended therapy for MDR-TB was supportive care, meaning waiting for patients to die; curing it in poor communities was seen as impossible and too costly at about $30,000. (00:00:29)
  • about $30,000 (USD) — cost of curing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis per person · for people with MDR-TB in poor communities · as of 1990s · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-01 · Real Reasons for Hope — Partners In Health treated MDR-TB in Peru, proving it curable in a famous Lancet study; costs then fell to about $3,000, since none of the drugs were under patent, and the WHO began recommending treatment. (00:00:58)
  • about $3,000 (USD) — cost of curing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis per person · for people with MDR-TB · as of 2025-10-01 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-01 · Real Reasons for Hope — John says that since bedaquiline went off patent its price has dropped by about 60% in just two years. (00:01:56)
  • about 60% — fall in the price of bedaquiline over two years · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-01 · Real Reasons for Hope — A couple of weeks ago the Stop TB Partnership announced that curing MDR-TB now costs less than $300, a price drop of over 99% since PIH began proving it curable in poor communities. (00:01:56)
  • less than $300 (USD) — cost of curing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis per person · for people with MDR-TB · as of 2025 · source: Stop TB Partnership · unchecked
  • 99% — fall in the cost of curing MDR-TB since PIH's work began · for people with MDR-TB in poor communities · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-01 · Real Reasons for Hope — Globally maternal mortality has fallen only slowly since 2015, even worsening the year after COVID emerged as health systems were strained: about 23% in the last 10 years. (00:02:55)
  • about 23% — reduction in maternal mortality over the last 10 years · for world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-01 · Real Reasons for Hope — John says that in Sierra Leone over the same period maternal mortality has dropped by over 60%. (00:03:24)
  • over 60% — reduction in maternal mortality over the last 10 years · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-01 · Real Reasons for Hope — A decade ago Koidu Government Hospital in Kono had no 24-hour electricity, running water, blood bank or working x-ray machine, few medicines, little or no paid staff, and so very few patients. (00:03:24)
  • no 24-hour electricity — electricity supply at the hospital · in Koidu Government Hospital, Kono District, Sierra Leone · as of 2015 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-01 · Real Reasons for Hope — John says the hospital now has all of that and much more, and as a result maternal mortality there has declined precipitously. (00:03:53)
• 2025-10-28 · Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway — In the comments John says USAID is part of why TB deaths fell by 50% over the last 25 years; the progress is real but inadequate. (creator comment)
  • 50% — decline in tuberculosis deaths · for people · in the world · as of last 25 years (resolved: 2000–2025, from the upload date 2025-10-28) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-28 · Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway — John says the Philippines has the highest per capita prevalence of TB in the world. (00:00:00)
  • the highest (rank) — tuberculosis prevalence per capita, rank among countries · for population · in Philippines · as of 2025-10-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-28 · Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway — John says comprehensive care has other advantages, such as screening for high blood pressure and other illnesses at pop-up community screening sites. (00:00:58)
• 2025-10-28 · Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway — John reports that this month (October 2025) about 5% of the island's people have been screened for TB, leading to over 750 diagnoses and much preventive care. (00:01:27)
  • about 5% — share of the island's people screened for TB this month · for population · in Guimaras · as of 2025-10 · no source named · unchecked
  • over 750 (diagnoses) — TB diagnoses from the screening · for people · in Guimaras · as of 2025-10 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-28 · Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway — John says an ultra-portable x-ray gives free screening with immediate AI-assisted results; a positive x-ray leads to a GeneXpert test with a TB answer within a day. (00:01:56)
• 2025-10-28 · Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway — John says the local hospital is well supplied and staffed with a new CT scanner, but its x-ray machines break, it lacks UV lights and has too few beds for nearly 200,000 people. (00:02:55)
  • nearly 200,000 (people) — population the hospital serves · for population · in Guimaras · as of 2025-10-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-28 · Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway — John says the hospital is building an expansion and TB screening there has risen sharply. (00:02:55)
• 2025-10-28 · Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway — John says by some estimates around 3% of people in Guimaras currently have active TB. (00:03:24)
  • around 3% — share of people with active TB · for population · in Guimaras · as of 2025-10-28 (implied: upload date) · source: some estimates · unchecked
• 2025-10-28 · Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway — John says over a million people are lost every year to TB, a curable disease. (00:03:53)
  • over a million (people) — annual deaths from tuberculosis · for people · in the world · as of 2025-10-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-31 · We Did It… — Hank says about a thirtieth of the money spent on cancer treatment would be enough to cut the number of people with active TB by 80 or 90%. (00:03:46)
  • 1 30th (fraction) — share of cancer-treatment spending needed to cut active TB by 80-90% · for spending · in the world · as of 2025-10-31 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 80 or 90% — possible reduction in people with active tuberculosis · for people · in the world · as of 2025-10-31 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-31 · We Did It… — Hank says a case of cancer in the US costs north of $100,000 per patient, while TB costs around $1,000 per patient. (00:03:46)
  • north of $100,000 (USD) — per-patient cost of a case of cancer · for patients · in United States · as of 2025-10-31 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • right around $1,000 (USD) — per-patient cost of tuberculosis · for patients · as of 2025-10-31 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-31 · We Did It… — Hank says the MCOE expands the maternity ward and special care baby unit from 48 to 120 beds, including the nation's first neonatal ICU, with reliable electricity, piped oxygen and surgical suites. (00:07:14)
  • 48 (beds) — maternity ward and special care baby unit beds before the MCOE · for beds · in Koidu Government Hospital · as of 2025-10-31 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 120 (beds) — maternity ward and special care baby unit beds with the MCOE · for beds · in Koidu Government Hospital · as of 2025-10-31 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • the nation's first (rank) — neonatal intensive care unit · for units · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-10-31 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-31 · We Did It… — Hank says PIH and the Ministry of Health work with the community to make it last: employing local women in construction, training health workers, building sustainable infrastructure. (00:07:43)
• 2025-11-04 · The Real Question — John says over half of the 10 million people who will be diagnosed with TB this year (2025) will also be malnourished. (00:00:29)
  • 10 million (people) — people diagnosed with tuberculosis this year · for people · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
  • over half (share) — share of people diagnosed with TB who are malnourished · for people diagnosed with tuberculosis · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-04 · The Real Question — John says that, before antibiotics, the US and many other countries reduced TB rates by over 80% just by improving nutrition and housing. (00:00:58)
  • over 80% — reduction in tuberculosis rates through better nutrition and housing, before antibiotics · for population · in United States and many other countries · as of 2025-11-04 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-04 · The Real Question — John says a doctor in an impoverished community told him that because of funding gaps no one diagnosed with TB there was put on treatment for eight months; they were told to avoid contact with others, as in 1890. (00:01:27)
  • eight months — period with no newly diagnosed TB patient put on treatment · for people diagnosed with tuberculosis · in an impoverished community · as of 2025-11-04 (implied: upload date) · source: doctor · unchecked
• 2025-11-04 · The Real Question — John says funding gaps mean 4,000 people will die today of a disease curable for 70 years, and that few family members of the 30,000 diagnosed today will get preventive therapy. (00:01:56)
  • 4,000 (deaths/day) — tuberculosis deaths per day · for people · in the world · as of 2025-11-04 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 70 years — time tuberculosis has been curable · in the world · as of 2025-11-04 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 30,000 (people/day) — people diagnosed with tuberculosis per day · for people · in the world · as of 2025-11-04 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-04 · The Real Question — John says drug stockouts are common and preventive care is rare around the world. (00:02:55)
• 2025-11-04 · The Real Question — John says that at the meetings he tried to communicate that funding gaps mean over a million people dying needlessly of TB each year. (00:03:24)
  • over a million (deaths/year) — people dying needlessly of tuberculosis each year · for people · in the world · as of 2025-11-04 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-04 · The Real Question — John adds millions more deaths from malaria, diarrheal illnesses and other things that should have been eliminated decades ago. (00:03:24)
  • millions more (deaths) — deaths from malaria, diarrheal illnesses and other eliminable causes · for people · in the world · as of 2025-11-04 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-11 · John's Annual Psychophysical Decline — John says the MCOE took six years of fundraising and four years of construction. (00:01:37)
  • six years — fundraising for the Maternal Center of Excellence · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • four years — construction of the Maternal Center of Excellence · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-11 · John's Annual Psychophysical Decline — John says the MCOE brings Sierra Leone its first NICU, over a hundred new maternal beds, safe operating suites for emergency C-sections and a blood bank, all owned by Sierra Leoneans through their government. (00:01:37)
  • over a hundred (beds) — new maternal beds at the Maternal Center of Excellence · for beds · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • its first (rank) — NICU in the country · for units · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-11 · John's Annual Psychophysical Decline — John says over a million people die every year from tuberculosis, though almost all could be saved by a drug regimen costing less than $300, which he calls bonkers. (00:02:35)
  • over a million (people) — annual deaths from tuberculosis · for people · in the world · as of 2025-11-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • less than $300 (USD) — cost of a drug regimen that could save almost all of them · for patients · in the world · as of 2025-11-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-11 · John's Annual Psychophysical Decline — John says Good Store, another way to support Partners In Health and the Coral Reef Alliance, raised about $10 million over the last five years to fight maternal and child mortality in Sierra Leone. (00:03:04)
  • about $10 million (USD) — money raised by Good Store over the last five years · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — John says the cause of tuberculosis has been known for about 140 years, yet there is still no great test for kids. (00:00:00)
  • 140 (years) — time since the cause of tuberculosis has been known · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — John says kids are often misdiagnosed by microscopy and by GeneXpert tests because they cannot produce enough sputum, so chest x-ray is essential but has shortcomings in kids. (00:00:00)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Citing the World TB Report released the day before, John says TB, the deadliest infectious disease, kills 1.2 million people a year, a slight reduction: progress, but slow. (00:01:17)
  • 1.2 million (people) — tuberculosis deaths per year · for all people · in the world · as of 2025 · source: World TB Report · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — John says reinfection with TB, as Ani experienced, is common when community spread is not solved. (00:09:46)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — John says preventive therapy can prevent reinfection, but there is not nearly enough of it available. (00:10:19)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — John says the most recent study showed maybe 20% of people who should get TPT are getting it. — hedged: “maybe” (00:10:19)
  • 20% — share of eligible people receiving TB preventive therapy · for people who should be getting TPT · in the world · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — John thinks the 20% figure is misleading and the real share is probably more like 10%. — hedged: “probably” (00:10:49)
  • 10% — share of eligible people receiving TB preventive therapy · for people who should be getting TPT · in the world · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Natalia: Dr. Natalia says children often lack classic TB symptoms: a nine-year-old patient, Francisco, first showed only less playing and eating, so loss of playfulness, appetite and weight must join fever, cough and night sweats. (00:16:39)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Natalia: Dr. Natalia says delayed diagnosis delays treatment; GeneXpert sensitivity in children is not the best, but they always request it because a negative result is also information. (00:18:28)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Natalia: Dr. Natalia describes Regina, a one-year-old whose mother has resistant TB; using the treatment decision algorithm she could have been treated the day her mother was diagnosed, but three months were lost. (00:21:27)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Natalia: Dr. Natalia says stockouts of pediatric formulations are a major struggle: other formulations risk toxicity, resistance and refusal, so pediatric formulations must be pushed. (00:21:51)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Natalia: Dr. Natalia says pediatric formulations exist, but pharmacy supply chains in Mozambique are difficult. (00:22:48)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — John says colleagues elsewhere report frequent stockouts and shortages from supply chain problems. (00:23:16)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Natalia: Dr. Natalia says in Mozambique, with high HIV incidence, TB stigma is worst when a child has HIV co-infection. (00:23:38)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Natalia: Dr. Natalia says most people still think TB treatment takes six months, but a large group of eligible children can get four months. (00:25:12)
  • six months — duration of TB treatment people assume · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • four months — duration of TB treatment for eligible children · for eligible children · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says Sierra Leone reported over 22,000 TB cases in 2024; 15% should be children but only 9% were, so about 3,000 children with TB are missed every year. (00:27:45)
  • over 22 000 (cases) — TB cases reported per year · for all people · in Sierra Leone · as of 2024 · no source named · unchecked
  • 15 (%) — estimated share of TB cases that are children · for TB cases · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • nine percent (%) — share of reported TB cases that are children · for TB cases · in Sierra Leone · as of 2024 · no source named · unchecked
  • about three thousand (children) — children with TB missed per year · for children · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says health workers have low confidence in diagnosing childhood TB, which is mostly clinical and subjective. (00:28:21)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says diagnostics are scarce: samples must travel to machines, and x-ray machines are sparse and often broken, so children must be moved to them. (00:28:50)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says Sierra Leone diagnosed less than 1% of its MDR-TB cases last year (2024). (00:29:22)
  • less than 1% — share of MDR-TB cases diagnosed · for MDR-TB cases · in Sierra Leone · as of 2024 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says the target is TPT for 90% of child contacts under five, but only 2.8% has been reached. (00:29:45)
  • 90% — target share of under-five TB contacts receiving TPT · for children under five who are TB contacts · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 2.8% — share of target achieved for TPT among under-five contacts · for children under five who are TB contacts · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says the four-month regimen requires excluding severe TB, hard with limited diagnostics and staff, so clinicians are unsure whom to put on four or six months. (00:30:12)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says TB screening is not yet embedded in child and maternal health services, so many children who come to hospital go undiagnosed. (00:30:39)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says contact tracing is poor and the system relies on passive case finding, with caregivers bringing children in, rather than actively finding cases. (00:31:01)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says under-five care is free but financial barriers persist: no enablers for drug-sensitive TB and no social protection, and catastrophic costs impede adherence. (00:31:53)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says TB care is mostly donor funded, so broken machines wait on donors; batteries for x-ray machines took almost three years to fix, forcing patients at Lakka to other facilities. (00:33:32)
  • two years almost three years — time to get x-ray machine batteries fixed · for TB referral hospital · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says other facilities prioritize their own patients and do not want TB patients, and moving very sick patients needs oxygen and a nurse. (00:34:31)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says giving TPT first requires finding every patient's contacts and then excluding active TB, which strains diagnostics and expertise. (00:36:54)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says rifapentine, which shortens TPT to about three months instead of six, has no child-friendly formulation for kids under two, who mostly get six months. (00:37:42)
  • three months or less — duration of shorter TB preventive therapy · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • six months — duration of standard TB preventive therapy · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says it is hard to get caregivers to give a potentially toxic drug with side effects to a child who is not sick. (00:38:10)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says the Global Fund, which supports over 90% of TB services in Sierra Leone, has cut back 12% for the current allocation. (00:39:56)
  • over 90% — Global Fund share of TB services · for TB services · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 12% — Global Fund funding cut for the current allocation · for TB services · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says only life-saving activities are kept, so outreach, training, patient enablers and community sensitization with survivor testimony have been cut. (00:40:46)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Mariama: Dr. Mariama says planned drug resistance, stigma and catastrophic cost surveys were cancelled or postponed, weakening sustainability and increasing donor dependency. (00:41:12)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says children get sick with very few bacteria, which adult-designed tests can't detect, so most never test positive and clinicians must dare to treat without confirmation. (00:43:17)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says tests rely on coughing up sputum, but small children swallow it and can't be made to cough into a pot. (00:43:46)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says children's formulations exist for all drugs but cost more, so programs buy adult ones, and underdiagnosis leads to expired stock and no reordering: a vicious circle. (00:45:46)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says nutrition is the number one determinant of TB, children are the most affected, so nutrition is prevention. (00:45:46)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says a new generation of tongue-swab tests is mobile, palm-sized and battery-run, so testing can happen on the spot in community screening. (00:48:58)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says the current test takes about two hours while the new one takes 10 to 30 minutes. (00:49:39)
  • about two hours — time to result of the current TB test · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • between 10 and 30 minutes — time to result of the new swab TB test · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says the new machine costs 1% of the current one and the test half as much. (00:50:08)
  • 1% — cost of the new TB test machine relative to the current machine · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • half — cost of the new TB test relative to the current test · as of 2025-11-13 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says the swab tests are not better at finding bacteria, so they won't fix the problem in kids; tests made for kids, perhaps detecting biomarkers, are needed. (00:50:37)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says BCG at birth protects children under two well against the severest TB, including meningitis, but not later in life; new vaccines are in the pipeline. (00:51:30)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says preventive therapy is a great tool and formulations now exist for even the smallest kids. (00:52:58)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says WHO recently recommended food support for all household members of a TB patient in food-insecure settings, malnourished or not. (00:52:58)
• 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — Cathy Hewison: Dr. Hewison says TB is often a disease of poverty, spreading where people live close together; the tools exist but political will is lacking. (00:53:27)
• 2025-11-25 · Poverty Is Expensive — John says people from Sierra Leone need a visa to visit Denmark but cannot get one at home, as there is no Danish consulate; they must apply in Ghana, surrendering their passports. (00:01:27)
• 2025-11-25 · Poverty Is Expensive — John says it is impossible for Henry and Isatu to visit him in the US because the Trump administration has imposed a total travel ban on people from Sierra Leone. (00:02:26)
  • total — scope of US travel ban · for people from Sierra Leone · in United States · as of 2025-11-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · doubtful
• 2025-11-25 · Poverty Is Expensive — John says 1.2 million people died needlessly of tuberculosis just last year (2024). (00:03:53)
  • 1.2 million (people) — deaths from tuberculosis in a year · for people worldwide · in the world · as of 2024 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-25 · Poverty Is Expensive — John says a mother he spoke to in the Philippines spent over a hundred dollars she didn't have getting her son diagnosed with TB, driving her further into poverty. (00:04:52)
  • over a hundred dollars — cost to a family of getting a child diagnosed with tuberculosis · for one mother · in Philippines · as of 2025-11-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-25 · Poverty Is Expensive — John says TB has been curable since the 1950s, yet 1.2 million people still die of it. (00:05:50)
  • since the 1950s — time since tuberculosis became curable · in the world · as of 2025-11-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 1.2 million (people) — deaths from tuberculosis in a year · for people worldwide · in the world · as of 2025-11-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked

US politics & society (101)

• 2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says USAID was created by a law passed by Congress and is funded by laws passed by Congress. (00:00:36)
• 2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says Congress has the power of the purse: it decides how almost all money in America is spent, not the president. (00:00:42)
• 2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says a recent White House press release referred to Donald Trump signing an executive order into law. (00:02:05)
• 2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says the essay shows Trump is legislatively weak: the narrowest House majority since there have been 50 states, a narrow margin in Congress, and the highest disapproval of any incoming president since polling began. (00:02:42)
  • the narrowest majority in the House since there have been 50 states (rank) — size of the governing party's House majority · for US House of Representatives · in United States · as of 2025 · source: Ezra Klein · unchecked
  • a higher disapproval rating than any incoming president since we started doing polling (rank) — disapproval rating of an incoming president · for US presidents · in United States · as of 2025 · source: Ezra Klein · unchecked
• 2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says lots of Trump's executive orders have already been nothing but brief news stories before being blocked as obviously unconstitutional. (00:04:09)
• 2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank predicts that the law will stand. (00:05:21)
• 2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says multiple lawsuits have already been filed outlining why shutting down USAID is illegal. (00:05:40)
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says no one over 115 receives Social Security, because in 2015 the government updated its systems so that anyone turning 115 is declared dead and payments stop. (00:00:00)
  • 115 (years) — age at which Social Security recipients are declared dead and payments stop · for Social Security recipients · in United States · as of 2025-03-07 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 2015 — year the government updated its systems to declare 115-year-olds dead · for Social Security recipients · in United States · as of 2025-03-07 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank explains that Blue Zones are areas where government records show people much more likely to live very long: Okinawa, Sardinia, parts of Costa Rica and Greece; researchers studied their diet and activity. (00:00:29)
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says one contributing factor is that Blue Zones lie where records are poorly kept: without a birth record people may claim an earlier birth year to draw retirement benefits sooner, so records later overstate their age. (00:00:58)
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says the big lessons for longevity are lean protein, fiber, walking around and having people who care about you. (00:01:27)
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says there is probably also some good in the lifestyles of Sardinia and Okinawa. — hedged: “probably” (00:01:27)
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says that where records are poor, relatives may never report a death and keep collecting retirement benefits for a decade or two; such fraud really happens, is illegal and should be stopped. (00:01:56)
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says most Social Security fraud is overpayment: living, eligible recipients getting more than they legally should. (00:02:26)
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says Social Security is means tested, so people who go back to work may not report it to keep their benefits from going down. (00:02:26)
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says recipients paying for their own housing get more, so someone living with a loved one might be incentivized to make it look like they pay; this is by far where most Social Security fraud comes from. (00:02:26)
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says a 2023 audit by the Social Security Administration's inspector general found tens of millions of people over 100 in its database; it was public but not a big news story, and today's national debate rests on it. (00:03:53)
  • tens of millions — people over 100 years old in the Social Security database · for people in the Social Security database · in United States · as of 2023 · source: Social Security Administration · doubtful
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says a more frequent audit shows only about 90,000 people over 99 (he also says over 100) are collecting benefits in the US, which is what matters, not the database count. (00:04:35)
  • around 90,000 — people over 99 collecting Social Security benefits · for people over 99 · in United States · as of 2025-03-07 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • around 90,000 — people over 100 collecting Social Security benefits · for people over 100 · in United States · as of 2025-03-07 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says the US Census Bureau estimates roughly 86,000 Americans are over 100. (00:05:04)
  • roughly 86,000 — Americans over the age of 100 · for Americans · in United States · as of 2025-03-07 (implied: upload date) · source: United States Census Bureau · unchecked
• 2025-03-07 · How Social Security Fraud Actually Works — Hank says the government chose not to clean up the database after estimating the cleanup would cost $8 million. (00:05:53)
  • $8 million (USD) — estimated cost of cleaning up the Social Security database · for Social Security database · in United States · as of 2025-03-07 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says that in each of the Trump administration's first three months, despite mass federal layoffs and cuts to foreign aid and science research, federal spending exceeded 2024 and 2023, by a growing margin. (00:00:00)
  • more in 2025 than it did in 2024 or 2023 — federal spending in each of the first three months of the Trump administration compared with the same months of earlier years · for US federal government · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John grants that tens of thousands of people are losing their jobs and there have been severe cuts to foreign aid and science spending. (00:00:29)
  • tens of thousands — people losing their jobs · for US federal workers · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says all federal employees combined account for only about 5% of US federal government spending. (00:00:58)
  • 5% (percent) — share of US federal government spending going to federal employees · for all federal employees · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says even losing 10% of federal employees, far more than fired so far, would cut the budget by only about 0.5%. (00:00:58)
  • 10% (percent) — share of federal employees laid off (hypothetical) · for federal employees · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 0.5% (percent) — resulting cut to the federal budget (hypothetical) · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says foreign aid, including USAID, altogether accounts for only about one half of one cent of the US tax dollar. (00:00:58)
  • about one half of one cent of our tax dollar — share of US federal spending on foreign aid including USAID · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says George W. Bush's program PEPFAR has saved tens of millions of lives. (00:00:58)
  • tens of millions — lives saved by PEPFAR · for people reached by PEPFAR · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · source: President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief · unchecked
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says PEPFAR, all US money for the Global Fund and all of USAID together are only about 0.5% of the US federal budget. (00:01:27)
  • 0.5% (percent) — share of the US federal budget for PEPFAR, the Global Fund and USAID combined · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says the US spends about 21% of federal money on Social Security, 15% on Medicare, 13% on national defense and 13% on Medicaid. (00:01:27)
  • 21% (percent) — share of federal spending on Social Security · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 15% (percent) — share of federal spending on Medicare · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 13% (percent) — share of federal spending on national defense · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 13% (percent) — share of federal spending on Medicaid · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says 13% goes to interest on the debt (set to rise again), making 75% with the big four; veterans' benefits are 6%, unemployment, federal retirement and nutrition about 11%, and USAID sits in 3% other. (00:01:56)
  • 13% (percent) — share of federal spending on interest on the debt · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 75% (percent) — combined share of Social Security, Medicare, defense, Medicaid and interest · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 6% (percent) — share of federal spending on veterans' benefits · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 11% (percent) — share of federal spending on unemployment benefits, federal retirement benefits and nutrition support · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 3% (percent) — share of federal spending in the other category, including USAID · for US federal budget · in United States · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says what is being cut is not expensive, though very significant: it saved tens of millions of lives and fueled research that saved tens of millions more. (00:02:26)
  • tens of millions — lives saved by the foreign aid and science programmes being cut · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • tens of millions more — lives saved by research the cut science spending fueled · as of 2025-04-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says the US is also collecting fewer taxes, another reason the budget deficit and federal debt are growing faster than last year (2024). (00:02:26)
• 2025-04-08 · DOGE Is Not Cutting Government Spending — John says countries in actual austerity cut spending on big-ticket items like national defense and benefits for seniors, and also raise taxes. (00:03:24)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says the 'reciprocal' tariffs were not calculated from other countries' tariffs and barriers: the administration took each trade deficit, called it the tariff rate and cut it in half. (00:01:04)
  • in half — discount applied to the trade-deficit figure to set the tariff rate · for countries on the Liberation Day tariff list · as of 2025-04-10 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says two terms of the administration's tariff equation cancel out, so it is just the trade-deficit calculation; he rates this B tier. (00:01:33)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says the equation swaps two terms, giving a negative number: not crazy, just bad math. (00:02:03)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says the tariff list includes a group of islands with no people, populated only by penguins. (00:02:32)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Howard Lutnick defended listing the islands as closing loopholes where goods are routed through a lower-tariff country before export. (00:03:01)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says the UK got half the EU's tariff, and since Northern Ireland trades as part of both, it has both a 10% and a 20% tariff, an A-tier loophole. (00:04:00)
  • 10% — US tariff rate · for United Kingdom (incl. Northern Ireland) · in Northern Ireland · as of 2025-04-10 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · unchecked
  • 20% — US tariff rate · for European Union (incl. Northern Ireland) · in Northern Ireland · as of 2025-04-10 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Japan, China and South Korea, reacting to US instability, signed a significant trade agreement, though they dislike each other and historically traded through Western partners. (00:04:29)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Vietnam got the highest average tariff, 90%, though it is not a major high-tech or strategic competitor. (00:04:58)
  • 90% — tariff on Vietnam · in Vietnam · as of 2025-04-10 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · doubtful
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says the countries given 10% tariffs are ones the US has trade surpluses with, yet they are still given a base rate; he rates it A tier. (00:06:36)
  • 20% — base tariff rate as said · for countries with which the US has a trade surplus · as of 2025-04-10 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · unchecked
  • 10% — applied tariff rate · for countries with which the US has a trade surplus · as of 2025-04-10 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Trump tore up the USMCA, which replaced NAFTA and was signed in his own first term, to put new tariffs on Canada and Mexico. (00:07:02)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Trump's adviser Peter Navarro is a big advocate of tariffs. (00:07:02)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says support for tariffs is not universal in the administration: Elon Musk recently called Navarro a moron. (00:07:48)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Navarro's books cite a pro-tariff economist, Ron Vara, an anagram of Navarro who does not exist. (00:07:48)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says the trade deficits were calculated on goods only, not services, which the US provides a lot of abroad. (00:07:48)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Trump paused the tariffs nine days after imposing them, while the trade war with China continues; some countries seem to have offered concessions, others did not. (00:10:02)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank calls 'biggest stock-market gain ever' headlines A-tier crazy: a day is an arbitrary unit and retirement accounts are still about 6% lower than last week (week of 31 March 2025). — hedged: “like” (00:10:39)
  • 6% — fall in retirement account value versus the previous week · for everyone's retirement accounts · in United States · as of 2025-04-10 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says trillions of dollars of stock-market value have evaporated since April 2nd despite the pause. (00:11:08)
  • trillions of dollars — stock-market value lost since April 2 · in United States · as of 2025-04-10 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says it makes sense that the US buys more than it sells: it is the third biggest country and the largest economy. (00:12:36)
  • third biggest — country rank by population · in United States · as of 2025-04-10 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · unchecked
  • largest — economy rank · in United States · as of 2025-04-10 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says that just before pausing the tariffs Trump posted on Truth Social that this is a great time to buy, signing the post. (00:13:34)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says bets on a market rise spiked just before the announcement, indicating people with insider knowledge of the administration took money from those without it. — hedged: “probably” (00:15:02)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank cites a headline that Trump will consider exempting some companies from US tariffs. (00:15:31)
• 2025-04-11 · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Congress's taxing power is in the Constitution's second article, not an amendment. (00:17:43)
  • second article — article of the US Constitution giving Congress the power to levy taxes · in United States · as of 2025-04-10 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · doubtful
• 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — Adam Schiff: Schiff says the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, its strongest power: the president commands the military and agencies but can do nothing unless Congress appropriates money. (00:01:03)
• 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — Adam Schiff: Schiff says the administration is breaking the law: shutting down agencies Congress established, spending money on other purposes and not spending money appropriated for fighting disease is illegal. (00:02:02)
• 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — John notes that on the day of the conversation the Supreme Court said the president may legally fire 16,000 federal workers. (00:02:31)
  • 16,000 — federal workers the president may fire, per that day's Supreme Court decision · for US federal workers · in United States · as of 2025-04 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — Adam Schiff: Schiff says the immunity ruling let a president commit crimes in office with immunity and strongly suggests broad powers to fire independent commissioners, inspectors general and federal staff. (00:03:37)
• 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — Adam Schiff: Schiff cites the press being intimidated: the Washington Post changing its editorial policy, the LA Times withholding editorials, reporters kicked out of White House events over 'Gulf of America'. (00:08:54)
• 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — Adam Schiff: Schiff says law firms are paying tens to hundreds of millions in fines and taking on the president's pet causes, unimaginable a decade ago, in only month three. (00:09:23)
  • tens, hundreds of millions (USD) — fines law firms pay to the administration · for US law firms · in United States · as of 2025-04-15 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — John says tuberculosis caused one in seven deaths 100 or 110 years ago. (00:13:38)
  • one in seven — share of deaths caused by tuberculosis · for all deaths · as of 100 or 110 years ago (resolved: c. 1915, from the upload date 2025-04-15) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — John says the world could easily return there: hundreds of thousands are having TB treatment interrupted, which will cause skyrocketing drug-resistant TB, terrifying everywhere. (00:13:38)
  • hundreds of thousands — people with interrupted TB treatment · for people being treated for tuberculosis · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — John cites an estimate that within two years, without restored funding, TB deaths will rise from 1.25 million to 2 million, up 750,000; TB is the deadliest infectious disease. — hedged: “I think” (00:15:51)
  • 1.25 million — deaths from tuberculosis per year · for people worldwide · in the world · as of 2025-04-15 (implied: upload date) · source: the most recent estimate · unchecked
  • 2 million — projected deaths from tuberculosis per year within two years if funding is not restored · for people worldwide · in the world · as of 2025-04-15 (implied: upload date) · source: the most recent estimate · unchecked
  • 750 000 — projected increase in annual tuberculosis deaths if funding is not restored · for people worldwide · in the world · as of 2025-04-15 (implied: upload date) · source: the most recent estimate · unchecked
• 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — John says TB deaths have fallen by 50% in the last 25 years, and finds it tragic that 15 years of progress will be walked back in the next year. (00:20:36)
  • 50% — change in tuberculosis deaths over the last 25 years · for people worldwide · in the world · as of 2025-04-15 (implied: upload date) · no source named · doubtful
  • 15 years — years of progress against tuberculosis to be lost in the next year · for people worldwide · in the world · as of 2025-04-15 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says that in 1706 a West African man, called Onesimus by his enslavers, was purchased for Boston minister Cotton Mather, an influential voice in the Salem witch trials. (00:00:00)
  • 1706 — year Onesimus was purchased for Cotton Mather · for Onesimus · in Boston · as of 2025-04-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — In a channel comment, Hank corrects that the picture of Onesimus he showed is of a different Onesimus from about 100 years later. (creator comment)
  • like 100 years later — gap between the pictured Onesimus and the Onesimus who brought inoculation stories · as of 2025-04-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says Onesimus told Mather a procedure from his homeland protected him from smallpox; he was right: putting pus or scab from a smallpox case into a wound induces a milder, far less fatal infection. (00:00:29)
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says Boston then had only around 10,000 people, and nearly a thousand were killed in a single smallpox outbreak. (00:00:58)
  • around 10,000 (people) — population · for residents of Boston at the time · in Boston · as of 2025-04-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • nearly a thousand (deaths) — deaths in a single smallpox outbreak · for residents of Boston at the time · in Boston · as of 2025-04-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says English noblewoman Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, scarred by smallpox and having lost her brother to it, returned from Turkey, where her husband was a diplomat, with stories of women performing a similar procedure. (00:00:58)
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says Lady Mary had the procedure performed on her son in Turkey and became its advocate on returning to England. (00:01:27)
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says the nearly identical procedure met opposite reactions: in Boston, backed by a Puritan minister, it was seen as anti-elite; in London, backed by aristocrats, doctors and the king, as elite and attacked by anti-royalists. (00:01:56)
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says no one understood how variolation worked for about a hundred years afterwards. (00:02:26)
  • like a hundred years — time until the mechanism of variolation was understood · as of 2025-04-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says variolation was tested on humans, some not consenting; some recipients died, and some doctors performed it poorly, thinking they could improve on a practice from supposedly inferior foreign lands. (00:02:55)
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says variolation turned out to be a positive step whose imperfection inspired the path to safe vaccines and the eradication of smallpox. (00:02:55)
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says English anti-royalists did not cite their hatred of the king but said the procedure came from scary Muslims and stood in the way of God's will. (00:03:56)
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says elite Boston doctors, rather than objecting that Mather wasn't one of them, said nothing good could come from an African's knowledge and it would kill people. (00:04:25)
• 2025-04-25 · How We Form Opinions — Hank says many overcame the effect: some Boston doctors were convinced, and in England public enthusiasm, strongly anti-smallpox, quieted the dissenters. (00:04:25)
• 2025-07-04 · This Graph Changed My Life — Hank says a FoxNews.com headline reported a man who made a modular device turning electricity, water and carbon dioxide into gasoline or a fuel gasoline engines can burn. (00:00:00)
• 2025-07-04 · This Graph Changed My Life — Hank says the article's comments variously claimed that fossil fuels are not bad for the Earth, that climate change is fake, and that the Earth manufactures fossil fuels. (00:00:59)
• 2025-07-04 · This Graph Changed My Life — Hank says that for nearly two decades the share of Americans who are committed climate skeptics has been consistently below 10%. (00:02:27)
  • below 10% (percent) — share of people extremely or very sure climate change is not happening · for Americans · in United States · as of nearly two decades · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-04 · This Graph Changed My Life — Hank says that asked whether global warming is happening, roughly four-fifths of Americans say yes. (00:02:56)
  • roughly four-fifths (fraction) — share saying global warming is happening · for Americans · in United States · as of 2025-07-04 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-04 · This Graph Changed My Life — Hank says the real situation is complex: many people are unsure and even more have other concerns, so they are not very focused on climate change. (00:03:20)
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says that in 1973 Pinochet's soldiers stormed the University of Chile, arresting professors and dismantling student groups. (00:00:03)
  • 1973 — year Pinochet's soldiers stormed the University of Chile · in Chile · as of 1973 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says that in 1933 Hitler purged German universities, replacing hundreds of scholars with party loyalists. (00:00:10)
  • hundreds — scholars replaced with party loyalists in the purge of German universities · for scholars at German universities · in Germany · as of 1933 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says Iran's 1980 cultural revolution shut down campuses for years to cleanse them of dissent. (00:00:16)
  • 1980 — year Iran's cultural revolution shut down campuses · in Iran · as of 1980 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says that in 2017 Hungary's government forced Central European University to leave the country. (00:00:21)
  • 2017 — year Hungary's government forced Central European University out · in Hungary · as of 2017 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says universities' funding is threatened if they don't align themselves with President Trump's ideology. (00:00:36)
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says research grant funding has been withheld in many cases, bad for universities and bad because that research isn't getting done. (00:00:42)
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says UCLA has been asked to pay $1 billion to the government before it may receive research grants again. (00:00:50)
  • $1 billion (USD) — payment demanded of UCLA by the US government to restore research grants · for UCLA · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says making student visas harder to get means fewer international students, an important part of school budgets because they tend to pay full price. (00:01:00)
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says overhead rates are usually somewhere between about 30 and 60%. (00:02:03)
  • 30 (%) — typical overhead (indirect cost) rate on research grants, lower end · for US universities · in United States · as of 2025-08-15 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 60% — typical overhead (indirect cost) rate on research grants, upper end · for US universities · in United States · as of 2025-08-15 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says the Trump administration is trying to cap the overhead rate at 15%. (00:02:07)
  • 15% — proposed cap on the indirect cost rate of federal research grants · for US universities · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says the US university system is unusually decentralised with no central ministry; federal money is a lever, but only one, unlike more top-down countries. (00:09:05)
• 2025-08-15 · What Trump is Doing to Universities — Hank says the courts limit the president: the 15% cap on overhead costs has not held up in court and currently does not exist. (00:10:25)
  • 15% — blocked cap on the indirect cost rate of federal research grants · for US universities · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says that 15 years after John first called for its destruction, the final US penny has likely been minted. — hedged: “likely” (00:00:07)
  • 15 (years) — years since John first called for abolishing the penny · in United States · as of 2025-11-14 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says the penny is still legal and US law still requires the necessary amount to be made, but the Treasury under Trump has decided the necessary number is zero. (00:00:07)
  • zero — number of pennies the Treasury deems necessary to mint · in United States · as of 2025-11-14 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says Trump apparently did not need Congress: it comes down to two readings of a law requiring the Treasury to mint the coins necessary to meet the country's needs. (00:01:25)
• 2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says that historically, and in Obama's reading, 'necessary' meant however many pennies commercial demand requires, and every Treasury secretary read it that way. — hedged: “I think” (00:01:55)
• 2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says Trump's Treasury declared the necessary amount zero not because Congress repealed it, the mint couldn't make them, or demand vanished, since people still want them from banks, but because the president decided. (00:01:55)
• 2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says this had a beginning: after Obama's election Mitch McConnell decided to filibuster everything so Obama could never do anything, and asks why, once that was done, everyone wouldn't do it. (00:03:51)
• 2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says one legislative mechanism is left: giant filibuster-proof spending packages such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the One Big Beautiful Bill, shipping containers of an administration's policy. (00:04:50)
  • one — functioning legislative mechanisms left in Congress · in United States · as of 2025-11-14 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked

Science & nature (75)

• 2025-07-22 · At Least There Are Trees — John says this forest has stood about 12,000 years, since a glacier receded at the end of the last ice age: older than writing or the wheel, about as old as agriculture. (00:00:13)
  • about 12,000 (years) — age of the forest · for this little forest · in John's corner of the world · as of 2025-07-22 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-22 · At Least There Are Trees — John says plants make up 82 percent of Earth's biomass, so even after the deforestation of North America and elsewhere this is still a plant planet, with humans a rounding error. (00:00:52)
  • 82 percent — share of Earth's biomass made up by plants · for plants · in Earth · as of 2025-07-22 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-22 · At Least There Are Trees — John says over 300 million years ago early trees caused one of the greatest mass extinctions: phosphorus-rich soil washed into waters, causing algae blooms that killed about 75% of marine species, including almost all coral. (00:03:16)
  • Over 300 million years ago — time of the tree-caused mass extinction · for early trees · in Earth · as of 2025-07-22 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • around 75% (percent) — share of marine species killed · for all marine species · in Earth's oceans · as of 2025-07-22 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-22 · At Least There Are Trees — John says trees much like the ginkgo date back 290 million years, about a thousand times longer than humans, and ginkgos are planted in cities because they tolerate pollution and concrete. (00:04:00)
  • 290 million years — age of the ginkgo lineage · for trees much like the ginkgo · in Earth · as of 2025-07-22 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • around a thousand times (ratio) — ginkgo lineage age relative to humans' time on Earth · for humans · in Earth · as of 2025-07-22 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says over 300 million years ago there were fish in the oceans but not yet on land, yet there were trees, which arose from competition for light. (00:00:25)
  • over 300 million years ago — time when trees existed but fish had not yet reached land · for trees · in Earth · as of 2025-07-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says trees' answer to the competition for light was lignin, an entirely new molecule that had never existed in the history of the universe. (00:00:37)
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank explains that cellulose is the same chain every time, so one enzyme action breaks it into sugars, while lignin is an irregular polymer whose chain lengths and branching are random. (00:00:51)
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says this randomness makes lignin a strong, tough structure that keeps its shape and very hard to break down, since an enzyme must attack many different bonds. (00:01:14)
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says few organisms can break down lignin: termites rely on symbiotic gut bacteria and fungi, bacteria barely manage, and fungi are the only class of organisms good at it. (00:01:35)
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says at first no living thing could break lignin down; light and oxygen eventually did, but in dark, oxygen-free swamps trees stacked up for millions of years, forest on forest. (00:01:50)
  • millions of years — time over which undecomposed trees stacked up in swampy areas · for fallen trees · in swampy areas of Earth · as of 2025-07-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank corrects himself: he used to think the buried trees sucking oxygen from the atmosphere caused the end-Devonian mass extinction, which he knew trees caused, but that is not what happened. (00:02:20)
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says the real problem was phosphorus: trees pulled it from rocks in the soil into their leaves, and fallen leaves washed it into rivers and oceans, where phosphorus often limits life. (00:02:36)
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says the phosphorus fed massive algae blooms; when they died and sank, microbes breaking them down consumed all the oxygen in the water. (00:03:04)
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says entire marine ecosystems collapsed, coral reefs vanished and 75% of marine species went extinct: trees did that, the first tree apocalypse. (00:04:02)
  • 75% (percent) — share of marine species that went extinct · for marine species · in Earth's oceans · as of 2025-07-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says the extinction ended the Devonian and began the Carboniferous, named for the carbon-rich coal those trees left behind. (00:04:22)
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says the trees fell on each other again and again, were buried, heated and pressurized, and turned into coal. (00:04:31)
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says 300 million years later humans dug up that coal and burned it for warmth, then for steam engines, smelting iron, making fertilizer and electrifying cities. (00:04:44)
  • 300 million years — time between the coal's formation and humans digging it up · for coal · in Earth · as of 2025-07-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-25 · The Molecule that Changed Everything — Hank says coal use is finally declining: the UK, where coal largely kicked off the Industrial Revolution, no longer burns coal at all, having burned its last. (00:06:13)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says yaupon tea is the only caffeinated drink native to North America. (00:00:00)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says theobromine is chocolate's main stimulant, but chocolate always contains some caffeine, sometimes quite a lot. (00:00:00)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says the caffeine-making plants share no common ancestor that made caffeine: each evolved it independently in different parts of the world. (00:00:29)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says caffeine resembles adenine, a group of atoms in ATP and one of the four nitrogenous bases of DNA and RNA. (00:00:58)
  • four — number of nitrogenous bases in DNA and RNA · as of 2025-09-05 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says a plant that accidentally makes caffeine tends to survive and reproduce better than its neighbours, because caffeine is a bug poison. (00:01:56)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says caffeine is also poisonous to people: eating about four or five grams of it will kill you. (00:01:56)
  • four or five grams — lethal dose of caffeine · for humans · as of 2025-09-05 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says caffeine does the same things in bugs as in humans but is more dangerous to bugs, which eat a higher dose and process it worse. (00:02:26)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says caffeine's biggest effect in humans is mimicking the adenine-derived neurotransmitter adenosine; in bugs its effects make them seize up, jitter and die. (00:02:26)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says caffeine also poisons plants by mimicking adenosine; caffeine-making plants evolve immunity, and the caffeine may give them a further advantage by poisoning the soil for non-immune plants. — hedged: “could” (00:02:55)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank calls it maybe the best fact he learned researching the video that some plants put a little caffeine in their nectar so bees get high instead of dying and are more likely to return to the flower. (00:03:24)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says the related molecules theophylline (in tea) and theobromine (in chocolate) act almost the same way: they are also insecticides with similar effects on people, though less potent than caffeine. (00:03:50)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says the Olmecs originally consumed cacao as a tea, probably so intricately spiced it would not be recognisable as tea, but certainly a drink. (00:04:19)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says drinking caffeinated teas arose seven separate times: tea in East Asia, coffee in the Horn of Africa and Arabia, cacao in Mesoamerica, kola nut in West Africa, guarana in the Amazon Basin, yerba mate in the Southern Cone, yaupon in southeastern North America. (00:04:48)
  • seven — independent origins of the practice of drinking caffeinated teas · for humans · as of 2025-09-05 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says caffeine left over from decaf coffee is sometimes used but carries coffee flavour and costs more, so most caffeinated beverages use caffeine synthesized from scratch by humans. (00:05:18)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says synthetic caffeine is derived from petroleum, and says he does not love that drink. (00:05:41)
• 2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says some interesting research suggests the amino acid L-theanine in tea can combine with caffeine to give a calmer effect while keeping you alert, and feels he needs to make a whole video about it. — hedged: “can kind of” (00:05:41)
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — In a channel comment, Hank says some water (ice) on Mars has been known since the 70s, but a long wet period only became consensus in the mid-2000s. (creator comment)
  • 70s — date since water ice on Mars has been known · in Mars · as of 2025-09-12 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • mid-2000s — date a long wet period on Mars became consensus · in Mars · as of 2025-09-12 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says the first spacecraft sent to the surface of Mars, Viking 1 and 2 in the 1970s, carried a little biology lab with experiments designed to detect life. (00:01:00)
  • 1970s — date of the first spacecraft landing on the surface of Mars · in Mars · as of 2025-09-12 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says Viking's soil experiment first released gas, but other experiments found no organic molecules and reactive compounds could mimic metabolism, so the verdict shifted from maybe yes to probably not. (00:02:03)
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says that in 1996 the Martian meteorite ALH 84001, found in Antarctica, looked under an electron microscope like a fossil of a bacterium, which was very big news. (00:02:33)
  • 1996 — year of the ALH 84001 possible-fossil news · in Antarctica · as of 2025-09-12 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank notes, among skipped evidence, that Curiosity discovered some organic molecules in mudstone. (00:03:02)
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says a huge amount of planetary science has proved that Mars once had a lot of running water, something not known when he was a kid. (00:03:48)
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says that in 2024 Perseverance drilled into a rock in Jezero Crater, part of a dried-up river delta that once fed a Martian lake; the rock formed from mud. (00:04:17)
  • 2024 — year Perseverance drilled the Jezero Crater mudstone · in Jezero Crater, Mars · as of 2025-09-12 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says the mudstone is covered in spots with differently coloured rock inside and at the edge: something happened in the middle and changed the rock as it spread out. (00:04:46)
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says Perseverance found organic compounds plus two minerals, vivianite (iron phosphate) and greigite. (00:05:08)
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says everything else about the environment shows it was not hot, and the chemicals formed where they are rather than being deposited from elsewhere. (00:06:36)
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says that on Earth microbes capture the energy of such drops to power metabolism: Geobacter with iron reduction, sulfate-reducing bacteria with sulfur; this is chemosynthesis. (00:07:05)
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank lists life's four big macromolecules, DNA, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids, and says DNA breaks down too fast to help over billions of years. (00:08:32)
  • billions (years) — age of samples for which DNA would not survive · as of 2025-09-12 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says amino acids can form without life, but a non-50/50 mix of their handedness would basically be a smoking gun for life, though the handedness might be lost over time. (00:09:01)
  • 50 50 — mix of amino-acid handedness expected without life · as of 2025-09-12 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says lipids are tougher and would be a pretty big hint if cell-membrane sized; lipid remnants have been found in 2-billion-year-old rocks on Earth. (00:09:31)
  • 2 billion (years) — age of rocks with lipid remnants · in Earth · as of 2025-09-12 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says evidence of Earth's earliest life rests on isotopic fractionation in 3.5-billion-year-old rocks in Australia and South Africa, the oldest rocks, since Earth constantly recycles rock. (00:10:42)
  • 3.5 billion (years) — age of the oldest rocks used for evidence of early life · in Australia and South Africa · as of 2025-09-12 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says Perseverance packages and leaves samples for a robotic return mission, which has not launched and has been fraught to get done and funded. (00:11:14)
• 2025-09-12 · This Might Actually be Happening — Hank says Mars still has internal heat: its most recent volcanic eruption was millions of years ago or less, not billions; there is probably still subsurface water. (00:14:06)
  • millions (years) — time since the most recent volcanic eruption on Mars · in Mars · as of 2025-09-12 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-02 · You are Probably Underestimating Jane Goodall’s Impact — Hank says when Goodall arrived at Gombe in 1960, Western scientists knew chimpanzees mostly as museum corpses or zoo curiosities, with no detailed reports of their life in the wild. (00:00:29)
  • 1960 (year) — year Jane Goodall arrived at Gombe · for Jane Goodall · in Gombe · as of 2025-10-02 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-02 · You are Probably Underestimating Jane Goodall’s Impact — Hank says scientists built in rules: don't name your subjects, don't describe personalities, don't speculate on motives. (00:06:10)
• 2025-10-02 · You are Probably Underestimating Jane Goodall’s Impact — Hank says Goodall gave the chimpanzees names instead of numbers and noticed their anger, tenderness, connections, curiosities, politics and technologies, and gained their trust. (00:07:45)
• 2025-10-02 · You are Probably Underestimating Jane Goodall’s Impact — Hank says Goodall saw the chimpanzee David Greybeard strip the leaves from a twig and use it to fish termites from a mound. (00:07:45)
• 2025-10-02 · You are Probably Underestimating Jane Goodall’s Impact — Hank says Goodall became the chimpanzees' friend, feeding them and so affecting their behavior, things field researchers are not supposed to do and that she later recognized were not right. (00:08:35)
• 2025-10-02 · You are Probably Underestimating Jane Goodall’s Impact — Hank says animal culture and politics are now supported by rigorous data: elephants bury their dead, dolphins teach hunting, crows pass knowledge on, postmenopausal orcas guide their pods. (00:10:10)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide explains that the engine bell does not melt because the fuel, which he calls a fancy name for kerosene, flows through tubes around it, cooling the metal while warming the fuel for burning. (00:01:17)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says the Saturn V is a multi-stage rocket, with Wernher von Braun as its chief designer. (00:01:47)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: Asked whether explosive bolts were invented for the rocket, the guide says the designers came mostly from aviation and built on what they knew. (00:02:16)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says the upper stages use engines burning hydrogen and oxygen, which is much more efficient. (00:02:16)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says the first stage did not use hydrogen because of size: the oxidizer would distort the stage, and on the ground kerosene and hydrogen give almost the same power. (00:02:44)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says SpaceX uses methane, less efficient than hydrogen, because methane is easy to find in the solar system. (00:02:44)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide hints that Mars, a place with a lot of red dirt, has quite a bit of methane. (00:03:15)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says one reason for going back to the Moon is its water, from which oxygen and hydrogen fuel can be extracted rather than carried. (00:03:15)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says weight is the biggest hurdle in spaceflight, most of each stage being there to carry fuel. (00:03:15)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says this Saturn V never launched because President Nixon cut the program over budget and war problems and to save costs, while a new winged spacecraft idea arose. (00:03:44)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says the third stage took astronauts to the Moon: on Mission Control's go for translunar injection, they fired its upper-stage engine. (00:04:13)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says the upper-stage engine was the only engine of its type able to turn off and on again in the vacuum of space. (00:04:13)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says that for over 30 years Rocketdyne was the only company able to do this; today SpaceX and Blue Origin use the same idea. (00:04:13)
  • over 30 years — years Rocketdyne alone could build a restartable engine like the J-2 · as of 2025-12-05 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says the rocket's computers, its brains, had only kilobytes of power, similar to a jet airliner's avionics bay. (00:05:02)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says escape stages could pull the capsule off a rocket that exploded or lost control, and Artemis has a similar system, renamed the launch abort system. (00:05:32)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide names Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong as the astronauts who walked on the Moon. (00:05:32)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: Asked what the capsule window was for, the guide says there is a joystick inside and the crew navigated by the stars through the window. (00:05:32)
• 2025-12-05 · Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves — Irwin: The guide says designers planned a fully automated capsule without a window, but early astronauts refused, so from the Mercury era the window stayed. (00:06:18)

Health (59)

• 2025-02-21 · No Video Today!! — Hank reports that the 2025 Project for Awesome has raised $3,673,295. (00:00:00)
  • $3,673,295 (USD) — money raised by the Project for Awesome 2025 · as of 2025-02-21 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says measles had been eliminated in a country of over 300 million people. (00:00:00)
  • over 300 million (people) — population of a country that had eliminated measles · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says smallpox could be eradicated because only humans catch it, and measles likewise can only be caught by humans, which is why it can definitely be eradicated. (00:00:46)
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says measles is more infectious than smallpox: a smallpox patient maybe infected three to six others on average, a measles patient 12 to 18. — hedged: “maybe” (00:00:46)
  • between three and six (people) — average number of people infected by one smallpox patient · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • between 12 and 18 (people) — average number of people infected by one measles patient · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says that when a child in a classroom has measles, 90% of the unvaccinated children there will also get it. (00:00:46)
  • 90% — share of unvaccinated classmates of a measles case who catch measles · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says not everyone can be vaccinated: very ill children are not recommended to get the measles vaccine, yet we still want to protect them. (00:01:15)
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says the measles vaccine, though very good, protects only about 90% of people after the first dose, so a second dose is needed, nearly twice as complicated. (00:01:15)
  • about 90% — share of people protected by the first dose of measles vaccine · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says that because measles is so infectious, protection must reach about 95% of people, a bar smallpox did not need, which is why smallpox could be eliminated. (00:01:44)
  • 95% — share of people with protection needed to stop measles spreading · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says another trick that makes measles harder to eradicate is that it is less awful than smallpox, which carries a high chance of death and, for survivors, permanent facial scars, though measles is much worse than most diseases people have had. (00:02:11)
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — As an illustration, Hank says that if everyone in America were infected at once, about 700,000 would die of measles but more than 70 million of smallpox. (00:02:11)
  • around 700,000 (deaths) — deaths if everyone were simultaneously infected with measles · in America · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • more than 70 million (deaths) — deaths if everyone were simultaneously infected with smallpox · in America · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says Roald Dahl, author of many of his favorite stories, lost his daughter one year before the measles vaccine was introduced. (00:04:36)
  • one year — time between Olivia Dahl's death and the introduction of the measles vaccine · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says children under a year old and children whose illnesses prevent vaccination do have to worry about measles. (00:05:02)
  • a year old (age) — age below which children are not protected by measles vaccination · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank predicts humanity will eventually eradicate measles: they will worry until then, it can be done, that world is better, and we'll get there, though it is hard. (00:05:02)
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says eradication is hard because measles is so infectious that even a very good vaccine needs two doses, and two doses are hard to deliver everywhere on Earth. (00:05:02)
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says it is also hard because we forget: in 1962 measles deaths were common enough to terrify, but before this year (2025) the last US measles death was in 2015. (00:05:31)
  • 2015 (year) — year of the last US measles death before the current year · in US · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank predicts countries will hover around 95% measles vaccination, dipping below into outbreaks and climbing back to 96, until measles is eradicated. (00:06:08)
  • 95% — measles vaccination rate countries will hover around · in countries around the world · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 96 (%) — vaccination rate countries return to after outbreaks · in countries around the world · as of 2025-02-28 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says everyone seems to agree USAID should continue its life-saving missions, including Marco Rubio, who runs USAID. — hedged: “seems” (00:06:08)
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says Congress legally passed the laws funding USAID's work, yet 90% of USAID's funding has been halted. (00:06:08)
  • 90% — share of USAID funding halted · as of 2025-02 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank's script predicts his representatives will eventually stand up to Donald Trump taking away their power, asking whether they will be among the first, as he hopes. (00:07:56)
• 2025-05-16 · No One Knows When They Don't Die — Hank says that before the measles vaccine roughly 100% of kids got measles before age 15, and that the chance measles would have killed or disabled him was very low but not zero. (00:00:00)
  • roughly 100% (percent) — share of kids who got measles before age 15, before the vaccine · for children · as of 2025-05-16 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-16 · No One Knows When They Don't Die — Hank says the measles death rate is one to two per thousand kids, so his high school of around 2,000 students would have had two to four fewer students. (00:00:29)
  • between one and two (per thousand kids) — measles death rate · for children · as of 2025-05-16 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-16 · No One Knows When They Don't Die — Hank says the US passed the Clean Air Act in 1963 and the Clean Air Act amendments in 1990. (00:00:58)
  • 1963 (year) — year the Clean Air Act was passed · in United States · as of 2025-05-16 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 1990 (year) — year the Clean Air Act amendments were passed · in United States · as of 2025-05-16 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-16 · No One Knows When They Don't Die — Hank cites the EPA estimate that in 2020 the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments alone saved 230,000 lives. (00:00:58)
  • 230,000 (lives) — lives saved by the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments in one year · for people · in United States · as of 2020 · source: United States Environmental Protection Agency · unchecked
• 2025-05-16 · No One Knows When They Don't Die — Hank says mandated smoke detectors cut the risk of dying in a house fire in half. (00:01:27)
  • in half — reduction in the risk of dying in a house fire from mandated smoke detectors · for people · as of 2025-05-16 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-16 · No One Knows When They Don't Die — Hank says banning lead in paint and gasoline preserved the IQs and health of millions of kids, yet no one celebrates the brain damage they didn't get. (00:01:27)
  • millions (children) — children whose IQs and health were preserved by lead bans · for children · as of 2025-05-16 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-16 · No One Knows When They Don't Die — Hank says guardrails, rumble strips and roundabouts prevent tens of thousands of road deaths every year without fanfare. (00:01:56)
  • tens of thousands (deaths per year) — road deaths prevented each year by guardrails, rumble strips and roundabouts · for people · as of 2025-05-16 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-16 · No One Knows When They Don't Die — Hank says modern building codes mean earthquakes and hurricanes kill far fewer people than they used to. (00:01:56)
• 2025-05-16 · No One Knows When They Don't Die — Hank says that beyond the huge difference between the 1850s and now, food safety initiatives have decreased foodborne illnesses 65% since 1998. (00:01:56)
  • 65% (percent) — decrease in foodborne illnesses since 1998 · for people · as of 1998-present · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-30 · My Rare 'Disorder' — Hank says sleep scientists find that early birds and night owls are often, though not always, pre-programmed to have different sleep phases. (00:01:27)
• 2025-05-30 · My Rare 'Disorder' — Hank explains that mixed sleep phases helped evolving human groups cover night hours for caregiving or keeping watch; perfectly matched phases would have been a liability. (00:01:56)
• 2025-05-30 · My Rare 'Disorder' — Hank says some people, likely including him, have a sleep phase starting more than a couple hours after average; this is fairly rare among adults and more common in young people. — hedged: “we think” (00:01:56)
  • more than a couple hours — delay of sleep-phase onset after the average · for people with a delayed sleep phase · as of 2025-05-30 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-30 · My Rare 'Disorder' — Hank says that, possibly, getting older helps too, since age sometimes brings earlier bedtimes. — hedged: “possibly” (00:05:00)
• 2025-05-30 · My Rare 'Disorder' — Hank says a disorder need not be a mechanical failure: psychiatry's diagnostic manual (quoted by name) defines it by clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning, without asking whether the impairment would exist in a different world. (00:06:40)
• 2025-08-01 · We Stole a Man's Blood — Hank says joining DKMS takes an easy cheek swab, and over several years about 2% of those who send one are emailed that they are a bone marrow match who could save a life. (00:00:00)
  • 2% — share of swabbed registrants emailed as a bone marrow match over several years · for DKMS registrants · as of 2025-08-01 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-01 · We Stole a Man's Blood — Hank says marrow donation, reputedly very painful, is now much easier: donors get a drug that releases marrow cells into the blood, so they are collected from the blood. (00:00:29)
• 2025-08-01 · We Stole a Man's Blood — Hank says the NIH's National Cancer Institute was very important in organizing the clinical trials that tested the method and made sure it could be done safely. (00:01:41)
• 2025-08-01 · We Stole a Man's Blood — Hank says donating marrow now means taking drugs for about a week, then going in for something much like giving blood, though it takes much longer. (00:02:11)
  • about a week — time donors take drugs before bone marrow donation · for bone marrow donors · as of 2025-08-01 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-01 · We Stole a Man's Blood — Hank explains a transplant: the recipient's marrow is killed and the donor's put in, repopulating the bones and making the blood their own marrow failed to make. (00:02:40)
• 2025-08-01 · We Stole a Man's Blood — Hank says donors don't know whom they help, only that someone needs their marrow. (00:02:40)
• 2025-08-01 · We Stole a Man's Blood — Hank says a better match makes the recipient's life easier, better and probably longer. — hedged: “probably” (00:03:39)
• 2025-08-12 · On Balance — John says balance is a sense, or part of one: the idea of only five senses is an oversimplification, as there are also nociception and proprioception, of which balance is part. (00:00:12)
  • five — number of human senses in the common view (called an oversimplification) · for humans · as of 2025-08-12 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-12 · On Balance — John says a kind of vertigo called, he thinks, BPPV can be cured by the Epley maneuver within seconds without further tests. — hedged: “I think” (00:01:50)
• 2025-09-23 · Why Can't I Take My Meds? — John says failure to take medication appropriately is a huge problem: something like 50% of prescriptions for chronic conditions are not taken as prescribed. — hedged: “something like” (00:00:29)
  • 50% (percent) — share of prescriptions not taken as prescribed · for prescriptions for chronic conditions · as of 2025-09-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-23 · Why Can't I Take My Meds? — John says so-called patient non-compliance contributes to over 125,000 deaths a year in the United States alone, about as many as die from murder and diabetes combined. (00:00:29)
  • over 125,000 (deaths) — deaths to which medication non-adherence contributes · for people in the United States · in United States · as of 2025-09-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-23 · Why Can't I Take My Meds? — John says cost can't be the whole story, since non-compliance is still very common even in countries where medication is free. (00:01:27)
• 2025-09-23 · Why Can't I Take My Meds? — John says researchers have identified about 80 factors that keep people from taking their medication, from forgetfulness to pills too big to swallow. (00:01:27)
  • about 80 (factors) — identified factors behind medication non-adherence · for patients · as of 2025-09-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-23 · Why Can't I Take My Meds? — John says tuberculosis, the deadliest infectious disease, shows this: patients often feel fine within a month, but must take pills for four to six months or longer, sometimes over a thousand pills. (00:01:56)
  • four to six months — duration of tuberculosis treatment · for people treated for TB · as of 2025-09-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • over a thousand pills — number of pills in a tuberculosis treatment course (upper range) · for people treated for TB · as of 2025-09-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-23 · Why Can't I Take My Meds? — John says TB patients must take the pills as prescribed to maximize the chance of cure and minimize the chance the infection returns with drug resistance. (00:02:26)
• 2025-09-23 · Why Can't I Take My Meds? — John says it is natural for about half of children to die before five, and for people to die of polio and smallpox or catch bovine tuberculosis from raw cow milk. (00:04:22)
  • about half (share) — children dying before age five in a natural state · for children · as of 2025-09-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-23 · Why Can't I Take My Meds? — John says depression itself is a significant risk factor for non-adherence, a cycle for him: skipping his depression medication deepens depression, making it harder to take. (00:04:22)
• 2025-09-23 · Why Can't I Take My Meds? — John says patients may also mistrust their provider's advice or fear side effects, and many factors can overlap to make taking medication very difficult. (00:04:52)
• 2025-09-23 · Why Can't I Take My Meds? — John says researchers have tested tools from pill bottles that record their last opening to pill boxes, and none works; in the data only habit tracking does. (00:04:52)
• 2025-11-10 · My Cancer Treatment was Not Cutting Edge — Hank explains that doctors call a cancer patient cured once the odds of recurrence fall low enough to be surprising; for most cancers this is about five years. (00:00:00)
  • about five years — time after which a cancer patient is called cured · for patients with most cancers · as of 2025-11-10 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-10 · My Cancer Treatment was Not Cutting Edge — Hank says that after 10 years a returning cancer is treated as a second cancer rather than a relapse, with a different treatment. (00:00:29)
  • 10 years — time after which a returning cancer is treated as a new cancer rather than a relapse · for cancer patients · as of 2025-11-10 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-10 · My Cancer Treatment was Not Cutting Edge — Hank says the chemo cocktail he received became the standard treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma in the late 1970s. (00:00:58)
  • late 1970s (date) — when Hank's chemo cocktail became standard treatment · for Hodgkin lymphoma patients · as of 2025-11-10 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-10 · My Cancer Treatment was Not Cutting Edge — Hank says his chemo drugs are known for causing vomiting, but are now given with pretreatments that fight nausea in advance, plus an escalating series of safely overlapping nausea meds at home. (00:01:56)
• 2025-11-10 · My Cancer Treatment was Not Cutting Edge — Hank says the drugs are the same but the amount given has changed a lot since 1979, when the idea was to give as much as patients could handle for as long as they could. (00:02:55)
  • 1979 (year) — year since which chemo dosing has changed a lot · for cancer patients · as of 2025-11-10 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-10 · My Cancer Treatment was Not Cutting Edge — Hank says that because the full treatment cured Hodgkin's, it was hard to get doctors and patients to agree to research trying smaller doses. (00:02:55)
• 2025-11-10 · My Cancer Treatment was Not Cutting Edge — Hank says the drugs he took carry serious long-term risks: possible permanent lung or heart-muscle damage and higher risk of other cancers. (00:03:24)

Books & writing (41)

• 2025-01-21 · Do Audiobooks Count As Reading? — John says audiobooks were then a very small business and most books never came out on audio. (00:00:41)
• 2025-01-21 · Do Audiobooks Count As Reading? — John says a lot of research indicates most people retain information better from audiobooks than from printed books, so audio is the ideal way for many to read. (00:02:17)
  • most people — share of people who retain information better from audiobooks than from print · for people · as of 2025-01-21 (implied: upload date) · no source named · doubtful
• 2025-03-18 · ITS ALL HAPPENING — John credits the book's partners, from tuberculosis researchers like Dr. Carole Mitnick and tuberculosis doctors like Dr. Girum Tefera to survivors like his friend Henry. (00:02:51)
• 2025-03-18 · ITS ALL HAPPENING — John says US government spending cuts mean, by one estimate, a probable 30% increase in drug-resistant tuberculosis in the next couple of years. — hedged: “probably” (00:03:20)
  • 30% (percent) — projected increase in drug-resistant tuberculosis over the next couple of years · for drug-resistant tuberculosis cases · as of 2025-03-18 (implied: upload date) · source: one estimate · unchecked
• 2025-03-25 · Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday — John says Louis Schneider, the 1931 Indy 500 winner, survived a very dangerous racing career but then died of tuberculosis at 40. (00:00:00)
  • 40 (years) — age at death from tuberculosis of Louis Schneider · for Louis Schneider · as of 2025-03-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-03-25 · Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday — Asked to connect Taylor Swift to TB, John cites a line of her song about the lakes as a reference to England's Lake District, where poets and others with tuberculosis were often sent to recover. (00:00:00)
• 2025-03-25 · Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday — John says Keats wrote 'I shall learn poetry here' while visiting the Lake District, and went on to die of tuberculosis at just 24. (00:00:29)
  • 24 (years) — age at death from tuberculosis of John Keats · for John Keats · as of 2025-03-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-03-25 · Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday — John says Dr Pepper was invented by pharmacist Charles Alderton, who wanted a soda that recreated the smell of his pharmacy's soda fountain in Waco, Texas. (00:00:29)
• 2025-03-25 · Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday — John's favorite fact cut from the book: Ringo Starr had TB as a young child, learned to drum out of boredom in a sanatorium, and survived thanks to newly available curative treatment. (00:01:27)
• 2025-03-25 · Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday — John says survival should have been the case for everyone with TB since it became curable in the 1950s, but tragically we have since allowed over 150 million people to die of it. (00:01:56)
  • over 150 million (people) — deaths from tuberculosis since it became curable in the 1950s · for people with tuberculosis · in the world · as of 2025-03-25 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-03-25 · Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday — John says Modern Health Crusader coins were minted by the US National Tuberculosis Association in the early twentieth century as a fundraiser against TB, like the Crash Course coin. (00:02:26)
• 2025-03-25 · Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday — John says NIH funding cuts are severely affecting TB research: a planned trial of a cheap tongue-swab TB test, like a strep throat test, was abandoned along with others. (00:02:55)
• 2025-03-25 · Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday — John recalls that when Hank got Hodgkin lymphoma he said it has a 93% cure rate for those who can access treatment and a 20-70% cure rate in low- and middle-income countries. (00:03:24)
  • 93% (percent) — Hodgkin lymphoma cure rate · for patients who can access treatment · as of 2025-03-25 (implied: upload date) · source: Hank · unchecked
  • 20-70% (percent) — Hodgkin lymphoma cure rate · for patients · in low- and middle-income countries · as of 2025-03-25 (implied: upload date) · source: Hank · unchecked
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — In a comment John says bulk buying (e.g. by megachurches) is a common way onto the list; the NYT sometimes marks such books with a little symbol few readers understand. (creator comment)
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — John says the New York Times' obscure, somewhat opaque tabulations ask lots of bookstores, weighted toward independent ones, what is selling each week. (00:00:29)
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — John says selling 50,000 books in a single week almost guarantees a #1 New York Times bestseller, unless you are up against something like The Hunger Games. (00:00:29)
  • 50,000 (copies) — weekly sales that almost guarantee a #1 NYT bestseller · for books · in United States · as of 2025-07-01 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — John says the new Hunger Games book came out the same day as his but did not compete, being fiction for kids while his is nonfiction for adults. (00:00:58)
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — John explains there are many New York Times lists (nonfiction; advice, how-to and miscellaneous; graphic novels; audiobooks), so this week (week of 30 June 2025) alone there are 15 different #1 bestsellers. (00:00:58)
  • 15 (books) — number of #1 New York Times bestsellers in one week · for NYT bestseller lists · in United States · as of 2025-07 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — John says there are hundreds of different #1 New York Times bestsellers each year, so it might seem an unimpressive accomplishment. (00:01:27)
  • hundreds (books) — number of #1 NYT bestsellers per year · for NYT bestseller lists · in United States · as of 2025-07-01 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — John says some of this week's (week of 30 June 2025) #1 New York Times bestsellers sell seven or eight thousand copies in a week. (00:01:27)
  • seven or eight thousand (copies) — weekly sales of some #1 NYT bestsellers · for #1 NYT bestsellers · in United States · as of 2025-07 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — John thinks the new Hunger Games book sold 750,000 copies in a week. — hedged: “I think” (00:01:27)
  • 750,000 (copies) — first-week sales · for the new Hunger Games book · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — John says about 85% of traditionally published books sell fewer than 5,000 copies, and only about 0.4% sell more than 100,000. (00:01:56)
  • 85% (percent) — share of books selling fewer than 5,000 copies · for traditionally published books · in United States · as of 2025-07-01 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 0.4% (percent) — share of books selling more than 100,000 copies · for traditionally published books · in United States · as of 2025-07-01 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — John says the NYT list is famously quirky: books that should be on it sometimes aren't, because of weak independent-bookstore sales, age, or obscure reasons. (00:02:55)
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — John says the USA Today list, combining all books, better shows overall sales: Everything Is Tuberculosis is number 80 there but number 6 on the NYT nonfiction list. (00:03:24)
  • 80 (rank) — rank on the USA Today bestseller list · for Everything Is Tuberculosis · in United States · as of 2025-07 · no source named · unchecked
  • 6 (rank) — rank on the NYT nonfiction bestseller list · for Everything Is Tuberculosis · in United States · as of 2025-07 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-01 · What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means — To be fair to the Times, John says only 5 of the 79 books ahead of his on USA Today would qualify for the nonfiction list, so here it is fairly accurate. (00:03:24)
  • 5 (books) — books ahead of Everything Is Tuberculosis on USA Today eligible for the NYT nonfiction list · for 79 books ahead of it on the USA Today list · in United States · as of 2025-07 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-21 · Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective — The description corrects the video: all Call of Duty games combined have sold over 500,000,000 copies, not Black Ops 6 alone. (video description)
  • over 500,000,000 (copies) — copies sold of all Call of Duty games combined · for Call of Duty games · as of 2025-10-21 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-21 · Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective — John says the single video game Call of Duty Black Ops 6 sold more copies than all books for adults combined in the United States in 2024. (00:00:20)
  • sold more copies than All books for adults combined — copies sold of Call of Duty Black Ops 6 compared with all adult books · for books for adults · in United States · as of 2024 · no source named · speaker error
• 2025-10-21 · Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective — John says about 30% of books from major publishers sell fewer than 1,000 copies, and around 90% sell fewer than 10,000. — hedged: “About” (00:00:29)
  • 30% (percent) — share of books selling fewer than 1,000 copies · for books published by major publishers · as of 2025-10-21 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 90% (percent) — share of books selling fewer than 10,000 copies · for books published by major publishers · as of 2025-10-21 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-21 · Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective — John says the best-selling book of 2024 sold about 1.6 million copies, while the year's best-selling movie sold about 80 million theater seats, in a business said to be in structural decline. — hedged: “about” (00:00:29)
  • 1.6 million (copies) — copies sold by the best-selling book of the year · for books · as of 2024 · no source named · unchecked
  • 80 million (theater seats) — theater seats sold by the best-selling movie of the year · for movies · as of 2024 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-21 · Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective — John says about 75% of American adults report reading a book in the last year, and younger adults are more likely to have done so than older adults. — hedged: “about” (00:01:01)
  • 75% (percent) — share reporting having read a book in the last year · for American adults · in United States · as of 2025-10-21 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-21 · Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective — John says parts of publishing are growing, such as audiobooks and independent publishing, with over a million titles published independently this year (2025), a significant part of the e-book market. (00:01:30)
  • over a million (titles) — titles published independently in the year · for independently published books · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-21 · Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective — John says there are more independent bookstores in the US now than when Looking for Alaska came out in 2005, and more ways to support them online, such as Bookshop.org. (00:01:59)
  • more independent bookstores — number of independent bookstores compared with 2005 · for independent bookstores · in United States · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-21 · Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective — John says publishing is in a bit of a decline: per Publishers Weekly, year-over-year sales for the most recent month are down around 10%, which he calls pretty dramatic. — hedged: “around” (00:02:28)
  • 10% (percent) — year-over-year change in book sales for the most recent month · for book publishing · in United States · as of 2025-10-21 (implied: upload date) · source: Publishers Weekly · unchecked
• 2025-10-21 · Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective — John says that while most people report reading at least one book in the last year, only about 20% report reading at least 10. — hedged: “about” (00:02:53)
  • 20% (percent) — share reporting having read at least 10 books in the last year · for adults · as of 2025-10-21 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-21 · Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective — John says his book The Fault in Our Stars costs around $8 for 8 to 10 hours of entertainment, less than a dollar per hour, which he thinks is a good deal. (00:03:23)
  • $8 (USD) — price of The Fault in Our Stars · for copies of The Fault in Our Stars · as of 2025-10-21 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 8 to 10 hours — hours of entertainment from reading the book · for readers · as of 2025-10-21 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-21 · Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective — John says hardcover books can now cost $27 or $30, while TikTok and Instagram are free unless you count the cost of your attention. (00:03:52)
  • $27 or $30 (USD) — price of a hardcover book · for hardcover books · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-24 · What Will Books Become? — Hank notes books did not always rely on paper: thousands of years ago in China, bamboo was split into thin strips bound together into something book-like. (00:00:29)
  • thousands of years ago — age of bamboo-strip books · for bamboo-strip books · in China · as of 2025-10-24 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-24 · What Will Books Become? — Hank says, he thinks, that the longest ancient scroll is about 24 feet long. — hedged: “I think I looked this up” (00:00:58)
  • 24 feet — length of the longest ancient scroll · for ancient scrolls · as of 2025-10-24 (implied: upload date) · no source named · doubtful
• 2025-10-24 · What Will Books Become? — Hank says chapters have shortened a lot over the last few decades. (00:03:04)
  • shortened a lot — length of book chapters · for books · as of last few decades (resolved: up to 2025, from the upload date 2025-10-24) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-24 · What Will Books Become? — Hank says that for a long period books were often published as serials, like subscription magazines carrying pieces of stories, before being bound into a single volume. (00:03:34)
• 2025-10-24 · What Will Books Become? — Hank points out John is doing serial publishing right now with his secret Patreon, which Hank thinks is not currently accepting new members. — hedged: “I think” (00:04:03)

Projects (29)

• 2025-03-11 · Hank Green's Brother — John says Hank's ideas the Awesome Socks Club and Sun Basin Soap have raised millions of dollars for a Maternal Center of Excellence in Sierra Leone. (00:00:49)
  • millions of dollars (USD) — money raised for the Maternal Center of Excellence by the Awesome Socks Club and Sun Basin Soap · for Awesome Socks Club and Sun Basin Soap · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-03-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-03-11 · Hank Green's Brother — John says Hank's idea SciShow has reached hundreds of millions of people with reliable information about science. (00:00:56)
  • hundreds of millions (people) — people reached by SciShow · for SciShow audience · as of 2025-03-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-18 · This one's for your mom — Hank passes on his friend's point that back-breeding is possible and done with other animals, though people would never do it to humans. (00:02:57)
• 2025-04-18 · This one's for your mom — Hank explains with his friend's example that people carry 3–4% Neanderthal DNA but not the same parts, so repeatedly breeding people with different parts could approach a half-Neanderthal person. (00:02:57)
  • 3% or 4% — share of the genome that is Neanderthal DNA · for some people · as of 2025-04-18 (implied: upload date) · source: Hank's wolf-biologist friend · unchecked
• 2025-04-18 · This one's for your mom — Hank says red wolves fell to a population of 12 before captive breeding began, and some wild hybrids of red wolves with coyotes or other animals exist. (00:03:57)
  • 12 — population of purebred red wolves before captive breeding · for red wolves · as of 2025-04-18 (implied: upload date) · source: Hank's wolf-biologist friend · unchecked
• 2025-04-18 · This one's for your mom — Hank says his friend is helping investigate wild wolf hybrids with about 30 percent DNA that can't be accounted for, called ghost wolves, a name he loves. (00:04:22)
  • 30 percent (%) — share of DNA that cannot be accounted for · for wild wolf hybrids called ghost wolves · as of 2025-04-18 (implied: upload date) · source: Hank's wolf-biologist friend · unchecked
• 2025-05-23 · I Can’t Believe How Few People it Takes. — Hank says a recent American Historical Association report lists Crash Course as the second most popular resource for history teachers in the US, after US government institutions. (00:01:36)
  • second — popularity rank of Crash Course among resources used by history teachers · for history teachers · in United States · as of 2025-05-23 (implied: upload date) · source: American Historical Association · unchecked
• 2025-05-23 · I Can’t Believe How Few People it Takes. — Hank says education is the second largest industry in the US, with costs and value created both in the trillions of dollars per year. (00:01:50)
  • second largest — rank of education among industries · in United States · as of 2025-05-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • trillions of dollars (USD/year) — annual costs and value created by education · in United States · as of 2025-05-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-23 · I Can’t Believe How Few People it Takes. — Hank says Crash Course is used in over 90% of US high schools and colleges, yet its total budget is less than a single 22-minute sitcom episode. (00:01:56)
  • over 90% — share of high schools and colleges using Crash Course · for high schools and colleges · in United States · as of 2025-05-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • less than a single 22 minute episode of a sitcom — Crash Course total budget compared with the cost of a sitcom episode · for Crash Course · as of 2025-05-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-23 · I Can’t Believe How Few People it Takes. — Hank says fewer people support Crash Course financially than live in Havre, Montana, a town of under 10,000 people. (00:02:26)
  • less than the population of Haver, Montana — number of people who support Crash Course financially · for Crash Course financial supporters · as of 2025-05-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • doesn't have 10,000 people — population of Havre, Montana · in Havre, Montana · as of 2025-05-23 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-08 · I'm Glad I Ignored That Billionaire — John says MeUndies has hundreds of thousands of positive reviews for its underwear, so they are the right partners. (00:03:43)
  • hundreds of thousands — positive reviews of MeUndies underwear · for MeUndies · as of 2025-08-08 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-19 · The Problem with My Brother's Hit New App — John says that as of recording Hank's app Focus Friend is the most popular app in the United States, ahead of ChatGPT, TikTok, Gmail and all others. (00:00:03)
  • number one — app popularity ranking · for phone apps · in United States · as of 2025-08-19 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-19 · The Problem with My Brother's Hit New App — John explains Focus Friend: a bean likes to knit but is distracted whenever you use your phone; focus mode lets it knit while you work away from the phone, and its socks decorate your room. (00:00:30)
• 2025-11-24 · Good Store Holiday Gift Guide LIVE with Hank and John — John says Good Store has donated over $11 million to charity, though in its first year or two it donated less than a million dollars. (00:11:29)
  • over 11 million dollars (USD) — total donated to charity · for Good Store · as of 2025-11 · no source named · unchecked
  • less than a million dollars (USD) — donations per year in its first year or two · for Good Store · as of 2025-11-24 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-24 · Good Store Holiday Gift Guide LIVE with Hank and John — John says Good Store now donates about two and a half million dollars a year. (00:11:51)
  • two and a half million (USD/year) — donations per year · for Good Store · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-24 · Good Store Holiday Gift Guide LIVE with Hank and John — John says, as a Reddit post noticed, Good Store donated far more in 2023 than this year (2025) or last; this year (2025) will probably be a little up on last year (2024) but down from 2023. — hedged: “probably” (00:11:51)
  • way more — donations in 2023 compared with 2024 and 2025 · for Good Store · as of 2023 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-24 · Good Store Holiday Gift Guide LIVE with Hank and John — John says Newman's Own donates all its money to charity and has donated hundreds of millions of dollars. (00:36:22)
  • hundreds of millions of dollars (USD) — total donated to charity · for Newman's Own · as of 2025-11-24 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-11-24 · Good Store Holiday Gift Guide LIVE with Hank and John — John says he and Paul Newman, who went to Kenyon at a different time, are both IndyCar fans; Newman was a huge motor-racing fan who raced and owned a racing team. (00:39:39)
• 2025-12-09 · Hank Green, from A to Z — John says An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, Hank's first novel, was an instant number one New York Times bestseller, about an art student who late one night discovers a statue that might be alive. (00:00:00)
  • number one (rank) — New York Times bestseller list rank of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing · in United States · as of 2025-12-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-12-09 · Hank Green, from A to Z — John says Dear Hank and John, a weekly podcast, has dispensed advice plus the news from Mars and AFC Wimbledon for over 10 years. (00:00:58)
  • over 10 years — time Dear Hank and John has been running · as of 2025-12-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-12-09 · Hank Green, from A to Z — John says a Hank invention (Good Store, named in a lost passage) has for several years donated millions of dollars a year to charity by selling socks, coffee and other things, like Newman's Own. (00:01:29)
  • millions of dollars (USD) — annual charity donations from Good Store sales · as of 2025-12-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-12-09 · Hank Green, from A to Z — John says Hank helped fund the Maternal Center of Excellence at Koidu's government hospital, which triples the region's maternal beds and gives Sierra Leone its first ever NICU. (00:02:26)
  • triples — number of maternal beds available in the region · in Koidu region, Sierra Leone · as of 2025-12-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-12-09 · Hank Green, from A to Z — John says The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a YouTube-based Pride and Prejudice adaptation that became wildly popular about 13 or 14 years ago, won Hank his Emmy. (00:02:26)
  • about 13, 14 years ago — time since The Lizzie Bennet Diaries became popular · as of 2025-12-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-12-09 · Hank Green, from A to Z — John says Hank, with his band the Perfect Strangers, is a Billboard-charting artist who has released three albums of what might be called nerd rock. (00:02:55)
  • three (albums) — albums released by Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers · as of 2025-12-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-12-12 · The Economics of a YouTube White Noise Video — Hank says the White Noise for Charity video has 547,000 views, good especially since it started below average. (00:00:29)
  • 547,000 (views) — views of Hank's White Noise for Charity video · as of 2025-12 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-12-12 · The Economics of a YouTube White Noise Video — Hank explains that YouTube Premium money, after a share goes to record labels, is split between YouTube channels by watch time. (00:01:27)
• 2025-12-12 · The Economics of a YouTube White Noise Video — Hank says the analytics show the video has raised over $10,000 for Partners In Health since upload. (00:01:27)
  • over $10,000 (USD) — revenue raised for Partners In Health by Hank's White Noise for Charity video · as of 2025-12 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-12-12 · The Economics of a YouTube White Noise Video — Although the summary credits watch-page ads, the breakdown shows about $8,800 came from YouTube Premium and only $1,300 from ads, the far smaller piece. (00:01:27)
  • 8,000. 800 (USD) — revenue from YouTube Premium for Hank's White Noise for Charity video · as of 2025-12 · no source named · unchecked
  • $1,300 (USD) — ad revenue for Hank's White Noise for Charity video · as of 2025-12 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-12-12 · The Economics of a YouTube White Noise Video — Discounting the unfinished current month, Hank says the video fairly consistently makes about $1,000 a month. (00:02:26)
  • about $1,000 (USD) — monthly revenue of Hank's White Noise for Charity video · as of 2025-12 · no source named · unchecked

History & curiosities (19)

• 2025-03-21 · The Second Most Important Book in Dublin — Hank says the Old Library holds very old books including the Book of Kells, gospels of the Bible illustrated and illuminated by unknown artists. (00:00:00)
• 2025-03-21 · The Second Most Important Book in Dublin — Hank says the Book of Kells lost its jeweled cover in a Viking raid, lay in a bog for three months before recovery, survived, and can be seen in Dublin. (00:00:00)
  • three months — time the Book of Kells lay in a bog before it was recovered · for Book of Kells · in Ireland · as of 2025-03-21 (implied: upload date) · no source named · doubtful
• 2025-03-21 · The Second Most Important Book in Dublin — Hank retells a story he was told: a college president (name given as Leckie) opposed admitting women, died the day the first woman was admitted, and women graduates now pose with his statue. — hedged: “I guess” (00:01:24)
• 2025-05-02 · I Found the Dumbest Time Zone — Hank says an uninhabited island and its neighbour, US government property managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service, are the reason there are 26 hours in a day. (00:00:00)
  • 26 (hours) — hours in a day across Earth's time zones · in Earth · as of 2025-05-02 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-02 · I Found the Dumbest Time Zone — Hank says China has only one time zone and no daylight saving time. (00:01:37)
  • one (time) — number of time zones · in China · as of 2025-05-02 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-02 · I Found the Dumbest Time Zone — Hank says China chose Beijing time rather than a central point, so far western China runs on distant time, and crossing into Afghanistan shifts clocks by three and a half hours. (00:02:06)
  • three and a half hours — clock change at the border · in China–Afghanistan border · as of 2025-05-02 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-02 · I Found the Dumbest Time Zone — Hank says India, the most populous nation, is on UTC plus 5 hours 30 minutes. (00:02:35)
  • UTC plus 5 hours and 30 minutes — time zone offset · in India · as of 2025-05-02 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-02 · I Found the Dumbest Time Zone — Hank says Nepal and part of New Zealand have 45-minute offsets; Nepal first used Kathmandu's local solar time, UTC+5:41, then compromised on UTC+5:45. (00:03:34)
  • UTC plus 5 hours and 41 minutes — original time zone offset · in Nepal · as of 2025-05-02 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • UTC plus 5 hours and 45 minutes — current time zone offset · in Nepal · as of 2025-05-02 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-02 · I Found the Dumbest Time Zone — Hank says time zones stop mattering at the poles, so individual Antarctic bases pick the time most useful to them, usually that of whoever supplies them. (00:04:03)
• 2025-05-02 · I Found the Dumbest Time Zone — Hank says the uninhabited islands are the only place on Earth on UTC minus 12; some countries used it once but stopped. (00:04:32)
  • UTC minus 12 — time zone offset · in Baker Island and its neighbour · as of 2025-05-02 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-02 · I Found the Dumbest Time Zone — Hank says this makes more than 24 hours in a day: travelling from Baker Island to the Phoenix Islands moves your clock 25 hours. (00:05:01)
  • 25 hours — clock change crossing the time zone border · in Baker Island to the Phoenix Islands · as of 2025-05-02 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-02 · I Found the Dumbest Time Zone — Hank says UTC+13 and UTC+14 were made up, UTC+14 in 1992, because Kiribati spanned the international date line and was tired of half the country being in a different day. (00:05:31)
  • 1992 — year the UTC+14 time zone was created · in Kiribati · as of 2025-05-02 (implied: upload date) · no source named · doubtful
• 2025-08-22 · Are Languages Alive? — Hank gives 'how do you do' turning into 'howdy' as an example of words changing to be easier to say. (00:01:27)
• 2025-08-22 · Are Languages Alive? — Hank says natural selection selects for this: a trait that lets something make more of itself becomes more common. (00:03:00)
• 2025-10-17 · We Never Know What Anything Means — Hank learned from the episode that passenger pigeons could not have gone extinct without the telegraph. (00:01:03)
• 2025-10-17 · We Never Know What Anything Means — Hank explains that the vast pigeon flocks roosted fairly at random depending on the trees, so locals only occasionally got to hunt them and never took all the birds. (00:01:15)
• 2025-10-17 · We Never Know What Anything Means — Once the telegraph spread across the eastern US, people sent word of where the birds were and hunted them en masse; with canning and rail reaching distant markets, this did the passenger pigeon in. (00:01:41)
• 2025-10-17 · We Never Know What Anything Means — a guest: The Endlings clip says Martha died on September 1, 1914, in Cincinnati, Ohio, aged 29, and with her the passenger pigeon became extinct. (00:05:46)
  • September 1, 1914 — date of death of Martha, the last passenger pigeon · for Martha · in Cincinnati, Ohio · as of 1914 · no source named · unchecked
  • 29 (years) — age of Martha at death · for Martha · in Cincinnati, Ohio · as of 2025-10-17 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-17 · We Never Know What Anything Means — a guest: The clip says passenger pigeons, a few hundred years earlier, numbered an estimated 3 to 5 billion, darkened the sky for hours, and made up as much as 40% of North America's birds. (00:06:08)
  • between 3 and 5 billion (birds) — estimated passenger pigeon population · for passenger pigeons · in North America · as of 2025-10-17 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 40% (percent) — passenger pigeon share of total bird population (maximum) · for birds · in North America · as of 2025-10-17 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked

Everyday life (16)

• 2025-01-03 · My 2025 Bingo Card — Hank explains that Earth's spin is unrelated to its orbit around the sun, so a year is not a whole number of days but 365.24-something, and humans patch this with years that have extra days. (00:00:44)
  • 365.24 something (days) — length of the year in days · as of 2025-01-03 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-03 · My 2025 Bingo Card — Hank says that a hundred years ago one in five children in the US died before age five. (00:02:57)
  • one in five — share of children dying before age five · for children · in United States · as of a hundred years ago (resolved: c. 1925, from the upload date 2025-01-03) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-03 · My 2025 Bingo Card — Doubting that a giant growth in a photo is a potato, Hank reads a New York Times report: a New Zealand couple's giant growth, Doug, submitted to Guinness, proved by DNA to be a gourd tuber, not a potato. (00:03:34)
• 2025-06-06 · The Secret Inside my MIT Commencement Speech — Hank recalls that Mark Rober gave the MIT commencement a couple of years ago and represented himself by having his graduation cap fly away, which inspired Hank to capture the brothers' own way of working. (00:00:58)
• 2025-06-06 · The Secret Inside my MIT Commencement Speech — Hank says it took three billion years to go from the first single-celled organisms to this graduation, more than a quarter of the life of the universe. (00:19:10)
  • three billion years — time from the first single-celled organisms to the present · for life on Earth · as of 2025-06-06 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • more than a quarter (fraction) — that span as a share of the age of the universe · for universe · as of 2025-06-06 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John says strong evidence for harvesting and brewing coffee goes back only to the 15th century. (00:00:29)
  • 15th century — earliest strong evidence of coffee harvesting and brewing · as of 2025-09-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John says that means humans may have lived without coffee for 98% of human history, which he calls terrible to imagine. — hedged: “may” (00:00:29)
  • 98% (percent) — share of human history lived without coffee · for humans · as of 2025-09-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John says coffee was certainly brewed by the 15th century in Yemen by Sufi mystics who stayed up late or rose early for their religious rituals. (00:00:58)
  • 15th century — date by which coffee was brewed · for Sufi mystics · in Yemen · as of 2025-09-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John says an early use of coffee in Europe was likewise religious: priests, monks and nuns drank it to wake early for predawn prayers. (00:00:58)
• 2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John says coffee was seen as good for health, especially the gut, with people from Africa to the Americas to Europe praising it for the stomach. (00:00:58)
• 2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John says coffee is associated with longer life, correlatively not causally: people who drink between one and a half and three and a half cups live longer. (00:01:27)
  • one and a half (cups) — lower bound of coffee intake associated with longer life · for coffee drinkers · as of 2025-09-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • three and a half (cups) — upper bound of coffee intake associated with longer life · for coffee drinkers · as of 2025-09-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John says that by the 17th century coffee was well established throughout most of Afro-Eurasia. (00:01:27)
  • 17th century — date by which coffee was well established · in Afro-Eurasia · as of 2025-09-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John says tea has a much longer history, at least 2,200 years, when it was definitely consumed in China. (00:01:27)
  • 2,200 (years) — minimum age of tea drinking · in China · as of 2025-09-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John concedes Hank is right that tea is more popular than coffee. (00:02:26)
• 2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John says that in Nerdfighteria and adjacent spaces coffee is more popular than tea, since good.store has more coffee subscribers than tea subscribers. (00:02:26)
• 2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John notes that caffeine is addictive and people can become physically dependent on it. (00:02:55)

Nerdfighteria (13)

• 2025-02-18 · Gastrointestinal Hypermotility in Tuatara — John says over 10,000 people came together in the P4A and raised $3.6 million and counting while having a good time and being good to each other. (00:01:27)
  • over 10,000 (people) — people taking part in P4A 2025 · as of 2025-02 · no source named · unchecked
  • 3.6 million (USD) — money raised by P4A 2025 so far · as of 2025-02 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-02-18 · Gastrointestinal Hypermotility in Tuatara — John says that over its history the Project for Awesome has raised over $25 million for charity, which none of them could have done alone. (00:03:24)
  • over 25 million (USD) — total money raised for charity by the Project for Awesome · as of 2025-02 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-15 · LLAMAS Are NOT What You Think — Asked how llamas and tuberculosis are related, John says llamas can get tuberculosis, and so can fish. (00:01:06)
• 2025-07-15 · LLAMAS Are NOT What You Think — Hank corrects John: the fish bones that look like legs are not vestigial, though in the coelacanth they may as well be. (00:03:05)
• 2025-07-15 · LLAMAS Are NOT What You Think — Hank explains llama wool: keratinocytes fill with keratin, a cytoskeletal protein, die and stick together into hair that is pushed slowly outward, just like human hair. (00:05:35)
• 2025-07-15 · LLAMAS Are NOT What You Think — Hank says baldness happens when the chemical signals telling the body to make hair stop being received, because they are not made or the receptors break down. — hedged: “or something like that” (00:06:22)
• 2025-08-05 · ONE TAKE JOHNNY — John, who lacks visual imagination, calls it one of the magics of being human that Magnus Carlsen can play eight blindfold chess games at once. (00:06:38)
  • eight — simultaneous blindfold chess games Magnus Carlsen can play · for Magnus Carlsen · as of 2025-08-05 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-08-05 · ONE TAKE JOHNNY — Hank says Isaac Asimov's collected letters include one calling signing a book for someone the most gratifying thing, and one 30 or 40 years later dreading signing another. (00:14:05)
  • 30, 40 (years) — time between Asimov's letter delighting in book signing and his letter tired of it · for Isaac Asimov · as of 2025-08-05 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-16 · After seven long years… — John says each brother has made 1,250 Vlogbrothers videos, and Hank many more counting Hank's channel. (00:00:58)
  • 1,250 (videos) — Vlogbrothers videos made by each brother · for John and Hank · as of 2025-09-16 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-16 · After seven long years… — John says the channel had about 9,000 subscribers after its first year and about 640,000 when Crash Course launched in early 2012 with The Fault in Our Stars, and only reached a million in March 2013. (00:01:27)
  • about 9,000 (subscribers) — Vlogbrothers YouTube subscribers after the first year · for Vlogbrothers channel · as of 2008 · no source named · unchecked
  • about 640,000 (subscribers) — Vlogbrothers YouTube subscribers at the launch of Crash Course · for Vlogbrothers channel · as of 2012 · no source named · unchecked
  • a million (subscribers) — Vlogbrothers YouTube subscribers · for Vlogbrothers channel · as of 2013-03 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-09-16 · After seven long years… — John says growth then sped up: the two millionth subscriber came in mid-2014 as The Fault in Our Stars movie took off, the three millionth in May 2017. (00:01:56)
  • two millionth (subscribers) — Vlogbrothers YouTube subscribers · for Vlogbrothers channel · as of 2014 · no source named · unchecked
  • three millionth (subscribers) — Vlogbrothers YouTube subscribers · for Vlogbrothers channel · as of 2017-05 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-03 · Is It Time to Retire? — John says an NFL career is lucrative but hard and usually brief: the average professional American football career is three and a half to six years, depending on how it is calculated. (00:00:00)
  • three and a half (years) — average professional career length (low end of range) · for professional American football players · as of 2025-10-03 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • six (years) — average professional career length (high end of range) · for professional American football players · as of 2025-10-03 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-03 · Is It Time to Retire? — John's favorite early YouTuber, Natalie Tran, is now a co-host of the Great Australian Bake Off. (00:00:29)

Sports (13)

• 2025-01-14 · So I Bought My Team a Pro Football Player — John explains AFC Wimbledon is fan-owned: each of its many thousands of owners gets the same one vote in the club's leadership. (00:00:29)
  • many thousands (owners) — number of AFC Wimbledon owners · for AFC Wimbledon fan owners · as of 2025-01-14 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-14 · So I Bought My Team a Pro Football Player — John says Wimbledon cannot spend more than it makes, having no rich owner, and is one of the only English football teams that does not lose money. (00:00:29)
• 2025-01-14 · So I Bought My Team a Pro Football Player — John says that despite one of the league's highest attendances and a wonderful stadium, Wimbledon struggles; over a recent five-year period no professional English team lost more games, though that period is over. (00:00:58)
  • five years — period in which no professional English team lost more games than AFC Wimbledon · for AFC Wimbledon · in England · as of 2025-01-14 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-14 · So I Bought My Team a Pro Football Player — John says the player is Marcus Browne, 27, an attacking midfielder who last played for Oxford United. (00:01:56)
  • 27 (years) — age · for Marcus Browne · as of 2025-01-14 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-14 · So I Bought My Team a Pro Football Player — John says Marcus spent the last few months out of professional football waiting for an opportunity, and he is proud Wimbledon can give him one. (00:02:26)
• 2025-01-14 · So I Bought My Team a Pro Football Player — John says Wimbledon are fifth in League Two, a playoff place if the season ended today. (00:03:53)
  • fifth — league position · for AFC Wimbledon · in League Two · as of 2025-01-14 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-22 · The Unimportant Things — John says AFC Wimbledon are fifth, in a playoff position near the end of the season, with the chance of becoming a third-tier English team. (00:01:56)
  • fifth — league position · for AFC Wimbledon · in England · as of 2025-04 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-20 · The Double — John says that in 1994 John Andretti drove the Indianapolis 500, then flew by helicopter to North Carolina to race the Coca-Cola 600 that evening. (00:00:29)
  • 1994 (year) — year of the first Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 double · for John Andretti · as of 2025-05-20 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-20 · The Double — John says many drivers have since attempted the 1,100-mile double, but only Tony Stewart finished every lap of both races in one day. (00:00:29)
  • 1,100 (miles) — distance of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 double · for both races combined · as of 2025-05-20 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-20 · The Double — John says the Indy 500 is the largest non-religious gathering of human beings on Earth, held in his hometown. (00:00:58)
  • largest — rank of the Indianapolis 500 among non-religious gatherings of human beings · for Indianapolis 500 crowd · in Earth · as of 2025-05-20 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-20 · The Double — John says the 1931 Indy 500 winner, Louis Schneider, survived his dangerous racing career only to die of tuberculosis at 40. (00:01:27)
  • 1931 (year) — year of Louis Schneider's Indianapolis 500 win · for Louis Schneider · as of 2025-05-20 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 40 (years) — age at death from tuberculosis · for Louis Schneider · as of 2025-05-20 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-20 · The Double — John says it has been nine years since the first double, and so nine years since AFC Wimbledon last played at Wembley. (00:03:24)
  • nine (years) — time since AFC Wimbledon last played at Wembley · for AFC Wimbledon · in Wembley Stadium · as of 2025-05-20 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-05-27 · The Longest (and best) Day — John says Speedway, Indiana, is most days a town of about 35,000, but on race day, with over 400,000 people there, it is Indiana's second-largest city. (00:00:00)
  • about 35 000 (people) — population on most days · for residents of Speedway · in Speedway, Indiana · as of 2025-05-25 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · unchecked
  • over 400 000 (people) — attendance on Indianapolis 500 race day · for people at the race · in Speedway, Indiana · as of 2025-05-25 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · unchecked
  • second largest — rank among Indiana cities on race day · for Speedway on race day · in Indiana · as of 2025-05-25 (implied: date said in the video) · no source named · unchecked

Personal life (12)

• 2025-01-07 · The Format but it hurts to stand up — John says that when he was a kid about 1.8 million people died of tuberculosis each year; now it is around 1.25 million. (00:01:32)
  • 1.8 million (deaths/year) — annual tuberculosis deaths · for worldwide · in the world · as of John's childhood · no source named · unchecked
  • 1.25 million (deaths/year) — annual tuberculosis deaths · for worldwide · in the world · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-07 · The Format but it hurts to stand up — John says that at the current rate of decline, 33% over 40 years, it will take over a century to get TB deaths much below 500,000 a year, which is absurd for a curable, preventable disease. (00:01:47)
  • 33% (percent) — decline in annual tuberculosis deaths over 40 years · for worldwide · in the world · as of 2025-01-07 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • over a century (years) — projected time to bring tuberculosis deaths much below 500,000 per year at current rate · for worldwide · in the world · as of 2025-01-07 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 500,000 (deaths/year) — target level of annual tuberculosis deaths · for worldwide · in the world · as of 2025-01-07 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-24 · Am I OK? — Hank says far more of this community than of the wider SciShow audience answer SciShow fundraising calls to action; still a minority, but the response rate is much higher. (00:04:57)
  • much higher — response rate to SciShow fundraising calls to action · for Nerdfighteria compared with the SciShow audience · as of 2025-01-24 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-01-24 · Am I OK? — Hank says matching donors are proven to increase donations overall. (00:06:54)
• 2025-04-18 · I Still Don't Have Cancer (and I'm Still Scared) — Hank says that with lymphoma the swollen nodes tend not to be painful, whereas his are a little sore. (00:00:29)
• 2025-04-18 · I Still Don't Have Cancer (and I'm Still Scared) — Hank explains that the lymphatic system barely connects in the middle, so people mostly have two separate lymphatic systems, one per side; swelling on both sides suggests infection, not cancer. (00:00:29)
  • two — separate lymphatic systems · for a human body · as of 2025-04-18 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-04-18 · I Still Don't Have Cancer (and I'm Still Scared) — Reading the bundle's postcard, Hank says Sun Basin Soap donates 100% of its profit to the Maternal Center of Excellence in Sierra Leone, in a region with one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates. (00:05:48)
  • 100% (percent) — share of Sun Basin Soap profit donated to the Maternal Center of Excellence · for Sun Basin Soap · in Sierra Leone · as of 2025-04-18 (implied: upload date) · source: Sun Basin Soap · unchecked
• 2025-09-26 · I've Not Been Doing Well — Hank says the HHS sentence argues that expanded diagnostic criteria for autism have nothing to do with the increase in autism diagnoses. (00:00:25)
• 2025-09-26 · I've Not Been Doing Well — Hank says one of the risk factors for relapse is stress, which he finds hard to avoid right now. (00:04:25)
• 2025-12-16 · John Green's Brother — John reports that PEN America announced Looking for Alaska, his quiet young adult novel about grief, is the most banned book in the US over the last four years. (00:00:58)
  • the most banned — book-ban ranking · for books · in United States · as of the last four years (resolved: 2021–2025, from the upload date 2025-12-16) · source: PEN America · unchecked
• 2025-12-16 · John Green's Brother — John says the coordinated effort to ban Looking for Alaska and hundreds of other books has never been more intense. (00:00:58)
  • hundreds (books) — books targeted by the coordinated banning effort · for books · as of 2025-12-16 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-12-16 · John Green's Brother — John tells Hank and viewers they are organisms of 30 trillion cells trying to maintain homeostasis, which is not easy. (00:01:56)
  • 30 trillion (cells) — number of cells in a human body · for humans · as of 2025-12-16 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked

Internet & YouTube (10)

• 2025-06-20 · 'Influencer' Must Die. — Asked in the comments why the VidCon co-creator is only now inducted, Hank replies that the Hall of Fame was just created. (creator comment)
• 2025-06-20 · 'Influencer' Must Die. — Hank says in early YouTube you did not have to be good to get attention, so many people could build the skill and create the craft from scratch. (00:04:58)
• 2025-06-27 · You’re Not Addicted to Content, You’re Starving for Information — Hank says the first American generation that mostly did not have to worry about getting enough food is still alive. (00:02:35)
• 2025-06-27 · You’re Not Addicted to Content, You’re Starving for Information — Hank says scarcity of calories has been the human story: malnutrition has likely played a role in more human deaths than any single pathogen or weapon. — hedged: “likely” (00:02:35)
• 2025-06-27 · You’re Not Addicted to Content, You’re Starving for Information — Hank says food shortages were common up to the 1940s, extremely common in the 1930s, and unavoidable in the 1880s. (00:03:07)
  • 1940s — period up to which food shortages were common · for Americans · in United States · as of 2025-06-27 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 1930s — decade when food shortages were extremely common · for Americans · in United States · as of 2025-06-27 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 1880s — decade when avoiding food shortages was unimaginable · for Americans · in United States · as of 2025-06-27 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-07-18 · OK, but What Are The Other 403 Errors? — Hank explains that status codes are how servers, computers in big buildings storing a website's files, tell the web browser how things are going. (00:00:53)
• 2025-07-18 · OK, but What Are The Other 403 Errors? — Hank says error 418 'I am a teapot', a late-1990s joke from a mock coffee-maker protocol, is the only Easter egg he knows built into many HTTP instances; Google still reports it at google.com/teapot. — hedged: “that I know of” (00:04:18)
  • late 90s (decade) — date Error 418 was jokingly implemented · as of 2025-07-18 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-06 · The Web is Going to Die — Hank says Garnet is an exceptionally well-preserved ghost town, largely thanks to federal employees who have shored up buildings, held back the forest and protected it from fire for decades. (00:00:00)
• 2025-10-06 · The Web is Going to Die — Hank says that without one terrible fire in the 1930s there would be much more to see at Garnet, which is still among the best-preserved ghost towns in the world. (00:00:32)
  • 1930s — date of the fire that destroyed part of Garnet · for Garnet ghost town · in Garnet, Montana · as of 2025-10-06 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-06 · The Web is Going to Die — Hank says Granite, another Montana ghost town, boomed in the 1890s to over 3,000 people, more than Garnet's peak of about 1,000; Garnet was abandoned by the 1920s, but people lived in Granite in the 1960s without plumbing or electricity. (00:01:05)
  • 1890s — time of Granite's boom · for Granite · in Granite, Montana · as of 2025-10-06 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • over 3,000 (people) — peak population · for Granite · in Granite, Montana · as of 2025-10-06 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • around 1,000 (people) — peak population · for Garnet · in Garnet, Montana · as of 2025-10-06 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 1920s — time by which Garnet was entirely abandoned · for Garnet · in Garnet, Montana · as of 2025-10-06 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 1960s — time when people still lived in Granite · for Granite residents · in Granite, Montana · as of 2025-10-06 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked

Philosophy & meaning (9)

• 2025-06-17 · My Religion — John says the Bible holds contradictions that should not be reconciled: across the four Gospels Jesus has three different sets of last words. (00:03:24)
  • three (sets) — sets of Jesus's last words · for the four Gospels · as of 2025-06-17 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-06-17 · My Religion — John says LGBTQ people are marginalized and oppressed, disproportionately victims of violence, discrimination and diseases of injustice, so his faith sees God in them. (00:04:22)
• 2025-07-11 · The Ones Who Love Us — Hank says what keeps going includes the 4-billion-year story of life on Earth, the 200,000-year story of anatomically modern humans, and our language, culture and music. (00:02:41)
  • 4 billion (years) — age of life on Earth · for life · in Earth · as of 2025-07-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
  • 200,000 (years) — age of anatomically modern humans · for anatomically modern humans · in Earth · as of 2025-07-11 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-09 · I Like Being Alive — John says things are about to get weirder because a tremendous amount of content generated now is AI-generated rather than user-generated. (00:00:58)
• 2025-10-09 · I Like Being Alive — John says some individual trees in the United States are ten times older than the United States itself. (00:02:37)
  • ten times older than the United States itself — age of the oldest individual trees relative to the age of the country · for individual trees · in United States · as of 2025-10-09 (implied: upload date) · no source named · unchecked
• 2025-10-09 · I Like Being Alive — John says there are trees older than the idea of Romulus and Remus, trees that were alive when the pyramids were built. (00:02:37)
• 2025-10-09 · I Like Being Alive — John says the oldest known tree in the world, a bristlecone pine, is in the United States, and the Forest Service keeps its location secret to prevent vandalism. (00:02:37)
• 2025-10-09 · I Like Being Alive — John says the Broccoli Tree in Sweden and the Sycamore Gap tree in Britain were cut down, but both have since sprouted new life from their felled trunks. (00:03:06)
• 2025-11-21 · I Wasn't Always Like This!! — Hank says nearly half of Complexly's budget now comes from people who choose to support its work. (00:05:14)
  • nearly half (share) — share of Complexly's budget from voluntary supporters · for Complexly · as of 2025 · no source named · unchecked

Pop culture (3)

• 2025-07-29 · Dad and Daughter Play Dress to Impress — Alice Green: Alice explains the game: players dress up to a theme, other players vote on the looks, and whoever gets the most stars wins. (00:00:00)
• 2025-07-29 · Dad and Daughter Play Dress to Impress — John says a big part of the pale beauty standard dates back to tuberculosis. (00:08:52)
• 2025-07-29 · Dad and Daughter Play Dress to Impress — John says blush was originally meant to mimic the hectic fever that came with tuberculosis. (00:09:25)