Public figures: other people
986 people with no personal tie to the brothers in the registry, grouped by the field in their registry kind, most-mentioned first. Back to the people overview.
| person | date | role | what is said | video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Reider | 2023-08-15 | takes part | speaks: Henry says he is back to pursue his dreams and is so happy to be alive again. | Henry (00:04:42) |
| 2023-08-15 | subject | In 2019 John visited the Lakka TB hospital in Sierra Leone and met Henry, who shares his son's name and seemed his son's age; Henry showed him around, and John assumed he was a nurse's child. | Henry (00:00:00) | |
| 2023-09-14 | cited | Dr. Mitnick says bedaquiline was part of the regimen that finally cured Phumeza, as John saw with his friend Henry; many call it a Lazarus effect, like early antiretroviral therapy for HIV. | Talking Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, J&J, and more with MY HEROES (00:30:05) | |
| 2023-10-03 | quoted | John says his friend Henry in Sierra Leone is encouraged when he sees beauty or goodness in the world, and John now feels encouraged too. | Nourished by Leaving (00:02:26) | |
| 2024-08-06 | subject | John's friend in Sierra Leone, Henry Reider, is trying to build a well in Freetown to address the water crisis there. | What Helped Through Depression (00:01:56) | |
| 2024-10-22 | personal story | John says in 2019 he visited a tuberculosis hospital in Sierra Leone, met a boy who shared his son's name, and came home obsessed with tuberculosis. | My New Book: Everything Is Tuberculosis (00:00:33) | |
| 2024-12-10 | subject | Like most of his books, John says, it stars a smart teenager who loves poetry: Henry Reider, a young man who lived with tuberculosis for most of his childhood. | On Writing (00:03:23) | |
| 2025-03-18 | recommended | John says readers will want to follow Henry and his mother Isatu in Sierra Leone, and asks viewers to subscribe to Henry's YouTube channel, linked in the description. | ITS ALL HAPPENING (00:02:58) | |
| 2025-11-13 | cited | John says his friend Henry, an MDR-TB survivor in Sierra Leone, credits Dr. Girum Tefera and also his mother, who brought him extra food when many are abandoned by families. | Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders (00:47:09) | |
| 2025-11-24 | personal story | John tells Hank he has been traveling to Denmark and England; in Denmark he attended the Union Conference on Lung Health with Henry Reider, whom viewers know from Everything Is Tuberculosis. | Good Store Holiday Gift Guide LIVE with Hank and John (00:00:00) | |
| 2025-11-25 | subject | John recalls that Henry Reider inspired his interest in TB and that Henry's effort to survive multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is a through line in Everything Is Tuberculosis. | Poverty Is Expensive (00:00:00) | |
| 2026-02-13 | cited | John says P4A donations support structural change and individual lives like his friend Henry Reider, in the chat, whom he wrote Everything Is Tuberculosis about and who would not be alive without Partners In Health. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (01:42:50) | |
| 2026-08-03 | cited | John cannot reconcile himself to his friend Henry having almost died of TB and living with its scars. | Esther Day 2026: Some Thoughts on Loss (00:02:13) | |
| Andy Warhol (artist) | 2015-06-16 | cited | At the Reina Sofia museum John and Nat see works by Carl Andre, an early Picasso, crowds at Guernica and a Warhol; John praises period films in every room as a fascinating curatorial choice. | Paper Towns Madrid with Nat Wolff! THE TOUR BEGINS (00:01:35) |
| 2016-11-10 | cited | The staff tour Pizza John designs by year: the 2010 original; 2012 green, neon nineties, eyes, vampire and evil; a 2013 hoodie; 2014 Bowie, glowy, halftone, Obey; 2015 Warhol, rainbow, blue neon, Pisa, Misfits, faux-knitted and nebula. | The Museum of Pizza Johns Past (00:01:18) | |
| 2017-08-08 | cited | After the Grand Canal view, they visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection: works by Anish Kapoor, Modigliani, Warhol, Frank Stella, Picasso and Pollock, though John mostly saw the backs of heads. | What You Make of It: Thoughts from Venice, Italy (00:01:40) | |
| 2022-08-30 | cited | The two big auction houses, Sotheby's and Christie's, make almost all their money selling Rolexes and Warhols to the richest people, but anyone can visit their websites. | How to Buy Good Art for Less Than $100,000,000 (00:01:27) | |
| 2022-10-05 | cited | Hank describes prompting Pizza John in artists' and period styles: by Van Gogh, as a Renaissance painting, and as Andy Warhol pizza art. | Asking an AI Image Generator for Pizza Johns (00:01:07) | |
| 2026-02-13 | passing | John shows the background behind his desk, filled with things Nerdfighters have given him over the years. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (03:08:43) | |
| 2026-03-31 | subject | The novel is about Kai and Juniper, two people in their early twenties who were in a movie together about the last year of Andy Warhol's life, called Andy Warhol Never Gets Old. | I've Been Keeping a Secret… (00:00:58) | |
| 2026-06-02 | subject | John wants readers to know as little as possible before his novel Hollywood, Ending (out September 22), but wants Hank to know something about Andy Warhol. | The Instagramification of Human Experience (00:00:00) | |
| 2026-06-16 | subject | The book has two narrators, Kai and Juniper, twenty-something co-stars of a film about Andy Warhol's last year (2025), Andy Warhol Never Gets Old; as it blows up, so do their lives, thrillingly and painfully. | My First Novel in Nine Years Has a Cover (00:00:00) | |
| 2026-08-11 | passing | In 2019 Juniper, rereading the script for Andy Warhol Never Gets Old in Pittsburgh, is summoned to meet Matthew Malone, who plays Warhol, in his hotel lobby. | Hollywood, Ending (00:00:00) | |
| 2026-09-28 | passing | John shows a shirt with an old-school 70s vibe and one combining Andy Warhol, Hollywood, Ending and Pizza John. | Death. Taxes. Pizzamas. (00:02:43) | |
| Annie Dillard | 2019-07-02 | quoted | John quotes Annie Dillard in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: we have only one light, one source of all power, yet must turn away from it by universal decree. | On Sunlight (00:02:02) |
| 2020-03-31 | quoted | Recalling Annie Dillard's line from under a sycamore by Tinker Creek, John says looking up at tree branches lets him feel he is really here, alive on this intricate earth, one of his favorite feelings. | Let's take a walk. (00:00:48) | |
| 2021-01-12 | recommended | Under 'read books, not tweets', John says reading Annie Dillard, Terry Tempest Williams or even Paul Farmer's upsetting book on Sierra Leone and Ebola leaves him informed and engaged, without Twitter's panicky dopamine rush. | My 2021 Vision Board (00:02:45) | |
| 2021-09-21 | recommended | John's probably favorite book about writing is Annie Dillard's The Writing Life, with its observation that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. | how we spend our days (00:00:00) | |
| 2022-02-15 | passing | John thinks about his first edition of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek almost every day; its endpapers are beautiful, and its poor condition makes it cheap enough to be his reading copy. | My Most Valuable Books (00:00:58) | |
| 2025-07-22 | quoted | John calls a sentence from Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek one of his all-time favourites, admiring the necessary 'really', the word 'intricate' and the comma placement. | At Least There Are Trees (00:02:11) | |
| 2025-07-25 | subject | Hank agrees with John that at least there are trees and loves them, since they make oxygen, maple syrup, cherries and shade, but he also fears them. | The Molecule that Changed Everything (00:00:00) | |
| 2026-07-28 | quoted | Citing Annie Dillard's image of the private, insensible waters we live in, John says he finds those waters nourishing rather than useless: they give him strength to emerge and observe with acuity. | 'Are You John Green?' (00:00:58) | |
| 2026-10-02 | quoted | John recalls Annie Dillard's line that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. | the most powerful attention-consuming tools in the history of the world (00:00:58) | |
| Ashley C. Ford | 2014-12-30 | recommended | John recommends non-video voices on race: Roxane Gay's work in Slate and The Butter, a New York Times story on recent black graduates, Chris Rock's interview, Ashley Ford's commentary and Kiese Laymon's writing. | Racism in the United States: By the Numbers (00:00:00) |
| 2016-07-15 | credited | Hank thanks Ashley Ford, Ahsante Bean and Nathan Zed for looking over the script of this video. | On Lives and Mattering (00:00:00) | |
| 2018-09-11 | cited | Patrick Rothfuss, Ashley Ford, Catherynne Valente and several other writers have blurbed the book. | Surprise . . . (00:02:55) | |
| 2020-06-12 | takes part | Hank announces an all-digital book tour, so everyone can come: ticketed events July 6 with John, July 8 with Ashley Ford, July 9 with Roman Mars and July 10 with Cory Doctorow, with local bookstores. | Fed to the Rules (00:03:28) | |
| 2020-06-19 | takes part | The description lists the registration-only tour stops July 6-10 with John, Ashley C. Ford, Roman Mars and Cory Doctorow, plus the free July 7 YouTube launch. | Only Shooting Stars (00:00:00) | |
| 2020-12-15 | credited | In a channel comment John names Ashley Ford's memoir Somebody's Daughter, about a Fort Wayne childhood, his favorite book of next year (2021). | America's Capital of Dead Vice Presidents (00:00:00) | |
| 2021-05-18 | personal story | The tour continues tonight with Radiolab co-host Latif Nasser and Sarah Urist Green, Wednesday with Hank and Sarah, Saturday with Ashley C. Ford and Sarah; tickets in the description. | Saying What I've Needed to Say to Hank for a While (00:02:20) | |
| 2021-06-01 | credited | His other favorite this year (2021) is Somebody's Daughter, the first book by Ashley C. Ford, known from guest-hosting Dear Hank and John and from magazine writing. | My Two Favorite Books of the Year (00:01:56) | |
| 2021-06-08 | takes part | John introduces Question Tuesday, answering real questions from real nerdfighters, with best-selling memoirist and friend Ashley C. Ford, whose Somebody's Daughter is out now. | Feelings, Little Tunnels, and Oprah: It's Question Tuesday with Ashley C. Ford (00:00:03) | |
| Pablo Picasso (artist) | 2008-12-15 | quoted | John notes W.C. Fields's last words were addressed to Carlotta, his mistress, not his wife Hattie; he says he tones the quote down for young nerdfighters. | Famous Last Words (00:02:37) |
| 2011-02-28 | passing | Ima Hogg, daughter of Texas governor Big Jim Hogg, was known as the First Lady of Texas, collected Picasso and Matisse, was a philanthropist and had an honorary degree. | Harry Baals & Dick Trickle: The Funniest Names in History (00:01:16) | |
| 2012-01-24 | credited | Hank notes the print and other things in the hotel are not nailed down, and reads its certificate of authenticity: 'Seated Woman', by Pablo Picasso. | Nicest Hotel Room in the World (00:01:01) | |
| 2015-06-16 | cited | At the Reina Sofia museum John and Nat see works by Carl Andre, an early Picasso, crowds at Guernica and a Warhol; John praises period films in every room as a fascinating curatorial choice. | Paper Towns Madrid with Nat Wolff! THE TOUR BEGINS (00:01:35) | |
| 2016-10-04 | cited | John says a famous Degas painting there was made around the Prussian siege of Paris in 1871, and, per the wall label, Degas paid the model with a hunk of meat she devoured raw. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:01:27) | |
| 2017-08-08 | cited | After the Grand Canal view, they visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection: works by Anish Kapoor, Modigliani, Warhol, Frank Stella, Picasso and Pollock, though John mostly saw the backs of heads. | What You Make of It: Thoughts from Venice, Italy (00:01:40) | |
| 2022-03-04 | passing | Hank says Ettore from Save the Children visits every P4A stream to talk about the charity's work. | The 2022 P4A Meme Review!!! (00:07:22) | |
| 2022-08-12 | joke | Hank frames the bill's first two goals: decrease carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, and make climate, pollution and energy-shift impacts less harmful to people, especially the most disadvantaged. | The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What does it DO!? (00:04:54) | |
| 2023-12-24 | passing | After a Houston hotel sold their rooms on tour, the brothers got another hotel's best room, bigger than John's house, with a Picasso print and certificate of authenticity. | John and Hank Hanging Out but they Keep Getting Younger and More Pixelated (01:56:36) | |
| Katie Mack | 2024-04-23 | personal story | John loved astrophysicist Katie Mack's book The End of Everything and wrote to tell her; she replied, they became friends, and they have worked on the podcast with a team for a couple of years. | Full Hank (00:02:31) |
| 2024-04-27 | takes part | John says the clip is from The Universe, a new limited-series Crash Course podcast in which theoretical astrophysicist Dr. Katie Mack walks him through the history of the universe; it is available now. | Katie Mack Explains The Big Bang To John Green (00:03:44) | |
| 2024-05-09 | takes part | speaks: Katie says physicists try to show that things that look different are aspects of the same thing seen from different angles, a satisfying move like seeing two faces and a vase as one picture. | We’re Here Because... Something Broke (00:00:00) | |
| 2024-05-20 | passing | The first Crash Course Pods episode is up: 'The First Fraction of a Second', John and Katie Mack on the beginning of the universe, on YouTube and podcast apps. | Hang on tight, spider monkey, it's the P4A 2024 MEME REVIEW!! (00:20:06) | |
| 2024-05-23 | takes part | speaks: Katie says recombination is the moment the first neutral atoms are able to form, and that era begins what is called the dark ages of the cosmos. | The Weird Timescales of the Universe (00:00:00) | |
| 2024-06-04 | credited | John says he co-hosts the podcast Crash Course the Universe with astrophysicist Dr. Katie Mack, and while making it learned what will become of him in about 10 billion years. | how it all ends (00:00:00) | |
| 2026-07-03 | takes part | Speakers who said yes include Mark Rober, Abigail Thorn, Katie Mack, Simone Giertz and Connections writer Wyna Liu, who is doing a secret game; Hank gives a talk six months in the making. | Why I Didn't Buy TED (00:06:19) | |
| 2026-09-11 | passing | The event will feature Mark Rober, Simone Giertz, Katie Mack, Abigail Thorn, Kallie Moore, Shan Boodram and Wyna Liu, who writes the Connections boards. | Our Last YouTube View… (00:02:59) | |
| Clint Smith | 2017-08-15 | credited | John recommends Clint Smith's Counting Descent: small but packing a punch, with funny poems like 'When They Tell You the Brontosaurus Never Existed' and gut-wrenching, sad ones; just brilliant. | Very Hard to Desclibe (00:02:09) |
| 2017-10-03 | passing | Instead of summarising, John recommends three poetry books by quoting a line from each: Nicole Sealey's Ordinary Beasts, Kaveh Akbar's Calling a Wolf a Wolf and Clint Smith's Counting Descent. | Let's Talk about Books (00:01:36) | |
| 2020-06-02 | recommended | John points to reading and non-YouTube video below that helped him, including a beautiful and wrenching essay by Clint Smith. | --- (00:02:26) | |
| 2020-07-21 | recommended | John recommends Clint Smith's poem 'When People Say We Have Made It Through Worse Before', linked below, which opens on the graves of those who did not make it. | Somebody Once Asked . . . (00:00:29) | |
| 2021-05-18 | personal story | The virtual tour started last night (17 May 2021) with Clint Smith, and it was so fun that John briefly forgot he was on Zoom. | Saying What I've Needed to Say to Hank for a While (00:02:13) | |
| 2021-06-01 | credited | How the Word Is Passed, by Clint Smith of Crash Course Black American History, is about how the US does and doesn't reckon with the history of slavery. | My Two Favorite Books of the Year (00:00:20) | |
| 2026-08-18 | passing | John announces special guests on the Hollywood, Ending tour: Lily King in Portland, Maine, Sarah Urist Green in Birmingham, Clint Smith in DC, Suleika Jaouad in New York, Hank in San Diego, Sharon McMahon and Brandon Sanderson. | My Nemeses (00:01:56) | |
| Alexis Nikole | 2022-02-08 | cited | John says this year's (2022) grants went to educational creators such as Tom Lum, Alexis Nikole and Flipping Physics, all great, with links in the doobly-doo. | How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) (00:00:58) |
| 2023-10-06 | cited | Hank names past grant recipients: Alexis Nikole, Answer in Progress, The Financial Diet, Wendover Productions, Real Engineering, and Kurzgesagt in the first year. | I Quit (00:07:20) | |
| 2024-05-20 | passing | A meme of John in his P4A wigs riffs on 'Party City John Green' and 'Party City John Purple'. | Hang on tight, spider monkey, it's the P4A 2024 MEME REVIEW!! (00:08:53) | |
| 2026-02-13 | passing | John offers 460 leftover signed quote posters from P4A 2024, each signed by one of Brennan Lee Mulligan, John, Hank, Alexis Nikole Nelson, Tyler Thrasher, Sabrina Cruz, Travis McElroy or the SciShow Tangents hosts. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (02:04:31) | |
| 2026-02-14 | takes part | Greeting Alexis Nikole, Hank says everyone at the Project for Awesome knows it is actually 2027 and everything has been fixed in the last 12 months. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 3! (02:30:37) | |
| 2026-10-01 | cited | Hank asks what Smosh, Angela Collier and Alexis Nikole Nelson each do and who does likewise: there is no word because they are all doing their own things. | Are We Still YouTubers? (00:04:57) | |
| Bo Burnham | 2021-07-16 | passing | Hank sometimes worries a little about how central social media has become in his life; watching Bo Burnham's Inside, it doesn't all seem great. | Should You Abandon Social Media? (00:00:00) |
| 2022-04-01 | credited | The description says the music is a lo-fi cover of Bo Burnham's 'That Funny Feeling' by CM Junk, used with CM Junk's permission but not Bo's. | I Don't Have a Good Title for This Video. (00:00:00) | |
| 2023-01-10 | cited | John says he keeps being astonished that people who behave like a 'first name plus numbers' account on Twitter or Reddit really do have such usernames. | Introducing: The Format (00:00:00) | |
| 2023-01-20 | cited | Hank notes that for the last few videos John has copied whatever he did (low-budget Bo Burnham, a Google autofill video) and calls it cheating, or at least lazy. | Behind the Scenes in the Deep Sea (00:00:03) | |
| 2023-06-30 | cited | John says today's popular young comedians started very young: Bo Burnham is funny at 30 because he started at six. | Bon Your Vivant (00:00:51) | |
| 2026-02-15 | passing | Asked whether YouTube once helped host a P4A, John says they don't talk about that year: they raised little and it was weird, though Bo Burnham was there. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! (03:04:16) | |
| Isabela Merced | 2019-11-05 | takes part | The description says John poses real nerdfighters' questions to Isabela Merced, Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Odeya Rush, Jacob Batalon and the rest of the Let It Snow cast. | Letting It Snow with Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Anna Akana, and Blogbrother John Green (00:00:00) |
| 2022-04-08 | passing | John reminds Hank that Turtles All the Way Down is really going to be a movie, and introduces a conversation with its star, Isabela Merced. | Hank and John Discover Chippy Butties (00:00:29) | |
| 2022-04-26 | passing | John praises the cast and director: Isabela Merced, playing Aza, understands the character deeply, Cree, playing Daisy, is amazing, and director Hannah Marks loves and cares about the book. | An Amazing Day (00:02:12) | |
| 2022-05-24 | passing | John says Bella and Cree have invented the John Green multiverse, in which all his movie adaptations exist inside one complicated universe of parallel universes. | Hello! Meet Daisy! (00:01:56) | |
| 2022-05-31 | passing | John recalls that in March The Hollywood Reporter announced Isabela Merced would play Aza in the movie adaptation of his book Turtles All the Way Down. | A Casting Announcement (00:00:00) | |
| 2022-06-07 | takes part | John introduces Isabela Merced, the star of the Turtles All the Way Down movie, who plays Aza. | Hello! Meet Aza! (00:00:00) | |
| Kurt (bystander guest) (bystander-guest) | 2007-03-08 | takes part | One punk, Kurt, holds 12 Peeps in his hands and eats them in rapid succession while the others urge him on. | Brotherhood 2.0: Giving Away Peeps (00:02:27) |
| 2007-03-09 | passing | On Wednesday afternoon John bought a lot of Peeps to eat as fast as he could, hoping to prove himself faster than Hank, before they were introduced to Kurt. | Brotherhood 2.0: March 9, 2007: Peeptastic! (00:00:03) | |
| 2007-03-20 | cited | Hank says John's building excursion got him thinking: people claim that with age you get smarter and that young people are stupid, but they never met John's guide or Kurt. | March 20th: Dancing and the Idiocy of Age (00:00:58) | |
| 2007-08-06 | passing | Upper tiers: 75 and 100 donors, breaking Kurt's Peeps eating record plus waxing; 200, a blenderized Happy Meal; 500, 16 hours in Walmart; 5,000, a Nerdfighter tattoo. | August 6th: JK Rowling and I Will ... Be Punished (00:03:01) | |
| 2007-08-07 | subject, joke | Hank says this skips a bunch of punishments: at the very least John must wax a limb of Hank's choosing while breaking the Peeps-eating world record set by punk rock Nerdfighter Curt. | August 7th: Curd Fighter Nurt (00:00:56) | |
| 2014-07-18 | personal story | For once writing 'see you tomorrow' in text in a video, Hank had to give away Peeps on the streets of Missoula, which is how he met Kurt the punk-rock Nerdfighter. | EVERY VLOGBROTHERS PUNISHMENT! (00:00:44) | |
| Michelle Obama (public figure) | 2010-08-22 | cited | Per Obama's public tax returns, he and Michelle gave on average less than 1% of their income to charity in 2000-2005, so he was not performing zakat. | Is Obama a Muslim? Examine the Evidence! (00:01:27) |
| 2013-01-04 | joke | 53 Terrible Jokes! (00:01:25) | ||
| 2016-11-25 | joke | Nathan says he is not good at a lot of things: sports, pottery, juggling, and he would make a terrible doctor. | You're Not Good Enough (00:00:18) | |
| 2016-12-23 | joke | 41 Dad Jokes in 4 Minutes! (with special guest star...) (00:02:11) | ||
| 2016-12-30 | cited | Hank says people elsewhere have figured these things out too and also lead the community, from Mark Twain to Vi Hart, Michelle Obama to Ze Frank, Reinhold Niebuhr to Nathan Zed. | The Most Interesting Thing I've Ever Done (00:03:46) | |
| 2019-03-19 | takes part | John says he is often asked for marriage and writing advice but feels unqualified; he loved how Michelle Obama wrote about marriage and memoir in Becoming, so he asked her. | Writing and Marriage Advice from Michelle Obama (00:00:00) | |
| Travis McElroy (podcaster) | 2016-04-01 | personal story | Hank says he still has more to do: shooting YouTubers React and recording with the Gilmore Guys and Travis McElroy. | Loving Loving Things in Los Angeles (00:01:25) |
| 2016-04-08 | credited | Hank thanks everyone in the video: Flula, Hannah Hart, Lee Newton, Meghan Camarena, Steve Zaragoza, Phillip DeFranco, Allison Raskin, Gaby Dunn, John Green, William Haynes, Reina Scully, Matt Lieberman, Trisha Hershberger, Bree Essrig, Markiplier, Taylor Peters, MatPat, Jon Cozart, Grace Helbig, Connor Franta, Tyler Oakley, Hartbeat, F0xy, Starline Hodge, Travis McElroy, Jenna Marbles, Mamrie Hart, Jimmy Wong, Arielle Scarcella, Miriam Nielsen, Ruba Wilson, Rhett McLaughlin, Link Neal, Derek Muller, Meghan Tonjes, Nicola Foti, Ava Gordy, Matt Watson, Darren Vongirdner, Mitchell Davis, Jake Roper, Michael Stefens, Karen Kavett, and Gilmore Guys podcasters Kevin T Porter and Demi Adejuyigbe. | 47 YouTubers Laugh Without Smiling (00:00:00) | |
| 2017-05-19 | personal story | Hank recalls that for last year's (2016) Project for Awesome he and Travis McElroy made a one-off podcast, the DadCast, in which two brand-new dads answered questions. | Should I Have a Baby? (00:00:00) | |
| 2021-02-19 | passing | Recalling his Barack Obama interview, Hank says he didn't cut his hair, was told to dress as usual, and on arrival was told they would take him to a store. | Bean Meme Review (00:07:52) | |
| 2026-02-13 | takes part | Hank says he will soon be joined by Travis McElroy and Erika Ishii, who have planned an activity. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! (00:11:28) | |
| 2026-02-13 | passing | John lists P4A 2026 perks including exclusive Dear Hank and John episodes and a dadcast with Travis McElroy and Hank. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (00:24:45) | |
| Carole Mitnick | 2023-06-27 | quoted | John says Dr. Carole Mitnick gave him an idea new to him in 45 years: treating illness not as an opportunity to maximize value but to extend the quality and length of human lives. | Alone on the Cancer Boat: A Vlogbrothers Reunion (00:06:35) |
| 2023-07-11 | credited | The description thanks TB expert Carole Mitnick and MSF's Christophe Perrin for helping John understand drug patents. | Barely Contained Rage: An Open Letter to Johnson & Johnson (00:00:00) | |
| 2023-09-12 | credited | The description thanks Rosianna Halse Rojas, Dr. Carole Mitnick of Harvard, MSF and PIH staff, and all the nerdfighters who worked together to make tbfighters.org. | Barely Contained Rage: An Open Letter to Danaher and Cepheid (00:00:00) | |
| 2023-09-14 | takes part | John says the panel feels to him like his daughter interviewing Olivia Rodrigo or Taylor Swift: four of his heroes, Dr. Animesh Sinha, Dr. Carole Mitnick, Nandita and Phumeza. | Talking Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, J&J, and more with MY HEROES (00:00:42) | |
| 2025-03-18 | credited | 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. | ITS ALL HAPPENING (00:02:51) | |
| James (person, mentioned from 2019) | 2019-06-28 | credited | After months of work, Hank and James's channel Journey to the Microcosmos has launched: the first episode is out and a new one will come every week. | My New Obsession (00:02:16) |
| 2020-08-14 | personal story | James from Journey to the Microcosmos just got a new microscope so beautiful it made Hank cry. | Hit The Ground Running (00:03:49) | |
| 2022-09-02 | credited | Complexly is selling five calendars for five shows: Eons and Bizarre Beasts art, James Weiss's Microcosmos microphotography, and SciShow and SciShow Space images, printed in the US with facts, shipping everywhere. | How A YouTube Company Actually Makes Money (00:02:16) | |
| 2024-04-12 | credited | In a channel comment, Hank credits Journey to the Microcosmos entirely to Matt, Deboki, Chayton, many others and especially James. | Feeling Like a Failure (During an Eclipse) (00:00:00) | |
| 2024-04-16 | credited | John calls it the nerdfighter-iest film made from his books, with shout-outs to Nerdfighteria; all its microscope footage comes from Journey to the Microcosmos' James Weiss. | I Already Got Paid (00:03:14) | |
| Milo | 2024-05-17 | credited | Hank explains that he and John recorded a New York Times Connections games race in Indianapolis; the edit was too much for him, so his friend Milo, who edits Hank's Channel videos, made the video. | John and Hank FIGHT FOR DOMINANCE!!! (00:00:00) |
| 2024-08-23 | credited | In an addendum recorded three weeks after filming, Hank says making the video was a whole project and thanks Milo for helping edit it and making graphics. | Is Google Training AI on YouTube Videos? (00:27:31) | |
| 2024-11-03 | credited | Hank thanks Milo for editing this long video; he dislikes uploading unedited-by-him videos but trusts Milo, his longtime collaborator on Hank's channel. | Hank's very messy post-cancer year of mistakes, meaning… (00:19:20) | |
| 2024-11-15 | credited | Lindsay says 25% of all discovered animal species are beetles, some 350,000 species; Hank had heard it only as a share of insects. | Whales are Fish (and Everything Else is Beetles) with Lindsay Nikole (00:00:00) | |
| 2025-09-19 | credited | The description thanks Coltan Compton for this year's (2025) logo, Milo for the edit and Incompetech.com for all of the music over all these years. | Let's Just Be Stupid For a Moment (00:00:00) | |
| Mohamed Salah | 2018-06-12 | passing | Egypt are led by Mohamed Salah, whom John calls a noted hero and dreamboat. | Your 4-Minute Guide to ALL 32 TEAMS at the 2018 World Cup (00:00:56) |
| 2019-07-23 | passing | In the description John thanks Ian Rush, Patrik Berger, Courtney and everyone at Liverpool FC for the day, and Mohamed Salah for smashing the penalty in the final. | What to Love and How (00:00:00) | |
| 2020-05-12 | cited | John is grateful to strangers whose work brings him joy and comfort, from Mohamed Salah to Mary Oliver. | We Could All Use a Little Change (00:03:24) | |
| 2023-10-24 | passing | John says Mondeh, like Hank, is now in remission and is a great young artist; visiting him in 2019, John saw his sketch of Mohamed Salah, John's favorite football player. | A Tale of Two Cancers (00:02:28) | |
| 2026-06-09 | passing | Egypt have the legendary Mohamed Salah, through whom all things are possible. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:03:24) | |
| Raymond Pettibon (artist) | 2017-05-23 | recommended | John's favourite painting is probably one by Raymond Pettibon. | Boxes, Butterflies, and Regular Aunts: Live from the Past, It's Question Tuesday (00:02:29) |
| 2018-06-19 | cited | On about half the sheets John draws spirals, as close as he can get to the Raymond Pettibon painting he wrote about in Turtles All the Way Down; spirals sort of are his signature move even if he doesn't want them to be. | My Signature Move (00:02:18) | |
| 2019-09-10 | cited | John says a Raymond Pettibon painting, when he first saw it, ended up taking over his novel Turtles All the Way Down. | Another Contender in the Room (00:01:27) | |
| 2019-12-17 | passing | Many favorite moments were little: a Joan Mitchell show with Sarah, sprawling at VidCon with Rosianna, hamburgers with Hank, the Pettibon spiral, his mom's painting of his La-Z-Boy, laughing while filming Crash Course with Stan. | The Best Days of My Decade (00:03:18) | |
| 2024-05-07 | credited | John says he can easily bring his whole self to some paintings, like the Raymond Pettibon spiral painting featured in the film; he can hardly look away from it. | A Secret about Art (00:02:27) | |
| Rodrigo Corral (book designer) | 2011-10-19 | credited | The cover was designed by Rodrigo Corral, John's favourite book designer, who designed the covers of Oscar Wao, Super Sad True Love Story, The Glass Castle and The Marriage Plot; John is grateful and in love with it. | Question Wed — THE COVER OF THE FAULT IN OUR STARS! (00:00:30) |
| 2014-10-14 | credited | John announces a 10th anniversary edition of Looking for Alaska with a Rodrigo Corral cover, a big Q&A, a fancy introduction and scenes from early drafts, available to pre-order via the doobly-doo. | A Minor Crisis (00:03:03) | |
| 2015-01-13 | credited | John says the new edition has a beautiful cover and endpapers designed by Rodrigo Corral, plus a small, astonishingly expensive feature he always dreamed of (shown on screen). | On Writing, Looking for Alaska Turning 10, and Winning the Project for Awesome (00:01:33) | |
| 2017-08-15 | credited | John reveals the cover of Turtles All the Way Down, designed by Rodrigo Corral, who did the cover of The Fault in Our Stars; he calls it beautiful. | Very Hard to Desclibe (00:00:01) | |
| 2018-03-02 | credited | Admitting bias, Hank calls Rodrigo Corral's cover for The Fault in Our Stars one of the best of the decade: a departure that leveled up young adult literature. | The Best (Recent) Book Covers Including MINE! (00:02:24) | |
| Ryan Reynolds | 2022-04-05 | cited | John would vote for Ryan Reynolds and, though Reynolds was born in Canada, would amend the Constitution for him. | Celebrities I've Met and Whether I'd Vote for Them??? (00:02:55) |
| 2022-09-13 | passing | John appears in the next episode of Ryan Reynolds and his friend Rob's show about buying and running Wrexham AFC, teaching a crash course on the history of Wales. | A Million Things at Once (00:01:16) | |
| 2023-02-24 | passing | A meme recalls the P4A auction for Ryan Reynolds' screen-worn Deadpool watch: the speaker and Ray were in a tight bidding battle, and then Ben came in at the last second. | The P4A 2023 is The Hottest Club on the Internet (00:01:57) | |
| 2023-04-11 | personal story | John says he is friendly with Ryan Reynolds, a lovely guy who supports the Project for Awesome and the community, an actor who with his friend Rob owns Wrexham AFC in Wales. | Wrexham's Most Amazing Feeling (00:00:00) | |
| 2023-10-05 | passing | John says Wimbledon currently sit narrowly ahead of Wrexham, owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, and several spots above the Milton Keynes club. | America's Second Favorite Fourth Tier English Soccer Team (00:02:01) | |
| Alexandre Daly | 2021-04-20 | credited | Alexandre Daly's website sends you to a random Vlogbrothers video out of the 1,923 uploaded so far; clicking it brought John lovely memories. | Breaking Ground!!! (00:03:13) |
| 2021-05-04 | credited | Alexandre Daly recently published an analysis of Vlogbrothers views by year and of the most and least viewed video of every year since 2007. | What the Most-Viewed Vlogbrothers Videos Say about YouTube (and about us) (00:00:00) | |
| 2021-05-07 | credited | In Alexandre Daly's analytics, the most viewed videos are more likely Hank's, while the best like-to-dislike ratios are almost always John's. | Are We The Same Person? (00:00:00) | |
| 2021-05-14 | credited | Hank reports Alexandre Daly's analysis of the transcripts on the Nerdfighteria wiki, about 600 per brother: John and Hank each average 759 words per video. | This Vlogbrothers Stat Blew My Mind (00:00:10) | |
| Brandon Sanderson | 2024-08-07 | credited | Hank is reading the third Stormlight Archive book by Brandon Sanderson; four months in, he is about a third through. | Dear Hank and John Livestream! (00:29:46) |
| 2026-08-18 | passing | John announces special guests on the Hollywood, Ending tour: Lily King in Portland, Maine, Sarah Urist Green in Birmingham, Clint Smith in DC, Suleika Jaouad in New York, Hank in San Diego, Sharon McMahon and Brandon Sanderson. | My Nemeses (00:01:56) | |
| 2026-09-25 | cited | Hank is confident all the authors who have signed the most books ever are alive today, since mass signing is relatively new, and John is among them. | Who Has Signed Their Name the Most Times? (00:07:47) | |
| 2026-09-25 | joke | Many think Brandon Sanderson may be ahead of John; he has certainly signed hundreds of thousands of books. | Who Has Signed Their Name the Most Times? (00:08:16) | |
| 2026-10-13 | personal story | The last photo John took was of Brandon Sanderson. | My Lungs Are on the Outside of the Body (00:01:09) | |
| Cory Doctorow (person) | 2008-09-25 | cited | Hank says he and John, still following the presidential campaigns, are both taking part in YA for Obama, where authors for young people write why they are voting for Obama. | Obama llama Duck (00:02:41) |
| 2009-09-01 | credited | Hank jokes that John has enough books now not to mention his anthology appearances; so far Hank has read only John's story and says it is very good. | I AM COMPUTER MAN!!! (00:01:35) | |
| 2020-06-12 | takes part | Hank announces an all-digital book tour, so everyone can come: ticketed events July 6 with John, July 8 with Ashley Ford, July 9 with Roman Mars and July 10 with Cory Doctorow, with local bookstores. | Fed to the Rules (00:03:28) | |
| 2020-06-19 | takes part | The description lists the registration-only tour stops July 6-10 with John, Ashley C. Ford, Roman Mars and Cory Doctorow, plus the free July 7 YouTube launch. | Only Shooting Stars (00:00:00) | |
| Craig | 2021-04-13 | personal story | John's friend Craig, a teacher and big soccer fan, texts with him a lot about his team Watford and about AFC Wimbledon's perpetual proximity to relegation. | My Truly Mortifying Self-Talk (00:00:29) |
| 2021-10-12 | personal story | John's friend Craig, a high school teacher, ran a 100-mile trail race on the weekend of 9–10 October 2021 in just under 24 hours; John paced him for 17 miles, the longest run of John's life. | Fine, I'll take the bait. (00:02:26) | |
| 2026-02-13 | personal story | Among the things in his background, John shows a sign of the positive self-talk he once accidentally texted to his friend Craig. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (03:09:41) | |
| 2026-02-14 | personal story | John says his friend Greg Silver, father-in-law of his friend Craig, died a couple of days ago; a poet, he sent John his poems and talked with him about the news. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 3! (01:12:51) | |
| Cree Cicchino | 2022-04-26 | passing | John praises the cast and director: Isabela Merced, playing Aza, understands the character deeply, Cree, playing Daisy, is amazing, and director Hannah Marks loves and cares about the book. | An Amazing Day (00:02:12) |
| 2022-05-24 | takes part | John introduces Cree, who plays Daisy in the Turtles All the Way Down movie. | Hello! Meet Daisy! (00:00:00) | |
| 2022-05-31 | passing | John adds that Deadline Hollywood then reported that Felix Mallard and Cree would also be in the movie. | A Casting Announcement (00:00:00) | |
| 2022-06-07 | subject | John says green is his favourite colour and his whole identity, but asked if it is really his favourite he is unsure, and says he likes some really deep blues, like the far end of the sky as the sun goes down. | Hello! Meet Aza! (00:02:31) | |
| Ettore Rossetti (charity staff) | 2014-12-19 | takes part | Ettore Rossetti thanks 'you and your community' for the time and contributions, calling them truly awesome, as their name suggests. | BUTFARTMAN Is Coming To Town! (00:03:27) |
| 2016-12-13 | takes part | A montage of P4A 2016 livestream moments: confetti, Save the Children staff, Big Bird, YouTuber guests, John answering questions and the Cheez Doodles Guy. | P4A 2016 Hilarity Reprise - OVER $2M RAISED!! (00:00:00) | |
| 2022-03-04 | passing | Hank says Ettore from Save the Children visits every P4A stream to talk about the charity's work. | The 2022 P4A Meme Review!!! (00:07:22) | |
| 2026-02-13 | passing | Hank introduces the featured video from Ettore Rossetti for the Rossetti Brothers Pickleball Project for Awesome 2026. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (04:26:36) | |
| Hannah Marks | 2019-02-19 | personal story | John says Turtles All the Way Down is being made into a movie, hopefully, and Hannah Marks, who is wonderful and often watches these videos, has been hired as director. | Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday (00:02:26) |
| 2022-04-26 | passing | John praises the cast and director: Isabela Merced, playing Aza, understands the character deeply, Cree, playing Daisy, is amazing, and director Hannah Marks loves and cares about the book. | An Amazing Day (00:02:12) | |
| 2022-07-05 | takes part | John introduces Hannah Marks, director of the Turtles All the Way Down movie, and thanks her for directing it. | Director Hannah Marks Is Nervous To Meet You (00:00:29) | |
| 2024-02-06 | credited | John says he never expected to love the Turtles script by the writers of Love, Simon, or to care so much about the cast, crew and director Hannah Marks. | The Truth of How Books Become Movies (00:02:26) | |
| Isata Dumbuya (nurse) | 2020-11-17 | takes part | John reports that Isata Dumbuya, the nurse leading Koidu Government Hospital's maternal and child health teams, told him the next big step for the community is the Maternal Center of Excellence. | Our Biggest Project Yet: A One Year Update (00:02:26) |
| 2022-01-04 | credited | John thanks PIH Sierra Leone's executive director Dr. Bailor Barrie, maternal care lead Isata Dumbuya, and everyone at DFTBA.com. | After 15 Years on YouTube, THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING (00:08:29) | |
| 2023-05-02 | subject | Isata Dumbuya, the nurse midwife leading maternal health at the hospital, works closely with Build Health International engineer John Chew and his team on the building. | GOOD NEWS (00:01:56) | |
| 2026-04-14 | cited | John says that seven years ago Isata Dumbuya told him decision-to-incision time averaged 12 hours; now it is much faster thanks to safe, clean, well-staffed operating suites. | Babies. Babies. Babies. (00:02:26) | |
| Jessi Knudsen Castañeda (animal educator) | 2014-05-16 | subject | Hank announces a new channel launching this week (week of 12 May 2014) with Jessi Knudsen Castañeda and her husband Augusto, SciShow regulars who bring rescued animals to educate the world; it is Jessi's passion. | The Myth of Greatness (00:01:59) |
| 2014-05-16 | cited | Asked why so much interesting happens in small Missoula (shows with Emily Graslie, Lindsey Doe, now Jessi), Hank says interesting things happen everywhere: not magical places or people, just people who found their passion. | The Myth of Greatness (00:02:27) | |
| 2014-12-19 | takes part | Asked by Reid Reimers why a skunk, Lollipop, is in the room, Jessi Knudsen Castañeda answers that she is awesome. | BUTFARTMAN Is Coming To Town! (00:01:23) | |
| 2019-12-13 | takes part | takes part (no line attributed to them) | Is This the Cutest Animal Noise? (00:00:43) | |
| 2019-12-13 | personal story | Kemosabe lives with Hank's friends Jessi and Augusto in Montana at Animal Wonders, a permanent home and safe haven for exotic and native animals that can't return to the wild. | Is This the Cutest Animal Noise? (00:00:43) | |
| 2026-02-14 | passing | Hank reads the schedule: Animal Wonders with Jessi Knudsen Castañeda next, John from seven o'clock, then John and Charlotte McDonnell, Hank and Destin, Taylor and Miriam, and Hank again for the late-night shift from 12 o'clock Eastern. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 3! (06:59:50) | |
| Kristine Froseth | 2018-10-31 | subject | John says it was announced yesterday (30 October 2018) that Kristine Froseth and Charlie Plummer have been cast as the leads in the eight-episode Hulu adaptation of Looking for Alaska. | The Looking for Alaska Thing (00:00:02) |
| 2019-03-12 | personal story | John spent the weekend (9–10 March 2019) with Charlie and Kristine, who play Miles and Alaska, and Sarah, their director, showing them around his old haunts. | Going Home with Alaska and Miles (00:00:00) | |
| 2019-06-04 | personal story | John was backstage at BookCon for the game's last minutes; Kristine Froseth, who plays Alaska in the Hulu Looking for Alaska show, filmed him nervous and excited. | On Sharing the Walk (00:01:59) | |
| 2019-10-08 | takes part | Noticing her nail polish makes John want to cry: it's intense, like a person he imagined is sitting next to him. | Looking for Alaska (...with Alaska) (00:01:56) | |
| Mark Olsen (crew) | 2016-05-24 | credited | John thanks Mark Olsen for helping with the new camera and credits Rosianna with coming up with the IKEA joke. | Easier Than IKEA: A Video in Two Parts (00:00:00) |
| 2016-06-21 | credited | The video's graphic of the vetting refugees go through before being accepted for US resettlement is by Mark Olsen, and the description points to a document explaining that process. | Syrian Refugees in the United States: One Family's Story (00:00:00) | |
| 2016-10-11 | credited | John thanks Mark Olsen for graphics, Rosianna Halse Rojas for graphics and fact-checking, and Amanda McCloughlin and Adriene Hill for fact-checking, and says any errors are his own. | Understanding Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's Tax Plans (00:00:00) | |
| 2017-03-07 | passing | John thanks Sara Hindi and everyone at Exodus Refugee International for making the video possible, and Mark Olsen for videography and editing. | Hoping for an Airport Reunion: One Refugee Family's Story (00:00:00) | |
| Michelangelo (artist) | 2009-10-28 | cited | Hank concludes that if 60,000 people watch this, a Michelangelo, a Da Vinci, a Machiavelli and a Raphael are watching right now; it's about what you think you can do and your community. | We Win When Everyone Wins (00:01:21) |
| 2014-05-16 | cited | Hank says Renaissance Florence held some of the most powerful economic and cultural forces the world has known: the Medici bankers, Botticelli, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, da Vinci and Brunelleschi. | The Myth of Greatness (00:00:44) | |
| 2020-07-17 | cited | When Machiavelli, Da Vinci and Michelangelo were all working, Renaissance Florence had about as many people as Missoula, Montana. | So Much to See (00:02:57) | |
| 2026-08-21 | cited | Hank says Machiavelli, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael all worked at the same time in Florence, a city of barely 60,000 people. | Not (Just) Dunking on Jeff Bezos (00:03:39) | |
| Paige Lewis | 2019-09-24 | quoted | John found his anxiety hard to describe until he read Paige Lewis's lines about air hissing from a spacesuit on the moon and being vice president of panic. | I, Too, Dislike It (00:01:10) |
| 2020-04-14 | credited | John says Paige Lewis's Space Struck gives language to his overwhelming anxiety, as in 'I'm the vice president of panic, and the president is missing'; he calls himself the Vice President of Panic. | books that help (00:03:02) | |
| 2020-08-11 | quoted | The club is now reading Paige Lewis's Space Struck, an exploration of anxiety and dread among other things, which makes John feel less alone. | never get bored (00:02:34) | |
| 2020-09-29 | passing | In a channel comment John says he finds poems as one book leads to another (the Norton Anthology led him to the Wallace Stevens book), and recommends Ours Poetica. | How 'bout Yours? (00:00:00) | |
| Phumeza Tisile | 2023-09-14 | takes part | John says the panel feels to him like his daughter interviewing Olivia Rodrigo or Taylor Swift: four of his heroes, Dr. Animesh Sinha, Dr. Carole Mitnick, Nandita and Phumeza. | Talking Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, J&J, and more with MY HEROES (00:00:42) |
| 2023-09-19 | takes part | speaks: In a clip, Phumeza Tisile says her lowest weight was 32 kg. | So, um.... GOOD NEWS?!?!?! (00:01:31) | |
| 2023-09-19 | cited | In a clip, Phumeza Tisile says her lowest weight was 32 kg. | So, um.... GOOD NEWS?!?!?! (00:01:31) | |
| 2023-12-19 | cited | John says TB survivor Phumeza Tisile took 20 to 30 thousand pills over three years and eight months of drug-resistant TB treatment and lost her hearing to a drug she didn't need, because the test didn't exist then. | End of a Rough Year (00:00:58) | |
| 2026-02-13 | cited | John says access to bedaquiline took Phumeza Tisile and her friend Nandita suing the Indian government, which ruled Johnson & Johnson's attempt to extend its patent was not meaningful innovation. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (01:40:08) | |
| Richard Heene (hoaxer) | 2009-10-18 | criticized | John says the family had been on Wife Swap twice and the father believes Hillary Clinton is a shape-shifting reptilian and that a secret cabal of reptilians runs the world. | The Balloon Boy Hoax (00:01:34) |
| 2009-10-21 | criticized | Singing as the Balloon Boy, Hank has him say everyone thought he was in the balloon while he hid in a box; his dad 'needs a shrink', and now he's famous too. | Balloon Boy: A Short Song (00:00:00) | |
| 2009-10-24 | criticized | Hank recaps the Balloon Boy story: the dad pretended his son was in the balloon while the boy was in the attic, wanting a big story to land a reality TV show. | Truth or Fail: HOAXES! (00:00:00) | |
| 2011-01-10 | cited | Icke's followers include the father of 'balloon boy'; the reptilians supposedly include the British royal family, most of America's presidents, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, feed on human guilt, fear and aggression, and must drink human blood to keep their humanoid shape. | Top 5 Ridiculous Conspiracy Theories (00:02:49) | |
| Roman Mars | 2019-10-04 | subject | Roman Mars, creator of 99% Invisible, is known for many things, but his most popular YouTube video is about bad flag design. | In Defense of Bad Flags (00:00:00) |
| 2020-06-12 | takes part | Hank announces an all-digital book tour, so everyone can come: ticketed events July 6 with John, July 8 with Ashley Ford, July 9 with Roman Mars and July 10 with Cory Doctorow, with local bookstores. | Fed to the Rules (00:03:28) | |
| 2020-06-19 | takes part | The description lists the registration-only tour stops July 6-10 with John, Ashley C. Ford, Roman Mars and Cory Doctorow, plus the free July 7 YouTube launch. | Only Shooting Stars (00:00:00) | |
| 2026-02-14 | passing | Hank wants to make a video, and talk to Roman about it, on how the 99% Invisible episode about flags has been both good and bad for the world. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 3! (06:45:42) | |
| Salmaan Keshavjee | 2023-09-27 | personal story | John got to see several of his heroes: Dr. Lucica Ditiu, the writer and surgeon Dr. Atul Gawande, and Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee. | John Goes ... to the UNITED NATIONS? (00:00:00) |
| 2024-03-12 | recommended | John recommends a TED talk, linked below, in which Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee argues that the key to ending TB boils down to the acronym STP. | How We End TB (00:00:58) | |
| 2024-03-19 | credited | John thanks those behind the project: USAID's Cheri Vincent and Atul Gawande, PIH's Garrett Wilkinson and Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee, the Philippine Department of Health, activists and NGOs. | Our $80,000,000 Bet (00:00:00) | |
| 2024-09-10 | credited | John relays a story first heard from Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee: in 1950, the year their dad was born, tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in Alaska. | The world will change. (00:00:00) | |
| Sara Sandoval (artist) | 2024-02-02 | subject | In Los Angeles Hank was near the house of artist Sara Sandoval, whose work he loves, and seeing her jam-packed garage studio felt like a fan moment. | The Weirdest Thing I Did in LA (00:00:00) |
| 2026-02-13 | credited | Hank lists perks still available: small Hanklerfish canvases, a signed Hank Green and Sara Sandoval mural print, the digital download bundle and the Zombicorns audiobook. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! (05:55:44) | |
| 2026-02-13 | passing | Hank offers foil prints of the mural he and Sara Sandoval painted when he was in Los Angeles; 437 of 500 are left. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (04:46:51) | |
| 2026-02-15 | passing | With "all human problems being solved" leading the poll on the best thing about 2027, John says that in early 2026 it felt far away, and getting it done in a year is a testament to humanity. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! (02:59:08) | |
| Sigmund Freud (psychoanalyst) | 2010-11-01 | cited | Voicing the popular belief, John says Sigmund Freud referenced lemmings' mass suicide in a lot of his work. | Consider the Lemming (00:00:29) |
| 2015-01-09 | passing | Hank says some people can take air into the rectum at will, the trick behind Le Pétomane, a 19th-century performer who played popular melodies with his butt for royalty and Freud. | 14 Fart Facts for my Flatulent Friends (00:03:02) | |
| 2017-09-12 | joke | John says James Wilkinson was an actual secret agent working against the United States. | How Will the World End? Why Even Get Out of Bed? It's Question Tuesday. (00:02:43) | |
| 2023-02-24 | passing | Hank explains that P4A+ is basically the digital download bundle. | The P4A 2023 is The Hottest Club on the Internet (00:15:20) | |
| Stuart Hyatt | 2024-03-05 | personal story | John does not care that the club is perpetually underfunded: he is in love, so he flew to England with his friend Stuart to cheer against the Milton Keynes franchise. | THE BEST DAY (00:01:30) |
| 2025-05-20 | personal story | John lays out the plan: he and Stuart wake around 5 a.m., bike to the Indy 500, bike to the airport, fly to London and take the train to Wembley for the final. | The Double (00:02:26) | |
| 2025-05-27 | personal story | John says they only made it to lap 165 before he and Stuart left, biking to the airport, which he calls bonkers. | The Longest (and best) Day (00:00:29) | |
| 2025-08-26 | personal story | John says his friend Stuart, another person he likes more than he sees, sent a video of his children singing Happy Birthday. | Not to Criticize Hank… (00:02:05) | |
| Tiffany (private person, mentioned from 2007) (private-person) | 2007-11-26 | personal story | Tiffany is the only ex-girlfriend whose last name John doesn't know, so he can't look her up on Facebook; he would love to know it. | Nov. 26th: Writing Advice (And Notes on Surnameless Tiffany) (00:00:39) |
| 2007-11-26 | passing | At Eagles Nest Camp in 1987, aged 10, John dated and was dumped by Tiffany, his first girlfriend who kissed him. | Nov. 26th: Writing Advice (And Notes on Surnameless Tiffany) (00:00:00) | |
| 2007-11-27 | passing | Hank says Paige Lester-Niles, director of Eagle's Nest Camp, emailed him: many people have been calling and emailing the camp about Tiffany with no last name. | November 27th: Eagle's Nest, Blogger's Choice and Shopping (00:00:00) | |
| 2007-11-29 | cited | Hank says the brothers have finally come to respect the power of the Nerdfighters, who took the Tiffany search more seriously than expected and found the owner of a Los Angeles Corvette plated 'Shazam'. | November 29th: sXePhil, Leaky Brains and a Secret Project (00:01:31) | |
| 2011-09-30 | personal story | John's first (French) kiss was with his camp girlfriend Tiffany at a candlelight ceremony on the last night of summer camp; it was more like facial licking, and a candle set his hair on fire. His second kiss came three years later. | YouTube Survey: Balls and First Kisses (00:00:42) | |
| Ai Weiwei (artist) | 2012-10-09 | subject | John says Sarah is organizing a stop on the tour of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's show 'According to What?', and they came to its American opening. | Attacked by Squirrels and Neoclassicism: Thoughts from Places, Washington D.C. (00:00:12) |
| 2013-05-21 | subject | John thinks Ai Weiwei is probably the most important artist alive. | Poetry Makes Nothing Happen: Thoughts on Ai Weiwei from the Indianapolis Museum of Art (00:00:20) | |
| 2014-04-29 | cited | John calls it an unearned honor: he can name several thousand more influential people who did not make the Time 100, such as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Laverne Cox and Ai Weiwei. | Influence, Airports, and the Nerdfighter Book Club (00:00:13) | |
| Anna Akana | 2019-01-22 | passing | John reports that Netflix has cast a starry ensemble for its Let It Snow adaptation: Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Mitchell Hope, Odeya Rush, Anna Akana and Joan Cusack. | Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle's Let It Snow (00:00:00) |
| 2019-11-05 | takes part | A cast member calls Let It Snow a really funny, light Christmas movie. | Letting It Snow with Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Anna Akana, and Blogbrother John Green (00:00:00) | |
| 2020-01-17 | credited | Hank thinks everyone should watch Crash Course Business: Entrepreneurship, a 17-episode series hosted by Anna Akana on the basics of starting a business and of business in general. | It's Like Shark Tank, but for Charity (00:03:35) | |
| August Sander (photographer) | 2015-11-16 | subject | John says the German photographer August Sander is famous for his massive, never-finished series People of the 20th Century, picturing everyone from bricklayers to circus performers to composers. | On Our Way to the Dance (Pizzamas Day 6) (00:00:06) |
| 2019-03-05 | credited | Sarah asked John to make an Art Assignment video about the picture, Three Young Farmers on Their Way to a Dance, taken by German photographer August Sander in 1914; he agreed and began researching. | Way, Way Down the Rabbit Hole (00:00:00) | |
| 2019-07-09 | credited | John says the internet is bursting with life hacks that either do not work or do not improve your life, but he will share seven he learned from his wife, all of which work and dramatically improved his life. | Life Hacks My Wife Taught Me (00:00:00) | |
| Bria | 2025-08-19 | credited | John recalls Hank calling to say he had made the app with a developer named Bria; John thought the pitch brilliant and loved the idea of buyable beans like a Hank Bean. | The Problem with My Brother's Hit New App (00:02:11) |
| 2025-10-10 | credited | Hank says he and his friend Bria made a focus timer app that blocks social media and was the most popular app in America; he has enjoyed these collaborations. | Maybe This is My Problem (00:03:29) | |
| 2026-10-23 | passing | Bria, who co-leads Focus Friend with Hank, does care about the award: she has made apps and knows app developers, and her being in that world makes the app much better. | The Best Email I Ever Got (00:04:42) | |
| Byron Kim (artist) | 2022-10-18 | recommended | John was drawn to landscapes: Lucas Arruda's paintings, Byron Kim's abstracted landscape, Didier William's underseascape, Yoan Capote's plaster-and-metal landscape and Sam Moyer's stones-and-canvas painting. | Terraverse Over Everything: Thoughts from London (00:01:49) |
| 2026-02-13 | recommended | John shows paintings by the Korean-American artist Byron Kim, who paints the sky every Sunday and writes a diary entry on it; John loves them and calls Kim brilliant. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (07:05:13) | |
| 2026-02-14 | recommended | John shows Byron Kim's Sunday paintings: every Sunday the artist paints the sky wherever he is and writes a diary entry on the painting. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! (00:29:01) | |
| Catherynne M. Valente | 2018-04-27 | credited | Hank recommends Space Opera by Catherynne Valente: finally someone with the chops and guts to understand Douglas Adams's genius and maybe move beyond it; a book about glam rock in space. | Finding Respite in 2018 (00:02:01) |
| 2018-09-11 | cited | Patrick Rothfuss, Ashley Ford, Catherynne Valente and several other writers have blurbed the book. | Surprise . . . (00:02:55) | |
| 2020-06-12 | personal story | Hank is doing a Penguin World's Book Club event on his first book, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, with Cat Valente, who he says is amazing. | Fed to the Rules (00:02:59) | |
| Charles Alderton | 2022-11-08 | subject | John says Dr Pepper was invented by the chemist Charles Alderton, who wanted a soda tasting not of lemon-lime or citrus but of how the Waco pharmacy's soda fountain smells. | Dr Pepper Enthusiast John Green Taste Tests Dr Pepper and Its Misbegotten Pretenders (00:01:19) |
| 2025-03-25 | cited | 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. | Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday (00:00:29) | |
| 2026-03-24 | subject | In a comment John says Dr Pepper inventor Charles Alderton was a pharmacist when TB killed more Americans than cancer and heart disease combined, so he would have sold many mostly ineffective consumption treatments. | How Panda Express Is Tuberculosis (00:00:00) | |
| Charlie Plummer | 2018-10-31 | subject | John says it was announced yesterday (30 October 2018) that Kristine Froseth and Charlie Plummer have been cast as the leads in the eight-episode Hulu adaptation of Looking for Alaska. | The Looking for Alaska Thing (00:00:02) |
| 2019-03-12 | personal story | John spent the weekend (9–10 March 2019) with Charlie and Kristine, who play Miles and Alaska, and Sarah, their director, showing them around his old haunts. | Going Home with Alaska and Miles (00:00:00) | |
| 2019-06-18 | takes part | Charlie Plummer read the book at 15 and for the first time passionately wanted to be part of something and play a specific character; now he is living that. | Question Tuesday with Miles and the Colonel: Manolo! (00:00:43) | |
| Dan Howell | 2019-07-16 | cited | John blabbered to Dan Howell at VidCon last weekend, couldn't form a sentence meeting Zadie Smith seven years ago, and wonders if Rebecca Lowe saw his hands shaking. | star struck (00:00:00) |
| 2021-05-11 | recommended | John is also doing an event with Dan Howell about Dan's book You Will Get Through This Night; info and tickets are in the description. | I am a small boat. It's Question Tuesday. (00:03:42) | |
| 2022-05-06 | subject | Hank says Dan Howell's video 'Why I Quit YouTube' opens with one of the most eloquent, thoughtful and accurate takes on YouTube's history and the bad parts of being a YouTuber. | Why I Didn't Quit YouTube (yet) (00:00:00) | |
| Demi Adejuyigbe (podcaster) | 2016-04-08 | credited | Hank thanks everyone in the video: Flula, Hannah Hart, Lee Newton, Meghan Camarena, Steve Zaragoza, Phillip DeFranco, Allison Raskin, Gaby Dunn, John Green, William Haynes, Reina Scully, Matt Lieberman, Trisha Hershberger, Bree Essrig, Markiplier, Taylor Peters, MatPat, Jon Cozart, Grace Helbig, Connor Franta, Tyler Oakley, Hartbeat, F0xy, Starline Hodge, Travis McElroy, Jenna Marbles, Mamrie Hart, Jimmy Wong, Arielle Scarcella, Miriam Nielsen, Ruba Wilson, Rhett McLaughlin, Link Neal, Derek Muller, Meghan Tonjes, Nicola Foti, Ava Gordy, Matt Watson, Darren Vongirdner, Mitchell Davis, Jake Roper, Michael Stefens, Karen Kavett, and Gilmore Guys podcasters Kevin T Porter and Demi Adejuyigbe. | 47 YouTubers Laugh Without Smiling (00:00:00) |
| 2026-02-13 | takes part | A balloon task tells Hank to speak in a British accent for an hour; he cuts it to until Demi Adejuyigbe arrives. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! (01:04:18) | |
| 2026-02-14 | joke | Hank calls the 2026 Project for Awesome shirt, a giant squid that came to save us, his favorite shirt ever; it is a P4A exclusive. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 3! (02:15:23) | |
| Dietrich Bonhoeffer (theologian) | 2019-09-03 | quoted | John says Dietrich Bonhoeffer summed up his personal theology: God is weak and powerless in the world, and that is the only way God can be with us and help us. | Death, Love, and John's Religion: The Big Questions Take Over Question Tuesday (00:00:29) |
| 2024-10-29 | quoted | John cites Dietrich Bonhoeffer: God is weak and powerless in the world, and that is the only way God is with us to help us. | If Hank and John Were God for 15 Minutes (00:04:35) | |
| 2025-06-17 | quoted | On evil John lines up with Dietrich Bonhoeffer: God is weak and powerless in the world, the only way God can be with us and help us. | My Religion (00:04:52) | |
| Dmitri Mendeleev | 2017-11-01 | subject | Hank says the Russian who created the periodic table also defined vodka: he created the definition of what vodka was. | Pizza Cocktails with John and Hank! (00:02:38) |
| 2025-12-12 | subject | The sleepy-time podcast is an audio-only 20 minutes on the life of Dmitri Mendeleev. | The Economics of a YouTube White Noise Video (00:03:53) | |
| 2026-03-24 | subject | John says Mendeleev's mother and sister died of TB; he caught it young and went to the seaside to recover, a popular but not very effective strategy, and he did recover. | How Panda Express Is Tuberculosis (00:01:27) | |
| Girum Tefera | 2023-08-15 | subject | Dr. Tefera says that before Partners In Health came, a person in Sierra Leone with MDR-TB was just waiting for the time of their death. | Henry (00:01:40) |
| 2025-03-18 | credited | 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. | ITS ALL HAPPENING (00:02:51) | |
| 2025-11-13 | credited | John says his friend Henry, an MDR-TB survivor in Sierra Leone, credits Dr. Girum Tefera and also his mother, who brought him extra food when many are abandoned by families. | Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders (00:47:09) | |
| Hiroyuki Doi | 2020-08-18 | cited | An Anthropocene Reviewed episode discusses the monumental circle drawings of Japanese artist Hiroyuki Doi, who began drawing after his brother's death because circles relieved his grief. | what's wrong with taking the back streets? (00:00:29) |
| 2021-02-23 | cited | John loves artwork involving a lot of repetition and careful mark-making, showing pieces by Hiroyuki Doi and Robyn O'Neill. | A Little Joy and Color in an Otherwise Unbearably Bland Life (00:01:52) | |
| 2021-03-16 | cited | The cover began with John and Julie talking about Hiroyuki Doi's artwork, John's circle drawings, road trips, microorganisms, the Bonneville Salt Flats, sunsets and their favorite book designers. | How a Book Cover Gets Designed (00:00:58) | |
| Isaac Asimov | 2025-08-05 | cited | 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. | ONE TAKE JOHNNY (00:14:05) |
| 2026-02-27 | cited | Hank lists names he knows that share a name: Percy Jackson and LaToya Jackson; Isaac Mizrahi, Isaac Asimov, Oscar Isaac and Walter Isaacson. | Can We Do a Science Together?? (00:00:29) | |
| 2026-09-25 | quoted | Years ago Hank picked up a book of Isaac Asimov quotations and leafed through it; he reads John two quotes from it. | Who Has Signed Their Name the Most Times? (00:02:55) | |
| Isatu | 2023-08-15 | subject | Before getting sick Henry was a great student who dreamt of university; his mother Isatu worked hard to pay his school fees with a small market business selling scented oils and perfumes. | Henry (00:00:29) |
| 2025-03-18 | passing | John says readers will want to follow Henry and his mother Isatu in Sierra Leone, and asks viewers to subscribe to Henry's YouTube channel, linked in the description. | ITS ALL HAPPENING (00:02:58) | |
| 2025-11-25 | subject | John says Henry and his mother Isatu were invited this year (2025) to the big annual Union tuberculosis conference in Copenhagen, which John was also invited to attend. | Poverty Is Expensive (00:00:29) | |
| Joe Hanson | 2016-10-14 | recommended | Hank says an article Joe Hanson sent him, a Brain Pickings piece on Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark, helped him this year (2016), if a little thick. | Compassion, Weakness, and the 2016 Election (00:00:00) |
| 2018-06-22 | takes part | On VidCon day two, Hank has been talking to educational YouTube creators and decides to ask them trivia questions to see how smart they really are. | Stumping EDU Creators - Trivia at VidCon (00:00:00) | |
| 2022-03-04 | personal story | Hank says he fully believed Joe Hanson's advice on putting on lipstick blindfolded, that one should always push really hard. | The 2022 P4A Meme Review!!! (00:14:39) | |
| John Green (oscar winner) (namesake) | 2018-01-16 | subject | John has no star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; that star belongs to the John Green who won five Oscars. | My Hollywood Star, Brexit Pears, and Hank's Book: It's QUESTION TUESDAY (00:02:47) |
| 2018-04-17 | cited | The composer is mostly forgotten today: a reminder that time washes away every sandcastle, so there is no sense reaching for immortality when there is real work to do with real people now. | John Green Answers Your John Green Questions (00:02:09) | |
| 2018-07-24 | subject | John Greens as a whole have won Oscars: the composer won four Academy Awards and a Grammy, and a TV producer won three Emmys, leaving them one Tony short of a John Green EGOT. | Other John Greens (00:02:49) | |
| Jon Lascher | 2019-10-01 | credited | The description thanks Jon Lascher of PIH for pre-PIH photos of Koidu Government Hospital and checking the script, and Rosianna Halse Rojas for images and editing. | Why Are Poor Countries Poor? (00:00:00) |
| 2020-01-28 | quoted | Citing PIH's Jon Lascher, John says the hospital is the only place within many hours' travel where women can get an emergency C-section, straining an inadequate maternity ward. | Looking Away (Again) (00:04:17) | |
| 2022-11-15 | quoted | PIH's Jon Lascher wrote to John that the community, now a shared community, has paved the way for more partners to join and for PIH to expand its work. | 3 Years In: What Happened, Why, and What's Next (00:04:52) | |
| Julius Caesar (Roman statesman) (Roman statesman) | 2014-01-17 | joke | 54 JOKES! In Four Minutes! (00:00:19) | |
| 2016-01-01 | subject | Hank says that in 46 BC Julius Caesar had just become the first emperor of Rome and the Roman calendar was a mess. | Why Does January First Start the New Year? - New Year's Explained (00:00:44) | |
| 2024-10-03 | cited | On that calendar, John says humans become the only hominid when Neanderthals go extinct in November, and Julius Caesar becomes emperor of the Roman Empire on December 28. | Broadly in Favor of Humans (00:01:10) | |
| Kristen Sieh | 2018-07-06 | credited | The main narrator of Hank's audiobook is Kristen Sieh, who was in Orange Is the New Black, The Blacklist and House of Cards. | This Ends in Death (00:03:03) |
| 2018-10-12 | credited | Hank reads the chapter himself; Kristen Sieh, who reads the audiobook, is fantastic. | Hank Reads from 'An Absolutely Remarkable Thing' (00:00:54) | |
| 2020-07-03 | credited | For readers who forgot the first book, Hank released a recap video on Hank's channel voiced by audiobook narrator Kristen Sieh; it fully spoils the first book. | My World's on Fire (00:01:43) | |
| Michael Carmichael (record-holder) | 2009-04-14 | subject | The world's largest ball of paint is in Alexandria, Indiana: in 1977 Michael Carmichael began painting a baseball and kept painting it for 30 years, so it now has tens of thousands of coats. | The World's Largest Balls (00:01:45) |
| 2017-04-11 | subject | The world's largest ball of paint, in Alexandria, Indiana, began in 1977 when Mike Carmichael painted a baseball with his three-year-old son. | Making the World's Largest Ball of Paint (00:00:23) | |
| 2020-05-01 | takes part | Hank says over 40 years ago the owner had his son paint a baseball, the ball in front of him, which has been painted 26,849 times. | I Need to Get Myself Away from this Place (00:01:35) | |
| Mikey T | 2024-03-05 | quoted | In the last minute, John's friend Lex was filming what seemed the end of the game, but it was not; John then plays the moment in commentator Mikey T's voice, calling a chance for Ronan Curtis and crying go, go Wimbledon. | THE BEST DAY (00:02:22) |
| 2026-10-06 | subject | John says his friend Michael Taliadoros, almost universally known as Mikey T, died yesterday, and calls him a truly extraordinary individual. | Make Your Art. (00:00:00) | |
| 2026-10-07 | personal story | Hank tells John he was sorry to hear about his friend and offers him, and everyone else, this video as a small gift. | The 5 Meanest Things We've Named a Species (00:00:00) | |
| Ming Doyle (comic-artist) | 2016-11-07 | credited | Hank thanks this year's (2016) Pizzamas designers: Tekst, Ming Doyle, Judy Kaufmann, Rude, Julia Pott, Sara Cervantes, Duncan Gasiewicz and Rachel Calderon Navarro, each with their Pizza John design. | It's Pizzamas!!! (Thoughts From the Place Where they Print Our Shirts) (00:00:00) |
| 2016-11-10 | credited | Rachel lists this year's (2016) designers: Judy Kaufmann, Sara Cervantes, Julia Pott, Rachel herself, TEKST (Big John Pizzeria), Ming Doyle (an indigo design) and the design duo Rude. | The Museum of Pizza Johns Past (00:01:56) | |
| 2017-09-01 | credited | Hank shows the new giraffe-love shirt designed by Ming Doyle, which he likes, available at DFTBA.com. | What Everyone Gets Wrong About Global Warming (00:03:26) | |
| Miriam Nielsen | 2016-04-08 | credited | Hank thanks everyone in the video: Flula, Hannah Hart, Lee Newton, Meghan Camarena, Steve Zaragoza, Phillip DeFranco, Allison Raskin, Gaby Dunn, John Green, William Haynes, Reina Scully, Matt Lieberman, Trisha Hershberger, Bree Essrig, Markiplier, Taylor Peters, MatPat, Jon Cozart, Grace Helbig, Connor Franta, Tyler Oakley, Hartbeat, F0xy, Starline Hodge, Travis McElroy, Jenna Marbles, Mamrie Hart, Jimmy Wong, Arielle Scarcella, Miriam Nielsen, Ruba Wilson, Rhett McLaughlin, Link Neal, Derek Muller, Meghan Tonjes, Nicola Foti, Ava Gordy, Matt Watson, Darren Vongirdner, Mitchell Davis, Jake Roper, Michael Stefens, Karen Kavett, and Gilmore Guys podcasters Kevin T Porter and Demi Adejuyigbe. | 47 YouTubers Laugh Without Smiling (00:00:00) |
| 2018-06-22 | takes part | On VidCon day two, Hank has been talking to educational YouTube creators and decides to ask them trivia questions to see how smart they really are. | Stumping EDU Creators - Trivia at VidCon (00:00:00) | |
| 2023-10-04 | credited | Out of the field professionally for years, Hank had climate scientists Adam (Climate Adam) and Miriam (Zentouro) talk him through the climate conversation in a new Hank's channel video, which viewers should watch. | A Messy and Unhinged Introduction to Geoengineering (00:00:58) | |
| Peter Mugyenyi | 2023-09-14 | quoted | John says the core disagreement with Danaher and Cepheid is that a tool the neediest can't use is not useful; citing Dr. Peter Mugyenyi on HIV drugs, he says medicine fails unless it both invents and distributes treatments. | Talking Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, J&J, and more with MY HEROES (00:20:05) |
| 2023-09-27 | quoted | In his speech John recalls that 23 years ago Dr. Peter Mugyenyi said of HIV medications that the drugs are where the disease is not, and the disease where the drugs are not. | John Goes ... to the UNITED NATIONS? (00:03:04) | |
| 2025-02-25 | quoted | 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. | EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS (00:05:43) | |
| Philip Roth | 2018-07-03 | quoted | Philip Roth called history 'the relentless unforeseen', which John finds true of much of life: we don't know how it will end, or even how it will middle. | How Does This End? (00:01:19) |
| 2019-09-10 | credited | John tells how, before they dated, he and Sarah had a two-person book club; discussing Philip Roth's The Human Stain at her Chicago apartment, they found they'd highlighted the same passage. | Another Contender in the Room (00:00:00) | |
| 2024-05-21 | credited | John retells that before dating, he and Sarah had a two-person book club; reading Philip Roth's The Human Stain, they found they had both highlighted the same passage about having another contender in the room. | Getting Personal about Getting Personal (00:02:14) | |
| Rachel Calderon Navarro (designer) | 2016-11-07 | credited | Hank thanks this year's (2016) Pizzamas designers: Tekst, Ming Doyle, Judy Kaufmann, Rude, Julia Pott, Sara Cervantes, Duncan Gasiewicz and Rachel Calderon Navarro, each with their Pizza John design. | It's Pizzamas!!! (Thoughts From the Place Where they Print Our Shirts) (00:00:00) |
| 2026-02-14 | credited | John says 2026 is probably the last year of the Project for Awesome's pressed pennies, a perk since the fundraiser began, because pennies are no longer made. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! (00:32:30) | |
| 2026-02-15 | credited | John thanks the Project for Awesome team: the Foundation to Decrease World Suck board, producers Laura Chernikoff, Lindsay Ballantyne, Sari Riley, Sylvia Roma Miller and Amy Darling, the web, design, perk and social media staff, moderators, video reviewers and matching donors. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! (02:12:52) | |
| Rob McElhenney | 2022-09-13 | passing | John appears in the next episode of Ryan Reynolds and his friend Rob's show about buying and running Wrexham AFC, teaching a crash course on the history of Wales. | A Million Things at Once (00:01:16) |
| 2023-04-11 | passing | John says he is friendly with Ryan Reynolds, a lovely guy who supports the Project for Awesome and the community, an actor who with his friend Rob owns Wrexham AFC in Wales. | Wrexham's Most Amazing Feeling (00:00:00) | |
| 2023-10-05 | passing | John says Wimbledon currently sit narrowly ahead of Wrexham, owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, and several spots above the Milton Keynes club. | America's Second Favorite Fourth Tier English Soccer Team (00:02:01) | |
| Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | 2024-11-22 | cited | Hank contrasts a reporter's six months and a bureaucrat's four years with RFK Jr., who would attack the FDA across platforms and podcasts within a day, prioritizing views. | Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment (00:17:27) |
| 2025-12-19 | cited | Hank says Trump hires from both of his worlds: grievance-based attention farmers (RFK Jr., Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Pete Hegseth) and billionaires (Linda McMahon, David Sacks, Elon Musk, Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick). | My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun (00:02:27) | |
| 2026-08-25 | criticized | John says misinformation sown by very high-level government figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has left many people concerned or confused about vaccines. | The Great Thing about Infectious Disease (00:04:23) | |
| Sandro Botticelli (painter) | 2014-05-16 | cited | Hank says Renaissance Florence held some of the most powerful economic and cultural forces the world has known: the Medici bankers, Botticelli, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, da Vinci and Brunelleschi. | The Myth of Greatness (00:00:44) |
| 2022-07-26 | cited | John's verdicts: Jacques-Louis David has definitely seen a baby, Botticelli once long ago, Paolo Veneziano more recently than a woman, and Titian has. | Has this artist ever seen a baby? (00:00:58) | |
| 2026-08-21 | cited | Hank says Machiavelli, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael all worked at the same time in Florence, a city of barely 60,000 people. | Not (Just) Dunking on Jeff Bezos (00:03:39) | |
| the guide (Detroit urban explorer) (guide) | 2007-03-19 | takes part | Before he and John met at a book festival in Kalamazoo, Anderson spent a day looking at abandoned buildings in Detroit, where he randomly met the guide. | Brotherhood 2.0: March 19th: Urban Exploration (00:00:05) |
| 2007-03-20 | cited | Hank says John's building excursion got him thinking: people claim that with age you get smarter and that young people are stupid, but they never met John's guide or Kurt. | March 20th: Dancing and the Idiocy of Age (00:00:58) | |
| 2007-03-21 | credited | John shows photographs the guide shot inside the abandoned Detroit theatre, which he says show the inside better than his video did, and thanks the guide at snweb.org. | Brotherhood 2.0: March 21st: Put Stuff on Your Head (00:00:03) | |
| Tom Lum | 2022-02-08 | cited | John says this year's (2022) grants went to educational creators such as Tom Lum, Alexis Nikole and Flipping Physics, all great, with links in the doobly-doo. | How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) (00:00:58) |
| 2024-07-09 | recommended | John says he watches a lot of hour-long YouTube videos, such as Tom Lum's video about carbon dating, which Hank calls amazing and links in the description. | Is the Inside of Your Mouth a Soup? (a vidcon reunion video) (00:03:05) | |
| 2026-02-14 | takes part | Hank recalls Tom Lum confiding to him at a Mexican restaurant that in college he charmed people by doing mouth coils. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 3! (03:15:33) | |
| Tom Scott | 2019-11-08 | passing | Hank says everyone is sometimes confused by the YouTube algorithm; with a shared account he can't tell when YouTube is being weird versus when his brother is, as with sudden vending machine business recommendations. | Trolling Through John's YouTube History...GUESS WHAT I FOUND!? (00:00:35) |
| 2024-01-26 | cited | Hank says Tom Scott and Matt and Stephanie represent two versions of this; Tom Scott ended the song, leaving a whole body of work. | On YouTuber Retirement (00:02:05) | |
| 2024-01-30 | cited | John commented 'congrats, Tom' on Tom Scott's last video, and many people replied asking why he would congratulate him on stopping. | How Vlogbrothers Will End (00:01:38) | |
| Tuna | 2018-02-16 | takes part | Hank visits the University of Montana Paleontology Center collections room with Kallie of Eons and Tuna, who makes SciShow most days. | Thoughts from VERY Dead Animals (00:00:12) |
| 2018-12-14 | credited | The description says Hank did the punishment during the P4A livestream, filmed by Matt Gaydos, Maia Ledesma and Tuna Metesh. | Cute Goth Shock Collar Trivia Punishment for Charity (00:00:00) | |
| 2026-07-08 | credited | The description thanks everyone for the very goofy good fun, Tuna for editing this recap, and all of the donors. | Project for Awesome Recap Video 2026!! (00:00:00) | |
| Vincent van Gogh (painter) | 2016-10-04 | cited | John says he cannot tell whether he loves a famous Van Gogh self-portrait or is just excited to see in real life something he has seen in so many reproductions. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:02:50) |
| 2016-11-25 | credited | Nathan recalls a kid in art class turning round while he drew a giraffe; the taunting he imagined was probably in his head, and the kid probably said it looked pretty good. | You're Not Good Enough (00:01:57) | |
| 2022-10-05 | cited | Hank describes prompting Pizza John in artists' and period styles: by Van Gogh, as a Renaissance painting, and as Andy Warhol pizza art. | Asking an AI Image Generator for Pizza Johns (00:01:07) | |
| Abigail Thorn | 2026-07-03 | takes part | Speakers who said yes include Mark Rober, Abigail Thorn, Katie Mack, Simone Giertz and Connections writer Wyna Liu, who is doing a secret game; Hank gives a talk six months in the making. | Why I Didn't Buy TED (00:06:19) |
| 2026-09-11 | passing | The event will feature Mark Rober, Simone Giertz, Katie Mack, Abigail Thorn, Kallie Moore, Shan Boodram and Wyna Liu, who writes the Connections boards. | Our Last YouTube View… (00:02:59) | |
| Agnes Martin | 2019-01-08 | passing | John has more time: he wrote an Art Assignment video about Agnes Martin, and spends more time with his family. | I Quit Social Media. Here's How It's Going (00:01:33) |
| 2026-02-13 | recommended | Asked for his current favorite artwork, John says he is a big fan of Agnes Martin, an artist who painted with her back to the world. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (07:22:25) | |
| Aisling Bea | 2025-10-24 | passing | Hank announces he will appear on QI in the UK on Tuesday with Sandi, Alan, Desiree Burch and Aisling Bea; he is terrified. | What Will Books Become? (00:05:47) |
| 2025-11-28 | personal story | Hank, in a toilet cubicle at BBC Studioworks, has just had hair and makeup done with Aisling Bea, Sandi Toksvig, Alan Davies and Desiree Burch and is about to be on QI, a show he loves. | Three Things! (Wait, no, actually four...) (00:00:00) | |
| Alan Davies | 2025-10-24 | passing | Hank announces he will appear on QI in the UK on Tuesday with Sandi, Alan, Desiree Burch and Aisling Bea; he is terrified. | What Will Books Become? (00:05:47) |
| 2025-11-28 | personal story | Hank, in a toilet cubicle at BBC Studioworks, has just had hair and makeup done with Aisling Bea, Sandi Toksvig, Alan Davies and Desiree Burch and is about to be on QI, a show he loves. | Three Things! (Wait, no, actually four...) (00:00:00) | |
| Albert Lieber | 2023-10-03 | subject | John says the forest was once private property of Albert Lieber, who made and lost a fortune selling booze and was novelist Kurt Vonnegut's grandfather. | Nourished by Leaving (00:01:39) |
| 2026-02-13 | passing | John says the land he lives on in Indianapolis, like his local McDonald's, Walmart and Starbucks, was owned by Kurt Vonnegut's grandfather Albert Lieber. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (07:09:46) | |
| Albrecht Dürer | 2021-11-16 | cited | Recalling a passage from You Are an Artist, John says Dürer's 1515 rhinoceros etching shows plates of armor with rivets; Dürer had never seen a rhinoceros, only a description and a small sketch. | Orbital Sunrise: The First Art Made in Space (00:00:00) |
| 2022-07-26 | cited | In 1515 Albrecht Dürer made his picture of a rhinoceros without ever having seen an actual rhinoceros. | Has this artist ever seen a baby? (00:02:13) | |
| Ali Al-Hamadi | 2023-10-05 | cited | Striker Ali Al-Hamadi left Iraq as an infant after his father was imprisoned by Saddam Hussein's regime and is now a superstar for Wimbledon and Iraq's national team; John loves him. | America's Second Favorite Fourth Tier English Soccer Team (00:02:26) |
| 2026-06-09 | passing | If Al-Hamadi scores at the tournament, John says it will be the greatest World Cup moment in AFC Wimbledon history. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:00:58) | |
| Amanda Ripley | 2022-08-19 | credited | The description says disagreement is the energy of democracy, but if everyone is hopeless or fights only to beat the opposition, nothing gets solved; be grateful for leaders who calm the fire. | What if a lot of the Cynicism is Unjustified??? (00:00:00) |
| 2024-11-22 | credited | Hank recommends High Conflict by Amanda Ripley, which informs everything he does: probably the most important book anyone can read. | Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment (00:33:03) | |
| Amber Straughn (astrophysicist) | 2012-04-06 | credited | The description corrects the video: at 2:26 Amber Straughn is wrongly presented as a Northrop Grumman employee; she actually works for NASA as Deputy Project Scientist for Education and Public Outreach. | Can I be Space President? (00:00:00) |
| 2021-12-24 | credited | The description thanks Dr. Amber Straughn for talking with Hank about the Webb and points to their conversation on Hankschannel. | 29 Days of Astronomical Terror (00:00:00) | |
| Angie Thomas | 2017-02-07 | credited | John recommends Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give, out later this month (February 2017), which he truly believes will be a classic that even people who don't love books will love. | Good News, YA Books, and Bears: It's Question Tuesday (00:01:56) |
| 2017-10-03 | passing | John's new book, Turtles All the Way Down, comes out in exactly one week. | Let's Talk about Books (00:00:00) | |
| Ann Swinfen | 2021-09-28 | recommended | For peaceful hours with a great mystery series, John recommends Ann Swinfen's novels, introduced by Stan Muller: The Bookseller's Tale, first of his favorite series, set in Oxford in 1353 amid medieval bookmaking. | 11 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read (00:00:00) |
| 2025-10-21 | recommended | John says one of his favorite writers, Ann Swinfen, self-published her books. | Is Book Publishing Dying? An Author's Perspective (00:01:30) | |
| Atul Gawande | 2023-09-27 | personal story | John got to see several of his heroes: Dr. Lucica Ditiu, the writer and surgeon Dr. Atul Gawande, and Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee. | John Goes ... to the UNITED NATIONS? (00:00:00) |
| 2024-03-19 | credited | John thanks those behind the project: USAID's Cheri Vincent and Atul Gawande, PIH's Garrett Wilkinson and Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee, the Philippine Department of Health, activists and NGOs. | Our $80,000,000 Bet (00:00:00) | |
| Augustine of Hippo (theologian) | 2015-01-09 | cited | Hank says Le Pétomane was not the first flatulist: Augustine recorded being entertained by one in the 5th century. | 14 Fart Facts for my Flatulent Friends (00:03:14) |
| 2024-04-23 | quoted | Echoing St. Augustine's prayer to be made chaste 'but not yet', his favorite prayer, John asks to be made work-life balanced, but not yet. | Full Hank (00:03:30) | |
| Bob Mortimer | 2022-09-27 | subject | Hank and Katherine agree their favorite Taskmaster contestant is Bob Mortimer: you can't beat him in any contest. | The Wildest Way it Could Possibly Have Gone - Our 16 Year Anniversary (00:01:03) |
| 2026-02-14 | passing | Hank's dream Ask Hank Anything guest is Bob Mortimer, definitely over James Acaster. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! (05:55:35) | |
| Brit | 2017-08-04 | takes part | Why Bullets are Good for the Environment (00:03:46) | |
| 2018-04-27 | personal story | Hank presents his new show Nature League, exploring all of biology with his friend Brit, which has him learning, relaxing and satisfying his curiosity. | Finding Respite in 2018 (00:02:59) | |
| Brittany Broski | 2023-11-03 | takes part | In a clip from Colin and Samir's show, Brittany Broski says every decision she makes is for her audience; she doesn't want them mad or unhappy with her content. | We Need to talk about Sarapocial Relationships (00:00:50) |
| 2024-05-20 | passing | Hank is glad he finally watched Twilight so he can enjoy the lunacy of the 'spider monkey' line, and loves how mad it makes Brennan. | Hang on tight, spider monkey, it's the P4A 2024 MEME REVIEW!! (00:17:59) | |
| Carl Andre (artist) | 2013-05-21 | cited | John says Ai's sculptures of over 2,000 pounds of pressed tea each recall Judd and Andre's minimalism but use Chinese material long imported by the West, asking what is appropriated, by whom. | Poetry Makes Nothing Happen: Thoughts on Ai Weiwei from the Indianapolis Museum of Art (00:01:31) |
| 2015-06-16 | cited | At the Reina Sofia museum John and Nat see works by Carl Andre, an early Picasso, crowds at Guernica and a Warhol; John praises period films in every room as a fascinating curatorial choice. | Paper Towns Madrid with Nat Wolff! THE TOUR BEGINS (00:01:35) | |
| Carl Linnaeus (botanist, taxonomist) | 2011-08-22 | cited | Hank says Carl Linnaeus named the order Lepidoptera, devised the current system for naming species, and saw under a microscope that butterflies are covered in scales. | Thoughts from a Butterfly Hatch (00:00:32) |
| 2013-08-16 | cited | Most inspirational: the detail of the Harry Potter universe inspires Hank, but less than Darwin's pigeons, Wallace's collections and Linnaeus's pressings, which connect him to the history of life. | Harry Potter vs. Science! (00:01:31) | |
| Catherine the Great | 2019-10-30 | cited | John says Louis XV of France and Catherine the Great of Russia loved pineapples. | this is a video about pineapples. (00:01:56) |
| 2026-02-27 | cited | Hank thinks that at this moment in history people know a historically high number of names, including of people they don't and can't know, such as Catherine the Great, Catherine O'Hara and Lady Catherine de Bourgh. | Can We Do a Science Together?? (00:00:58) | |
| Chappell Roan | 2024-09-30 | performed | Hank says the Book of Good Times is linked in the description and believes all hardcovers guaranteed by Christmas have sold out, while the rest remain available. | Put a little bit of cinnamon in it (00:03:59) |
| 2024-10-01 | subject | John opens with an image of his mustachioed face as Chappell Roan, who he says has been publicly struggling with fame lately. | On Fame and Chappell Roan (00:00:00) | |
| Charles II of England | 2019-10-30 | cited | John says pineapples were eventually grown in Europe, never in quantity; his favorite pineapple painting shows English gardener John Rose giving King Charles II the first pineapple grown in England. | this is a video about pineapples. (00:01:56) |
| 2022-07-12 | subject | John says that in 17th-century England King Charles II, concerned about political talk in coffee houses, began a PR campaign against coffee that included an anonymously written petition, which says coffee leads men to waste their time and money on nauseous puddle water. | Nauseous Puddle Water (00:00:00) | |
| Claude Monet (painter) | 2013-05-21 | passing | In the lobby, Spencer Finch's installation 'Following Nature', curated by Sarah, abstractly recreates Monet's garden at Giverny. | Poetry Makes Nothing Happen: Thoughts on Ai Weiwei from the Indianapolis Museum of Art (00:00:09) |
| 2022-08-30 | cited | John visits the auction sites partly to marvel that someone will spend a hundred million dollars on a Monet and keep it in a windowless storage facility. | How to Buy Good Art for Less Than $100,000,000 (00:01:27) | |
| Colin Firth | 2019-08-03 | passing | Disliking the traditional way of celebrating, Hank and Katherine don't celebrate Valentine's Day at all, but maybe they should find their own way. | I Love John: Esther Day 2019 (00:02:25) |
| 2022-09-27 | cited | Katherine's favorite Mr. Darcy is the original one from the book; of the actors who played him, Colin Firth. | The Wildest Way it Could Possibly Have Gone - Our 16 Year Anniversary (00:01:03) | |
| Corita Kent | 2019-03-26 | passing | John's favorite Catholic saint is probably St. Francis, but Sister Corita Kent would be his favorite if canonized, as a recent Art Assignment video explains. | Optimism and Spider People: Question Tuesday from the Looking for Alaska Set (00:01:57) |
| 2021-12-01 | cited | Sarah's collages remind John of Sister Corita Kent's Alphabet series of collages around each letter, such as E, which quotes Camus on loving one's country and justice. | Loving the Loves of Your Loves (00:01:56) | |
| Cotton Mather | 2020-11-10 | cited | John says African communities had effective inoculation strategies too: Cotton Mather, often credited in America with inventing smallpox inoculation, learned it from an enslaved African named Onesimus. | On Immunity, Inoculation, and Individuals (00:01:56) |
| 2025-04-25 | subject | 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. | How We Form Opinions (00:00:00) | |
| Dan Quayle | 2020-12-15 | cited | In a channel comment John says former vice president Dan Quayle, who lives in Arizona but has deep roots in Indianapolis, could end up buried at Crown Hill. | America's Capital of Dead Vice Presidents (00:00:00) |
| 2022-10-07 | joke | John jokes that Dan Quayle, an Indiana boy now living in Arizona, could be a future Crown Hill Cemetery resident, and he thought of writing to suggest it. | Planets Don't Exist (00:09:12) | |
| Danielle Bainbridge (scholar) | 2026-02-13 | takes part | John says his guest Danielle Bainbridge offers two P4A perks: a review of someone's manuscript, which he might get himself, and a personal essay workshop. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (07:29:23) |
| 2026-02-14 | passing | John thinks people who want to live forever are confused about what it would mean: with health-care injustice already so bad, some living forever while others die at 80 would be far worse. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 3! (00:55:27) | |
| Desiree Burch | 2025-10-24 | passing | Hank announces he will appear on QI in the UK on Tuesday with Sandi, Alan, Desiree Burch and Aisling Bea; he is terrified. | What Will Books Become? (00:05:47) |
| 2025-11-28 | personal story | Hank, in a toilet cubicle at BBC Studioworks, has just had hair and makeup done with Aisling Bea, Sandi Toksvig, Alan Davies and Desiree Burch and is about to be on QI, a show he loves. | Three Things! (Wait, no, actually four...) (00:00:00) | |
| Dolly Parton | 2021-05-21 | subject | Hank's best music fact: Dolly Parton wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You on the same car trip, alone in the car; extra good because many don't know she wrote I Will Always Love You. | The 19 Best Facts (00:00:44) |
| 2026-08-26 | subject | A few months ago Hank interviewed Jad Abumrad, known from Radiolab, for Humans, to ask how he made his Dolly Parton series and about Dolly Parton herself. | Jad Abumrad on Dolly Parton: 'The Unicorn of Unicorns' (00:00:00) | |
| Doubleagent | 2018-11-02 | subject | John says Hank sent him an article about a panda person who has spent thousands of hours picking flowers in World of Warcraft, refusing battles or sides: the best thing he has ever heard of. | Let Us Now Praise the Panda Person (00:02:43) |
| 2021-02-23 | cited | John loves beautifully foolish endeavors, like Doubleagent, who reached the highest World of Warcraft rank as a pacifist panda, mostly by picking flowers millions of times. | A Little Joy and Color in an Otherwise Unbearably Bland Life (00:01:27) | |
| Ed Yong | 2016-12-06 | credited | John's book list credits An Ember in the Ashes to Sabaa Tahir, Sapiens to Yuval Noah Harari and I Contain Multitudes to Ed Yong, and notes that The Raven King, the amazing last book of The Raven Cycle, just came out. | Exactly Like the Human Sternum (00:00:00) |
| 2023-11-28 | credited | For science and animal nerds John recommends Ed Yong's An Immense World, which radically deepened his appreciation and understanding of non-human animals. | John's (Mostly Book) Holiday Gift Recommendations (00:03:21) | |
| Elizabeth Berger | 2018-08-28 | credited | John has just read Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker's beautiful screenplay adaptation of Turtles All the Way Down; he thinks it might actually become a movie and is excited but nervous. | The Book Was Better? (00:00:10) |
| 2024-02-06 | credited | John says he never expected to love the Turtles script by the writers of Love, Simon, or to care so much about the cast, crew and director Hannah Marks. | The Truth of How Books Become Movies (00:02:26) | |
| Elizabeth Warren | 2020-06-05 | passing | Hank introduces Maya Rupert, part of the community since her first Vlogbrothers video in 2007, an advocate and writer who managed Julian Castro's campaign and now works with Elizabeth Warren. | So Much to Do (00:00:00) |
| 2025-04-11 | cited | Hank strongly agrees with Elizabeth Warren that members of Congress should not be allowed to trade stocks: public servants should put holdings in trust. | How Actually Crazy is This Mess? (00:16:43) | |
| Eula Biss | 2020-11-10 | credited | John calls Eula Biss's On Immunity, chosen for Life's Library by guest curator Celeste Ng, brilliant; it really deepened his understanding of immunity and inoculation. | On Immunity, Inoculation, and Individuals (00:00:00) |
| 2021-04-06 | quoted | Immunity is not really a personal trait: as Eula Biss wrote, immunity is a public space; every immunized person lessens COVID's ability to reach the vulnerable. | How Do You Do, Fellow Kids? (00:02:26) | |
| Evan Puschak | 2022-09-13 | credited | John calls Evan Puschak's Escape Into Meaning a great book, from which he learned that writing is the way he has thoughts. | A Million Things at Once (00:02:04) |
| 2024-07-09 | quoted | John relates to Evan Puschak's point in his book that writing is his way of having thoughts: John doesn't have a complete thought until he has written it down. | Is the Inside of Your Mouth a Soup? (a vidcon reunion video) (00:02:07) | |
| Felix Mallard | 2022-05-31 | passing | John adds that Deadline Hollywood then reported that Felix Mallard and Cree would also be in the movie. | A Casting Announcement (00:00:00) |
| 2026-02-14 | passing | Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! (00:42:17) | ||
| Filippo Brunelleschi (architect) | 2014-05-16 | cited | Hank says Renaissance Florence held some of the most powerful economic and cultural forces the world has known: the Medici bankers, Botticelli, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, da Vinci and Brunelleschi. | The Myth of Greatness (00:00:44) |
| 2026-08-21 | joke | Joking that without such connections a Ninja Turtle might be named Brunelleschi, Hank fumbles Renaissance first names, settling on Filippo Brunelleschi and Donato Bramante. | Not (Just) Dunking on Jeff Bezos (00:05:36) | |
| Gary (charity-worker) | 2026-02-13 | passing | Signing off for the night, Hank thanks the Project for Awesome staff, the matching donors and Dr. Joia Mukherjee. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! (05:58:50) |
| 2026-02-13 | takes part | Hank tells his Save the Children guest that in Montana he has not shoveled his walk once this year (2026). | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (03:24:04) | |
| Grace Han (book-designer) | 2021-03-16 | credited | Julie asked Grace, who read the book and developed a few possible covers; John was immediately drawn to one showing interweaving bands of color. | How a Book Cover Gets Designed (00:01:27) |
| 2021-04-27 | credited | Grace Han's cover is so lovely. | What is my new book about? (00:03:24) | |
| Greg Gianforte | 2023-04-21 | passing | Hank says the ban, headed to Governor Greg Gianforte, who is expected to sign it, would stop people downloading TikTok from an app store. | On TikTok Bans (00:00:47) |
| 2024-09-13 | criticized | Busse says Gianforte, with four mansions and a private jet, does not care if taxes go up, and likes having 'governor' on his business card. | My Governor is Weirder than Yours (00:04:47) | |
| Harper Lee | 2021-04-02 | cited | Harper Lee signed few copies of To Kill a Mockingbird, so a signed one sells for upwards of $20,000. | John's World Record (00:00:29) |
| 2025-06-17 | quoted | John sometimes believes in an afterlife but does not spend much time thinking about it; borrowing a line from Harper Lee, its problem is that it makes people spend this life preparing for the next. | My Religion (00:00:58) | |
| Howard Lutnick | 2025-04-11 | criticized | Hank says Howard Lutnick defended listing the islands as closing loopholes where goods are routed through a lower-tariff country before export. | How Actually Crazy is This Mess? (00:03:01) |
| 2025-12-19 | cited | Hank says Trump hires from both of his worlds: grievance-based attention farmers (RFK Jr., Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Pete Hegseth) and billionaires (Linda McMahon, David Sacks, Elon Musk, Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick). | My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun (00:02:27) | |
| Isaac Aptaker | 2018-08-28 | credited | John has just read Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker's beautiful screenplay adaptation of Turtles All the Way Down; he thinks it might actually become a movie and is excited but nervous. | The Book Was Better? (00:00:10) |
| 2024-02-06 | credited | John says he never expected to love the Turtles script by the writers of Love, Simon, or to care so much about the cast, crew and director Hannah Marks. | The Truth of How Books Become Movies (00:02:26) | |
| Ivan the Terrible (tsar) | 2011-03-18 | subject | Impressed by Nerdfighteria's Gussie Manlove hunting, John sends them on a new quest: a 427-year-old mystery starring Ivan the Terrible. | TERRIBLE (00:00:04) |
| 2011-04-01 | passing | John says Nerdfighters have researched Ivan the Terrible's library so thoroughly that they are now the internet's largest resource on it, uncovering a crazy story. | Many Truths, 1 Lie! (00:00:22) | |
| Jack Currie | 2023-10-05 | cited | John says great players are emerging from Wimbledon's academy, including fullbacks Jack Currie, his personal hero, at the club since 10, and Isaac Ovandera, who joined at 14. | America's Second Favorite Fourth Tier English Soccer Team (00:02:54) |
| 2024-03-05 | personal story | After the game John celebrated with the Nerdfighters of Plough Lane, met left-back Jack Currie, and Wimbledon's manager and coaches came to the pub to sing with fans. | THE BEST DAY (00:03:38) | |
| Jackson Pollock (artist) | 2012-10-09 | cited | John notes everything they did that day was free to all, and argues that inside the neoclassical 'temple-fortresses' the American ideas of equal opportunity and equal access still live. | Attacked by Squirrels and Neoclassicism: Thoughts from Places, Washington D.C. (00:03:12) |
| 2017-08-08 | cited | After the Grand Canal view, they visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection: works by Anish Kapoor, Modigliani, Warhol, Frank Stella, Picasso and Pollock, though John mostly saw the backs of heads. | What You Make of It: Thoughts from Venice, Italy (00:01:40) | |
| Jacob Collier | 2025-01-10 | takes part | The show's guests include old friends Michelle Khare and Akilah Hughes and people Hank had never met, Vic Michaelis and Jacob Collier. | SECRET PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT! (00:03:02) |
| 2026-08-21 | cited | Hank suggests perhaps today's Mozarts already exist: Stevie Wonder, David Byrne, Jacob Collier, Beyonce and Björk. | Not (Just) Dunking on Jeff Bezos (00:01:56) | |
| Jane Goodall | 2024-03-08 | cited | During a Twitter storm Hank accepted that Jane Goodall had advocated reducing the global population to 500 million, since he knows old-school environmentalists who push population reduction, and he disliked it. | I Believed These Four Lies (00:01:47) |
| 2025-10-02 | subject | Hank says that in the 1960s, while nerds like him wondered whether we are alone in the universe, Jane Goodall asked people to consider whether we are alone on this planet. | You are Probably Underestimating Jane Goodall’s Impact (00:00:29) | |
| Jason Statham | 2023-09-01 | joke | Hank stares at beards, even studied a former colleague's beard at a housewarming party, asking teen-boy questions at 43. | The Weirdest Post-Chemo Symptoms (00:02:30) |
| 2024-05-20 | joke | Hank says a couple of his Banana Loca foods were bad, but most were unexpectedly delicious. | Hang on tight, spider monkey, it's the P4A 2024 MEME REVIEW!! (00:03:05) | |
| Joe Rogan | 2020-05-29 | cited | Spotify's exclusive deals for Joe Rogan and Last Podcast on the Left worry Hank more: Twitch versus Mixer is Amazon versus Microsoft, but Spotify moves podcasts from an open ecosystem into a closed, company-owned one. | Get Paid (00:02:58) |
| 2024-11-22 | cited | Hank sees a parallel in leaders sticking to authoritative news outlets rather than accessible ones like Joe Rogan's; they must act human, less on stage with Beyonce. | Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment (00:31:21) | |
| John Hodgman (humorist) | 2012-06-12 | passing | After dinner John ended up at a skyscraper-top party with Chris Colfer, Tony Danza, John Hodgman, SNL cast members, reality-TV housewives, a mob wife, and writer Darin Strauss. | Chris Colfer, John Green, Mob Wives, and Jeffrey Eugenides: Thoughts from Places Book Expo (00:01:56) |
| 2014-03-07 | passing | Hank was on the ship for the fourth annual JoCo Cruise Crazy, a floating nerd adventure with semi-celebrity nerds including John Hodgman, Wil Wheaton, Hank himself and Jonathan Coulton. | Thoughts from a Cruise (00:01:18) | |
| Josh Schwartz | 2018-10-31 | credited | John says Josh Schwartz, who makes TV with Stephanie Savage, was first attached to write the screenplay and wrote an excellent script, but the studio wanted changes, mostly to make it less like the book. | The Looking for Alaska Thing (00:01:38) |
| 2019-10-08 | credited | John is grateful the story is still around and to Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, who have worked on the adaptation for more than ten years. | Looking for Alaska (...with Alaska) (00:00:58) | |
| Julia Baird | 2021-07-27 | recommended | Baird cites several studies linking savoring to well-being, which John says aligns with his own experience. | Savoring: The Sunset Series Returns (00:00:29) |
| 2021-09-28 | recommended | Julia Baird's Phosphorescence also treats us as participants in reality, not observers: it is about living with cancer, creatures that make their own light and the science of human joy. | 11 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read (00:01:56) | |
| Kedicizdim (artist) | 2017-05-12 | subject | A couple of weeks ago Hank got an email whose subject line, with an empty body, read 'I am Turkish street artist Kedicizdim'. | Things That You Just Might Love (00:03:14) |
| 2017-05-19 | subject | In the end screen Hank says the Kedicizdim shirts and other items are available for only another couple of days. | Should I Have a Baby? (00:03:23) | |
| Kenton Hoppas | 2024-02-16 | credited | Perks not yet online include Hank's Hanklerfish and quote posters by artist Kenton Hoppas; Katherine's art and Sarah's collage art are always added during the P4A. | How Much Does it Cost to be a Nerdfighter (00:06:33) |
| 2026-02-15 | passing | Hank says leftover mystery signed 2024 posters, quotes from guests designed by Kenton Hoppas, are still available as perks. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! (04:28:49) | |
| Kiernan Shipka | 2019-01-22 | passing | John reports that Netflix has cast a starry ensemble for its Let It Snow adaptation: Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Mitchell Hope, Odeya Rush, Anna Akana and Joan Cusack. | Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle's Let It Snow (00:00:00) |
| 2019-11-05 | takes part | The description says John poses real nerdfighters' questions to Isabela Merced, Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Odeya Rush, Jacob Batalon and the rest of the Let It Snow cast. | Letting It Snow with Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Anna Akana, and Blogbrother John Green (00:00:00) | |
| Kurt J. Mac | 2018-11-02 | credited | John praises Kurt J. Mac's beautiful project Far Lands or Bust: for seven and a half years a Minecraft player has walked one direction with his dog toward the distant Far Lands. | Let Us Now Praise the Panda Person (00:02:58) |
| 2021-02-23 | cited | John is a fan of Kurt J. Mac, who has walked in one direction in Minecraft for ten years in search of the Far Lands (the description links his Far Lands or Bust). | A Little Joy and Color in an Otherwise Unbearably Bland Life (00:01:44) | |
| Le Pétomane (flatulist performer) | 2015-01-09 | cited | Hank says some people can take air into the rectum at will, the trick behind Le Pétomane, a 19th-century performer who played popular melodies with his butt for royalty and Freud. | 14 Fart Facts for my Flatulent Friends (00:03:02) |
| 2018-06-22 | subject | Hank is disappointed that nobody knew who Le Pétomane was. | Stumping EDU Creators - Trivia at VidCon (00:02:40) | |
| Leon Battista Alberti (Renaissance architect) | 2010-09-27 | personal story | Hank says that in college he gave a long oral report on Leon Battista Alberti's Renaissance façades, mispronouncing 'façade' throughout; finding out was one of his most embarrassing moments. | Stop Embarrassing Yourself (00:02:53) |
| 2014-11-18 | subject | In college Hank gave an oral presentation on Leon Battista Alberti and said 'fah-caid' for façade about 26 times, learning the right pronunciation from a friend afterwards. | How to Never Feel Embarrassed Again (00:00:34) | |
| Lil Yachty | 2023-08-22 | cited | John says many rappers mention Panera, among them Lil Uzi Vert, Rick Ross and Lil Yachty, and the list goes on. | The Panera Phenomenon (00:02:30) |
| 2026-02-15 | passing | After John suggests the money might buy a Lil Yachty house show, Hank offers to come to someone's home and perform for $3.75 million donated to Partners In Health, or for less. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! (04:07:39) | |
| Lindsey Graham | 2017-01-31 | cited | John McCain and Lindsey Graham said in a statement that the ban may be remembered as a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism. | Understanding Trump's Executive Order on Immigration (00:03:00) |
| 2021-07-16 | cited | Hank says two days ago Lindsey Graham tweeted he would go to war for Chick-fil-A's values, a tweet so well designed to create screaming that this is clearly its goal; Hank began composing a reply. | Should You Abandon Social Media? (00:01:45) | |
| Ludwig Ahgren | 2024-11-13 | cited | John stresses that 100% of good.store's profits go to charity and the brothers are not paid for the livestream. | Some New Things… (00:47:34) |
| 2026-02-14 | joke | John says he and Stan Muller play FIFA on stream most weeks on John's channel, whose community raised enough money to pay for Marcus Browne. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 3! (01:52:07) | |
| Luis Suárez | 2018-06-12 | passing | Uruguay's striker Luis Suárez has bitten opponents on three occasions, yet in more than 99% of his competitive games he hasn't bitten anyone. | Your 4-Minute Guide to ALL 32 TEAMS at the 2018 World Cup (00:03:35) |
| 2026-06-09 | cited | Ghana's Black Stars have an aging golden generation; in 2010 they reached the quarterfinals and were one Luis Suárez handball from the semis. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:03:24) | |
| Marianne Moore | 2019-09-24 | quoted | John says Marianne Moore's poem 'Poetry', which begins 'I too dislike it', is more or less how he felt about poetry for much of his life. | I, Too, Dislike It (00:00:00) |
| 2021-08-17 | quoted | The book reminded John of Marianne Moore's poem saying great poetry creates imaginary gardens with real toads in them: the place is imagined, but its people and work are very real. | Who Owns Nerdfighteria? (00:00:29) | |
| Marques Brownlee | 2024-08-23 | cited | Hank says his company has more videos in the dataset than almost anyone: Marques Brownlee 9, MrBeast 19, Mark Rober 24, MinutePhysics 85, against Vlogbrothers 188, SciShow over 300, Crash Course 982. | Is Google Training AI on YouTube Videos? (00:02:26) |
| 2024-11-03 | cited | Hank suggests he may not be that different from Logan Paul: many creators, like MrBeast, KSI, Marques Brownlee and Holo Taco's founder, launch products for a reason. | Hank's very messy post-cancer year of mistakes, meaning… (00:02:36) | |
| Martin Luther | 2021-10-07 | cited | Hank says righteous superiority is not new, it mattered to Martin Luther, and people are often right in it, as vegans are. | We're Thinking About Facebook Wrong (00:09:20) |
| 2024-11-22 | subject | Hank says printers profited from Martin Luther's cheap pamphlets while Luther, like everyone on Twitter, made no money from them. | Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment (00:09:06) | |
| Michael Brown (victim of police shooting) | 2014-12-26 | cited | Hank says Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford and 12-year-old Tamir Rice were all unarmed and all killed by police officers. | The Best and Worst of 2014 (00:01:37) |
| 2016-07-15 | cited | Hank says 'Black Lives Matter' is not only about Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice but about a deep, destructive national belief that black lives matter less. | On Lives and Mattering (00:02:08) | |
| Monde Mansouray | 2023-10-24 | cited | John tells of Mondeh, a child in Sierra Leone's rural Kono district, whose parents noticed a lump on his neck at about six, when he also became much more lethargic. | A Tale of Two Cancers (00:01:05) |
| 2023-11-10 | cited | Recalling John's video, Hank says a child in Sierra Leone waited years for a Hodgkin's diagnosis, then more years for good chemo at a hospital in Rwanda, over 4,000 miles away. | My Final Chemo Secret (00:02:37) | |
| Nandita Venkatesan | 2023-09-14 | takes part | John says the panel feels to him like his daughter interviewing Olivia Rodrigo or Taylor Swift: four of his heroes, Dr. Animesh Sinha, Dr. Carole Mitnick, Nandita and Phumeza. | Talking Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, J&J, and more with MY HEROES (00:00:42) |
| 2026-02-13 | cited | John says access to bedaquiline took Phumeza Tisile and her friend Nandita suing the Indian government, which ruled Johnson & Johnson's attempt to extend its patent was not meaningful innovation. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! (01:40:08) | |
| Neil deGrasse Tyson (astrophysicist, science communicator) | 2012-08-07 | joke | John concedes teachers may be stupid, as are students and he himself, and says the pleasure of being human is being stupid but learning to be less stupid together. | An Open Letter to Students Returning to School (00:02:22) |
| 2013-06-18 | cited | Grace's media markers: NPR as a car preset, a specific favorite Simpsons episode, finding the new Arrested Development season more nostalgic than groundbreaking, reblogging the New Yorker, Wes Anderson, Ira Glass, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ken Jennings on Twitter, Alanis Morissette's misuse of 'ironic'. | 50 Ways to Pretend to Be Smarter (00:03:15) | |
| Nikola Tesla | 2021-08-31 | cited | In those alternate histories stuffed animals would probably still have been invented around then, just as light bulbs would exist without Edison and Tesla. | The Woman Who Invented Stuffed Animals (00:04:52) |
| 2021-10-19 | subject | John's favorite historical cat is Mačak, Tesla's childhood cat: petting it, little Tesla felt a shock, saw a spark, and his father said it was electricity, like lightning. | Cat Names: The Authoritative Guide (00:03:03) | |
| Nilay Patel | 2022-11-11 | quoted | Hank recalls arguing months ago that Musk misunderstood content moderation, which, as Nilay Patel says, is a social platform's main product; he thinks he was right about that. | Elon Was Right (00:00:00) |
| 2026-04-24 | recommended | The description links a video by Nilay. | The AI Question that No AI Person Asks (00:00:00) | |
| Nina Katchadourian | 2019-07-09 | recommended | John says the photograph of three farmers on their way to a dance never gets old, nor do Nina Katchadourian's airplane-bathroom recreations of Renaissance portraits. | Life Hacks My Wife Taught Me (00:02:26) |
| 2020-04-14 | credited | Doing the book's assignment from artist Nina Katchadourian, John sorts book spines into portraits: one of Sarah, and a self-portrait about the current historical moment. | books that help (00:00:13) | |
| Odeya Rush | 2019-01-22 | passing | John reports that Netflix has cast a starry ensemble for its Let It Snow adaptation: Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Mitchell Hope, Odeya Rush, Anna Akana and Joan Cusack. | Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle's Let It Snow (00:00:00) |
| 2019-11-05 | takes part | The description says John poses real nerdfighters' questions to Isabela Merced, Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Odeya Rush, Jacob Batalon and the rest of the Let It Snow cast. | Letting It Snow with Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Anna Akana, and Blogbrother John Green (00:00:00) | |
| Olivia Rodrigo | 2023-09-14 | cited | John says the panel feels to him like his daughter interviewing Olivia Rodrigo or Taylor Swift: four of his heroes, Dr. Animesh Sinha, Dr. Carole Mitnick, Nandita and Phumeza. | Talking Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, J&J, and more with MY HEROES (00:00:42) |
| 2023-09-27 | cited | John compares seeing these TB fighters to how his daughter would feel seeing Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift the same night; they invited him to dinner and he tried to keep his cool. | John Goes ... to the UNITED NATIONS? (00:00:29) | |
| Onesimus | 2020-11-10 | cited | John says African communities had effective inoculation strategies too: Cotton Mather, often credited in America with inventing smallpox inoculation, learned it from an enslaved African named Onesimus. | On Immunity, Inoculation, and Individuals (00:01:56) |
| 2025-04-25 | subject | 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. | How We Form Opinions (00:00:00) | |
| Ophelia Dahl (charity) | 2018-01-23 | quoted | John says Hank mentioned the New Yorker profile of Partners In Health co-founder Ophelia Dahl last week (week of 15 January 2018), and since reading it John has been thinking about Ebola. | On Emergencies (00:00:01) |
| 2023-05-02 | passing | In the special care baby unit, PIH co-founder Ophelia Dahl asked whether a frail baby on CPAP would live; the nurse answered that all these babies will live: this is the good news room. | GOOD NEWS (00:06:49) | |
| Paul Manafort (political-consultant) | 2017-09-26 | cited | Trump's one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort received around $30 million working for Oleg Deripaska, seen as one of Putin's closest business confidants. | Trump and Russia: An Introduction to What We Know (and What We Don't) (00:03:37) |
| 2018-01-16 | joke | Asked his favourite DC character, John names Paul Manafort: he cannot look away from the Manafort storyline. | My Hollywood Star, Brexit Pears, and Hank's Book: It's QUESTION TUESDAY (00:02:37) | |
| Post Malone | 2021-02-19 | cited | Hank's first name is William, so a meme dubbed him Billy Hank. | Bean Meme Review (00:03:15) |
| 2026-02-14 | joke | Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! (00:53:38) | ||
| Prof | 2023-08-22 | cited | John first noticed this in the Prof song Pack a Lunch, where Redman names Panera. | The Panera Phenomenon (00:02:05) |
| 2023-09-29 | cited | As exhibit A, John says Hank looks like Minneapolis rapper Prof, except soft; after citing a memorable Prof lyric, he says Prof can pull off the mustache because he is hard. | Like Apocalyptic Horsemen (00:02:14) | |
| Raphael (painter) | 2009-10-28 | cited | Hank concludes that if 60,000 people watch this, a Michelangelo, a Da Vinci, a Machiavelli and a Raphael are watching right now; it's about what you think you can do and your community. | We Win When Everyone Wins (00:01:21) |
| 2026-08-21 | cited | Hank says Machiavelli, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael all worked at the same time in Florence, a city of barely 60,000 people. | Not (Just) Dunking on Jeff Bezos (00:03:39) | |
| Renée DiResta | 2024-08-07 | credited | Hank is reading Renée DiResta's Invisible Rulers, on how people online define reality for others (anti-vax conspiracies, Stop the Steal); its takeaway term is 'bespoke realities'. | Dear Hank and John Livestream! (00:29:16) |
| 2024-11-22 | credited, quoted | The description says that if all trust is destroyed, reality matters less and people pick the reality they prefer, what Renee DiResta calls 'Bespoke Realities'. | Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment (00:00:00) | |
| Roald Dahl | 2020-05-19 | credited | In a comment John points to Taika Waititi and others, including Meryl Streep and Cumberbatch, reading Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach to raise money for PIH. | Didn't Make Sense Not to Live for Fun (00:00:00) |
| 2025-02-28 | quoted | In the passage Dahl says doctors still could not help a child with that reaction, but parents can insist their child is immunized, which he could not do for Olivia. | We Will Eradicate Measles (00:04:11) | |
| Roberto Firmino | 2019-07-16 | cited | John knows people are just people but can't help himself: put him in front of Roberto Firmino and he will melt. | star struck (00:00:29) |
| 2025-01-14 | joke | John jokes that he is in love with Marcus Browne, now his favorite footballer of all time, replacing Roberto Firmino in his imagination. | So I Bought My Team a Pro Football Player (00:01:56) | |
| Roxane Gay | 2014-12-30 | recommended | John recommends non-video voices on race: Roxane Gay's work in Slate and The Butter, a New York Times story on recent black graduates, Chris Rock's interview, Ashley Ford's commentary and Kiese Laymon's writing. | Racism in the United States: By the Numbers (00:00:00) |
| 2021-06-01 | quoted | Roxane Gay wrote of Ford's ability to see people for who they are without looking away; John thinks that gift for characterization is much of what makes the book incredible. | My Two Favorite Books of the Year (00:02:47) | |
| Rudolf Otto (theologian) | 2020-12-01 | quoted | John says that when he visited Sun Tunnels, its framing of landscape and sunlight made him feel something of Rudolf Otto's mysterium tremendum: awe, fear and fascination before an overwhelming mystery. | The Utah Monolith, What It Means, Why It Matters, and Whether It's Aliens (00:01:40) |
| 2024-01-09 | cited | John notes this is how Rudolf Otto described the sacred, the mysterium tremendum; a great view is supposed to evoke that tremendous mystery, but it never quite worked for him. | Views (00:01:27) | |
| Sadio Mané | 2018-06-12 | passing | Though nobody agrees, John thinks Senegal could reach the semifinals because Sadio Mané is very good, and denies any Liverpool bias. | Your 4-Minute Guide to ALL 32 TEAMS at the 2018 World Cup (00:03:05) |
| 2026-06-09 | passing | A Senegal win would be a massive upset, but with stars like Sadio Mané and Mamadou Sarr they believe they can beat anyone, despite just losing to the US. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:04:52) | |
| Salvador Dalí | 2018-01-02 | cited | John praises Art Cooking, a series on Sarah's PBS Digital channel The Art Assignment (e.g. Salvador Dali's crawfish tower), for teaching food and cooking together with art. | BRING IT IN 2018 (00:00:27) |
| 2022-10-05 | cited | Hank says the AI's pizzas look quilted, as if it has never eaten a pizza and does not know what makes a pizza a pizza. | Asking an AI Image Generator for Pizza Johns (00:01:37) | |
| Sam Reich | 2022-07-01 | credited | Derek DelGaudio's In and Of Itself, suggested by Sam Reich, was maybe the best thing Hank has ever seen: a live one-man show that held his attention better than Shang-Chi's fight scenes. | 7 Movie Reviews in Four Minutes (00:01:27) |
| 2024-06-21 | personal story | Not trusting praise, Hank sent a 50-minute recording to comedian friends; Sam Reich, CEO of Dropout, gave feedback and offered to produce it as a Dropout special. | I Was So Sad that I Did Comedy (00:04:41) | |
| Sandi Toksvig | 2025-10-24 | passing | Hank announces he will appear on QI in the UK on Tuesday with Sandi, Alan, Desiree Burch and Aisling Bea; he is terrified. | What Will Books Become? (00:05:47) |
| 2025-11-28 | takes part | takes part (no line attributed to them) | Three Things! (Wait, no, actually four...) (00:00:00) | |
| 2025-11-28 | personal story | Hank, in a toilet cubicle at BBC Studioworks, has just had hair and makeup done with Aisling Bea, Sandi Toksvig, Alan Davies and Desiree Burch and is about to be on QI, a show he loves. | Three Things! (Wait, no, actually four...) (00:00:00) | |
| Sarah Aswell | 2023-10-13 | credited | Hank thanks Sarah Aswell and Ben Acker for their help with his comedy, adding he doesn't say it on stage because it isn't funny. | Cancer Made me Do It. (00:02:15) |
| 2024-06-21 | credited | Finishing chemo, Hank worked on stand-up with friend Sarah Aswell, booked Missoula's Roxy, and grew from 10 to 30 minutes into the bones of a 60-minute special. | I Was So Sad that I Did Comedy (00:04:22) | |
| Scott Manley | 2018-05-18 | passing | Asked by Scott Manley for the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow, Hank answers with the Monty Python counter-question: African or European? | Laurel or Yanny and Baby Dance Moves - It's Question Friday (00:01:02) |
| 2019-06-14 | recommended | Hank recommends Scott Manley's video on the topic as amazing for going deeper into the physics. | What /Actually/ Happened at Chernobyl (00:13:06) | |
| Shameik Moore | 2019-01-22 | passing | John reports that Netflix has cast a starry ensemble for its Let It Snow adaptation: Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Mitchell Hope, Odeya Rush, Anna Akana and Joan Cusack. | Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle's Let It Snow (00:00:00) |
| 2019-11-05 | takes part | The description says John poses real nerdfighters' questions to Isabela Merced, Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Odeya Rush, Jacob Batalon and the rest of the Let It Snow cast. | Letting It Snow with Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Anna Akana, and Blogbrother John Green (00:00:00) | |
| Sharon McMahon | 2022-09-28 | cited | The biggest reason: the hardcover sold out at Amazon after many people ordered it at once for Sharon McMahon's book club, thousands in a single day. | How My Book Became a Hit with Elderly People (00:01:55) |
| 2026-08-18 | passing | John announces special guests on the Hollywood, Ending tour: Lily King in Portland, Maine, Sarah Urist Green in Birmingham, Clint Smith in DC, Suleika Jaouad in New York, Hank in San Diego, Sharon McMahon and Brandon Sanderson. | My Nemeses (00:01:56) | |
| Shreya Tripathi | 2023-03-28 | subject | John recounts Shreya Tripathi's story: a teenager with multidrug-resistant TB who had to sue her government for treatment, won too late and died of TB at 19. | My Tuberculosis Reading List (00:01:27) |
| 2023-09-27 | subject | John says Shreya was a teenager who sued her own government in India for access to bedaquiline for herself and others; her fight reached India's highest court, where she won. | John Goes ... to the UNITED NATIONS? (00:02:05) | |
| Simone Giertz | 2026-07-03 | takes part | Speakers who said yes include Mark Rober, Abigail Thorn, Katie Mack, Simone Giertz and Connections writer Wyna Liu, who is doing a secret game; Hank gives a talk six months in the making. | Why I Didn't Buy TED (00:06:19) |
| 2026-09-11 | passing | The event will feature Mark Rober, Simone Giertz, Katie Mack, Abigail Thorn, Kallie Moore, Shan Boodram and Wyna Liu, who writes the Connections boards. | Our Last YouTube View… (00:02:59) | |
| Sofishtication | 2022-02-08 | credited | The description lists the educational grant recipients funded by the ad revenue: MattieWex, Tom Lum, Sofishtication, Alexis Nikole, Entomology Abby, Astrokirsten, The Garbage Queen and Flipping Physics. | How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) (00:00:00) |
| 2024-08-30 | takes part, recommended | Hank says the first resident, Jaida Elcock, recently finished her residency; everyone loved working with her and he loved hanging out with her. | The Two Coolest Things we Know About Sharks (00:00:00) | |
| Stephanie Savage | 2018-10-31 | credited | John says Josh Schwartz, who makes TV with Stephanie Savage, was first attached to write the screenplay and wrote an excellent script, but the studio wanted changes, mostly to make it less like the book. | The Looking for Alaska Thing (00:01:38) |
| 2019-10-08 | credited | John is grateful the story is still around and to Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, who have worked on the adaptation for more than ten years. | Looking for Alaska (...with Alaska) (00:00:58) | |
| Steve Daines | 2016-06-17 | subject | Hank sent basically the same letter to Senator Steve Daines and Representative Ryan Zinke, who hold very similar positions. | Hey, Let's Change Some Things (00:00:00) |
| 2024-09-13 | criticized | Hank thinks Gianforte, Sheehy and Daines are trying to make Montana a monolithic national red place, which Montana has always resisted. | My Governor is Weirder than Yours (00:43:26) | |
| Steve Grove (Google employee) | 2015-01-23 | takes part | A Google employee, Steve Grove, assures Hank that nobody in the White House, not even the President's staff, will see his questions beforehand. | Interviewing the President (00:00:18) |
| 2025-07-01 | recommended | Asked for non-bestseller recommendations, John recommends former YouTube employee Steve Grove's new book How I Found Myself in the Midwest: funny, charming and very midwestern. | What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means (00:00:00) | |
| Stokes Goodrich | 2025-02-25 | personal story | John's great-uncle Stokes Goodrich was born in 1900 in rural Tennessee, raised in a house built by John's great-grandfather Charles, a country doctor in Franklin County. | EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS (00:01:57) |
| 2025-04-15 | personal story | John says tuberculosis is a big part of American history: his great-uncle died of TB. | Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? (00:13:38) | |
| Tamir Rice (victim of police shooting) | 2014-12-26 | cited | Hank says Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford and 12-year-old Tamir Rice were all unarmed and all killed by police officers. | The Best and Worst of 2014 (00:01:37) |
| 2016-07-15 | cited | Hank says 'Black Lives Matter' is not only about Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice but about a deep, destructive national belief that black lives matter less. | On Lives and Mattering (00:02:08) | |
| Tea Mäkipää (artist) | 2009-09-27 | credited, passing | John says Sarah is working with the artist Tea Mäkipää, who is Finnish, lives in Germany and has an exhibition in Indiana. | TV For Chickens (00:00:40) |
| 2010-06-16 | credited | Eden 2 is a 50-foot refugee ship by artist Tea Makipaa, maker of TV for chickens; John finds the dislocated ship on an Indianapolis lake awesome. | In Defense of Contemporary Art (00:00:29) | |
| Ted Williams (radio-announcer) | 2011-01-05 | cited | Hank reports that the man's video went viral and that he has been hired as an announcer for a basketball team and given a house. | Homeless Man with a Golden Voice Gets a Job (00:01:19) |
| 2011-01-19 | cited | We love simplicity and want simple stories, Hank says: a homeless man with a golden voice unrecognised until the internet found him, when really he trained his voice and became homeless through alcohol and drug addiction. | YOU ARE WRONG! (00:02:09) | |
| Thomas Frank | 2017-06-16 | cited | Hank says Thomas Frank of College Info Geek, 26, has a life expectancy of 77 against Hank's 78, because some people die between 26 and 37 and Hank, at 37, no longer can. | When Will You Die? (00:00:56) |
| 2018-06-22 | takes part | Hank's list of the people in the video also names Emily Graslie (dead animals), Destin Sandlin (physics and slow-mo), Thomas Frank (college prep), Jessie Hendricks (chemistry and science), Kati Morton (mental health), Patrick (biology via games) and Diana Cowern (physics), with links to their channels. | Stumping EDU Creators - Trivia at VidCon (00:00:00) | |
| Virgil van Dijk | 2019-07-23 | passing | John has been thinking about what we love and how, because loves give us communities, and we need communities bound by enthusiasms to combat what Vonnegut called the terrible disease of loneliness. | What to Love and How (00:00:00) |
| 2026-06-09 | passing | John calls the Netherlands probably the best footballing nation ever to win the World Cup (likely a slip for never); they will believe they can go far with stars like Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:06:19) | |
| Virginia Woolf | 2019-02-05 | quoted | John says Virginia Woolf wrote in a famous 1938 essay that photographs are simply a crude statement of fact addressed to the eye, and Susan Sontag replied decades later that photographs are not simply anything. | Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images (00:00:58) |
| 2022-06-21 | quoted | John quotes Virginia Woolf: given how common illness is and how great the spiritual change it brings, it is strange that illness is not a prime theme of literature. | On Disease (00:00:58) | |
| Wallace Stevens | 2018-06-05 | credited | The description identifies the poem as Wallace Stevens's 'The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm', readable online but also in the third edition of the Norton, which some would argue is Chip's. | WHERE IS MY NORTON ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY (00:00:00) |
| 2020-09-29 | quoted | John recalls a Wallace Stevens poem: twenty men crossing a bridge into a village are twenty men crossing twenty bridges into twenty villages; the bridge is different for each of us. | How 'bout Yours? (00:00:29) | |
| Warren Buffett (American investor) | 2012-08-31 | cited | Hank opens a special edition on the basics of US tax policy and why Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. | Why The Rich Pay Lower Taxes (00:00:00) |
| 2017-02-14 | passing | John says this year's (2017) letter is addressed to Warren Buffett, another billionaire who has pledged almost all his wealth to charity. | Human Life Is Getting Better. Faster Than Ever Before. (00:01:13) | |
| Whitney Houston (person) | 2014-03-25 | credited | John signs off with Shoales's catchphrase: 'Hank, I gotta go.' | I Gotta Go: Signing Off and Thinking about Inspiration (00:03:31) |
| 2016-12-23 | joke | 41 Dad Jokes in 4 Minutes! (with special guest star...) (00:02:06) | ||
| Whoopi Goldberg | 2018-07-27 | credited | Hank says that pitch sold the show, for its first season at least, to a ridiculously star-studded cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Meg Ryan, LeVar Burton and Sting. | Why Environmentalists Hate Captain Planet (00:00:48) |
| 2024-09-24 | cited | The now almost forgotten video featured 90s celebrities: George Clooney, Erik Estrada, Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O'Donnell, Alex Trebek, Pamela Anderson, Kevin Nealon, David Spade, Jerry Springer, Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden, Jerry O'Connell, Garry Shandling, Charles Nelson Reilly and Calista Flockhart. | The Forgotten Viral Video that Could Never be Made Today (00:00:29) | |
| Woodrow Wilson Clements | 2018-01-02 | cited | In the excerpt, Woodrow Wilson 'Foots' Clements, nicknamed for his oddly shaped toes, took Dr Pepper from a regional brand to a global juggernaut by understanding what made it significant. | BRING IT IN 2018 (00:01:24) |
| 2018-01-30 | passing | The first episode covers Canada geese, a species that nearly went extinct, and Diet Dr Pepper, a zero-calorie soda popularized by a man named Foots. | Hank, I Have Some Advice (00:02:53) | |
| Wyna Liu | 2026-07-03 | takes part | Speakers who said yes include Mark Rober, Abigail Thorn, Katie Mack, Simone Giertz and Connections writer Wyna Liu, who is doing a secret game; Hank gives a talk six months in the making. | Why I Didn't Buy TED (00:06:19) |
| 2026-09-11 | passing | The event will feature Mark Rober, Simone Giertz, Katie Mack, Abigail Thorn, Kallie Moore, Shan Boodram and Wyna Liu, who writes the Connections boards. | Our Last YouTube View… (00:02:59) | |
| Édouard Manet (painter) | 2016-10-04 | cited | After leaving Somerset House John catches some Drowzees and declares London lousy with Drowzees and masterpieces, the video's title line. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:01:51) |
| 2021-12-01 | credited | The collages use old imagery yet are utterly contemporary: an old Nikon lens holding the bar from a famous Manet painting becomes a face reflected in a camera lens, as in selfies and face unlock. | Loving the Loves of Your Loves (00:01:27) | |
| 13-year-old Syrian refugee (clip) (refugee) | 2015-09-08 | quoted | John says the only ultimate solution was outlined by a 13-year-old Syrian refugee, shown pleading for help. | Understanding the Refugee Crisis in Europe, Syria, and around the World (00:08:38) |
| 33ranjit | 2020-03-03 | quoted | John thanks 33Ranjit for showing him this, and Sarah for always seeking wonder, dignity and meaning wherever she can. | Consciously Experiencing Human Dignity (00:03:24) |
| A. S. M. Hutchinson | 2022-08-23 | cited | John has never heard of A. S. M. Hutchinson or Gertrude Atherton, though they wrote the best-selling American novels of 1922 and 1923. | Flin Flon: One Book's Unlikely Survival (00:00:58) |
| Aaron Burr | 2017-09-12 | criticized | Even so, John thinks Aaron Burr has a case as his least favourite American founding father. | How Will the World End? Why Even Get Out of Bed? It's Question Tuesday. (00:02:43) |
| Aaron Sasu | 2023-10-05 | cited | John says winger Aaron Sasu, 18, has played for Wimbledon's youth side since he was 10. | America's Second Favorite Fourth Tier English Soccer Team (00:02:48) |
| Abby Norman (podcaster) | 2018-04-27 | credited | Hank recommends Abby Norman's Let Me Google That podcast, covering everything from names to crossword puzzles to the Titanic, which gives him new good information every morning. | Finding Respite in 2018 (00:03:25) |
| Abdul Jalloh | 2019-04-09 | subject | John says the hospital is led by Dr. Abdul Jalloh, one of the only psychiatrists in Sierra Leone, a nation of over 7 million people. | The Only Psychiatric Hospital in Sierra Leone (00:00:22) |
| Abdullah Kurdi (refugee) | 2015-09-08 | cited | Aylan's father Abdullah survived and has returned to Syria to bury his wife and children; offered resettlement elsewhere, he said he now wants nothing, since what was precious is gone. | Understanding the Refugee Crisis in Europe, Syria, and around the World (00:00:37) |
| Ad Reinhardt (painter) | 2016-10-04 | quoted | John says he felt about the room what Ad Reinhardt said of his paintings, unmarketable, unphotographable, unreproducible: he can neither explain nor show it. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:02:14) |
| Adam Grant | 2023-11-28 | credited | For people into business or unlocking their professional potential John recommends Adam Grant's Hidden Potential, though it is not the kind of book he usually likes. | John's (Mostly Book) Holiday Gift Recommendations (00:02:52) |
| Adam Levy | 2023-10-04 | credited | Out of the field professionally for years, Hank had climate scientists Adam (Climate Adam) and Miriam (Zentouro) talk him through the climate conversation in a new Hank's channel video, which viewers should watch. | A Messy and Unhinged Introduction to Geoengineering (00:00:58) |
| Adam Schiff | 2025-04-15 | takes part | John says that in D.C. he met and talked with Senator Adam Schiff about democracy, foreign aid and the title of The Fault in Our Stars, and shares the conversation. | Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? (00:00:34) |
| Adrian Tchaikovsky | 2023-03-17 | credited | Hank recommends Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which took nine recommendations for him to read: chemistry, war, space, evolutionary biology, humans and spiders. | This is a Video!! (00:01:51) |
| Ahmed Mohamed (student) | 2015-09-18 | subject | On the other hand Hank finds it not shocking, because Ahmed Mohamed is Muslim and many people in America are afraid of Muslims. | Muslims Aren't Dangerous (00:00:11) |
| Ahsante Bean | 2016-07-15 | credited | Hank thanks Ashley Ford, Ahsante Bean and Nathan Zed for looking over the script of this video. | On Lives and Mattering (00:00:00) |
| Aida (refugee interviewee) (refugee interviewee) | 2016-06-07 | takes part | John met Aida, who lives in the camp with five of her children, including twin five-year-olds who found Snapchat filters hilarious. | Zaatari: Thoughts from a Refugee Camp (00:00:52) |
| Aida (refugee interviewee, mentioned from 2016) (refugee interviewee) | 2016-03-08 | subject | For International Women's Day John focuses on sisters Majeeda (12) and Aida (10), who reached the Azraq camp the day before he met them after more than four months in limbo at the border. | Aida and Majeeda: Thoughts from the Azraq Refugee Camp (00:00:12) |
| Al Michaels | 2019-01-29 | passing | John says much of what he has done since has been an attempt to understand, celebrate or recreate that moment, chasing the feeling Al Michaels famously exclaimed. | Do You Believe in Miracles? (00:00:29) |
| Alan Kurdi (refugee child) | 2015-09-08 | cited | After thousands of refugees died this year (2015) trying to reach Europe, three-year-old Aylan Kurdi's body washed ashore in Turkey; he drowned with his five-year-old brother and mother heading for Greece. | Understanding the Refugee Crisis in Europe, Syria, and around the World (00:00:25) |
| Albert Bernhard Frank (botanist) | 2023-04-14 | credited | Hank says no one had heard the word symbiosis until 1877, when Albert Bernhard Frank coined it for something many people then did not believe existed. | The Organism that Broke Biology (00:00:52) |
| Alec Watson | 2025-11-11 | credited | John says EcoGeek sells dish soap, laundry sheets and a new dishwasher powder designed in part by Alec from Technology Connections. | John's Annual Psychophysical Decline (00:04:03) |
| Alex Jimenez | 2024-01-09 | credited | In a later channel comment John says he has made a lot of progress with his fear of heights but still avoids being within ten feet of a proper edge. | Views (00:00:00) |
| Alex Pretti | 2026-02-03 | cited | John says Alex Pretti had both hands on the ground and was disarmed when he was shot ten times, yet to some of John's family it doesn't look like murder. | Does the truth still matter? (00:00:58) |
| Alexander Calder (artist) | 2012-10-09 | cited | John notes everything they did that day was free to all, and argues that inside the neoclassical 'temple-fortresses' the American ideas of equal opportunity and equal access still live. | Attacked by Squirrels and Neoclassicism: Thoughts from Places, Washington D.C. (00:03:12) |
| Alexander Fleming | 2023-09-14 | cited | John says Alexander Fleming's 1928 discovery of penicillin was not the big innovation; that came in the early 1940s, when scientists working together learned to make it at scale. | Talking Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, J&J, and more with MY HEROES (00:56:52) |
| Alexander Ogston | 2026-09-08 | cited | John's favorite fact: in 1869, after meeting antiseptic pioneer Joseph Lister, surgeon Alexander Ogston tore down the 'Prepare to meet thy God' sign over his Scottish hospital's operating theater, as surgery was no longer almost inevitably fatal. | The Life Expectancy Lies That Won't Die (00:01:27) |
| Alexander Pope | 2024-10-11 | quoted | Hank reveals 'A Little Learning Is a Dangerous Thing' is an Alexander Pope quote, not a Vlogbrothers title. | October 11, 2024 - Goofing off with John (a Vlogbrothers Video) (00:03:44) |
| Alexander the Great | 2021-09-28 | cited | Frank Snowden's Epidemics and Society helped John see that infectious disease has always been among history's most important forces: we think of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra, but it's mostly microbes. | 11 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read (00:00:58) |
| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | 2025-04-18 | passing | Hank went to see Bernie Sanders and AOC in a packed basketball stadium in Missoula but left after AOC's speech to bike to the hospital cancer center for an oncology appointment. | I Still Don't Have Cancer (and I'm Still Scared) (00:00:00) |
| Alexey Pajitnov (game designer) | 2018-10-23 | credited | Tetris, developed by Alexey Pajitnov, arrived in the United States in 1989 for the Game Boy and the Nintendo Entertainment System. | Why Are Humans Suddenly Getting Better at Tetris? (00:00:03) |
| Alhaji Kamara | 2022-01-18 | cited | Against Cote d'Ivoire Mohamed Kamara saved a penalty by standing behind the goal line; down 2-1 in the last minute, Alhaji Kamara scored after a keeper error for a second miraculous draw. | The Miracle of the Leone Stars (00:02:26) |
| Alice Roosevelt Longworth | 2017-06-23 | passing | Teddy & Alice (1987) fictionalises Teddy Roosevelt and his daughter Alice; Frank Rich of the New York Times compared it to a high-school halftime show, and Hank gives it zero teddy bears. | Reviewing Musicals from their Wikipedia Pages (00:03:31) |
| Allegra Goodman | 2021-05-25 | quoted | John recalls the novelist Allegra Goodman, asked who should write her life story, saying she was writing it herself, but in code; John felt some people thought they knew his code. | The Anthropocene Reviewed, Animated (00:02:08) |
| Alton Sterling (victim-of-police-shooting) | 2016-07-15 | cited | Hank says 'Black Lives Matter' is not only about Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice but about a deep, destructive national belief that black lives matter less. | On Lives and Mattering (00:02:08) |
| Amanda McCloughlin (fact-checker) | 2016-10-11 | credited | John thanks Mark Olsen for graphics, Rosianna Halse Rojas for graphics and fact-checking, and Amanda McCloughlin and Adriene Hill for fact-checking, and says any errors are his own. | Understanding Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's Tax Plans (00:00:00) |
| Amber J Holder (translator) | 2016-08-05 | credited | Hank credits the project's team: Taylor Behnke Peters (writing and research), Derek Knabenbauer (editing), Nicole Sweeney (graphics), Nick Jenkins (director), and Spanish translators Liza Platae, Rafael Arévalo, Amber J Holder and John Flores. | Our Massive Project: How to Vote in Every State (00:00:00) |
| Amedeo Modigliani | 2017-08-08 | cited | After the Grand Canal view, they visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection: works by Anish Kapoor, Modigliani, Warhol, Frank Stella, Picasso and Pollock, though John mostly saw the backs of heads. | What You Make of It: Thoughts from Venice, Italy (00:01:40) |
| Amit (nerdfighter) | 2024-06-11 | subject | In a P.S., John says that on Saturday at noon Eastern the brothers will host a livestream on the Vlogbrothers channel about Partners In Health's work, honoring young nerdfighter Amit, who died of cancer and left part of his estate to PIH, trying to raise money to match his gift. | BEEF DAYS (00:05:30) |
| Amory Lovins (environmentalist) | 2007-05-21 | passing | Hank announces that Yahoo's new site green.yahoo.com features EcoGeek content alongside NRDC, Amory Lovins, TreeHugger and Worldchanging. | May 21st: Comment Bashing, Anniversaries and EBO Ladies (00:01:36) |
| Amy (person, mentioned from 2017) | 2017-11-21 | personal story | Kenny sat next to Amy; they talked, exchanged contact information, fell in love, got two dogs and three cats and bought a house. | Two Love Stories (00:01:44) |
| Anastasia Romanovna (tsaritsa) | 2011-03-18 | cited | John says that after his wife died in 1560, which Ivan blamed on the boyars, he turned terrible: an ill-advised war and a quasi-police force massacring boyars and others. | TERRIBLE (00:01:41) |
| Andrea Zittel (artist) | 2010-06-16 | credited | Andrea Zittel's Indianapolis Island is tiny, barely tall enough to stand in, yet two people are living on it all summer, with a garden extending into the water. | In Defense of Contemporary Art (00:00:29) |
| Andrew Carnegie (person) | 2014-03-18 | cited | John says American national self-understanding of the American Dream rests on anecdotes like the mover's and Andrew Carnegie's, but the actual data are less dreamy. | Is the American Dream Real? (00:00:44) |
| Andrew Cherng | 2026-03-24 | passing | John says Panda Express was founded by married couple Peggy and Andrew Cherng; Peggy has a PhD in computer science and researched algorithmically identifying congenital heart problems. | How Panda Express Is Tuberculosis (00:04:27) |
| Andrew Robertson | 2019-07-23 | passing | John has been thinking about what we love and how, because loves give us communities, and we need communities bound by enthusiasms to combat what Vonnegut called the terrible disease of loneliness. | What to Love and How (00:00:00) |
| André the Giant | 2023-07-18 | cited | John recalls that as a teenager the 'Andre the Giant has a posse' stickers brought him joy: he loved the idea that Andre had people with him and would no longer be marginalized for his size. | Tuberculosis Fighters Have a Posse (00:04:52) |
| Angela Collier | 2026-10-01 | cited | Hank asks what Smosh, Angela Collier and Alexis Nikole Nelson each do and who does likewise: there is no word because they are all doing their own things. | Are We Still YouTubers? (00:04:57) |
| Ani Herna Sari (TB survivor advocate) | 2025-11-13 | takes part | Ani introduces herself as a TB survivor in Indonesia who now leads the TB survivor organization Rekat Peduli Indonesia Foundation. | Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders (00:02:49) |
| Animesh Sinha | 2023-09-14 | takes part | John says the panel feels to him like his daughter interviewing Olivia Rodrigo or Taylor Swift: four of his heroes, Dr. Animesh Sinha, Dr. Carole Mitnick, Nandita and Phumeza. | Talking Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, J&J, and more with MY HEROES (00:00:42) |
| Anish Kapoor | 2017-08-08 | cited | After the Grand Canal view, they visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection: works by Anish Kapoor, Modigliani, Warhol, Frank Stella, Picasso and Pollock, though John mostly saw the backs of heads. | What You Make of It: Thoughts from Venice, Italy (00:01:40) |
| Ann Russell | 2023-06-23 | quoted | Hank shares TikTok creator Ann Russell's point, made during her own cancer diagnosis, that someone with an 85% chance of dying within five years is 100% alive now. | Understanding Cancer Survival Rates (00:10:06) |
| Anna Sale | 2021-04-27 | quoted | John quotes a blurb from his podcast hero Anna Sale of Death, Sex and Money, who said the book satisfies all her contradictory demands for a book right now, and calls it lovely. | What is my new book about? (00:01:56) |
| Anne Frank (diarist) | 2010-11-19 | cited | John says Amsterdam, like all great cities, brims with contradictions: a red-light district dominated by a church, the city that both hid Anne Frank and gave her up. | I'm Not Going Down: Thoughts from Amsterdam (00:01:17) |
| Ansel Adams (photographer) | 2007-05-16 | cited | John says his Wikipedia page will eventually cover his early years, and teases Hank's pronunciation of Wikipedia, urging him to say it John's way. | Brotherhood 2.0: May 16: Beating the EBO into the ground (00:02:47) |
| Ansun Sujoe (spelling bee co-champion) | 2014-06-03 | personal story | John says meeting Spelling Bee co-champion Ansun Sujoe was unquestionably the highlight of his evening. | The Fault in Our Stars Movie Premiere (00:02:02) |
| Antoine Lavoisier | 2025-09-12 | cited | Hank's favourite example: when were atoms discovered? With Democritus's philosophy, Dalton and Lavoisier's whole-number chemistry, Einstein's Brownian-motion math, or Max von Laue's first X-ray diffraction images? | This Might Actually be Happening (00:16:15) |
| Archbishop of Canterbury (1630s, unnamed) (cleric) | 2011-12-05 | quoted | John quotes the Archbishop of Canterbury lamenting that great care was once taken in printing, Bibles especially. | 5 Worst Typos of History (00:02:40) |
| Ashe Walker (photographer) | 2019-12-03 | credited | Earlier this year (2019) John and Hank had a photoshoot with longtime nerdfighter Ashe Walker, which John thought was meant to produce a semi-professional picture for media use. | We Are Cats Now, I Guess? (00:00:00) |
| Ashly Perez | 2018-09-21 | credited | At VidCon Australia, Ashly Perez gave a talk about an allegory she read online, written by a man told it by a teacher; it resonated with Hank. | The Parable of the Perfect Pot (00:00:00) |
| Astrokirsten | 2022-02-08 | credited | The description lists the educational grant recipients funded by the ad revenue: MattieWex, Tom Lum, Sofishtication, Alexis Nikole, Entomology Abby, Astrokirsten, The Garbage Queen and Flipping Physics. | How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) (00:00:00) |
| Audre Lorde | 2020-06-02 | recommended | The description lists books and essays John found helpful on racism's centrality to American life, by Kendi, Anderson, Lorde, Coates, Morrison, Evans, Baldwin, McWhirter, Woodson, Hurston, Wilkerson and Washington. | --- (00:00:00) |
| Augusto Pinochet | 2025-08-15 | cited | Hank says that in 1973 Pinochet's soldiers stormed the University of Chile, arresting professors and dismantling student groups. | What Trump is Doing to Universities (00:00:03) |
| Baratunde Thurston | 2020-06-05 | quoted | Hank resists treating privilege as shameful; citing Baratunde Thurston's point that nobody tells Superman to stop using his power, he says it's about what you do with what you have. | So Much to Do (00:14:45) |
| Bart Coppens | 2019-09-13 | credited | Hank credits the time-lapse footage to John the Butterfly Farmer, whose channel he calls amazing, and thanks him and Bart for their moth footage. | You Need to Know About This Caterpillar (00:02:13) |
| Bart Giamatti | 2026-05-12 | subject | John says he graduated from Kenyon College in 1999 and for over 20 years has told people his commencement speaker was former baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti. | Lies, Damn Lies, and Bart Giamatti (00:00:00) |
| Ben Foster | 2023-04-11 | subject | John says Foster, in about his fourth game after a year retired, dove right to save the Notts County penalty, and the game ended seconds later in joy. | Wrexham's Most Amazing Feeling (00:02:55) |
| Bepi Raviola (psychiatrist) | 2020-03-24 | credited | John says the ten tips come from PIH's head of mental health, Dr. Bepi Raviola, drawn from wide experience of living with social distance: advice from people who've been there. | Mental Health Tips from People Who've Been There (00:00:58) |
| Bern Lehtinen | 2022-09-26 | credited | The description corrects that John mixed up two designers: the Pizza Johns Starting Lineup is by Josh Taira (Daruma Party) and the Wolf Pizza John by Bern Lehtinen. | PIZZAMAS IS UPON US (00:00:00) |
| Bernie Madoff | 2019-03-29 | cited | Hank says Bernie Madoff stole around $20 billion, and not just from the rich: much of the money came from pension funds meant to support retirees. | The Largest Theft of All Time (00:02:00) |
| Betsy | 2021-10-06 | takes part | John says his wife told him Betsy's workplace makes the best bread in Indiana, so he has to buy some. | Searching for Betsy in Brazil (00:02:58) |
| Bill Lee | 2026-10-05 | subject | Hank says the governor of Tennessee placed a temporary moratorium on executions last week (week of 28 September 2026) because the state appears unable to carry them out competently. | Why Are We So Bad at Executing People? (00:00:29) |
| Bill Nye (science communicator) | 2026-02-14 | passing | Hank has still not met Bill Nye but assumes it will happen someday. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! (05:47:50) |
| Bob Costas (sportscaster) | 2010-03-01 | passing | John says that while he watched the Olympic closing ceremonies the day before, Bob Costas cut away from the giant inflatable beavers to introduce The Marriage Ref. | The Marriage Ref SUCKS (00:00:33) |
| Bob Fitzsimmons | 2022-06-14 | cited | John says 40-year-old Bob Fitzsimmons, the Freckled Wonder, withstood a 30-round match in 1903 to become light heavyweight champion of the world, which he learned from the book Lanky Bob. | Should Hank and I ... box each other?? (00:02:26) |
| Bob Harper (personal-trainer) | 2011-01-03 | cited | Answering 'Is Bob Harper gay?' (a man on The Biggest Loser), John asks Google whether we'd have a unified theory if we thought as much about quantum physics as about celebrities' sexuality; he thinks so. | Is bronchitis contagious? Is black a color? (00:00:13) |
| Bob Ross | 2019-11-08 | cited | Hank finds a Bob Ross-like yellow-paint piece, a couple's channel he doesn't know, sailing videos though John dislikes water, and several Auld Lang Syne performances he guesses are research. | Trolling Through John's YouTube History...GUESS WHAT I FOUND!? (00:01:36) |
| Bobbi Lanier | 2024-03-01 | takes part | The description points viewers to Flyana Boss on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify. | Flyana Boss Asks Hank Anything (00:00:00) |
| Boston voter in Hank's clip | 2020-10-23 | takes part | Reason eight, a clip: a Boston woman voting at Fenway, Dunkies in hand, says she is ready to vote for Joe Biden though she wishes it were Bernie Sanders, because it is a team sport. | 10 Reasons to Vote RIGHT NOW (00:02:11) |
| Bradley Cooper | 2018-10-09 | cited | John says the disability-adjusted life year is very important despite its boring name, like Bradley Cooper but perhaps even more important. | How Big a Problem is Mental Illness? (00:00:00) |
| Brandon (videographer) | 2015-05-12 | credited | John thanks Zulaiha, Rosianna as always, and Stan and Brandon for shooting the video. | Becoming Someone Else (00:00:00) |
| Brandon Brungard | 2020-03-03 | credited | John says Sarah and Complexly producer Brandon Brungard made a brilliant Art Assignment video last week (week of 24 February 2020), The Case for Video Games, and viewers should watch it. | Consciously Experiencing Human Dignity (00:00:00) |
| Branwell Brontë | 2020-03-10 | joke | John says either he or Hank would be lucky to be the Brontë sisters' ne'er-do-well brother Branwell. | A Strong but Fleeting Flavor: A Reunion Video (00:02:45) |
| Brenda | 2025-05-06 | cited | At a Socios clinic John met Brenda, a trans woman in Lima; he says it can be really hard for impoverished trans people to access health care in Peru. | Health CARE: Thoughts from Lima (00:02:55) |
| Brian David Gilbert | 2026-09-29 | credited | The description says Pizzamas is on for only two more weeks, both the videos and the merch at pizzamas.com. | Pretend You Don't Know This (00:00:00) |
| Bridget (makeup artist) | 2014-07-01 | takes part | John tells makeup artist Bridget he is super into getting his makeup done; he had it done throughout the movie tour, with touch-ups all day, and felt so good about himself. | Why I Love Makeup (00:00:17) |
| Brock | 2017-11-06 | takes part | At a road food stop Hank finds banana milk in the healthy section; sniffing it, John and Brock say it smells like banana Now and Later candy, awful and fake. | Banana Milk and Almond Orchards (00:00:17) |
| Bruce Grobbelaar | 2018-03-27 | subject | Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, an eccentric even for a goalie, feigned wobbly-legged nervousness; a Roma taker skied his penalty and Liverpool won 4-2 on penalties. | A Weird and Beautiful Story (00:00:26) |
| Burt Reynolds | 2021-01-01 | cited | The timeline had Burt Reynolds dying of a heart condition in 2011; he died of cardiac arrest in 2018, so Hank says it was not that wrong. | In 1990 I Made a Bunch of Predictions About 2020...Here they Are (00:02:50) |
| Burton Earny (person) | 2008-09-25 | credited | Hank says he watched the Llama Song about 400 times in college, and that he contacted its British creator, who approved the parody as long as it is pro-Obama. | Obama llama Duck (00:00:45) |
| Buwei Yang Chao | 2021-09-28 | recommended | Lastly John recommends the 1945 cookbook How to Cook and Eat in Chinese by Buwei Yang Chao, a Chinese physician who emigrated to the US in the 1920s: out of print for decades, wonderfully postmodern. | 11 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read (00:02:55) |
| C. Howard Crane (architect) | 2007-03-19 | credited | The group enters Detroit's United Artists Theatre, described as designed by C. Howard Crane in a Spanish Catholic style; inside everything is covered in ice and rubble. | Brotherhood 2.0: March 19th: Urban Exploration (00:01:45) |
| Caitlin Tiffany | 2021-04-06 | quoted | As the meme ages it grows more meta; as Kaitlyn Tiffany has written, it is out of touch, out of date and out of place in its current context, a meme of a meme. | How Do You Do, Fellow Kids? (00:00:00) |
| Cameron McWhirter | 2020-06-02 | recommended | The description lists books and essays John found helpful on racism's centrality to American life, by Kendi, Anderson, Lorde, Coates, Morrison, Evans, Baldwin, McWhirter, Woodson, Hurston, Wilkerson and Washington. | --- (00:00:00) |
| Camille Pissarro (painter) | 2016-10-04 | cited | After leaving Somerset House John catches some Drowzees and declares London lousy with Drowzees and masterpieces, the video's title line. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:01:51) |
| Carlos | 2024-09-25 | personal story | His friend Carlos came to his desk to show him YouTube, and John's first YouTube video was All Your Base Are Belong to Us, a collection of memes set to music. | You have no chance to survive make your time. (00:00:30) |
| Carmen (hospital transporter and spin instructor) | 2016-11-22 | subject | A hospital worker, Carmen, wheeled John to endoscopy, asked about his wife, kids and job, and concluded "you've got the basics covered"; he woke thinking the same. | On Not Seeing Hamilton (00:01:44) |
| Carol Anderson | 2020-06-02 | recommended | The description recommends online essays: Clint Smith on parenting in the age of Black Lives Matter, Carol Anderson on 1919 and now, Ibram X. Kendi's 'The American Nightmare', and The 1619 Project. | --- (00:00:00) |
| Caroline (daughter of Steve Bullock) | 2018-03-23 | personal story | Bullock says the order began when his daughter Caroline, having called their congressional representatives about the repeal, called his switchboard; he first said it was federal, then saw states could lead. | Trump, Guns, and Net Neutrality...With Governor Steve Bullock?! (00:01:41) |
| Carolyn | 2022-10-14 | credited | Hank explains that DFTBA's Rachel had the idea, Carolyn suggested the name NerdfArters, and Rachel made a graphic with a prompt for each of October's 31 days. | The Surprise Revelation of NerdfArters (00:00:29) |
| Casey McIntyre (publishing) | 2023-11-21 | subject | John says Casey McIntyre, a young woman he knew a little, has just died of cancer; she was married to his friend Andrew Rose Gregory and worked for years at John's publishing house. | Minus Its Charms (00:02:33) |
| Cassie Vu (book cover designer) | 2026-06-16 | credited | John loves the cover's colors and Hollywood sinking into the horizon, and is extremely grateful to Cassie Vu for an extraordinary cover. | My First Novel in Nine Years Has a Cover (00:02:26) |
| Catherine Murphy | 2024-01-09 | passing | Recording the words back home, John's view is an unmade bed, a Catherine Murphy painting and a window onto the gray Indiana winter; he always has a view. | Views (00:00:58) |
| Catherine O'Hara | 2026-02-27 | cited | Hank thinks that at this moment in history people know a historically high number of names, including of people they don't and can't know, such as Catherine the Great, Catherine O'Hara and Lady Catherine de Bourgh. | Can We Do a Science Together?? (00:00:58) |
| Cathy Hewison (MSF tuberculosis advisor) | 2025-11-13 | takes part | 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. | Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders (00:43:17) |
| Cecil Baldwin (person) | 2014-03-21 | passing | Hank and Katherine drive about 150 miles to Freezeout Lake. | The Great Goose Migration (00:00:48) |
| Chanda Prescod-Weinstein | 2021-09-28 | recommended | John loves Chanda Prescod-Weinstein's physics book The Disordered Cosmos and thinks about it every day. | 11 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read (00:01:27) |
| Charles Coughlin | 2024-11-22 | cited | Hank says Father Coughlin, an early radio preacher attacking elites, banks and Jews, drew millions of listeners and spoke of Hitler with great appreciation. | Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment (00:03:51) |
| Charles E. Rosenberg | 2020-04-14 | credited | John celebrates with champagne that Sarah's book You Are an Artist comes out today, wondering if he can drink champagne on YouTube without being demonetized. | books that help (00:00:00) |
| Charles Goodrich | 2025-02-25 | personal story | John's great-uncle Stokes Goodrich was born in 1900 in rural Tennessee, raised in a house built by John's great-grandfather Charles, a country doctor in Franklin County. | EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS (00:01:57) |
| Charles W. Fairbanks | 2020-12-15 | cited | John shows the grave of Charles Fairbanks, VP from 1905 to 1909 under Teddy Roosevelt, mostly remembered for working against the policies of the president he served. | America's Capital of Dead Vice Presidents (00:00:58) |
| Charles Wysocki (painter) | 2019-12-06 | credited | In channel comments Hank names Charles Wysocki for the puzzle images and says he has done many more puzzles over the years than the ones recorded. | It is Much Easier to Destroy than Create (00:00:00) |
| Charles X | 2022-08-02 | passing | John says Louis XVIII died of wet and dry gangrene in 1824, and his other brother Charles X became king and tried, badly, to rule with the Chamber of Deputies. | Liberty Leading the People: How Revolutions Turn (00:00:58) |
| Charli XCX | 2024-09-23 | joke | John shows this year's (2024) t-shirts: him saying hello from his Pizzamas abode, a 'pizza fall' shirt after brat summer, a cowboy lassoing a pizza, and 'Pizza John made fresh'. | IT'S HERE! (00:02:16) |
| Charlie Atkinson | 2012-05-05 | credited | John thanks the people at NASA and Northrop Grumman who made Hank's present possible, especially Ron Birk, Charlie Atkinson and Rolf Danner, and Michael Gardner at EcoGeek for facilitating it. | It's HANKO DE MAYO!!!!! (00:00:00) |
| Charlotte Brontë | 2020-03-10 | subject | Asked by the brothers, Google says Charlotte Brontë, the most famous and longest-lived of the sisters, died on 31 March 1855. | A Strong but Fleeting Flavor: A Reunion Video (00:02:55) |
| Cheri Vincent | 2024-03-19 | credited | John thanks those behind the project: USAID's Cheri Vincent and Atul Gawande, PIH's Garrett Wilkinson and Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee, the Philippine Department of Health, activists and NGOs. | Our $80,000,000 Bet (00:00:00) |
| Chris (bone marrow donor, mentioned from 2025) (bone marrow donor) | 2025-08-01 | takes part | Hank reports that many viewers sent in cheek swabs and the first bone marrow donor among them has arrived: a man named Chris, shown donating and being interviewed by DKMS. | We Stole a Man's Blood (00:00:00) |
| Chris Anderson | 2026-07-03 | subject | Hank says Chris Anderson, the person most associated with TED, bought it in 2001. | Why I Didn't Buy TED (00:00:29) |
| Chris Hemsworth | 2021-04-20 | cited | Next week (week of 26 April 2021) Partners In Health and the Sierra Leonean government will officially break ground on the Maternal Center of Excellence and the expansion of Koidu Government Hospital, a huge step against maternal mortality. | Breaking Ground!!! (00:00:00) |
| Chris Kent | 2017-10-06 | cited | Melons, squashes and cucumbers are gourds, which grow very big: Chris Kent's record watermelon, grown in Tennessee, weighed over 350 pounds. | The World's Largest Fruits (00:02:21) |
| Chris Pratt | 2020-05-29 | cited | Hank describes the old model: a star builds a career, audiences gain affinity and see movies because the star is in them, as Chris Pratt went from Parks and Rec to Peter Quill to Jurassic World. | Get Paid (00:00:00) |
| Chris Qualley | 2017-10-06 | cited | Evans also held the largest-carrot record until this year (2017), when Minnesotan Chris Qualley took it with a 22-pound carrot. | The World's Largest Fruits (00:01:17) |
| Christa Pike | 2026-10-05 | subject | Hank says Tennessee last week (week of 28 September 2026) tried to execute 50-year-old Krista Pike, who with her boyfriend tortured and killed a classmate when she was 18, in 1995. | Why Are We So Bad at Executing People? (00:01:27) |
| Christian Pulisic | 2026-06-23 | subject | The brothers sing the Seattle fan song praising Christian Pulisic; John says he will edit it because it has explicit words. | A Very French Reunion (00:01:40) |
| Christina (student) | 2026-10-09 | personal story | Hank's first chemistry tutoring went terribly; feeling obligated to Christina, Ethan and Connor, whose grades mattered more to him than his own, he learned chemistry like never before. | The Productivity Lie (00:07:24) |
| Christine McCallum | 2017-10-06 | cited | Christine McCallum grew the world's largest pineapple. | The World's Largest Fruits (00:01:34) |
| Christophe Perrin | 2023-07-11 | credited | The description thanks TB expert Carole Mitnick and MSF's Christophe Perrin for helping John understand drug patents. | Barely Contained Rage: An Open Letter to Johnson & Johnson (00:00:00) |
| Christopher Cross | 2021-06-08 | cited | Ashley's favorite thing about the Midwest is driving far too fast on back roads past cornfields, listening to yacht rock such as Christopher Cross. | Feelings, Little Tunnels, and Oprah: It's Question Tuesday with Ashley C. Ford (00:03:03) |
| Christopher Wray | 2024-07-19 | cited | Hank says Crooks googled where Joe Biden and Donald Trump would be, and also Merrick Garland, Christopher Wray and an unnamed member of the British royal family. | The Assassination Attempt and the Comfort of Certainty (00:05:57) |
| Chuck Close (artist) | 2012-10-09 | cited | John notes everything they did that day was free to all, and argues that inside the neoclassical 'temple-fortresses' the American ideas of equal opportunity and equal access still live. | Attacked by Squirrels and Neoclassicism: Thoughts from Places, Washington D.C. (00:03:12) |
| Chuck Yeager (test pilot) | 2012-08-27 | cited | His near-misses: a muddy salt-flat touch-and-go with Chuck Yeager, an X-15 bouncing off the atmosphere 40 miles off course with little fuel, and a landing-gear collapse. | Six Reasons Neil Armstrong was a BADASS (00:01:10) |
| Clint Eastwood | 2018-07-24 | passing | The cinematographer John Green, who goes by Jack, has often been director of photography on films directed by Clint Eastwood. | Other John Greens (00:02:16) |
| CM Junk | 2022-04-01 | credited | The description says the music is a lo-fi cover of Bo Burnham's 'That Funny Feeling' by CM Junk, used with CM Junk's permission but not Bo's. | I Don't Have a Good Title for This Video. (00:00:00) |
| Cody Gakpo | 2026-06-09 | passing | John calls the Netherlands probably the best footballing nation ever to win the World Cup (likely a slip for never); they will believe they can go far with stars like Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:06:19) |
| Cole Porter | 2018-03-20 | cited | John says the joke is much older: it was used in a 1938 Cole Porter musical and in a 1960s Laugh-In episode ('television watches you'). | The Russian Reversal (00:00:16) |
| Colin Hickey (volunteer) | 2013-12-20 | credited | P4A 2013 credits: web development by Sam Rudge, hosting by Fastly, design by Karen Kavett, Michael Aranda and Vondell Swain (the coin), perk fulfillment by Dave Loos, Matthew Gaydos, Katherine Green and Michael Gardner, perk development by Laura Chernikoff and Colin Hickey. | Best Moments of the Project for Awesome (00:00:00) |
| Coltan Compton | 2025-09-19 | credited | The description thanks Coltan Compton for this year's (2025) logo, Milo for the edit and Incompetech.com for all of the music over all these years. | Let's Just Be Stupid For a Moment (00:00:00) |
| Connie Bostic (artist) | 2015-12-29 | credited | John shares a New Year's card by his and Hank's mother's artist friend Connie Bostic, 'We Must Live In Joy Through the Sorrows of this World', calling it the greatest of all time. | How to Give Away Over a Million Dollars (00:01:57) |
| Connor (student) | 2026-10-09 | personal story | Hank's first chemistry tutoring went terribly; feeling obligated to Christina, Ethan and Connor, whose grades mattered more to him than his own, he learned chemistry like never before. | The Productivity Lie (00:07:24) |
| Conrad Hilton (hotelier) | 2008-12-15 | quoted | John notes W.C. Fields's last words were addressed to Carlotta, his mistress, not his wife Hattie; he says he tones the quote down for young nerdfighters. | Famous Last Words (00:02:37) |
| Cory (ink mixer) | 2016-11-07 | takes part | Cory, the ink mixer, says he was listening to Hank's podcast before Hank walked in. | It's Pizzamas!!! (Thoughts From the Place Where they Print Our Shirts) (00:01:19) |
| Craig Cope | 2025-01-14 | credited | John thanks everyone at AFC Wimbledon, especially director of football Craig Cope, who did not bat an eye at a YouTuber's very weird idea. | So I Bought My Team a Pro Football Player (00:03:24) |
| Cristine Rotenberg | 2024-11-03 | cited | Hank admires Christine, a nail art YouTuber whose nail polish brand Holo Taco is very good, a logical extension of her channel. | Hank's very messy post-cancer year of mistakes, meaning… (00:04:30) |
| Cyrus Ching (labor mediator) | 2016-03-29 | quoted | Asked his honest opinion of Donald Trump, John quotes Cyrus Ching: never wrestle with a pig; you get filthy, and the pig likes it. | My New Book, Marriage Advice, and Hamilton: 50 Snapchat Questions Answered! (00:02:00) |
| Daddy Yankee | 2019-09-27 | credited | Hank's first strategy is avoidance: listen to 'Shaky Shaky' by Daddy Yankee, or find solace in YouTube videos, poetry videos, potato plants, a friend or a dog. | Crisis (00:00:40) |
| Dan Bongino | 2025-12-19 | cited | Hank says Trump hires from both of his worlds: grievance-based attention farmers (RFK Jr., Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Pete Hegseth) and billionaires (Linda McMahon, David Sacks, Elon Musk, Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick). | My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun (00:02:27) |
| Dan Burton (US congressman (Republican, Indiana)) | 2013-01-01 | cited | John says his Indianapolis congressman is Democrat Andre Carson while his across-the-street neighbour in the same zip code has Republican Dan Burton, because the district was redrawn to take in pricier houses expected to vote Republican. | Why Does Congress Suck? (00:01:45) |
| Dave (artist, mentioned from 2022) (artist) | 2022-08-30 | recommended | John says Dave's prints are $20. | How to Buy Good Art for Less Than $100,000,000 (00:00:58) |
| David Icke (conspiracy theorist) | 2011-01-10 | criticized | Fifth and 'the winner': David Icke, a former professional soccer player and morning-show sportscaster, claims shape-shifting, blood-drinking reptilian aliens from Draco have ruled humanity since the pharaohs. | Top 5 Ridiculous Conspiracy Theories (00:02:25) |
| David Lyall | 2020-06-12 | subject | Hank really likes the name Tibbles, given to the cat in the legend; he doesn't know its origin, and it may have been David Lyall's cat. | Fed to the Rules (00:01:27) |
| David McRaney | 2024-11-22 | credited | Hank also recommends How Minds Change by David McRaney. | Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment (00:33:03) |
| David Sacks | 2025-12-19 | cited | Hank says Trump hires from both of his worlds: grievance-based attention farmers (RFK Jr., Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Pete Hegseth) and billionaires (Linda McMahon, David Sacks, Elon Musk, Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick). | My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun (00:02:27) |
| David Silva | 2024-09-06 | subject | A year ago Hank began following David Silva, who left the toy industry to make scientifically accurate dinosaur figures; Hank calls his work gorgeous. | I feel like I can't talk about this… (00:01:56) |
| David Slater (photographer) | 2014-08-08 | subject | Hank says the monkey selfie was taken when photographer David Slater's camera was stolen by a rare crested black macaque, which took many pictures of itself, other macaques and leaves. | Who Owns a Monkey's Selfie? And a Song About Meningitis! (00:00:19) |
| David Starr Jordan | 2020-04-14 | passing | John says David Starr Jordan was Stanford University's first president. | books that help (00:01:18) |
| dbzkenny (artist) | 2014-12-06 | credited | The description credits the Brothers Chaps art to dbzkenny and points viewers to the companion episode A Brief History of Vlogbrothers. | A Brief History of Homestar Runner (00:00:00) |
| Delfina V. Barbiero | 2020-07-07 | quoted | Delfina V. Barbiero's USA Today review calls the book's world grounded in reality, written before the pandemic yet with many parallels, and a hopeful read. | You're a Rock Star (00:00:00) |
| Democritus | 2025-09-12 | cited | Hank's favourite example: when were atoms discovered? With Democritus's philosophy, Dalton and Lavoisier's whole-number chemistry, Einstein's Brownian-motion math, or Max von Laue's first X-ray diffraction images? | This Might Actually be Happening (00:16:15) |
| Dennis Lehane | 2025-11-24 | passing | Looking at Wikipedia's list of Eckerd College alumni, John says Hank is overwhelmingly the most famous, with writer Dennis Lehane second. | Good Store Holiday Gift Guide LIVE with Hank and John (00:38:39) |
| Denny Love | 2019-06-18 | takes part | Denny Love had not read the book before he got the audition; he read it in less than a day and knew the story was special. | Question Tuesday with Miles and the Colonel: Manolo! (00:00:43) |
| Derek DelGaudio | 2022-07-01 | credited | Derek DelGaudio's In and Of Itself, suggested by Sam Reich, was maybe the best thing Hank has ever seen: a live one-man show that held his attention better than Shang-Chi's fight scenes. | 7 Movie Reviews in Four Minutes (00:01:27) |
| Desiree Jennings (cheerleader) | 2009-11-08 | subject, cited | John recounts the reported story of Washington Redskins cheerleader 'Denise' (Desiree) Jennings, who after a flu shot had seizures and was diagnosed with incurable dystonia blamed on the vaccine. | H1N1 Vaccine Fears (00:00:00) |
| Didier William (artist) | 2022-10-18 | recommended | John was drawn to landscapes: Lucas Arruda's paintings, Byron Kim's abstracted landscape, Didier William's underseascape, Yoan Capote's plaster-and-metal landscape and Sam Moyer's stones-and-canvas painting. | Terraverse Over Everything: Thoughts from London (00:01:49) |
| Divock Origi | 2019-07-23 | passing | John has been thinking about what we love and how, because loves give us communities, and we need communities bound by enthusiasms to combat what Vonnegut called the terrible disease of loneliness. | What to Love and How (00:00:00) |
| Dolly Smith | 2022-09-30 | cited | John cites Dolly Smith, who for 70 years did not miss a single match of her beloved Derby County. | COMMIT TO THE BIT (00:02:04) |
| Dom Pérignon (monk) | 2007-10-22 | subject | John says that in or around 1670 a monk, Dom Perignon, invented champagne, and is said to have called out 'Come quickly, I am tasting the stars' at his first sip. | October 22nd: The Anniversary of Young Earth Creationism (00:02:01) |
| Domenico Beccafumi | 2022-07-26 | cited | The homunculus convention, especially in medieval European art, painted the baby Jesus as both small and a full-grown man, since Jesus was held to be fully God and all-knowing even as a baby. | Has this artist ever seen a baby? (00:01:42) |
| Donald Judd (artist) | 2013-05-21 | cited | John says Ai's sculptures of over 2,000 pounds of pressed tea each recall Judd and Andre's minimalism but use Chinese material long imported by the West, asking what is appropriated, by whom. | Poetry Makes Nothing Happen: Thoughts on Ai Weiwei from the Indianapolis Museum of Art (00:01:31) |
| Donald Rogan | 2020-06-09 | personal story | When John graduated in December, Kenyon professor Donald Rogan, with other professors and friends, threw him an unofficial graduation at his home, with a brief commencement address and a fake diploma. | i could use a little fuel myself (00:00:58) |
| Donato Bramante | 2026-08-21 | passing | Joking that without such connections a Ninja Turtle might be named Brunelleschi, Hank fumbles Renaissance first names, settling on Filippo Brunelleschi and Donato Bramante. | Not (Just) Dunking on Jeff Bezos (00:05:36) |
| Dorothea Lange | 2019-07-30 | passing | Researching Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother photograph, John learned something never covered in any of his US history classes. | The Mexican Repatriation (00:00:00) |
| Doug Flutie | 2019-01-29 | cited | John believes in radical hope not from theology or philosophy but because he has seen that even with little cause for hope, hope is the correct response to the human condition, as Flutie and Phelan showed. | Do You Believe in Miracles? (00:00:57) |
| Dr. Carl | 2023-06-27 | personal story | Hank says the tree is on its own boat but not alone, since Dad is there; Hank has Dad too, though Dad can't stake him upright: that is Dr. Carl's job. | Alone on the Cancer Boat: A Vlogbrothers Reunion (00:02:54) |
| Dr. Grove (teacher) | 2026-10-09 | personal story | After Hank got a D on his first midterm as a chemistry major, his teacher Dr. Grove sat him down for 15 minutes, went through the test and told him what to work on rather than suggest changing majors. | The Productivity Lie (00:06:54) |
| Drew | 2014-03-07 | credited | Hank thanks Paul and Storm, Jonathan and Drew for putting the cruise together, calling it something so amazing. | Thoughts from a Cruise (00:00:00) |
| Duncan Gasiewicz (designer) | 2016-11-07 | credited | New this Pizzamas: Duncan's 'Hot and Fresh' shirt comes only in a $39 Pizzamas Pizza Box, delivered in a pizza box with a pizza cutter, a notepad and an apron. | It's Pizzamas!!! (Thoughts From the Place Where they Print Our Shirts) (00:00:00) |
| Dwight Freeney (American football linebacker) | 2013-02-01 | cited | Hank says the NFL minimum salary is $300,000 a year, and 2011's top salary, $19 million, went to linebacker Dwight Freeney. | Football For Nerds (00:02:57) |
| E. B. White | 2018-04-03 | quoted | E.B. White, best known as the author of Charlotte's Web, was also a brilliant magazine writer; John was recently reading a collection of his. | On Punctuality (00:01:56) |
| Eddie Cantor (entertainer) | 2017-06-23 | passing | Reading the Banjo Eyes page, Hank notes the title refers not to Cantor's character but to a talking racehorse played in costume by the vaudeville team Morton and Mayo. | Reviewing Musicals from their Wikipedia Pages (00:01:11) |
| Eddie Cochran | 2026-02-27 | cited | Hank says Wikipedia has a list of notable people and fictional characters plus public pageview data that can stand in for how famous each is. | Can We Do a Science Together?? (00:03:09) |
| Eddie Vedder | 2024-10-30 | passing | Hank saw Pearl Jam in concert recently; a band member is from Jon Tester's small hometown and did an event for Tester. | Sipping the Tea with Hank (00:32:06) |
| Edgar Degas (painter) | 2016-10-04 | cited | John says a famous Degas painting there was made around the Prussian siege of Paris in 1871, and, per the wall label, Degas paid the model with a hunk of meat she devoured raw. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:01:27) |
| Edin Džeko | 2026-06-09 | passing | Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Italy to qualify, and 40-year-old Edin Džeko is still scoring goals. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:02:26) |
| Edmund Hillary | 2017-01-24 | joke | John says neither Walt Disney nor Sir Edmund Hillary ever said the quotes so often attributed to them. | On Motivation (00:01:07) |
| Edwin Hubble | 2020-01-31 | passing | Hank says only a hundred years ago people argued whether the Milky Way was the entire universe; Edwin Hubble proved other galaxies exist. | How Many Stars are in the Sky? (00:03:02) |
| Elena Kagan | 2023-03-03 | quoted | In a clip Hank plays from the Supreme Court hearing, Justice Kagan asks why the tech industry gets a pass when every other industry has to internalize the cost of misconduct. | The Law That Made the Internet (00:02:55) |
| Elizabeth Kucinich (public-figure) | 2007-03-02 | joke | Hank jokes that Dennis Kucinich's wife is attractive, cites Daniel Biss calling her the Democrats' one success of 2004, and says he could 'dig' her as First Lady. | Brotherhood 2.0: March 2nd: Politics and Butt Explosions (00:01:04) |
| Elizabeth Sullivan | 2022-11-08 | subject | John jokes that 104-year-old Elizabeth Sullivan taught him that drinking Dr Pepper is the way to a long and happy life. | Dr Pepper Enthusiast John Green Taste Tests Dr Pepper and Its Misbegotten Pretenders (00:00:00) |
| Elliott Broidy | 2018-05-22 | cited | John says it is known that Republican donor Elliott Broidy paid a woman over a million dollars not to discuss their alleged affair. | The Liger Delusion (00:01:55) |
| Emil Robbie | 2018-03-20 | quoted | John cites a joke refuting both ideologies by Moldovan-American educator Emil Robbie: under capitalism man exploits man, under communism the other way around. | The Russian Reversal (00:01:01) |
| Emily Cole | 2017-08-03 | credited | John notes that the Project Lovely logo was made by Emily Cole using a font made from Esther's actual handwriting. | HAPPY ESTHER DAY!!! (00:01:19) |
| Emily Rayna | 2023-05-05 | credited | Hank first found Emily Rayna on TikTok and reached out to her over a year ago to start the project, which is now complete. | New Office Tour!! (00:03:21) |
| Emma (patient) (patient) | 2022-01-04 | cited | Emma, a 13-year-old in Kono and twin of Kadie, had a seizure; first treated for suspected malaria, she was driven five hours to a CT scanner, which revealed tuberculous meningitis. | After 15 Years on YouTube, THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING (00:02:38) |
| Emma Luthi Price | 2017-08-22 | credited | The description thanks Rosianna Halse Rojas for help gathering research and Emma Luthi Price for suggesting the video. | The Causes of Cholera (00:00:00) |
| Entomology Abby | 2022-02-08 | credited | The description lists the educational grant recipients funded by the ad revenue: MattieWex, Tom Lum, Sofishtication, Alexis Nikole, Entomology Abby, Astrokirsten, The Garbage Queen and Flipping Physics. | How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) (00:00:00) |
| Erasmus | 2024-11-22 | quoted | Hank says the pamphlet war was much more of a Twitter screaming match than he imagined; Erasmus's last letter blamed Luther's arrogant personality for a fatal dissension. | Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment (00:11:45) |
| Eric Garner (victim of police killing) | 2014-12-26 | cited | Hank says Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford and 12-year-old Tamir Rice were all unarmed and all killed by police officers. | The Best and Worst of 2014 (00:01:37) |
| Erik Samuelson | 2021-09-28 | recommended | Admitting bias, John recommends All Together Now by longtime AFC Wimbledon CEO Erik Samuelson: the greatest underdog sports story of all time, told by one who made it happen. | 11 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read (00:02:26) |
| Erling Haaland | 2026-06-09 | passing | Norway have Erling Haaland, one of the world's best strikers, and John thinks they will surprise some people at the tournament. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:05:21) |
| Ernest G. Alpers (mapmaker) | 2014-12-23 | cited | John says the map, famous to cartography nerds and Paper Towns readers, shows Agloe, New York, north of Rockland: a town made up by its creators Ernest G Alpers and Otto Lindberg from their initials. | Agloe, New York (00:00:32) |
| Ethan (student) | 2026-10-09 | personal story | Hank's first chemistry tutoring went terribly; feeling obligated to Christina, Ethan and Connor, whose grades mattered more to him than his own, he learned chemistry like never before. | The Productivity Lie (00:07:24) |
| Ethan Newberry | 2024-02-16 | credited | Hank recalls that about 12 years ago (around 2012), during a P4A, he and Ethan Newberry wrote the song Look at Hank's Face live on stream; its last words, from a P4A comment, became a P4A slogan. | How Much Does it Cost to be a Nerdfighter (00:01:27) |
| Eugene Cernan | 2021-10-11 | cited | By the 1960s people went from 120 to over 24,000 miles per hour; the record, set by Tom Stafford, John Young and Eugene Cernan returning from the Moon on Apollo 10, is unbeaten. | The Fastest Things in the Universe (Entirely According to Me) (00:01:18) |
| Eugene Schieffelin | 2019-06-25 | subject | John says Schieffelin was born in New York City in 1827, born rich and stayed rich, the seventh son of a famous family, working for his father's pharmaceutical company. | Seemed Like a Good Idea: Eugene Schieffelin and the European Starlings (00:00:00) |
| Eugène Boudin (painter) | 2022-08-30 | recommended | Not everything costs like a Monet: works on paper by Eugène Boudin, Monet's teacher and one of John's favorite Impressionists, sometimes sell for a couple thousand dollars, 1/100,000th the cost of a Monet. | How to Buy Good Art for Less Than $100,000,000 (00:01:56) |
| Eugène Delacroix | 2022-08-02 | credited | John is sick, perhaps because he recently spent a lot of time with strangers at the Louvre looking at Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. | Liberty Leading the People: How Revolutions Turn (00:00:00) |
| Evelyn Nicol | 2022-09-16 | credited | After much work in the 1950s, the shared pathogen was confirmed separately, in two different ways, by Thomas Weller and Evelyn Nicol. | Here's Why Younger People are Getting Shingles (00:00:29) |
| Ezra Klein | 2025-02-07 | quoted | Hank recommends Ezra Klein's recent essay on Trump's first weeks back in office, also a good YouTube video, and links it in the description. | What Trump's Doing (00:02:27) |
| Fay Vincent | 2026-05-12 | subject | John later worked out that his actual commencement speaker was Fay Vincent, the eighth commissioner of Major League Baseball, who made the short-and-bad joke. | Lies, Damn Lies, and Bart Giamatti (00:01:47) |
| Felix Baumgartner (skydiver) | 2010-03-17 | cited | Hank says Felix Baumgartner will soon try to break the sound barrier skydiving from a helium balloon 23 miles up, where thin air won't slow him. | Side-Boob is Not my Ultimate Concern (00:01:14) |
| Ferdinand II of Aragon | 2019-10-30 | cited | John says King Ferdinand of Spain was purportedly the first person to taste a pineapple on European soil, in 1496. | this is a video about pineapples. (00:01:56) |
| Ferdinand Magellan | 2025-12-05 | cited | The guide says designers planned a fully automated capsule without a window, but early astronauts refused, so from the Mercury era the window stayed. | Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves (00:06:18) |
| Folayan Opeyemi | 2024-03-01 | takes part | The description points viewers to Flyana Boss on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify. | Flyana Boss Asks Hank Anything (00:00:00) |
| Frances Haugen | 2021-10-07 | cited | Hank was impressed by Frances Haugen's congressional testimony and the questions, which showed deeper understanding; maybe useful conversations are starting. | We're Thinking About Facebook Wrong (00:05:56) |
| Francis Hopkinson Smith | 2018-01-02 | subject | The book John has in mind for now is Tom Grogan by Francis Hopkinson Smith. | BRING IT IN 2018 (00:02:44) |
| Francisco E. Balderrama | 2019-07-30 | credited | The description names Decade of Betrayal by Francisco E. Balderrama and Raymond Rodriguez as the most comprehensive history of the period, where John first learned Jose Lopez's story. | The Mexican Repatriation (00:00:00) |
| Francisco Franco | 2025-05-02 | cited | Hank says Spain belongs in England's time zone but uses Germany's, because Franco put it there to curry favour with Hitler, so Spaniards eat lunch and dinner late. | I Found the Dumbest Time Zone (00:03:04) |
| Francisco Goya (painter) | 2016-10-04 | joke | After leaving Somerset House John catches some Drowzees and declares London lousy with Drowzees and masterpieces, the video's title line. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:01:51) |
| Frank Miracle | 2018-02-09 | cited | Hank's research found Frank Miracle and Henry Tripp laid that sidewalk in 1909, with a five-year guarantee to replace it if anything went wrong. | This is Going to Seem Dumb, but Stick with Me (00:02:12) |
| Frank Ryan | 2025-02-25 | cited | John cites an estimate from Frank Ryan's book that TB has killed around one in seven people who have ever lived. | EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS (00:04:58) |
| Frank Snowden | 2021-09-28 | recommended | Frank Snowden's Epidemics and Society helped John see that infectious disease has always been among history's most important forces: we think of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra, but it's mostly microbes. | 11 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read (00:00:58) |
| Frank Stella | 2017-08-08 | cited | After the Grand Canal view, they visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection: works by Anish Kapoor, Modigliani, Warhol, Frank Stella, Picasso and Pollock, though John mostly saw the backs of heads. | What You Make of It: Thoughts from Venice, Italy (00:01:40) |
| Franz Ferdinand | 2023-05-16 | subject | John says World War I began after the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, a tragedy that led to the deaths of tens of millions. | Did TB Cause World War I? (00:00:29) |
| Friedensreich Hundertwasser (artist) | 2009-05-13 | cited | Hank shows off the green screen with a rapid montage of shouted backgrounds, from Superman and Wolverine to Margo Roth Spiegelman, animals, Neil Gaiman, Jean-Luc Picard and Hundertwasser. | GREEN SCREEN!!!! (00:00:45) |
| Fritz Haber | 2026-01-09 | cited | Hank says Fritz Haber arguably saved the most lives in human history, though he was in fact intending to research how to blow people up better. | There is Only One Source of Value (00:00:00) |
| Gabriel García Márquez | 2020-04-14 | credited | John celebrates with champagne that Sarah's book You Are an Artist comes out today, wondering if he can drink champagne on YouTube without being demonetized. | books that help (00:00:00) |
| Gail Perkins | 2026-08-25 | cited | Researching Everything Is Tuberculosis, John read Gail Perkins's memoir The Baby's Cross: infected by raw milk at three, she spent over 13 years in a sanatorium and came home unaccustomed to touch. | The Great Thing about Infectious Disease (00:03:24) |
| Galen | 2026-03-17 | subject | John says the sacral vertebrae and the sacrum are so named because Galen called it the sacred bone 2,000 years ago. | Tuberculosis and Hank's Shingles (00:03:45) |
| Galileo Galilei | 2023-07-21 | cited | Hank says that when Galileo first saw the moons of Jupiter he was looking at visible light photons. | The Biggest Weirdest Telescope We've Ever Built (00:00:29) |
| Garrett Wilkinson | 2024-03-19 | credited | John thanks those behind the project: USAID's Cheri Vincent and Atul Gawande, PIH's Garrett Wilkinson and Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee, the Philippine Department of Health, activists and NGOs. | Our $80,000,000 Bet (00:00:00) |
| Gavrilo Princip | 2023-05-16 | subject | Citing a historian, John says all three suffered from tuberculosis and knew they would not live long, which made them willing to give their lives for what they saw as a great cause. | Did TB Cause World War I? (00:01:57) |
| Geneva (person) | 2013-12-27 | credited | Hank thanks Geneva for categorizing his Tumblr science asks, and links more sledding footage from Michael Aranda. | The Kidney That Was In 3 People - And Other Amazing Science Things (00:00:00) |
| George Jones Jr. | 2018-05-18 | subject | Googling who put the ram in 'Rama Lama Ding Dong', Hank finds songwriter George Jones Jr., who died in 2008; the album cover originally called the song 'Lama Rama Ding Dong'. | Laurel or Yanny and Baby Dance Moves - It's Question Friday (00:01:54) |
| George Merryweather | 2018-09-07 | credited | Tessa says that in 1842 the inventor Dr. Meriwether built the tempest prognosticator to tell whether a storm was coming, using 12 leeches. | Frightened Leech Science with Tessa Violet (00:01:51) |
| George Raft | 2021-09-21 | quoted | John recalls George Raft's joke about losing his fortune (the rest he spent foolishly) and draws from it that work others see as productive use of his life is not what he experiences as productive. | how we spend our days (00:01:56) |
| George Soros (investor) | 2016-10-25 | cited | John says the rumour that machines owned by George Soros will be used in 16 states is false: Soros has no ownership stake in Smartmatic. | Will the U.S. Presidential Election Be Rigged? (00:05:40) |
| George VI | 2019-02-05 | cited | John says in 1939 the Canadian Prime Minister had King George VI cut out of a photo, thinking he'd look more powerful talking only to the Queen Mum. | Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images (00:02:26) |
| Georges Seurat (painter) | 2016-10-04 | cited | John says in a Cézanne landscape at Somerset House you can start to see painting move toward abstraction. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:01:19) |
| Georginio Wijnaldum | 2019-07-23 | passing | Traffic was terrible, but John and Alice amused themselves by singing the Wijnaldum song for two straight hours. | What to Love and How (00:00:00) |
| Gerald Ford | 2018-06-22 | passing | The black bear can thrive, whereas every other bear species has declined. | Stumping EDU Creators - Trivia at VidCon (00:01:03) |
| Gerard Phelan | 2019-01-29 | cited | Boston College's quarterback threw a 52-yard pass to his roommate and best friend Gerard Phelan to win in what became the Miami Miracle; John's dad threw him in the air. | Do You Believe in Miracles? (00:00:29) |
| Gertrude Atherton | 2022-08-23 | cited | John has never heard of A. S. M. Hutchinson or Gertrude Atherton, though they wrote the best-selling American novels of 1922 and 1923. | Flin Flon: One Book's Unlikely Survival (00:00:58) |
| Gia | 2024-11-13 | credited | John says his livestream emotes were all designed by other Nerdfighters, most by a Nerdfighter named Gia. | Some New Things… (00:26:52) |
| Gladys | 2025-05-06 | cited | John met several TB survivors, including Gladys, whose extrapulmonary TB invaded her breast, an extremely painful and life-threatening condition. | Health CARE: Thoughts from Lima (00:01:56) |
| Glenn Beck (political commentator) | 2010-08-18 | joke | Toomey says his favourite food is penguins, which taste of codfish and auroch heart, and that he likes Glenn Beck, at which Hank ends the interview. | Demon Four Year Old Interviewed (00:01:18) |
| Gordon Ramsay | 2022-02-18 | cited | Hank says the stovetop and natural gas industry made the blue-flame gas stove, beautiful and used by Gordon Ramsay, the alternative people picture to coil stoves. | You Don't Want a Gas Stovetop (00:00:00) |
| Grace (person, mentioned from 2017) | 2017-09-08 | takes part | At the gate, Grace gets excited about the US Open on TV and explains to Hank that Lindsay Davenport is a tennis player. | How to Win Australia (00:01:34) |
| Grace (refugee, mentioned from 2016) (refugee) | 2016-12-09 | cited | John tells how Grace, separated from her two daughters in an attack and not knowing for two years whether they survived, was reunited with them by Save the Children caseworkers through a database of missing kids. | The Difference A Decade Makes: The 10th Annual Project for Awesome Is Here! (00:02:14) |
| Grace Jones | 2026-06-02 | cited | Huge corporations mediate the exchange of private experience for public consumption; once a problem for people like Jackie Kennedy and Grace Jones, it is now an economy everyone joins with each post. | The Instagramification of Human Experience (00:04:52) |
| Gregg Sparkman | 2021-07-09 | cited | Hank cites an article by social psychologists Hackel and Sparkman: people act not because they see smoke but because they see others rushing in with water. | Wrong on the Internet (00:03:11) |
| Gregor MacGregor | 2019-03-29 | cited | In the 1800s Gregor MacGregor claimed to be Cazique of Poyais, a country that didn't exist, took investment, and shipped hundreds of investors to a jungle where most died; $4.5 billion was wiped out. | The Largest Theft of All Time (00:01:20) |
| Gregory Watt | 2025-02-25 | cited | 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. | EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS (00:00:59) |
| Gustave Eiffel | 2026-06-19 | cited | Hank says the Eiffel Tower has bathrooms on all three levels and a toilet at the very top since the beginning, when the man whose company designed and financed most of it secured himself an apartment there. | You Have to Poop in the Eiffel Tower (00:00:00) |
| Guy Fawkes (conspirator) | 2011-01-14 | cited | Many people plotted to blow up the British Parliament in 1605; though the day is named for him, Guy Fawkes was just the man guarding the gunpowder. | Top 5 Actual Conspiracies (00:01:46) |
| H. L. Mencken | 2022-12-20 | passing | John says The Great Gatsby was mostly forgotten within a couple of years of its 1925 publication; critics found it inferior to This Side of Paradise, and H. L. Mencken called it obviously unimportant. | The Best Books Get Better (00:00:29) |
| Handaa Enkh-Amgalan | 2023-03-28 | credited | John recommends Stigmatized by Handaa Enkh-Amgalan, a memoir of a young woman from a poor Mongolian community whose TB diagnosis brings dehumanization and stigmatization; he loved it. | My Tuberculosis Reading List (00:00:29) |
| Hannah (guest, mentioned from 2013) (guest) | 2013-04-19 | takes part | Hank writes that he wanted a frank, adult video about sexual orientation, but since he is pretty much totally straight he asked friends to share their experiences, and thanks Hannah Hart, Tyler Oakley, Ze Frank and Meg Turney of SourceFed for sticking their necks out. | On Sexual Orientation, with Hannah, Ze, Tyler, and Meg (00:00:00) |
| Harriet A. Washington | 2020-06-02 | recommended | The description lists books and essays John found helpful on racism's centrality to American life, by Kendi, Anderson, Lorde, Coates, Morrison, Evans, Baldwin, McWhirter, Woodson, Hurston, Wilkerson and Washington. | --- (00:00:00) |
| Hawa | 2023-05-02 | subject | Hawa sold corn on the street in Koidu before this job; she now reads blueprints expertly and trains new workers, and told John her life and self-image have changed profoundly. | GOOD NEWS (00:03:24) |
| Helen (Katherine's grandmother) | 2016-01-15 | credited | Hank begins to say there may be some wisdom in '50s food, but is cut off. | Eating Weird Food from the 50s (with Katherine) (00:03:39) |
| Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec | 2022-09-13 | cited | John started the channel as an experiment in building an organic audience for shorter videos; it failed: a video on tuberculosis and Toulouse-Lautrec got 17 views in two months. | A Million Things at Once (00:00:47) |
| Henri Matisse (artist) | 2011-02-28 | passing | Ima Hogg, daughter of Texas governor Big Jim Hogg, was known as the First Lady of Texas, collected Picasso and Matisse, was a philanthropist and had an honorary degree. | Harry Baals & Dick Trickle: The Funniest Names in History (00:01:16) |
| Henry (office tenant) | 2017-01-20 | takes part | Henry, who does not work for Hank, says he rents his office from Hank. | Behind the Scenes of My Life (00:01:46) |
| Henry Tripp | 2018-02-09 | cited | Hank's research found Frank Miracle and Henry Tripp laid that sidewalk in 1909, with a five-year guarantee to replace it if anything went wrong. | This is Going to Seem Dumb, but Stick with Me (00:02:12) |
| Henry Ward Beecher (clergyman) | 2008-12-15 | quoted | John notes that John Adams's last words, that Thomas Jefferson still survived, were untrue: Jefferson had died earlier that same day, July 4, 1826. | Famous Last Words (00:00:25) |
| Herodotus | 2021-01-26 | cited | Herodotus wrote 2,400 years ago that the Persian emperor Xerxes, marching through a sycamore grove, found one so beautiful he decorated it with gold and left a soldier to guard it. | The Sycamore Tree: The Anthropocene Reviewed (00:08:55) |
| Hieronymus Bosch | 2021-08-24 | cited | John likens the video to Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights: it comes in three semi-connected parts. | It's My Birthday. I Gave Myself This Video. (00:00:00) |
| Hiroshi Hoketsu (equestrian) | 2012-07-31 | cited | John says Japanese equestrian Hiroshi Hoketsu is 71 and competing in the Olympics, though he first qualified in 1964. | Nerd Olympics (00:00:00) |
| Hiroshi Sugimoto (photographer) | 2016-07-05 | cited | One of John's favourite artists is Hiroshi Sugimoto, whose Seascapes series photographs water horizons around the world, from the Tasman Sea to Lake Superior. | The Horizon Line (00:00:34) |
| Howaida Abdoulahad (interpreter) | 2016-03-08 | credited | John thanks Howaida Abdoulahad for help with interpreting after he got back home. | Aida and Majeeda: Thoughts from the Azraq Refugee Camp (00:00:00) |
| Hugo Gernsback | 2018-04-13 | subject | In 1911, in a very early science fiction novel, Hugo Gernsback became the first to predict personalized news: newspapers wired to sleeping subscribers with only the news each asked for. | Who is in Control? (00:00:00) |
| Huma Abedin (political aide) | 2020-10-30 | cited | Hank also searched about Huma Abedin's laptop, a story about Hillary Clinton's assistant that felt very big then and that he no longer remembers. | Four Years Ago (00:01:27) |
| Hussam (refugee interviewee) | 2016-03-15 | takes part | John says that on the day he met Aida and Majeeda at the Azraq refugee camp in northern Jordan he also met 16-year-old Hussam. | The Extraordinary Story of Hussam: Teenager, Writer, and Syrian Refugee (00:00:01) |
| Ian Rush | 2019-07-23 | passing | At halftime John, Sarah and Alice met Liverpool legends Patrik Berger and Ian Rush, who generously brought out the European Cup for them; John wept. | What to Love and How (00:02:54) |
| Ibrahim Rogers | 2022-01-04 | quoted | The facility's chief health officer, Ibrahim Rogers, says his first challenge is water: every inch of their work needs water. | After 15 Years on YouTube, THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING (00:07:01) |
| Ibram X. Kendi | 2020-06-02 | recommended | The description recommends online essays: Clint Smith on parenting in the age of Black Lives Matter, Carol Anderson on 1919 and now, Ibram X. Kendi's 'The American Nightmare', and The 1619 Project. | --- (00:00:00) |
| Irvine Welsh | 2026-03-24 | credited | John says the band My Chemical Romance got its name from Irvine Welsh's book Three Tales of Chemical Romance. | How Panda Express Is Tuberculosis (00:01:56) |
| Irwin | 2025-12-05 | takes part | The description thanks Irwin, Sasha and everyone else at the Johnson Space Center. | Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves (00:00:00) |
| Isaac Mizrahi | 2026-02-27 | cited | Hank lists names he knows that share a name: Percy Jackson and LaToya Jackson; Isaac Mizrahi, Isaac Asimov, Oscar Isaac and Walter Isaacson. | Can We Do a Science Together?? (00:00:29) |
| Isaac Ovandera | 2023-10-05 | cited | John says great players are emerging from Wimbledon's academy, including fullbacks Jack Currie, his personal hero, at the club since 10, and Isaac Ovandera, who joined at 14. | America's Second Favorite Fourth Tier English Soccer Team (00:02:54) |
| Isabel Wilkerson | 2020-06-02 | recommended | The description lists books and essays John found helpful on racism's centrality to American life, by Kendi, Anderson, Lorde, Coates, Morrison, Evans, Baldwin, McWhirter, Woodson, Hurston, Wilkerson and Washington. | --- (00:00:00) |
| Isaiah Collier | 2025-01-17 | passing | How the P4A is Changing in 2025! (00:07:28) | |
| Ivan Ivanovich (tsarevich) | 2011-03-18 | cited | John says Ivan beat his pregnant daughter-in-law until she miscarried, then killed his son Ivan, who objected, though he meant only to hit him. | TERRIBLE (00:01:56) |
| J. Cole | 2019-10-08 | personal story | A guest didn't know John was that into J. Cole; John says he's obsessed, though they are not friends. | Looking for Alaska (...with Alaska) (00:01:56) |
| J. E. Preston Muddock | 2022-08-23 | subject | Muddock wrote over 50 books, mostly detective stories about the Glaswegian detective Dick Donovan, for a while as popular as Sherlock Holmes, plus travelogues, literary fiction, true crime and sci-fi. | Flin Flon: One Book's Unlikely Survival (00:00:29) |
| J. J. Watt | 2023-01-13 | joke | Hank says black poop is more concerning and less common than green; it could mean bleeding in the GI tract, so see a doctor immediately. | Why is There an Egg Shortage (And More) (00:02:25) |
| Jace Clayton (artist) | 2014-06-24 | credited | Jace Clayton's assignment, 'The Quietest Place', asked people to walk until they found the quietest place within walking distance. | In Pursuit of Quiet (00:00:21) |
| Jack Green (namesake) | 2018-07-24 | subject | The cinematographer John Green, who goes by Jack, has often been director of photography on films directed by Clint Eastwood. | Other John Greens (00:02:16) |
| Jack Metcalf | 2023-05-05 | credited | All the carpentry, installation and contracting was done by Jack Metcalf, whom Hank knew through local people in Missoula; Hank feels lucky to have found the pair. | New Office Tour!! (00:03:21) |
| Jacob Batalon | 2019-11-05 | takes part | The description says John poses real nerdfighters' questions to Isabela Merced, Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Odeya Rush, Jacob Batalon and the rest of the Let It Snow cast. | Letting It Snow with Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Anna Akana, and Blogbrother John Green (00:00:00) |
| Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis | 2026-06-02 | cited | Warhol's series of Jackie Kennedy just before and after JFK's assassination explores how repeating even a poignant image makes it less emotionally engaging with each picture. | The Instagramification of Human Experience (00:01:56) |
| Jacques-Louis David | 2022-07-26 | cited | John's verdicts: Jacques-Louis David has definitely seen a baby, Botticelli once long ago, Paolo Veneziano more recently than a woman, and Titian has. | Has this artist ever seen a baby? (00:00:58) |
| Jamelle Bouie | 2025-06-13 | cited | Hank says one can argue the strategy is barely a strategy, driven by the whims of people not acting strategically and bad for them long-term, as Jamelle Bouie's video does. | Moving to Hope from Hopelessness (3 ways) (00:02:15) |
| James (person, mentioned from 2020) | 2020-06-30 | personal story | James, a really good teammate from England, told them about English football, stadiums of singing fans, and that the best team was Liverpool; they believed him. | i like it (00:02:07) |
| James Baldwin | 2020-06-02 | recommended | The description lists books and essays John found helpful on racism's centrality to American life, by Kendi, Anderson, Lorde, Coates, Morrison, Evans, Baldwin, McWhirter, Woodson, Hurston, Wilkerson and Washington. | --- (00:00:00) |
| James Brown | 2018-01-12 | passing | Linda Lyndell was a backup act for Otis Redding and James Brown; her R&B single 'What a Man' went badly because she was white. | 5 Songs You've Never Heard That You've Heard 1000 Times (00:02:29) |
| James Rodríguez | 2018-06-12 | passing | Colombia's jerseys look like they have an armpit sweat pattern, but John praises star James Rodríguez's extraordinary good looks. | Your 4-Minute Guide to ALL 32 TEAMS at the 2018 World Cup (00:00:34) |
| James Tilley | 2023-10-05 | cited | John says the mustachioed James Tilley scored seven goals in his first nine games for Wimbledon. | America's Second Favorite Fourth Tier English Soccer Team (00:02:41) |
| James Ussher (archbishop) | 2007-10-22 | subject | John says that in the 17th century Archbishop James Ussher calculated from the Bible that the world was created on October 22, 4004 BC, just after nightfall, making today the universe's 6012th birthday by some accounts. | October 22nd: The Anniversary of Young Earth Creationism (00:00:00) |
| James Watt | 2025-02-25 | cited | 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. | EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS (00:00:00) |
| James Wilkinson | 2017-09-12 | criticized | John says James Wilkinson was an actual secret agent working against the United States. | How Will the World End? Why Even Get Out of Bed? It's Question Tuesday. (00:02:43) |
| Jamie Carragher | 2018-03-27 | subject | Before the shootout, teammate Jamie Carragher told Dudek that 21 years earlier Grobbelaar's crazy-legs act had worked in the European Cup final and urged him to do it. | A Weird and Beautiful Story (00:02:54) |
| Jamshid al-Kashi | 2021-10-12 | cited | For 99% of history people knew pi only as 3.1-something; about 2,000 years ago Chinese mathematicians reached the seventh digit, and 1,400 years later Jamshid al-Kashi about the 15th. | Fine, I'll take the bait. (00:00:58) |
| Jane Fonda | 2019-02-05 | cited | John says democracies are not immune: a completely fake photo of John Kerry with Jane Fonda at an anti-war rally was widely distributed during the 2004 presidential election. | Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images (00:01:57) |
| Jane Pierce | 2023-08-22 | cited | Citing the book, John says that in 1852, when Franklin Pierce was elected US president, his wife was sick with tuberculosis. | The Panera Phenomenon (00:00:58) |
| Jason Ward (birder) | 2020-07-24 | credited | Hank has been on a bird kick lately, mostly thanks to Jason Ward, and recommends his show, linked as Birds of North America in the description. | Could I Spare some Change for Gas? (00:01:36) |
| Jay Lee | 2019-10-08 | takes part | John is grateful the story is still around and to Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, who have worked on the adaptation for more than ten years. | Looking for Alaska (...with Alaska) (00:00:58) |
| Jay Smooth | 2018-04-13 | credited | Hank tells John the new Crash Course media literacy series with Jay Smooth is good and fascinating and will change how viewers see the world: less cut and dried, but more accurate. | Who is in Control? (00:03:37) |
| JD Vance | 2025-12-19 | cited | Hank says Vice President and potential heir JD Vance embodies the coalition: now from grievance-based attention farming, his rise funded by billionaire Peter Thiel. | My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun (00:02:56) |
| Jean Nicolet | 2019-07-02 | cited | John says it is reported that in 1634 Jean Nicolet, the first European to cross Lake Michigan, thought he had reached China. | On Sunlight (00:00:29) |
| Jeff Goldblum | 2018-07-27 | credited | Hank marvels that Jeff Goldblum voiced a greedy, big-nosed, rat-looking villain poisoning the water supply. | Why Environmentalists Hate Captain Planet (00:00:56) |
| Jeff Van Drew | 2024-12-20 | criticized | Hank reports that Congressman Jeff Van Drew claimed Iran has a mothership off the New Jersey coast that could be the drones' source. | Fine, I'll Talk About the Drones… (00:00:29) |
| Jeff VanderMeer | 2022-07-01 | passing | The description says Hank next watched Annihilation, far outside his usual viewing; he loves Jeff VanderMeer's books, and it captured their bizarrity; he loved it and cried twice. | 7 Movie Reviews in Four Minutes (00:00:00) |
| Jeffrey Lewis (expert) | 2018-07-13 | credited | Hank thanks Katherine Gill and Jeffrey Lewis for consulting on the video and points to his half-hour interview with Jeffrey on hankschannel. | Why Do So Few Countries Have Nukes? (00:09:30) |
| Jen Koch | 2024-08-06 | credited | A new logo on the back of AFC Wimbledon shorts, between left thigh and buttock, was made by Nerdfighter Jen Koch and is based on space mission patches; John loves it. | What Helped Through Depression (00:01:27) |
| Jennifer Burek Pierce | 2021-08-17 | credited | John recently read Jennifer Burek Pierce's Narratives, Nerdfighters, and New Media, an academic book about online community and Nerdfighteria; he can't be objective about it, but loved it. | Who Owns Nerdfighteria? (00:00:00) |
| Jennifer Doudna | 2021-04-16 | subject | Hank has seen much recent conversation, probably prompted by the book Code Breaker about CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna, about whether and how we should edit the genomes of people and of people not yet born. | Gene Editing and Intelligence: A Bad (00:00:00) |
| Jeppe Hein (artist) | 2010-06-16 | credited | John shows one of Jeppe Hein's roller-coaster benches, 'the only roller coaster I will ever ride'. | In Defense of Contemporary Art (00:01:10) |
| Jerzy Dudek | 2018-03-27 | subject | Jerzy Dudek was a 10-year-old in a Polish coal-mining town in 1984, played for a third-tier Polish team, then moved to Holland and England, joining Liverpool in 2001. | A Weird and Beautiful Story (00:00:52) |
| Jesse Jenkins | 2022-08-12 | takes part | Jesse Jenkins recalls that wind power under $100 per megawatt hour, triple the normal rate, was a great deal, and solar cost ten times normal power. | The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What does it DO!? (00:02:32) |
| Jill Stein | 2026-02-03 | cited | John says the video won't reach a representative sample of America: a recent Nerdfighteria Census found more community members voted for Jill Stein than for Donald Trump. | Does the truth still matter? (00:00:29) |
| Jim Henson | 2019-04-05 | subject | Hank says Defunctland is doing a series on Jim Henson and he is super psyched about it. | TOO MANY MILKS (00:03:45) |
| Jimmy Glass | 2024-11-12 | subject | John says Jimmy Glass was a journeyman goalkeeper who played for 16 teams in a 15-year career, mostly as a backup. | BELIEVE: The Jimmy Glass Story (00:00:00) |
| Jo Walton | 2020-07-10 | credited | In a comment Hank calls Shades of Milk and Honey a great fantasy Jane Austen and recommends Jo Walton's Tooth and Claw, like Jane Austen but dragons. | What a Concept!! (00:00:00) |
| Joan Cusack | 2019-01-22 | passing | John reports that Netflix has cast a starry ensemble for its Let It Snow adaptation: Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Mitchell Hope, Odeya Rush, Anna Akana and Joan Cusack. | Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle's Let It Snow (00:00:00) |
| Joan Mitchell (painter) | 2019-12-17 | passing | Many favorite moments were little: a Joan Mitchell show with Sarah, sprawling at VidCon with Rosianna, hamburgers with Hank, the Pettibon spiral, his mom's painting of his La-Z-Boy, laughing while filming Crash Course with Stan. | The Best Days of My Decade (00:03:18) |
| Joaquin Guzman (drug-lord) | 2016-07-26 | subject | A couple of weeks ago John's mother-in-law texted him to read the El Chapo story in the Washington Post. | El Chapo and Me (00:00:10) |
| Jocelyn Bell Burnell | 2023-07-21 | cited | Hank says Jocelyn Bell Burnell's discovery of the rapid radio blinking of pulsars also came from telescopes detecting photons. | The Biggest Weirdest Telescope We've Ever Built (00:00:29) |
| Joe Arridy | 2026-10-05 | cited | The description cites Joe Arridy's posthumous pardon as an example of people sentenced to death and later exonerated. | Why Are We So Bad at Executing People? (00:00:00) |
| Joe Day | 2020-02-11 | personal story | In a comment, John reports AFC Wimbledon drew 0-0 with seventh-place Ipswich Town, largely thanks to new goalkeeper Joe Day, and he'll take the point. | 1,100 Days: A Mental and Physical Health Update (00:00:00) |
| Joe Holmes (volunteer) | 2013-12-20 | credited | The P4A 2013 livestream hosts included Hannah Hart, Joe Beretta, Elliott Morgan, Kristina Horner, Joe Holmes, Henry Reich, Vi Hart, Patrick Rothfuss, Wil Wheaton, Meghan Tonjes, Karen Kavett, Emily Graslie, Liam Dryden, Michael Aranda, Stefan Chin and others. | Best Moments of the Project for Awesome (00:00:00) |
| Joe Lewis | 2023-10-05 | joke | John hails central defenders 'Greatbeard' Ryan Johnson and Joe Lewis, whose aggressively rolled-up shorts hide the DFTBA logo, which John is fine with. | America's Second Favorite Fourth Tier English Soccer Team (00:03:12) |
| Joe Manchin | 2022-08-12 | criticized | Joe Manchin forced in oil and gas leases in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico that Trump authorized and Biden paused; Hank calls it weird, frustrating and outside normal process. | The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What does it DO!? (00:15:53) |
| Joe Marino (statue subject) | 2016-06-21 | cited | The downtown Rockford statue is of Joe Marino, whose parents immigrated from Italy when many Americans believed Italian Catholics, loyal to the Pope, could never be real Americans. | Syrian Refugees in the United States: One Family's Story (00:03:35) |
| Joel Anderson (academic) | 2010-12-07 | credited | Hank thanks Professor of Linguistics Joel Anderson for his help with the video. | Tongue Twisters (00:04:02) |
| Joel Waul (record-holder) | 2009-04-14 | subject | The world's largest rubber band ball, made by Joel Waul (as heard) in Florida, has more than 700,000 rubber bands weighing over 8,000 pounds and is named Megaton. | The World's Largest Balls (00:01:10) |
| Joey Helms | 2023-05-30 | credited | The description thanks Hank for making Crash Course real and everyone who makes it, from the team and teacher advisors to Thought Cafe, freelancers and supporters, and Joey Helms for the coin footage. | How Does He Do It? (00:00:00) |
| Johann Strauss II | 2021-08-31 | cited | The zither was becoming very popular in Europe, around the time Johann Strauss II wrote solos for it. | The Woman Who Invented Stuffed Animals (00:01:27) |
| Johannes Gutenberg | 2024-11-22 | passing | Hank says Johannes Gutenberg invented Europe's movable-type press to end hand-copying; early demand was mostly from powerful institutions, largely the Catholic Church. | Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment (00:08:08) |
| John Andretti | 2025-05-20 | cited | 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. | The Double (00:00:29) |
| John Crawford III (victim of police shooting) | 2014-12-26 | cited | Hank says Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford and 12-year-old Tamir Rice were all unarmed and all killed by police officers. | The Best and Worst of 2014 (00:01:37) |
| John Dalton | 2025-09-12 | cited | Hank's favourite example: when were atoms discovered? With Democritus's philosophy, Dalton and Lavoisier's whole-number chemistry, Einstein's Brownian-motion math, or Max von Laue's first X-ray diffraction images? | This Might Actually be Happening (00:16:15) |
| John Denver (person) | 2014-03-21 | credited | Hank tells John he is leaving town and is excited to get away. | The Great Goose Migration (00:00:00) |
| John Dos Passos | 2022-12-20 | cited | John says almost all books get worse over time: John Dos Passos was considered a great American novelist 70 years ago and is hardly read now, not because his books weren't good then but because they aren't as good now. | The Best Books Get Better (00:00:00) |
| John Evans | 2017-10-06 | cited | In 1998 Alaskan farmer and mechanical engineer John Evans grew the largest cabbage ever, over 76 pounds. | The World's Largest Fruits (00:01:10) |
| John Flores (translator) | 2016-08-05 | credited | Hank credits the project's team: Taylor Behnke Peters (writing and research), Derek Knabenbauer (editing), Nicole Sweeney (graphics), Nick Jenkins (director), and Spanish translators Liza Platae, Rafael Arévalo, Amber J Holder and John Flores. | Our Massive Project: How to Vote in Every State (00:00:00) |
| John Green (artist) (namesake) | 2018-07-24 | subject | John Green the artist, maybe John's favourite, co-created the graphic novel series Teen Boat, about a teenager who occasionally turns into a yacht, and does art for comics and video games. | Other John Greens (00:01:10) |
| John Green (coloring book author) (namesake) | 2018-07-24 | subject | A sticker and coloring book author John Green, whose sticker books John's college bookstore sold, seems to be into horses, with titles such as Horses Tattoo and Favorite Horses Stickers. | Other John Greens (00:01:44) |
| John Green (designer) (namesake) | 2018-07-24 | subject | A British designer John Green makes excellent furniture, such as the Embrace coffee table, which works two ways. | Other John Greens (00:02:05) |
| John Green (political scientist) (namesake) | 2018-07-24 | subject | Professor John Green, who has a great beard, recently became interim president of the University of Akron; he is a political scientist researching religion and politics in American life. | Other John Greens (00:00:58) |
| John Green (tv producer) (namesake) | 2018-07-24 | subject | John Greens as a whole have won Oscars: the composer won four Academy Awards and a Grammy, and a TV producer won three Emmys, leaving them one Tony short of a John Green EGOT. | Other John Greens (00:02:49) |
| John James Audubon | 2025-10-17 | cited | 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. | We Never Know What Anything Means (00:06:08) |
| John le Carré | 2024-08-07 | credited | John recommends John le Carré's The Constant Gardener, a spy novel about tuberculosis: very good. | Dear Hank and John Livestream! (00:28:39) |
| John McCracken (artist) | 2020-12-01 | subject | John reports that early speculation pointed to John McCracken, who made very similar sculptures, and whose famous New York gallerist said it was definitely his work. | The Utah Monolith, What It Means, Why It Matters, and Whether It's Aliens (00:02:20) |
| John McGinn | 2026-06-23 | cited | John says such songs are often player-specific; the Pulisic song arguably has its roots in a Scottish song about player John McGinn. | A Very French Reunion (00:04:41) |
| John Oliver | 2024-05-31 | passing | Watching a John Oliver clip on YouTube about dark sides of some homeschooling, Hank found a comment saying Crash Course had really helped someone homeschooled in a particular situation. | The People I Hate Most in the World (00:00:00) |
| John Podesta (political-operative) | 2017-09-26 | cited | Putin's regime meddled in at least three ways: a disinformation campaign of fake news stories, trying to breach election data in several states, and hacking the DNC and John Podesta's emails, released to WikiLeaks. | Trump and Russia: An Introduction to What We Know (and What We Don't) (00:01:27) |
| John Rose | 2019-10-30 | cited | John says pineapples were eventually grown in Europe, never in quantity; his favorite pineapple painting shows English gardener John Rose giving King Charles II the first pineapple grown in England. | this is a video about pineapples. (00:01:56) |
| John W. Jones (clerk) | 2026-09-25 | cited | The description says John W. Jones signed 1,155,168 Confederate notes, probably significantly more. | Who Has Signed Their Name the Most Times? (00:00:00) |
| John Wilkes Booth (assassin) | 2008-12-15 | quoted | John notes that John Adams's last words, that Thomas Jefferson still survived, were untrue: Jefferson had died earlier that same day, July 4, 1826. | Famous Last Words (00:00:25) |
| John Yettaw (private-citizen-in-news) | 2009-05-17 | subject | John says American John Yettaw flew to Burma and swam to Suu Kyi's lakefront house, where she let him recover; he was caught leaving. Her house arrest bars foreign visitors. | Burma! Myanmar? BURMA! (00:02:46) |
| John's 11th grade English teacher | 2019-08-13 | personal story | John notes the brothers will be on tour this weekend in Madison, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minnesota, with ticket links in the description. | How I (barely) Passed 11th Grade English (00:00:00) |
| John's Dutch translator (translator) | 2011-05-23 | personal story | Two nights ago John dined with his Dutch translator and publishing people; the Google-translated document about the dinner ended by saying they did not know who would eat the unicorn. | Eating the Unicorn (00:00:39) |
| John's psychiatrist | 2024-08-06 | quoted | What probably helped most was meeting his therapist and psychiatrist. | What Helped Through Depression (00:02:26) |
| Johnny Harris (videomaker) | 2021-10-15 | quoted | Johnny Harris commented on Hank's last Pizzamas video that he has been a die-hard fan for a decade but still doesn't understand what Pizzamas is, and kind of loves that. | What is Pizzamas? ...and a New Friend (00:00:58) |
| Jon Stewart | 2024-03-08 | cited | In a clip, Jon Stewart, discussing whether Americans are the most taxed people, reads 8% as the average tax burden. | I Believed These Four Lies (00:04:14) |
| Jonas Neubauer (gamer) | 2018-10-23 | cited | The players featured include seven-time champion Jonas Neubauer, new world champion Joseph, and hypertapper extraordinaire Koryan, shown playing Jonas. | Why Are Humans Suddenly Getting Better at Tetris? (00:00:00) |
| Jonathan Mann | 2022-09-30 | cited | John says YouTuber Jonathan Mann has written, recorded and released a song every day for the last 5,019 days, an astonishing quality of bit commitment. | COMMIT TO THE BIT (00:00:54) |
| Jonathan Swift | 2024-09-03 | quoted | John says Jonathan Swift made fun of em dashes in the 18th century, writing that in modern wit printed trash is set off with numerous breaks and dashes. | Which is Correct? — or – ? (00:01:27) |
| Jonathan Vogler | 2025-04-22 | credited | John announces that a documentary about AFC Wimbledon, made over the last couple of years by him and Rosianna with longtime nerdfighter Jonathan Vogler, who helped make The Last Dance, premiered on YouTube last week (April 2025). | The Unimportant Things (00:01:56) |
| Jordan Henderson | 2019-07-23 | passing | John guesses fans will now tell each other where they were in 2019, when Jordan Henderson lifted the trophy for Liverpool again. | What to Love and How (00:01:27) |
| Jose Lopez | 2019-07-30 | cited | Jose Lopez, a five-year-old born in Detroit, was deported, and in Mexico he was teased for not speaking Spanish. | The Mexican Repatriation (00:03:10) |
| Josef Albers (artist) | 2021-03-16 | cited | The design reminded John of Josef Albers' color studies, where perceived color changes with neighboring colors: two browns he shows look different but are the same brown. | How a Book Cover Gets Designed (00:01:27) |
| Joseph Conrad | 2018-06-05 | recommended | John has really enjoyed an extraordinarily engrossing biography of Joseph Conrad, words he never thought he would say. | WHERE IS MY NORTON ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY (00:01:14) |
| Joseph Goebbels | 2019-02-05 | cited | John says Hitler did the same to Goebbels and Lenin to Trotsky, and it happened often in China, most famously in a photo of Mao's funeral without the Gang of Four. | Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images (00:01:57) |
| Joseph Lister | 2026-09-08 | cited | John's favorite fact: in 1869, after meeting antiseptic pioneer Joseph Lister, surgeon Alexander Ogston tore down the 'Prepare to meet thy God' sign over his Scottish hospital's operating theater, as surgery was no longer almost inevitably fatal. | The Life Expectancy Lies That Won't Die (00:01:27) |
| Joseph Saelee (gamer) | 2018-10-23 | recommended | The players featured include seven-time champion Jonas Neubauer, new world champion Joseph, and hypertapper extraordinaire Koryan, shown playing Jonas. | Why Are Humans Suddenly Getting Better at Tetris? (00:00:00) |
| 2018-10-23 | cited | Play at the tournament improves every year: this year (2018) several players maxed out in qualifying, and champion Joseph became the first to reach level 30 before a live audience. | Why Are Humans Suddenly Getting Better at Tetris? (00:02:05) | |
| Josephine Cochrane | 2019-07-09 | passing | John thanks Josephine Cochrane, inventor of the automatic dishwasher, which has saved millions of work hours at the small cost of ruined cutting boards and unsterilized sponges. | Life Hacks My Wife Taught Me (00:01:56) |
| Josh Lewis (person) | 2011-09-16 | takes part | John tells Hank he has just been greeted by Josh Lewis, Holly Black, Cassie Clare and Maureen Johnson. | Narrowly Avoiding Arrest: Some Airport Insanity (00:00:00) |
| Josh Taira | 2022-09-26 | credited | The description corrects that John mixed up two designers: the Pizza Johns Starting Lineup is by Josh Taira (Daruma Party) and the Wolf Pizza John by Bern Lehtinen. | PIZZAMAS IS UPON US (00:00:00) |
| Josh Wardle (game-designer) | 2026-10-23 | subject | Hank recently got an email from Josh Wardle, maker of Wordle, saying he was impressed by decisions in 4x3; for Hank it was, he imagines, exactly like winning an Oscar. | The Best Email I Ever Got (00:02:00) |
| Joyce | 2026-04-14 | quoted | Joyce Sinese, who oversees ambulance services for Kono District, says that for pregnant women every minute is very important. | Babies. Babies. Babies. (00:01:56) |
| Julian Randall | 2019-09-24 | takes part | John plays Julian Randall's poem from the previous day's episode for those who think they don't like poetry. | I, Too, Dislike It (00:02:10) |
| Julián Castro | 2020-06-05 | passing | Hank introduces Maya Rupert, part of the community since her first Vlogbrothers video in 2007, an advocate and writer who managed Julian Castro's campaign and now works with Elizabeth Warren. | So Much to Do (00:00:00) |
| Junior | 2026-01-06 | passing | John notes Vlogbrothers turned 19 last week (week of 29 December 2025), making the project older than the iPhone or a future AFC Wimbledon superstar (name unclear). | Hope Is Not a Feeling (00:00:00) |
| Jürgen Klopp | 2019-11-08 | passing | The history also has MinutePhysics, football, Rick and Morty, Good Place videos (Hank's), Jürgen Klopp, and a Harvard advanced algorithms lecture. | Trolling Through John's YouTube History...GUESS WHAT I FOUND!? (00:02:30) |
| Kade Fisher (artist) | 2018-06-29 | credited | Hank also thanks Lindsay (of the chezapoctube channel), illustrator Pencil Bandit and Kade Fisher, whose DeviantArt piece charts the evolution of the Disney signature logo, for their knowing or unknowing help. | Why is the Disney "D" So Weird? (00:00:00) |
| Kadie (patient's sibling) | 2022-01-04 | cited | Emma, a 13-year-old in Kono and twin of Kadie, had a seizure; first treated for suspected malaria, she was driven five hours to a CT scanner, which revealed tuberculous meningitis. | After 15 Years on YouTube, THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING (00:02:38) |
| Kaitlin Kall (designer) | 2019-12-20 | credited | Hank's book A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor now has a cover, designed by Kaitlin Kall; followers on social media may have seen it. | Reading the First Chapter of A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (00:00:02) |
| Karam Husain (book subject) | 2016-01-26 | quoted | All week John kept thinking about Husain, a father in Mumbai's Annawadi slum whom Katherine Boo quotes in Behind the Beautiful Forevers. | Billionaires and Radical Hope: Thoughts from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (00:02:24) |
| Karen Hallion | 2022-08-03 | credited | Hank announces a t-shirt designed by Karen Hallion whose proceeds all go to This Star Won't Go Out, a charity that helps families with sick kids. | Why is it So Hard to Say 'I Love You'? (00:02:40) |
| Karina Longworth (podcaster) | 2017-05-12 | credited | Hank recommends Karina Longworth's You Must Remember This: she is smart and knowledgeable, and Hollywood history is fascinating and applicable to his life. | Things That You Just Might Love (00:01:11) |
| Kash Patel | 2025-12-19 | cited | Hank says Trump hires from both of his worlds: grievance-based attention farmers (RFK Jr., Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Pete Hegseth) and billionaires (Linda McMahon, David Sacks, Elon Musk, Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick). | My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun (00:02:27) |
| Kate Alice Marshall | 2020-04-14 | credited | John recommends I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall, a YA survival novel about a girl alone in the Arctic wilderness that he reread to ease his anxiety. | books that help (00:02:20) |
| Kate Gilmore (artist) | 2014-05-27 | passing | Sarah's new show The Art Assignment is going great, with a new assignment from artist Kate Gilmore and a thriving community making everything from gifs to sculptures. | ALL THE SHIRTS (and some paths to community) (00:02:11) |
| Kate Rudd (audiobook-narrator) | 2011-11-21 | credited | There will be two audiobooks of The Fault in Our Stars: the real one narrated by Kate Rudd, available everywhere, and John's, only in a physical limited-edition box set from DFTBA. | Old Man Narrates Young Girl (00:00:41) |
| Katherine Gill | 2018-07-13 | credited | Hank thanks Katherine Gill and Jeffrey Lewis for consulting on the video and points to his half-hour interview with Jeffrey on hankschannel. | Why Do So Few Countries Have Nukes? (00:09:30) |
| Kathy | 2024-01-09 | personal story | In college John drove across the country with friends Ransom and Kathy to the Grand Canyon; watching the sunrise there, at 20 and after 1,800 miles, he was underwhelmed. | Views (00:01:37) |
| Kati Morton | 2018-06-22 | takes part | After his last quiz, with Kati Morton, Hank asks her husband Sean, a great friend of his, who Le Pétomane is. | Stumping EDU Creators - Trivia at VidCon (00:02:44) |
| Kei Kamara | 2022-01-18 | cited | Kei Kamara began playing in Freetown, came to the US as a refugee at 16, played college soccer and had a long MLS career; aged 36 at the Benin game, it was his last chance. | The Miracle of the Leone Stars (00:00:58) |
| Ken (security-guard) | 2025-03-25 | personal story | John's favorite person on tour: Ken, a Philadelphia security guard born in a TB sanatorium in 1952, who survived TB as an infant because his mother crushed 90 pills a day into sugar water. | Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday (00:01:56) |
| Kenneth Koch | 2022-02-01 | credited | John recalls a Kenneth Koch poem, introduced to him over 20 years ago by his late friend Amy Krouse Rosenthal, saying that of a social life, love and hard work you may have only two. | This Video Is Actually Three Videos (00:00:00) |
| Kenneth P. Green (think-tank-scholar) | 2007-11-27 | criticized | Hank objects that the article quotes Kenneth P. Green saying the point of the holidays is the joy of giving, and asks why the Times chose him as its environmental scholar. | November 27th: Eagle's Nest, Blogger's Choice and Shopping (00:01:45) |
| Kenny | 2017-11-21 | personal story | In October 2012, before John's Cincinnati library event, Kenny tweeted asking whether to skip business law class to come; John said no, school matters more, but he came anyway. | Two Love Stories (00:01:29) |
| Kevin Seconds | 2020-10-06 | cited | On 7 Seconds' live album Scream Real Loud, Kevin Seconds can be heard several times telling people to get a guy out or calm down. | Something Important I've Never Talked About (00:01:39) |
| Kevin T Porter (podcaster) | 2016-04-08 | credited | Hank thanks everyone in the video: Flula, Hannah Hart, Lee Newton, Meghan Camarena, Steve Zaragoza, Phillip DeFranco, Allison Raskin, Gaby Dunn, John Green, William Haynes, Reina Scully, Matt Lieberman, Trisha Hershberger, Bree Essrig, Markiplier, Taylor Peters, MatPat, Jon Cozart, Grace Helbig, Connor Franta, Tyler Oakley, Hartbeat, F0xy, Starline Hodge, Travis McElroy, Jenna Marbles, Mamrie Hart, Jimmy Wong, Arielle Scarcella, Miriam Nielsen, Ruba Wilson, Rhett McLaughlin, Link Neal, Derek Muller, Meghan Tonjes, Nicola Foti, Ava Gordy, Matt Watson, Darren Vongirdner, Mitchell Davis, Jake Roper, Michael Stefens, Karen Kavett, and Gilmore Guys podcasters Kevin T Porter and Demi Adejuyigbe. | 47 YouTubers Laugh Without Smiling (00:00:00) |
| Khalil Semhat | 2017-10-06 | cited | Lebanese farmer Khalil Semhat grew a 25-pound sweet potato. | The World's Largest Fruits (00:01:03) |
| Kid Rock | 2020-05-22 | criticized | Hank says Kid Rock's 'trying different things' double-rhymes 'things' with 'things', an aesthetic sacrifice made for no reason, though plenty of things rhyme with 'things'. | The Meteor Men Beg to Differ // Judging by the Hole in the Satellite Picture (00:02:51) |
| Kory Stamper (lexicographer) | 2007-12-13 | quoted | Hank reads a Merriam-Webster reply forwarded by a Nerdfighter: many letters came in about 'Nerdfighter'; the word-of-the-year poll is closed, but they hope Nerdfighter and Nerdfighting go in their open dictionary. | December 13: Mailing Shopping Thanking. It Must Be Christmas (00:02:34) |
| Koryan (gamer) | 2018-10-23 | cited | The players featured include seven-time champion Jonas Neubauer, new world champion Joseph, and hypertapper extraordinaire Koryan, shown playing Jonas. | Why Are Humans Suddenly Getting Better at Tetris? (00:00:00) |
| KSI | 2024-11-03 | cited | Hank suggests he may not be that different from Logan Paul: many creators, like MrBeast, KSI, Marques Brownlee and Holo Taco's founder, launch products for a reason. | Hank's very messy post-cancer year of mistakes, meaning… (00:02:36) |
| Kwame Alexander | 2017-08-15 | credited | John recommends Solo by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess: he has long been a fan of Alexander, and this book is really special. | Very Hard to Desclibe (00:02:26) |
| Kwesi Appiah | 2019-01-29 | passing | AFC Wimbledon beat West Ham 4-2: Kwesi Appiah scored in front of the John Green stand, Scott Wagstaff scored twice, and 19-year-old Toby Sibbick scored. | Do You Believe in Miracles? (00:02:54) |
| Kyla Scanlon | 2024-09-20 | quoted | Hank cites Kyla Scanlon's TikTok saying our eyeballs are the most expensive thing we own, his new favorite way of saying something he has long said. | Do I Regret TikTok? (00:00:00) |
| Kylen Granson | 2025-10-03 | personal story | John has a couple of professional-athlete friends and recently officiated the wedding of his friend Kylen Granson, currently a Philadelphia Eagle. | Is It Time to Retire? (00:00:00) |
| Kylian Mbappé | 2026-06-09 | passing | Kylian Mbappé will get the headlines, but France are stacked in every position, and anything short of the final will disappoint them. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:07:47) |
| Kyne Santos | 2020-09-04 | recommended | Hank blesses the young woman for her questions and Kyne the drag queen for explaining mathematics on TikTok. | Go Play! (00:03:25) |
| Labi Siffre | 2018-01-12 | subject | Hank presents Labi Siffre's richly orchestrated 'I Got The...', which listeners have probably never heard except as the sample in Eminem's 'My Name Is' (named in the description). | 5 Songs You've Never Heard That You've Heard 1000 Times (00:01:42) |
| Lady Mary Wortley Montagu | 2025-04-25 | subject | 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. | How We Form Opinions (00:00:58) |
| Lamine Yamal | 2026-06-09 | passing | Spain have rhythmic football and a deep talent pool including 18-year-old Lamine Yamal, poised, if healthy, to be the tournament's breakout star. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:07:47) |
| Larry Hogan | 2024-12-20 | cited | Hank says the lights former Maryland governor Larry Hogan saw and tweeted turned out, a little embarrassingly, to be stars. | Fine, I'll Talk About the Drones… (00:06:49) |
| Laura (tattoo artist, mentioned from 2015) (tattoo artist) | 2015-09-15 | takes part | Asked the least painful place for an inkless tattoo, tattoo artist Laura says anywhere with some good muscle. | John Gets a Tattoo (00:00:26) |
| Leanne Shapton | 2020-03-31 | quoted | At the creek John thinks of Leanne Shapton's line in Swimming Studies: water is elemental, what we are made of, what we can't live within or without. | Let's take a walk. (00:02:06) |
| Leopold Mozart | 2026-08-21 | cited | Hank says Mozart could easily not have been Mozart: his father, a world-class musician and music teacher, retired to teach him, and he grew up among world-class instruments that were then new technology. | Not (Just) Dunking on Jeff Bezos (00:02:25) |
| Leor Hackel | 2021-07-09 | cited | Hank cites an article by social psychologists Hackel and Sparkman: people act not because they see smoke but because they see others rushing in with water. | Wrong on the Internet (00:03:11) |
| Leslie Jones | 2023-11-28 | credited | Contrasting ghostwritten-seeming celebrity memoirs with ones like Matthew McConaughey's that the star clearly wrote, John recommends Leslie Jones's memoir: she wrote it, and it's great. | John's (Mostly Book) Holiday Gift Recommendations (00:01:27) |
| Lewis Hamilton | 2022-04-12 | cited | Asked about the upcoming F1 season, Hank knows only that it is a car thing, somewhat dependent on Russian oligarchs. | Utter Chippy Butty Chaos (00:01:32) |
| Lieutenant governor of Indiana (unnamed) | 2026-08-18 | criticized | Last week (week of 10 August 2026) John made an Instagram video praising the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles that also criticized Indiana's lieutenant governor. | My Nemeses (00:02:28) |
| Lil Uzi Vert | 2023-08-22 | cited | John says many rappers mention Panera, among them Lil Uzi Vert, Rick Ross and Lil Yachty, and the list goes on. | The Panera Phenomenon (00:02:30) |
| Lily Batchelder (tax scholar) | 2016-10-11 | cited | John cites Lily Batchelder's paper, and a PolitiFact story on the same topic, as the source for Trump's plan raising taxes for 7.8 million households. | Understanding Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's Tax Plans (00:00:00) |
| Lily King | 2026-08-18 | passing | John announces special guests on the Hollywood, Ending tour: Lily King in Portland, Maine, Sarah Urist Green in Birmingham, Clint Smith in DC, Suleika Jaouad in New York, Hank in San Diego, Sharon McMahon and Brandon Sanderson. | My Nemeses (00:01:56) |
| Lina Khan | 2024-08-09 | subject | Hank says the rule became possible when Joe Biden nominated Lina Khan, widely seen as very pro-consumer in a way that has angered big businesses. | Why isn't This Illegal? (00:03:49) |
| Linda Lyndell | 2018-01-12 | subject | Linda Lyndell was a backup act for Otis Redding and James Brown; her R&B single 'What a Man' went badly because she was white. | 5 Songs You've Never Heard That You've Heard 1000 Times (00:02:29) |
| Linda McMahon | 2025-12-19 | cited | Hank says Trump hires from both of his worlds: grievance-based attention farmers (RFK Jr., Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Pete Hegseth) and billionaires (Linda McMahon, David Sacks, Elon Musk, Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick). | My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun (00:02:27) |
| Lindsay Davenport | 2017-09-08 | passing | At the gate, Grace gets excited about the US Open on TV and explains to Hank that Lindsay Davenport is a tennis player. | How to Win Australia (00:01:34) |
| Lindsay Nikole | 2024-11-15 | takes part | Hank tries out on Lindsay an argument he has been working on, more argument than fact: whales are fish. | Whales are Fish (and Everything Else is Beetles) with Lindsay Nikole (00:01:57) |
| Lisa Frank (designer) | 2013-04-19 | personal story | A guest loved collecting Lisa Frank stickers and rainbows; an uncle saw this as a threat, but it never interfered with their inner reckoning about their sexuality. | On Sexual Orientation, with Hannah, Ze, Tyler, and Meg (00:02:25) |
| Liza Platae (translator) | 2016-08-05 | credited | Hank credits the project's team: Taylor Behnke Peters (writing and research), Derek Knabenbauer (editing), Nicole Sweeney (graphics), Nick Jenkins (director), and Spanish translators Liza Platae, Rafael Arévalo, Amber J Holder and John Flores. | Our Massive Project: How to Vote in Every State (00:00:00) |
| Lizzie Magie (game designer) | 2016-04-05 | subject | John says Darrow did not invent Monopoly: thirty years earlier Elizabeth Magie invented The Landlord's Game, a more direct attack on land monopolism showing capital concentrating over time. | What's Wrong with Monopoly? (00:02:12) |
| Lizzo | 2020-03-10 | performed | John has been singing a version of a Lizzo song in his head with the lyrics 'the world doesn't need your coronavirus hot take'. | A Strong but Fleeting Flavor: A Reunion Video (00:00:00) |
| LockPickingLawyer | 2019-04-19 | personal story | Hank admits his YouTube history is full of Lockpicking Lawyer videos and one of a man carving a pencil from a pencil from a pencil: great, but a passive nothing. | Making your Nothings into Somethings (00:03:27) |
| Lori Earl (community-member) | 2021-08-03 | credited | John is amazed by what Wayne and Lori have accomplished in the last ten years. | I L*** Hank (00:01:27) |
| Lori Garver (NASA deputy administrator) | 2011-07-11 | takes part | Lori Garver gives the final word: NASA is excited about the future and is all about increasing the awesome. | Hank Talks to NASA About the Space Shuttle (00:03:24) |
| Lou (press operator) | 2016-11-07 | takes part | Lou, a press operator, says he started printing in his garage at 17, went to school for graphic design, and it took twenty years to come back around. | It's Pizzamas!!! (Thoughts From the Place Where they Print Our Shirts) (00:00:54) |
| Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France | 2026-03-24 | subject | John says little Louis Joseph, son of Marie Antoinette and the king, heir apparent to the French throne and one of the world's richest kids, got tuberculosis as a little boy. | How Panda Express Is Tuberculosis (00:03:29) |
| Louis Le Nain (painter) | 2022-07-26 | cited | The homunculus convention, especially in medieval European art, painted the baby Jesus as both small and a full-grown man, since Jesus was held to be fully God and all-knowing even as a baby. | Has this artist ever seen a baby? (00:01:42) |
| Louis XV | 2019-10-30 | cited | John says Louis XV of France and Catherine the Great of Russia loved pineapples. | this is a video about pineapples. (00:01:56) |
| Louis XVIII | 2022-08-02 | passing | John says Napoleon Bonaparte became France's de facto leader in 1799 and crowned himself emperor, and was succeeded by King Louis XVIII, the previous Louis's brother. | Liberty Leading the People: How Revolutions Turn (00:00:29) |
| Lucas Arruda (artist) | 2022-10-18 | recommended | John was drawn to landscapes: Lucas Arruda's paintings, Byron Kim's abstracted landscape, Didier William's underseascape, Yoan Capote's plaster-and-metal landscape and Sam Moyer's stones-and-canvas painting. | Terraverse Over Everything: Thoughts from London (00:01:49) |
| Lucica Ditiu | 2023-09-27 | personal story | John got to see several of his heroes: Dr. Lucica Ditiu, the writer and surgeon Dr. Atul Gawande, and Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee. | John Goes ... to the UNITED NATIONS? (00:00:00) |
| Lucille Clifton | 2020-03-31 | quoted | John thinks of a Lucille Clifton poem that ends 'The future is possible' and feels hope in it. | Let's take a walk. (00:03:25) |
| Lucy Ann Seaton | 2020-12-15 | cited | John says the first person buried at Crown Hill was Lucy Ann Seaton, who died of tuberculosis in 1864 at 33. | America's Capital of Dead Vice Presidents (00:02:26) |
| Luis | 2017-11-21 | personal story | On the January 2012 Fault in Our Stars tour, at a hotel ballroom outside Washington, DC, Nerdfighters Sara and Luis met before the show, hit it off and later began dating. | Two Love Stories (00:00:11) |
| Luis Díaz | 2026-06-09 | passing | Colombia is John's dark-horse pick to win the World Cup, with electrifying players like Luis Díaz and a creative midfield. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:06:49) |
| Luke Perry | 2021-07-23 | joke | Hank says the Awesome Socks Club has raised over $600,000. | The Last 25 Questions I Asked Google (00:03:21) |
| Luke Snellin | 2019-01-22 | passing | John calls director Luke Snellin a wonderful guy and the script incredible: it made him cry with laughter and at its sweetness. | Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle's Let It Snow (00:01:10) |
| Lulu Miller | 2020-04-14 | credited | John loves Lulu Miller's Why Fish Don't Exist, also out today: what The Anthropocene Reviewed wants to be when it grows up, a personal search for meaning, history of taxonomy and life of David Starr Jordan. | books that help (00:01:03) |
| Lygia Pape (artist) | 2016-10-04 | subject | John says the lines of Lygia Pape's silver-thread installation appear and disappear as you walk around them, beautiful in a way the camera can't capture. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:01:56) |
| Lyman Spitzer | 2020-01-31 | credited | Hank says Lyman Spitzer first conceived of putting telescopes in space and was a huge champion of the Hubble Space Telescope. | How Many Stars are in the Sky? (00:03:48) |
| Mabel (community-health-worker) | 2019-12-03 | cited | A recent PIH video tells of Mabel, a Sierra Leonean woman diagnosed with HIV while pregnant, whom Partners In Health helped get antiretroviral therapy and later become a community health worker. | We Are Cats Now, I Guess? (00:02:56) |
| Mae Jemison | 2021-11-16 | quoted | Astronaut Mae Jemison said that in space she feels more expansive and very connected to the universe. | Orbital Sunrise: The First Art Made in Space (00:01:49) |
| Mae Nan Ellingson | 2024-09-13 | cited | Busse says that unlike US constitutional cases arguing what the framers thought, Montana has nine living framers; its environment article was written by Mae Nan Ellingson, then 24. | My Governor is Weirder than Yours (00:41:16) |
| Magnus Carlsen | 2025-08-05 | cited | 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. | ONE TAKE JOHNNY (00:06:38) |
| Majeeda (refugee interviewee) | 2016-03-08 | subject | For International Women's Day John focuses on sisters Majeeda (12) and Aida (10), who reached the Azraq camp the day before he met them after more than four months in limbo at the border. | Aida and Majeeda: Thoughts from the Azraq Refugee Camp (00:00:12) |
| Mamadou Sarr | 2026-06-09 | passing | A Senegal win would be a massive upset, but with stars like Sadio Mané and Mamadou Sarr they believe they can beat anyone, despite just losing to the US. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:04:52) |
| Mansa Musa | 2022-10-11 | cited | John says most people ever born lived and died before Nero or Mansa Musa, before minutes and seconds, guns, global Christianity and Islam, and potatoes or pineapples in Afro-Eurasia. | Most People Have Never Been 20 (00:00:58) |
| Marcel Proust | 2019-05-21 | passing | From decades of interviews we know Keanu is dyslexic, attended four high schools, wrote the funny book about sadness Ode to Happiness, plays bass, reads Proust and co-founded a motorcycle company. | Keanu Reeves: A Love Letter (00:02:26) |
| Margaret Mead | 2020-10-15 | subject | John recounts the lie: asked by a student for the first sign of civilization, Mead supposedly named a healed broken femur, since it shows someone cared for the injured, and helping through difficulty is where civilization starts. | Civilization and the Lies We Love (00:00:29) |
| Margarete Steiff | 2021-08-31 | subject | Yet individuals' work and choices still matter; to show how systems and individuals both matter, John introduces Margarete Steiff, who invented the stuffed animal, sort of. | The Woman Who Invented Stuffed Animals (00:00:29) |
| Mari Evans | 2020-06-02 | recommended | The description lists books and essays John found helpful on racism's centrality to American life, by Kendi, Anderson, Lorde, Coates, Morrison, Evans, Baldwin, McWhirter, Woodson, Hurston, Wilkerson and Washington. | --- (00:00:00) |
| Maria Smilios | 2023-11-28 | credited | John recommends Maria Smilios's The Black Angels for history lovers: the story of Black nurses on Staten Island, many from the American South, who helped cure tuberculosis; untold before, phenomenally written. | John's (Mostly Book) Holiday Gift Recommendations (00:00:58) |
| Mariama (national TB program manager) | 2025-11-13 | takes part | John calls Dr. Mariama one of his personal TB heroes for her work in Sierra Leone, a place that matters to him and the community. | Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders (00:26:42) |
| Mariana Mazzucato | 2019-07-26 | recommended | To read or think more on this, Hank recommends Mariana Mazzucato's book The Value of Everything or any podcast or talk she has given. | The Best $10,000 I Ever Spent (00:03:28) |
| Marie (person, mentioned from 2016) | 2016-11-09 | credited | John thanks Rosianna Halse Rojas, Hank, Sarah Green, Ilene Cooper and his old friend Marie for thoughts that went into the video, and says any mistakes or errors in fact or judgment are his alone. | My Post-Election Thoughts (00:00:00) |
| Marie (person, mentioned from 2023) | 2023-05-02 | subject | Marie has learned a highly skilled trade, and Success, who worked as a mason on the site and is now a steel binder, says so many women work there because they know they will one day give birth in this hospital and their children will come there. | GOOD NEWS (00:03:24) |
| Marina Abramovic | 2022-09-30 | cited | John cites Marina Abramovic and her partner Ulay, who agreed to meet in the middle of the Great Wall of China and each walked over 2,000 kilometers. | COMMIT TO THE BIT (00:02:15) |
| Mario Diaz-Balart | 2025-06-10 | cited | John says living in a red state makes him unusually powerful now: people in Indiana, South Carolina, Texas or Maine, or represented by Tom Cole or Mario Diaz-Balart, matter enormously. | 90,000,000 Lives for $20 (00:05:21) |
| Mark Fowler | 2026-10-05 | criticized | Hank says the doctor assisting Pike's execution was not an anesthesiologist and had taken part in an earlier botched execution, trying for nearly an hour to place an IV, then a central line he hadn't done in over a decade. | Why Are We So Bad at Executing People? (00:04:49) |
| Marko Arnautović | 2026-06-09 | passing | Austria have a good team and a stout defense but rely heavily on the aging Marko Arnautović for goals. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:03:53) |
| Marshall McLuhan | 2020-07-17 | credited | Hank cites Marshall McLuhan's 'the medium is the message': how content is distributed and discovered shapes it so profoundly that the medium is kind of the content. | So Much to See (00:01:11) |
| Marta (coffee-farmer) | 2023-08-01 | subject | John introduces Marta, who owns and operates a small farm in Colombia and inspects her trees on the hillside each morning after her coffee. | Three Mornings (00:00:31) |
| Martin Kemp | 2024-02-13 | credited | The description credits Martin Kemp's book Christ to Coke for the heart-shape section, the smiley face metaphor and much background, and calls Wikipedia's article good if limited. | Why Doesn't ❤️ Look Like a Heart? (00:00:00) |
| Mary Baker Eddy | 2022-02-15 | passing | Twain's late book Christian Science eviscerates religion and Mary Baker Eddy; John's complicated feelings led to his college thesis on it, and his parents gave him a first edition (worth about $60) at graduation. | My Most Valuable Books (00:01:27) |
| Mary Rand Hess | 2017-08-15 | credited | John recommends Solo by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess: he has long been a fan of Alexander, and this book is really special. | Very Hard to Desclibe (00:02:26) |
| Mary Toft | 2019-06-21 | cited | Hank notes lies are old: a woman once convinced Britain's entire medical establishment that she was giving birth to rabbits. | How to Lie While Telling the Truth (00:00:00) |
| Mason (community-member) | 2008-05-11 | credited | A Nerdfighter, J272 (Mason), has put the whole Grand Rapids event up on YouTube for anyone who wants to watch it all. | Nerdfighting IRL (00:00:00) |
| Mathew Brady | 2019-02-05 | cited | John says Mathew Brady's celebrated US Civil War battlefield photographs were often staged, with corpses moved to make them more photogenic. | Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images (00:00:58) |
| Mathew McKenna | 2018-08-31 | credited | Hank is in Melbourne, Australia, by the convention center where VidCon is happening as the video is released. | Beautiful if Damp: Answering Questions in Melbourne (00:00:00) |
| Mathias Willemijns | 2017-10-06 | cited | In 2016 the record was beaten by over 300 pounds: Mathias Willemijns of Belgium grew a 2,600-pound pumpkin. | The World's Largest Fruits (00:02:52) |
| Matt Brown | 2018-03-09 | personal story | Hank remembers John and Matt Brown bringing They Might Be Giants' album Flood into the house and playing it in Dad's giant CD player. | John's Best Gift to Me (00:01:28) |
| Matt Gaetz | 2024-11-13 | criticized | After a bad eight days, John sarcastically calls Matt Gaetz becoming the next attorney general a huge relief, then flags the sarcasm. | Some New Things… (00:26:22) |
| Matthew Gaydos (volunteer) | 2013-12-20 | credited | P4A 2013 credits: web development by Sam Rudge, hosting by Fastly, design by Karen Kavett, Michael Aranda and Vondell Swain (the coin), perk fulfillment by Dave Loos, Matthew Gaydos, Katherine Green and Michael Gardner, perk development by Laura Chernikoff and Colin Hickey. | Best Moments of the Project for Awesome (00:00:00) |
| Matthew McConaughey | 2023-11-28 | cited | Contrasting ghostwritten-seeming celebrity memoirs with ones like Matthew McConaughey's that the star clearly wrote, John recommends Leslie Jones's memoir: she wrote it, and it's great. | John's (Mostly Book) Holiday Gift Recommendations (00:01:27) |
| MattieWex | 2022-02-08 | credited | The description lists the educational grant recipients funded by the ad revenue: MattieWex, Tom Lum, Sofishtication, Alexis Nikole, Entomology Abby, Astrokirsten, The Garbage Queen and Flipping Physics. | How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) (00:00:00) |
| Matty Stevens | 2025-04-22 | passing | John says the series goes inside a small fan-owned club: the players' lives, the locker room, even striker Matty Stevens' boxing gym. | The Unimportant Things (00:02:26) |
| Maureen Johnson's agent (literary-agent) | 2010-02-10 | cited | Maureen relays that her agent received 3,500 query letters last year (2009) and took two clients from them. | HOW TO GET AN AGENT (00:01:32) |
| Max Verstappen | 2022-04-12 | cited | After Hank notes that the surgeon who operated on his hand tendon was named Dr. Hand, John recalls an anesthesiologist of his named Dr. House, like House MD. | Utter Chippy Butty Chaos (00:02:19) |
| Max von Laue | 2025-09-12 | cited | Hank's favourite example: when were atoms discovered? With Democritus's philosophy, Dalton and Lavoisier's whole-number chemistry, Einstein's Brownian-motion math, or Max von Laue's first X-ray diffraction images? | This Might Actually be Happening (00:16:15) |
| Maya Higa | 2026-07-03 | passing | Hank says he would love to go to TED; last year's (2025) looked really good and Maya Higa was there. | Why I Didn't Buy TED (00:04:52) |
| Maya Rupert | 2020-06-05 | takes part | Hank introduces Maya Rupert, part of the community since her first Vlogbrothers video in 2007, an advocate and writer who managed Julian Castro's campaign and now works with Elizabeth Warren. | So Much to Do (00:00:00) |
| Meg (guest, mentioned from 2013) (guest) | 2013-04-19 | takes part | Hank writes that he wanted a frank, adult video about sexual orientation, but since he is pretty much totally straight he asked friends to share their experiences, and thanks Hannah Hart, Tyler Oakley, Ze Frank and Meg Turney of SourceFed for sticking their necks out. | On Sexual Orientation, with Hannah, Ze, Tyler, and Meg (00:00:00) |
| Meg Ryan | 2018-07-27 | credited | Hank says that pitch sold the show, for its first season at least, to a ridiculously star-studded cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Meg Ryan, LeVar Burton and Sting. | Why Environmentalists Hate Captain Planet (00:00:48) |
| Megan (person, mentioned from 2017) | 2017-11-09 | personal story | eBay lacked enough coins, so John reached out to Kiwi nerdfighters; the project was led by Megan, a librarian and teacher who wrote to her local newspaper asking for coins for an American author. | The New Zealand Five Cent Coin (00:01:24) |
| Megan Griffiths | 2019-06-18 | passing | The description notes that Megan Griffiths, director of the show's sixth episode, watched Brotherhood 2.0 back in 2007. | Question Tuesday with Miles and the Colonel: Manolo! (00:00:00) |
| Merle Kessler (person) | 2014-03-25 | credited | John says Ian Shoales is a character created by Merle Kessler, who still does theatre and radio work in northern California and is still very funny. | I Gotta Go: Signing Off and Thinking about Inspiration (00:02:12) |
| Merrick Garland | 2024-07-19 | cited | Hank says Crooks googled where Joe Biden and Donald Trump would be, and also Merrick Garland, Christopher Wray and an unnamed member of the British royal family. | The Assassination Attempt and the Comfort of Certainty (00:05:57) |
| Meryl Streep | 2020-05-19 | recommended | In a comment John points to Taika Waititi and others, including Meryl Streep and Cumberbatch, reading Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach to raise money for PIH. | Didn't Make Sense Not to Live for Fun (00:00:00) |
| Michael Caputo (political-consultant) | 2017-09-26 | cited | Early Trump adviser Michael Caputo had worked on a Russian campaign to improve Putin's image among Americans. | Trump and Russia: An Introduction to What We Know (and What We Don't) (00:03:46) |
| Michael Cart (YA literature scholar) | 2015-01-13 | credited | John says the edition adds his new introduction, deleted and revised scenes showing how he and Julie worked on the book, a Michael Cart essay, and thirty pages of reader Q&A. | On Writing, Looking for Alaska Turning 10, and Winning the Project for Awesome (00:01:57) |
| Michael Cera | 2022-07-26 | joke | John was entranced by a weird painting of a young man lovingly cradling a statue with a just-dumped face; after so much religious iconography, it was a relief. | Has this artist ever seen a baby? (00:02:45) |
| Michael Eisner | 2018-06-29 | cited | The Black Cauldron came one year into Michael Eisner's tenure as CEO, the first person to run Disney who was not a Disney family member. | Why is the Disney "D" So Weird? (00:01:58) |
| Michael McDonald | 2021-06-08 | performed | Ashley's favorite thing about the Midwest is driving far too fast on back roads past cornfields, listening to yacht rock such as Christopher Cross. | Feelings, Little Tunnels, and Oprah: It's Question Tuesday with Ashley C. Ford (00:03:03) |
| Michael Pollan | 2018-03-20 | cited | John says Michael Pollan's famous observation about corn is in a way a Russian reversal joke. | The Russian Reversal (00:01:27) |
| Michael Regan | 2022-08-12 | takes part | EPA Administrator Michael Regan says technology, quick innovation and new business models mean we can move faster than ever before. | The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What does it DO!? (00:04:00) |
| Michelle (guest) | 2025-01-10 | takes part | Making the show let Hank dive into topics, learn weird things, talk to experts, and even bring in a man with homing pigeons to talk with him and Michelle. | SECRET PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT! (00:02:44) |
| Michelle Grabner (artist) | 2022-08-30 | recommended | Art auctions are not only for the rich: eBay and Artsy.net run them all the time; a fundraiser auction now offers a work by Michelle Grabner, one of John's favorite artists, for $300. | How to Buy Good Art for Less Than $100,000,000 (00:00:58) |
| Mike Johnson | 2025-06-10 | passing | A later channel comment says 'it's working': PIH hears enough moderate House Republicans told Speaker Johnson they oppose PEPFAR cuts that the White House will amend the package; keep calling. | 90,000,000 Lives for $20 (00:00:00) |
| Mike Pence | 2020-12-15 | passing | In a channel comment John says Mike Pence will probably be buried in Columbus, where he is from, rather than at Crown Hill. | America's Capital of Dead Vice Presidents (00:00:00) |
| Mike Wilson | 2018-06-22 | takes part | On VidCon day two, Hank has been talking to educational YouTube creators and decides to ask them trivia questions to see how smart they really are. | Stumping EDU Creators - Trivia at VidCon (00:00:00) |
| Millard Tydings | 2019-02-05 | cited | John says Maryland Senator Millard Tydings probably lost re-election in 1950 because of a forged photo purporting to show him talking to the American Communist Party leader. | Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images (00:02:26) |
| Millie Bobby Brown | 2019-04-12 | joke | Hank says he has worked professionally on the internet since before Millie Bobby Brown existed, so he knows how to turn something interesting into a righteous click. | Escalators: We're Not Doing it Wrong (Mostly) (00:02:18) |
| Mitch McConnell | 2025-11-14 | cited | 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. | The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) (00:03:51) |
| Mitchell Hope | 2019-01-22 | passing | John reports that Netflix has cast a starry ensemble for its Let It Snow adaptation: Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Mitchell Hope, Odeya Rush, Anna Akana and Joan Cusack. | Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle's Let It Snow (00:00:00) |
| Mitchell Rales | 2024-03-26 | cited | John says his dividends come to only about $10, but Danaher's co-founders Steven and Mitchell Rales each make over $25 million a year just in dividends. | I Own Danaher (00:03:06) |
| Mohamed Kamara | 2022-01-18 | cited | Goalkeeper Mohamed Kamara, 22, who plays for Freetown's East End Lions, stopped every shot, including Riyad Mahrez's, in a 0-0 draw with Algeria, then wept on receiving player of the match. | The Miracle of the Leone Stars (00:01:56) |
| Mohktar Awad | 2013-07-05 | credited | Hank thanks Mohktar Awad for spending a long time on the phone with him the day before, setting him straight on Egypt. | Egypt....Explained! (00:00:00) |
| Monica (person, mentioned from 2020) | 2020-05-01 | personal story | Hank and Monica painted part of the ball; Michael told them to leave the rest for people about to arrive, three nice young people who then came. | I Need to Get Myself Away from this Place (00:02:40) |
| Mufak (refugee) | 2016-06-21 | subject | Mufak, a trained butcher who became a successful entrepreneur in Syria, left everything behind in 2012 to escape the fighting; after four years in Jordan the family's savings were depleted. | Syrian Refugees in the United States: One Family's Story (00:00:08) |
| Muhammad (community health worker, mentioned from 2016) (community health worker) | 2016-12-09 | takes part | takes part (no line attributed to them) | The Difference A Decade Makes: The 10th Annual Project for Awesome Is Here! (00:00:54) |
| 2016-12-09 | cited | John says Partners In Health trains and employs community health workers around the world, like Muhammad from Sierra Leone and tens of thousands of people like him. | The Difference A Decade Makes: The 10th Annual Project for Awesome Is Here! (00:00:54) | |
| Mulualem Gessesse (neonatologist) | 2014-07-29 | takes part | John says Dr. Mulualem Gessesse was one of Ethiopia's first neonatologists. | Listen: Thoughts from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (00:00:32) |
| Musa Mohammed (refugee interviewee) | 2016-06-07 | takes part | John visited Musa Mohammed's family, whose 18-year-old daughter was about to begin university; they had a two-storey house and a car in Syria and now have only hope in their children's education. | Zaatari: Thoughts from a Refugee Camp (00:02:15) |
| Mustafa Bundu | 2022-01-18 | quoted | Sierra Leonean footballer Mustafa Bundu told a reporter the team wants people to see the positives in Sierra Leone, in football and beyond, not just war or Ebola. | The Miracle of the Leone Stars (00:00:00) |
| Mustafa Suleyman | 2024-08-23 | criticized | Hank calls this legally and ethically wrong: a deep, almost willful misunderstanding of copyright law that publishing on the open web makes something free for anyone's use. | Is Google Training AI on YouTube Videos? (00:14:23) |
| Nada (refugee) | 2016-06-21 | subject | Because yesterday was World Refugee Day, John shares the story of a family he met in Jordan: Mufak, Nada and their five kids. | Syrian Refugees in the United States: One Family's Story (00:00:00) |
| Nadim Silverman (artist) | 2021-01-26 | credited | The description credits Nadim Silverman for the art (all of TAR's art), Stan Muller for editing, Hannis Brown for music, Jenny Lawton and Rosianna Halse Rojas as producers, Joe Plourde as technical director; John wrote it. | The Sycamore Tree: The Anthropocene Reviewed (00:00:00) |
| Nadya Suleman (public figure) | 2009-11-12 | joke | Answering a prompt from Natalie (Community Channel), Hank shows his favourite childhood toy, Dexter, a stuffed ferret he slept with every day from age six to fifteen. | On a Plane - On the Ground (00:01:14) |
| Nahid (refugee interviewee) | 2016-03-08 | quoted | Nahid, a mother of young children who volunteers as a teacher, told John she wants her children to have a good education. | Aida and Majeeda: Thoughts from the Azraq Refugee Camp (00:01:03) |
| Nancy Holt (artist) | 2020-12-01 | credited | John says American deserts hold many artworks responding to stark landscapes: Spiral Jetty on the Great Salt Lake, the fake Prada store near Marfa, Texas, and Nancy Holt's Sun Tunnels near Wendover, Utah. | The Utah Monolith, What It Means, Why It Matters, and Whether It's Aliens (00:01:16) |
| Napoleon III | 2022-08-02 | passing | John says the painting entered the Louvre's collection only in 1874, just after the death of Napoleon III, France's last ever monarch. | Liberty Leading the People: How Revolutions Turn (00:03:24) |
| Natalia (pediatrician) | 2025-11-13 | takes part | 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. | Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders (00:16:39) |
| Nate Silver (statistician and election analyst) | 2013-01-01 | cited | Citing Nate Silver's analysis, John says the number of swing districts, where either party has about an equal chance, fell from 103 to 35 over the last 20 years. | Why Does Congress Suck? (00:02:05) |
| Nathaniel Russell (artist) | 2022-08-30 | recommended | One of John's favorite artworks at home is Nathaniel Russell's print demanding snake poems now; he loves that, unlike political or consumer posters, it just wants snake poetry. | How to Buy Good Art for Less Than $100,000,000 (00:00:00) |
| Nava | 2025-10-28 | passing | John had lunch with the governor, Dr. Nava, who is also an infectious disease doctor. | Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway (00:02:26) |
| Ne Win (head-of-state) | 2009-05-17 | criticized | John says Ne Win, the first military ruler, bathed in dolphin blood to stay young and tried to switch Burma's currency to base 9, his lucky number. | Burma! Myanmar? BURMA! (00:01:22) |
| Neal Mohan | 2024-08-23 | cited | In a Bloomberg interview, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says that if YouTube were used to train Sora, it would be against YouTube's policy. | Is Google Training AI on YouTube Videos? (00:05:21) |
| Neal Stephenson | 2023-10-04 | credited | Hank says suddenly stopping after doing it for a while is very scary: climate models show possibly chaotic consequences, called termination shock. | A Messy and Unhinged Introduction to Geoengineering (00:08:53) |
| Ned Kelly (outlaw) | 2008-12-15 | quoted | John notes W.C. Fields's last words were addressed to Carlotta, his mistress, not his wife Hattie; he says he tones the quote down for young nerdfighters. | Famous Last Words (00:02:37) |
| Nedeljko Čabrinović | 2023-05-16 | subject | Citing a historian, John says all three suffered from tuberculosis and knew they would not live long, which made them willing to give their lives for what they saw as a great cause. | Did TB Cause World War I? (00:01:57) |
| Nick Lane | 2023-10-20 | credited | In a channel comment, Hank recommends Nick Lane's book Transformer, which he finds fascinating, instead of 'cancer is a metabolic disease' influencers. | My 'Injury' (00:00:00) |
| Nicole Georges (artist) | 2012-08-04 | personal story | Hank slept at the house of artist Nicole Georges, who drew E.T. art on Paul and Joe's shirts. | EXTRA! Thoughts from Tour (00:02:16) |
| Nikolai Yezhov | 2019-02-05 | cited | John says Stalin often had former allies airbrushed out of photos once they became enemies, such as his secret police head Nikolai Yezhov after his execution. | Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images (00:01:27) |
| Ninja | 2020-05-29 | cited | Hank says Ninja being paid to move to Mixer is about his audience: changing user behavior and buying market share with Microsoft's money, and drawing smaller creators who won't be paid. | Get Paid (00:02:11) |
| Noah (claimed time traveler) | 2020-08-25 | subject | John says he keeps being tagged in a viral TikTok about a time traveler named Noah from 2030 with over 2 million likes, an obvious example of misinformation he will analyze. | Somebody once told me… (00:00:29) |
| Noam Chomsky (linguist) | 2007-12-14 | joke | John thanks Nerdfighters for names for his hypothetical puppy, lists favorites (Rana Valona, Chomsky the Nerdfighting Puppy, Wootponer, Optimus Prime, Johnny Funtimes) and picks Norbert Wiener the Puppy as winner. | Dec. 14th: John and Maureen Johnson: LIVE FROM NEW YORK CITY (00:01:52) |
| Olivia Dahl | 2025-02-28 | cited | 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. | We Will Eradicate Measles (00:05:31) |
| Oscar Isaac | 2026-02-27 | cited | Hank lists names he knows that share a name: Percy Jackson and LaToya Jackson; Isaac Mizrahi, Isaac Asimov, Oscar Isaac and Walter Isaacson. | Can We Do a Science Together?? (00:00:29) |
| Otis Redding | 2018-01-12 | passing | Linda Lyndell was a backup act for Otis Redding and James Brown; her R&B single 'What a Man' went badly because she was white. | 5 Songs You've Never Heard That You've Heard 1000 Times (00:02:29) |
| Otto Lindberg (mapmaker) | 2014-12-23 | cited | John says the map, famous to cartography nerds and Paper Towns readers, shows Agloe, New York, north of Rockland: a town made up by its creators Ernest G Alpers and Otto Lindberg from their initials. | Agloe, New York (00:00:32) |
| P. T. Barnum (showman) | 2010-06-29 | passing | P. T. Barnum found Gage and his iron rod, and Gage earned money touring the circuses. | Stabbed in the Brain: Phineas Gage (00:02:33) |
| Paige Tompkins | 2025-02-14 | credited | Hank says special guests commissioned their own frogs from frog artist Paige Tompkins this year (2025), available signed or digitally in the digital download bundle. | Let's Do a Good (00:00:58) |
| Paolo Veneziano | 2022-07-26 | cited | John's verdicts: Jacques-Louis David has definitely seen a baby, Botticelli once long ago, Paolo Veneziano more recently than a woman, and Titian has. | Has this artist ever seen a baby? (00:00:58) |
| Pat Robertson (televangelist) | 2010-01-13 | criticized | John says Pat Robertson, explaining why an active God allowed the earthquake in the worst possible place, claimed Haitians made a deal with the devil and were getting payback; John calls that stupid. | Froghoppin' with Gatsby (00:02:47) |
| Patife (video maker) | 2016-07-29 | credited | The description thanks Patife for supplying some of the Comic-Con footage in the video, since Hank didn't film enough himself. | Thoughts from Comic-Con (NO MORE CHEETO MEDIA!) (00:00:00) |
| Patricia (community-member) | 2009-08-24 | credited | The description credits the Ze Frank clip, picked as the 'Biggest Get', to Tom, Patricia, Lidewij and Lotte (Lotte and Lidewij also run Best Wishes from NL), and names Valerie2776 for 'Best Painter's Tape'. | HAPPY JOHN DAY!!! (00:00:00) |
| Patrik Berger | 2019-07-23 | passing | At halftime John, Sarah and Alice met Liverpool legends Patrik Berger and Ian Rush, who generously brought out the European Cup for them; John wept. | What to Love and How (00:02:54) |
| Patrik Svedberg (photographer) | 2018-03-06 | subject | The description credits Seth Radley with producing, editing and inspiring the video, and thanks Patrik Svedberg for photographing the Broccoli Tree and for rights to his images. | The Broccoli Tree: A Parable (00:00:00) |
| Paul Cézanne (painter) | 2016-10-04 | cited | John says in a Cézanne landscape at Somerset House you can start to see painting move toward abstraction. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:01:19) |
| Paul Hollywood | 2023-02-24 | joke | Hank says a little lemon juice made the Dr Pepper baked beans much better by cutting the sugar. | The P4A 2023 is The Hottest Club on the Internet (00:06:57) |
| Paul Janssen (pharmacologist) | 2015-01-23 | joke | Hank thanks everyone who helped pull off the interview, says the White House was intense to work with but did a fantastic job, thanks Bethany and GloZell as fantastic company, and jokingly credits Paul Janssen, who first synthesized Imodium's active ingredient. | Interviewing the President (00:00:00) |
| Pavel Belyayev | 2021-11-16 | passing | In March 1965, aged 30, Leonov flew with his friend Pasha Belyayev in a spherical craft just over two meters wide; allowed few belongings, he brought a drawing pad and colored pencils. | Orbital Sunrise: The First Art Made in Space (00:02:12) |
| Peggy Cherng | 2026-03-24 | subject | John says Panda Express was founded by married couple Peggy and Andrew Cherng; Peggy has a PhD in computer science and researched algorithmically identifying congenital heart problems. | How Panda Express Is Tuberculosis (00:04:27) |
| Pencil Bandit | 2018-06-29 | credited | Hank also thanks Lindsay (of the chezapoctube channel), illustrator Pencil Bandit and Kade Fisher, whose DeviantArt piece charts the evolution of the Disney signature logo, for their knowing or unknowing help. | Why is the Disney "D" So Weird? (00:00:00) |
| 2018-06-29 | cited | The D could easily read more clearly, as London illustrator Pencil Bandit's modified versions show, but that is not what Disney wanted. | Why is the Disney "D" So Weird? (00:03:30) | |
| Perry Lentz | 2022-02-15 | personal story | Instead of Strunk and White or the AP guide, John's style guide is Instruction Booklet by his college professor Perry Lentz, covering em dashes to lie and lay; he has much of it memorized. | My Most Valuable Books (00:02:26) |
| Pete Buttigieg | 2024-05-10 | takes part | Pete says e-bikes expand the range of bicycle commuting and who chooses it; bike-commuting cities abroad are ahead, and the US is seeing more. | Three Whole Onions with Secretary Pete Buttigieg (00:11:14) |
| Pete Davidson | 2022-10-04 | joke | John urges viewers to get the Pizzamas shirt now: it will be gone forever, or at least until they make a throw blanket of it next year (2023). | Hank and John Reunited at Last (00:03:29) |
| Pete Hegseth | 2025-12-19 | cited | Hank says Trump hires from both of his worlds: grievance-based attention farmers (RFK Jr., Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Pete Hegseth) and billionaires (Linda McMahon, David Sacks, Elon Musk, Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick). | My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun (00:02:27) |
| Peter Glazebrook | 2017-10-06 | cited | Trees and bushes often have structural trouble growing giant fruit, which is why the world's largest tomato is held up by pantyhose. | The World's Largest Fruits (00:01:52) |
| Peter L. Berger (sociologist) | 2008-08-26 | quoted | John cites sociologist Peter Berger: the difference between dogs and people is that dogs know how to be dogs. | The Catcher in the Rye, Part 2 (00:00:49) |
| Peter Navarro | 2025-04-11 | criticized | Hank says Trump's adviser Peter Navarro is a big advocate of tariffs. | How Actually Crazy is This Mess? (00:07:02) |
| Peter Paul Rubens | 2022-07-26 | cited | Finally John finds a painting of sweet babies floating in space among flowers by an artist who may even have held a baby, ending his journey. | Has this artist ever seen a baby? (00:03:25) |
| Peter Thiel | 2025-12-19 | passing | Hank says Vice President and potential heir JD Vance embodies the coalition: now from grievance-based attention farming, his rise funded by billionaire Peter Thiel. | My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun (00:02:56) |
| Phil Collins | 2017-11-07 | joke | The abandoned opinions include whether a hot dog is a sandwich and Phil Collins's music. | Definitely Not A Pecan Orchard: A Pizzamas Question Tuesday (00:02:16) |
| Phil Fish | 2023-12-15 | credited | Hank reads Phil Fish on Mastodon: life is extra surreal for French speakers because, in French, ChatGPT sounds exactly like "cat, I farted", so TV news keeps asking with a straight face whether it will steal your job, how schools are dealing with it, and about a lawyer caught using it. | Cat...I Farted. (00:01:29) |
| Philando Castile (victim-of-police-shooting) | 2016-07-15 | cited | Hank says 'Black Lives Matter' is not only about Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice but about a deep, destructive national belief that black lives matter less. | On Lives and Mattering (00:02:08) |
| Philip Markoff (accused murderer) | 2009-04-26 | cited | John says he can follow about six news stories at once and lists them: the economic crisis, Iraq, Pakistan, the Craigslist killer, North Korea and Lindsay Lohan's breakup. | Peanut Butter Face Discusses Sri Lanka (00:00:07) |
| Phyllida Swift | 2024-04-19 | credited | For a character with visible facial trauma in his second book, Hank talked to Phyllida Swift, whose appearance changed after a car accident and who is CEO of Face Equality International. | I Closed My Boob in a Door (00:04:09) |
| Pierre-Auguste Renoir (painter) | 2016-10-04 | cited | After leaving Somerset House John catches some Drowzees and declares London lousy with Drowzees and masterpieces, the video's title line. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:01:51) |
| Piet Mondrian (painter) | 2022-11-01 | subject | John says news recently broke that a Piet Mondrian painting has hung upside down in a German art museum for 75 years. | Is This Painting Upside Down? (00:01:56) |
| Pliny the Elder | 2024-02-13 | quoted | John adds that Pliny noted silphium, unlike most medicinal herbs, didn't make you fart. | Why Doesn't ❤️ Look Like a Heart? (00:02:15) |
| Pope Francis | 2024-01-12 | cited | Often no flag goes up, as with the Puffer Pope image: up close the chain and glasses are wrong, but at a glance it is the Pope in a puffy coat, and most people move on. | How to Detect AI Images (and why it doesn't matter) (00:03:00) |
| Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex | 2021-08-20 | joke | Hank says the AI's answer on where to start eating a bicycle feels very uncanny valley: it seems to think it knows what being a person is like but doesn't. | Question Tuesday Except I'm an AI (00:02:24) |
| Ptolemy (geographer) | 2013-09-20 | cited | Hank says Western maps began north-up with Ptolemy, switched to east-up (so to orient a map pointed it toward the Orient), and returned to north-up in the Renaissance out of obsession with the Greeks. | 42 Amazing Maps (00:03:07) |
| Pythagoras | 2020-09-04 | cited | Hank says a young woman's TikTok asking whether math is real and how Pythagoras came up with it asks all the right questions, which lead to a joyous understanding of math. | Go Play! (00:00:00) |
| Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother | 2019-02-05 | cited | John says in 1939 the Canadian Prime Minister had King George VI cut out of a photo, thinking he'd look more powerful talking only to the Queen Mum. | Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images (00:02:26) |
| Rafael Arévalo (translator) | 2016-08-05 | credited | Hank credits the project's team: Taylor Behnke Peters (writing and research), Derek Knabenbauer (editing), Nicole Sweeney (graphics), Nick Jenkins (director), and Spanish translators Liza Platae, Rafael Arévalo, Amber J Holder and John Flores. | Our Massive Project: How to Vote in Every State (00:00:00) |
| Rafael Márquez | 2018-06-12 | passing | Mexico's Rafa Márquez will be playing in his fifth World Cup. | Your 4-Minute Guide to ALL 32 TEAMS at the 2018 World Cup (00:02:06) |
| Rainer Blair | 2023-09-12 | quoted | John says Danaher's CEO Rainer Blair literally called these razor blade business models in mission-critical applications. | Barely Contained Rage: An Open Letter to Danaher and Cepheid (00:02:44) |
| Raj Panjabi | 2017-12-19 | quoted | Last Mile Health CEO Raj Panjabi, who grew up in Liberia, shared his father's saying: no condition is permanent, neither the good nor the bad. | History Is Happening (00:02:33) |
| Ralph Lauren (fashion) | 2021-10-19 | joke | In an aside, John notes that Ralph Lauren's first name is Ralph, which gets little emphasis: what a great name. | Cat Names: The Authoritative Guide (00:01:27) |
| Ralph Nader | 2018-10-26 | cited | Neither Al Gore, the Democratic leadership nor even Ralph Nader claimed fraud; everyone accepted the new president, having done democracy, flaws and all, and moved forward together. | The Rigged Election (00:01:09) |
| Raph Graybill | 2024-09-13 | personal story | Busse says he and his running mate Rafe are probably the only Democrats in a century to run against Republicans who raised property taxes: 'the low-tax Democrats'. | My Governor is Weirder than Yours (00:08:03) |
| Ray Charles | 2018-01-12 | subject | Hank says Ray Charles is iconic and his 'I Got a Woman' is one of the most covered songs of all time. | 5 Songs You've Never Heard That You've Heard 1000 Times (00:00:53) |
| Ray Kurzweil (futurist) | 2010-05-07 | cited | Path five: Hank says futurist Kurzweil believes machines will build smarter machines in an intelligence explosion that could, theoretically, help humans save themselves. | How to Live Forever (00:01:27) |
| Raymond Rodriguez | 2019-07-30 | credited | The description names Decade of Betrayal by Francisco E. Balderrama and Raymond Rodriguez as the most comprehensive history of the period, where John first learned Jose Lopez's story. | The Mexican Repatriation (00:00:00) |
| Rebecca (person, mentioned from 2026) | 2026-04-28 | cited | In the MCOE's prenatal ward John met Rebecca, who, asked how many children she had, said four children, one living. | What I Can't Show You (00:04:14) |
| Rebecca Lowe | 2019-07-16 | cited | John blabbered to Dan Howell at VidCon last weekend, couldn't form a sentence meeting Zadie Smith seven years ago, and wonders if Rebecca Lowe saw his hands shaking. | star struck (00:00:00) |
| Rebecca Makkai | 2023-11-28 | credited | John's favorite novel of the year is Rebecca Makkai's I Have Some Questions for You: crimey and podcasty but brilliant, with some of the best sentences around. | John's (Mostly Book) Holiday Gift Recommendations (00:00:29) |
| Redman | 2023-08-22 | cited | John first noticed this in the Prof song Pack a Lunch, where Redman names Panera. | The Panera Phenomenon (00:02:05) |
| Reinhold Niebuhr (theologian) | 2016-12-30 | cited | Hank says people elsewhere have figured these things out too and also lead the community, from Mark Twain to Vi Hart, Michelle Obama to Ze Frank, Reinhold Niebuhr to Nathan Zed. | The Most Interesting Thing I've Ever Done (00:03:46) |
| Rekia Boyd (victim-of-police-shooting) | 2016-07-15 | cited | Hank says 'Black Lives Matter' is not only about Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice but about a deep, destructive national belief that black lives matter less. | On Lives and Mattering (00:02:08) |
| Rich Hall | 2024-09-06 | passing | Next week (week of 9 September 2024) Hank opens for Rich Hall in Bozeman, a big deal for him, then does other things at the Last Best Comedy Fest; he invites viewers. | I feel like I can't talk about this… (00:00:58) |
| Richard Dawkins | 2025-08-22 | credited | Hank calls language the ultimate cultural replicator, the ultimate meme in Dawkins' original sense of the word. | Are Languages Alive? (00:04:33) |
| Richard L. Hasen | 2024-11-22 | credited | Hank recommends Cheap Speech by Richard Hasen on speech, read about two years ago, while disagreeing with parts of all these books. | Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment (00:33:03) |
| Richard Spencer (white nationalist) | 2017-02-03 | criticized | Hank wants to act for his beliefs without attacking those who disagree: not every Trump supporter is like Milo or Richard Spencer, 50% of Americans still approve of Trump's job, and treating them as a monolithic block of racists does more harm than good. | Are We Making Things Worse? (00:00:00) |
| Richard Williamson (bishop) | 2009-02-08 | criticized | John calls Richard Williamson a crazy person and jokes that his craziness is why he had been excommunicated from the Catholic Church. | All Aboard the Fail Boat (00:00:36) |
| Richard Wright | 2022-09-20 | quoted | When thinking about why any of it matters, John always thinks of a line from Richard Wright about hurling words into the darkness and waiting for an echo. | Against Nihilism (00:02:26) |
| Rick Ross | 2023-08-22 | cited | John says many rappers mention Panera, among them Lil Uzi Vert, Rick Ross and Lil Yachty, and the list goes on. | The Panera Phenomenon (00:02:30) |
| Riyad Mahrez | 2022-01-18 | passing | Goalkeeper Mohamed Kamara, 22, who plays for Freetown's East End Lions, stopped every shot, including Riyad Mahrez's, in a 0-0 draw with Algeria, then wept on receiving player of the match. | The Miracle of the Leone Stars (00:01:56) |
| Rob Lainton | 2023-04-11 | passing | John says Wrexham led 3-2 and gave up a penalty in the final minute; with goalkeeper Rob Lainton injured, they had brought 40-year-old Ben Foster out of retirement. | Wrexham's Most Amazing Feeling (00:02:41) |
| Rob Thomas | 2019-01-01 | joke | John tries to make SMART goals; after garbling the acronym ('Roll Tide', 'Rob Thomas'), he settles on SMA goals: specific, measurable, attainable. | How to Make Goals, Not Resolutions (00:01:27) |
| Robbie Gonzalez | 2020-07-14 | credited | Unable to sleep around midnight, John decided to produce some joy and spent the next five hours watching Robbie Gonzalez explain how Rubik's Cubes work. | The ice we skate is getting pretty thin. (00:02:26) |
| Robert David | 2023-03-28 | cited | Retelling Farmer's case, John says Haitian teenager Robert David, whose clinic lacked the right drugs, developed drug resistance, sought treatment for nine years and died of TB. | My Tuberculosis Reading List (00:02:26) |
| Robert Koch | 2023-05-16 | cited | John says that after Robert Koch proved in 1882 that a bacterium causes TB, it came to be seen as an illness of contamination, filth and poverty, and people with it were hugely and unjustly stigmatized, a tradition he says would continue. | Did TB Cause World War I? (00:02:26) |
| Robert L. May (copywriter) | 2009-12-23 | cited | Correcting Hank's claim that Woolworth invented Rudolph, John says Montgomery Ward did in the late 1930s: copywriter Robert May, a nerdy small guy, wrote a story about a nerdy small reindeer that became massive. | Amazing Christmas Facts With John and Hank (00:02:06) |
| Robert Lewandowski | 2018-06-12 | passing | Poland are a good long-shot pick to go far if their star striker Robert Lewandowski is in form. | Your 4-Minute Guide to ALL 32 TEAMS at the 2018 World Cup (00:02:42) |
| Robert Smithson (artist) | 2020-12-01 | credited | In a comment, John says the Romanian monolith seems likely a copycat: its steel was not buffed to a mirror finish and it had not been hidden for years, though he'd love to be wrong. | The Utah Monolith, What It Means, Why It Matters, and Whether It's Aliens (00:00:00) |
| Robin Reid | 2023-09-08 | credited | Hank recommends Robin Reid's book Savannas of Our Birth, which he is reading: not a clickbait cover, but really good and fascinating. | Giraffes are Way More Complicated Than We Thought (00:05:50) |
| Robyn O'Neill | 2021-02-23 | cited | John loves artwork involving a lot of repetition and careful mark-making, showing pieces by Hiroyuki Doi and Robyn O'Neill. | A Little Joy and Color in an Otherwise Unbearably Bland Life (00:01:52) |
| Rodney Dangerfield | 2020-10-08 | cited | Hank describes Mr. Delicious, the new Rax spokesman promising a more mature dining environment, as a low-energy Rodney Dangerfield and a sad man. | The Commercial that Killed a Fast Food Chain (00:01:27) |
| Roland Barthes | 2026-07-07 | subject | John says the famous literary critic Roland Barthes published his essay The Death of the Author in 1967. | On the Death of the Author (00:02:28) |
| Rolf Danner | 2012-05-05 | credited | John thanks the people at NASA and Northrop Grumman who made Hank's present possible, especially Ron Birk, Charlie Atkinson and Rolf Danner, and Michael Gardner at EcoGeek for facilitating it. | It's HANKO DE MAYO!!!!! (00:00:00) |
| Ron Birk | 2012-05-05 | credited | John thanks the people at NASA and Northrop Grumman who made Hank's present possible, especially Ron Birk, Charlie Atkinson and Rolf Danner, and Michael Gardner at EcoGeek for facilitating it. | It's HANKO DE MAYO!!!!! (00:00:00) |
| Ron Cephas Jones | 2019-10-08 | passing | The description says John will be at a Looking for Alaska event on October 16 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale: a first-episode preview and discussion with the showrunners, Timothy Simons, Ron Cephas Jones and John. | Looking for Alaska (...with Alaska) (00:00:00) |
| Ron Ziegler (press secretary) | 2016-05-17 | cited | John says Nixon's press secretary Ronald Ziegler answered reports on the scandal by blaming 'hearsay, innuendo, guilt by association' and saying no one in the White House directed sabotage. | A Brief History of the Non-Denial Denial (00:00:14) |
| Rosemary Horrox | 2021-09-28 | recommended | Turning to infectious disease, where his brain always goes, John loves Rosemary Horrox's The Black Death, a collection of first-person accounts of the plague. | 11 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read (00:00:58) |
| Rosie O'Donnell (entertainer) | 2024-09-24 | cited | The now almost forgotten video featured 90s celebrities: George Clooney, Erik Estrada, Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O'Donnell, Alex Trebek, Pamela Anderson, Kevin Nealon, David Spade, Jerry Springer, Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden, Jerry O'Connell, Garry Shandling, Charles Nelson Reilly and Calista Flockhart. | The Forgotten Viral Video that Could Never be Made Today (00:00:29) |
| Roxy Paine (artist) | 2012-10-09 | cited | John says a squirrel 'inadequately afraid of humans' approached him on a park bench while Sarah fed him popcorn, and that they briefly went back to the hotel so he could recover. | Attacked by Squirrels and Neoclassicism: Thoughts from Places, Washington D.C. (00:00:37) |
| Roy Sullivan (person) | 2010-03-22 | cited | Hank says being struck by lightning makes you much more likely to be struck again; Roy Sullivan was struck seven times. | Top 10 Weirdest Diseases (00:00:34) |
| Rupert Murdoch (media-owner) | 2007-09-28 | criticized | John says he usually avoids the Wall Street Journal because Rupert Murdoch is buying it, mocks Murdoch's empire-building, yet concedes the Journal is a good newspaper. | September 28th: Nerdfighting!!! (00:02:08) |
| Ruth | 2019-10-22 | cited | In Sierra Leone earlier this year (2019) John spent a day with Ruth, a PIH community health worker who makes house calls to people with serious illnesses like tuberculosis or HIV. | Why We're Donating $6,500,000 (00:00:09) |
| Rwandan survivor Hank spoke with (private individual) | 2009-03-18 | cited | Hank says two days ago he spoke by phone with a woman from Rwanda whose entire family died in those 100 days; she had recently gone to Canada for school and followed events daily. | Lighting Candles for Rwanda (00:00:00) |
| Ryan Busse | 2024-09-13 | takes part | Hank tells John that Ryan Busse wants to be his governor, so he talked to him about it. | My Governor is Weirder than Yours (00:00:29) |
| Ryan Georgi | 2019-02-05 | credited | John explains the opening is a deepfake by Ryan, a University of Washington professor, whose model maps the brothers' faces to put a mustache John once had on both of them. | Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images (00:00:00) |
| Ryan Johnson | 2023-10-05 | cited | John hails central defenders 'Greatbeard' Ryan Johnson and Joe Lewis, whose aggressively rolled-up shorts hide the DFTBA logo, which John is fine with. | America's Second Favorite Fourth Tier English Soccer Team (00:03:12) |
| Safiya Nygaard | 2019-11-08 | passing | Hank watched The Adventure Zone season 3 trailer twice; John watched Safiya Nygaard choosing her wedding dress and a Mike Tyson hoverboard fail. | Trolling Through John's YouTube History...GUESS WHAT I FOUND!? (00:02:55) |
| Sal Khan | 2026-07-03 | subject | Hank says TED ended up with Sal Khan of Khan Academy as its vision steward. | Why I Didn't Buy TED (00:04:22) |
| Sam Moyer (artist) | 2022-10-18 | recommended | John was drawn to landscapes: Lucas Arruda's paintings, Byron Kim's abstracted landscape, Didier William's underseascape, Yoan Capote's plaster-and-metal landscape and Sam Moyer's stones-and-canvas painting. | Terraverse Over Everything: Thoughts from London (00:01:49) |
| Samantha Rose Garrison | 2023-01-06 | credited | Hank reads a sticker he found advertising Samantha Rose Garrison's song Vampire Boy, available on all streaming platforms, says everyone should listen to it, and plays some of it. | After 12 hours in LA I'm a stand-up comic doing ASMR with a side gig as a music promoter (00:03:17) |
| Samuel Ashworth | 2018-01-09 | quoted | Samuel Ashworth wrote that no Twitter user needs telling why it is the worst: it is an endlessly self-renewing bonfire of outrage and confusion. | Your Attention (00:00:18) |
| Sandra Bland (died-in-police-custody) | 2016-07-15 | cited | Hank says 'Black Lives Matter' is not only about Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice but about a deep, destructive national belief that black lives matter less. | On Lives and Mattering (00:02:08) |
| Sappho | 2024-02-13 | cited | John says the heart has long been tied to love, as in Sappho's heart quaking with love some 2,700 years ago, since it flutters in love and longing. | Why Doesn't ❤️ Look Like a Heart? (00:01:27) |
| Sara | 2017-11-21 | personal story | On the January 2012 Fault in Our Stars tour, at a hotel ballroom outside Washington, DC, Nerdfighters Sara and Luis met before the show, hit it off and later began dating. | Two Love Stories (00:00:11) |
| Sara Hindi | 2017-03-07 | passing | John thanks Sara Hindi and everyone at Exodus Refugee International for making the video possible, and Mark Olsen for videography and editing. | Hoping for an Airport Reunion: One Refugee Family's Story (00:00:00) |
| Sara Roscoe (nerdfighter) | 2010-01-08 | credited | John credits the Nerdfighters who illustrated the Gus is a Bug video book: Dr. Noise, Kaiti, Becca, Andrea, Minna, Sara Roscoe, Suzanne and SamWiseGirl. | GUS HAS NO FUZZ! (00:00:00) |
| Sara Teasdale | 2020-09-22 | criticized | In a channel comment John says Teasdale misses the point: humans are a catastrophe for much life, but also the most interesting thing that ever happened to Earth. | the world is gonna roll me (00:00:00) |
| Sarah (person, mentioned from 2021) | 2021-06-29 | subject | For eight years Sarah has thought of this doctor whenever she sneezes; now John does too, and since the episode aired hundreds of people have told him the same. | Sneezing is not normal. (00:00:43) |
| Sarah (person, mentioned from 2023) | 2023-12-01 | personal story | Last year (2022) Hank wanted a copy and asked the internet; Sarah sent hers without asking for money, only a future favor she hasn't called in yet. | It's OK if you think less of me after this! (00:00:34) |
| Sarah Adina Smith | 2019-03-12 | personal story | John spent the weekend (9–10 March 2019) with Charlie and Kristine, who play Miles and Alaska, and Sarah, their director, showing them around his old haunts. | Going Home with Alaska and Miles (00:00:00) |
| Sarah's doctor | 2021-06-29 | subject | John wonders how the doctor explains their own sneezes: a fluke, a sneeze-adjacent phenomenon, or a moral weakness to hide from the public. | Sneezing is not normal. (00:01:07) |
| Sasha | 2025-12-05 | passing | The description thanks Irwin, Sasha and everyone else at the Johnson Space Center. | Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves (00:00:00) |
| Saw Kyar Aye | 2017-03-07 | subject | John says Saw Kyar Aye was born in Burma and as a young man was taken from his community by the army and forced to work on road construction. | Hoping for an Airport Reunion: One Refugee Family's Story (00:00:15) |
| Saw Kyar Min | 2017-03-07 | subject | John says that in 2013 Thet Thet was in Malaysia caring for baby son Saw Kyar Min; in April 2014 the family was told they would come, but a clerical error cancelled the trip. | Hoping for an Airport Reunion: One Refugee Family's Story (00:02:25) |
| Scott Bessent | 2025-12-19 | cited | Hank says Trump hires from both of his worlds: grievance-based attention farmers (RFK Jr., Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Pete Hegseth) and billionaires (Linda McMahon, David Sacks, Elon Musk, Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick). | My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun (00:02:27) |
| Scott Wagstaff | 2019-01-29 | passing | AFC Wimbledon beat West Ham 4-2: Kwesi Appiah scored in front of the John Green stand, Scott Wagstaff scored twice, and 19-year-old Toby Sibbick scored. | Do You Believe in Miracles? (00:02:54) |
| Sean (viewer, mentioned from 2018) (viewer) | 2018-01-19 | personal story | At $15,000 a Bitcoin, John searched every email since Bitcoin began and found that a nice person named Sean had sent them almost an entire Bitcoin in 2014. | Many Years Ago, Someone Gave Me a Whole Bitcoin...then I lost it. (00:00:28) |
| Serena Williams | 2022-04-05 | cited | The middle-school feeling that everyone is watching and judging you is, for the famous, kind of true: Serena Williams in a restaurant is watched and even photographed. | Celebrities I've Met and Whether I'd Vote for Them??? (00:02:26) |
| Seán Doran | 2021-11-16 | credited | The description credits the space footage to Seán Doran, made from International Space Station images and used with permission. | Orbital Sunrise: The First Art Made in Space (00:00:00) |
| Shaina Joseph | 2018-02-09 | credited | Hank recalls that four years ago, lacking a video idea, he asked Twitter for ideas, and Shaina Joseph told him to interview a sidewalk, which he did. | This is Going to Seem Dumb, but Stick with Me (00:00:06) |
| Shan Boodram | 2026-09-11 | passing | The event will feature Mark Rober, Simone Giertz, Katie Mack, Abigail Thorn, Kallie Moore, Shan Boodram and Wyna Liu, who writes the Connections boards. | Our Last YouTube View… (00:02:59) |
| Shelley Parker-Chan | 2023-03-17 | credited | Hank recommends She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, which he loved: beautiful and kind of terrifying, not as horror but in what humans are capable of. | This is a Video!! (00:01:22) |
| Sheridan (artist) | 2015-05-26 | credited | John thanks Sheridan for the image of Hannah on the trapeze, and Rosianna, as always, for everything else. | Sixteen Parts (00:00:00) |
| Sherri Davidoff | 2019-10-18 | credited | The description thanks Sherri Davidoff of LMG Security for helping with the video and with Hank's recovery from the hack. | They Hacked Me (00:00:00) |
| Sia | 2026-04-14 | cited | John tells of Sia Jamisa, 33, a pregnant mother of three two hours from Koidu, who went to her local clinic to give birth but developed complications needing an emergency C-section. | Babies. Babies. Babies. (00:00:58) |
| Sid Meier (game-designer) | 2011-05-11 | credited | Hank says Sid Meier's Civilization has had five incarnations, all really good, and can be won by killing everyone or by peace on a diverse planet. | 1990's Sim Games. SO GOOD! (00:01:52) |
| Simon Schwendener (botanist) | 2023-04-14 | cited | Hank says in the 1860s, about 10 years before the term symbiosis, Swiss botanist Simon Schwendener saw fungus parts among lichen's algae; people disagreed and argued for a long time. | The Organism that Broke Biology (00:01:10) |
| Simon Sinek | 2024-11-13 | joke | John says Potato has giardia and has been sick for about a week, preferring to have his diarrhea inside. | Some New Things… (00:23:01) |
| Sofia Vassilieva | 2019-10-08 | takes part | Praised for a good accent as Lara, Sofia Vassilieva credits her Russian parents: she can roll her Rs. | Looking for Alaska (...with Alaska) (00:01:27) |
| Son Heung-min | 2026-06-09 | passing | South Korea have global star Son Heung-min but are on paper a little weaker than in past tournaments. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:02:55) |
| Sopheap Pich | 2019-07-09 | credited | John says the internet is bursting with life hacks that either do not work or do not improve your life, but he will share seven he learned from his wife, all of which work and dramatically improved his life. | Life Hacks My Wife Taught Me (00:00:00) |
| Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg | 2023-05-16 | passing | John says World War I began after the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, a tragedy that led to the deaths of tens of millions. | Did TB Cause World War I? (00:00:29) |
| Spencer Finch (artist) | 2013-05-21 | credited | In the lobby, Spencer Finch's installation 'Following Nature', curated by Sarah, abstractly recreates Monet's garden at Giverny. | Poetry Makes Nothing Happen: Thoughts on Ai Weiwei from the Indianapolis Museum of Art (00:00:09) |
| Spiro Agnew | 2022-10-07 | cited | John jokes that Dan Quayle, an Indiana boy now living in Arizona, could be a future Crown Hill Cemetery resident, and he thought of writing to suggest it. | Planets Don't Exist (00:09:12) |
| Stacey Abrams | 2022-01-21 | recommended | Instead of getting mad, get curious: start with someone who deeply discusses a big problem, like the Prison Policy Initiative on incarceration, David Roberts' Volts on climate, or Fair Fight and Stacey Abrams on voting rights. | How to Be Hopeful About Doomsday (00:02:53) |
| Stacy Hackner | 2020-10-15 | credited | As bioarchaeologist Stacy Hackner pointed out, animals do survive broken femurs long enough to heal; one review of primate fractures found the healed rate higher than expected. | Civilization and the Lies We Love (00:00:58) |
| Stephen King | 2026-07-07 | cited | John says authors then had total control over what readers knew about them, except really famous ones such as Stephen King, whose news was covered even in the 1990s. | On the Death of the Author (00:00:58) |
| Stephen Sprouse | 2022-10-07 | passing | At the Stephen Sprouse exhibit, Hank told Katherine that someday there would be a museum show like it of Pizza John art; the brothers muse about a Pizza John gallery. | Planets Don't Exist (00:03:13) |
| Stephen Toulouse (xbox-live-enforcement) | 2010-05-12 | personal story | He also saw his friend Stephen Toulouse, who runs bans on Xbox Live, ate pizza bought by organisers Paul and Storm, and found Wil Wheaton adorably excited. | Hank Raps about w00tstock...for real (00:01:12) |
| Steve Bannon | 2025-04-15 | criticized | Schiff says slow courts are not the problem, as lower courts moved quickly despite Bannon-style flooding the zone; the problem is a right-wing Supreme Court that adopted the fringe unitary-executive theory. | Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? (00:03:08) |
| Steve Bullock | 2018-03-23 | takes part | Hank says that in Montana's last big election Donald Trump won 70% of the vote while a Democratic governor was reelected with 54%, which he wants explained. | Trump, Guns, and Net Neutrality...With Governor Steve Bullock?! (00:00:07) |
| Steve McQueen | 2021-01-01 | cited | The timeline actually starts in 1980 with ten years of real events, such as Steve McQueen dying of cancer, a name Hank no longer recognises. | In 1990 I Made a Bunch of Predictions About 2020...Here they Are (00:01:20) |
| Steve Prefontaine | 2017-01-24 | cited | John says the motivational-quote plague is worst at gyms: his gym has a Steve Prefontaine quote, and a boxing gym's sign read 'you don't have to get ready if you stay ready'. | On Motivation (00:01:13) |
| Steven Purugganan (sport-stacker) | 2011-09-28 | cited | Watching world record holder Steven Purugganan, 14, stack cups provokes two reactions: that it is a physically amazing feat, and 'why?'. | Cup Stacking and Glasses Picking (00:00:29) |
| Steven Rales | 2024-03-26 | cited | John says his dividends come to only about $10, but Danaher's co-founders Steven and Mitchell Rales each make over $25 million a year just in dividends. | I Own Danaher (00:03:06) |
| Steven Wright | 2024-10-11 | quoted | Hank reveals 'Another Word for Thesaurus' is not a Vlogbrothers title but a Steven Wright joke; John likes it as a title. | October 11, 2024 - Goofing off with John (a Vlogbrothers Video) (00:01:27) |
| Stevie Wonder | 2026-08-21 | cited | Hank suggests perhaps today's Mozarts already exist: Stevie Wonder, David Byrne, Jacob Collier, Beyonce and Björk. | Not (Just) Dunking on Jeff Bezos (00:01:56) |
| Success | 2023-05-02 | subject | Marie has learned a highly skilled trade, and Success, who worked as a mason on the site and is now a steel binder, says so many women work there because they know they will one day give birth in this hospital and their children will come there. | GOOD NEWS (00:03:24) |
| Susan | 2022-05-17 | subject | Last week (week of 9 May 2022) the Washington Post published a story about 17-year-old Susan facing an unexpected high-risk pregnancy in Sierra Leone; her mother died in childbirth. | Reasons Not to Care (00:00:00) |
| Susan Collins | 2025-06-10 | cited | John says promises must now be kept: if someone like Susan Collins says she will always stand up for PEPFAR and the Global Fund, now is the time. | 90,000,000 Lives for $20 (00:03:24) |
| Susan Wojcicki | 2022-01-04 | credited | John thanks every donor, from 10-year-olds giving $5 to a $500,000 gift from YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. | After 15 Years on YouTube, THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING (00:08:29) |
| Susie Dent (lexicographer) | 2020-03-20 | passing | Hank could find no English word for the feeling, so he wrote to Susie Dent, his favorite game show linguist, who replied on Twitter. | The Sudden Obliteration of Expectation (00:03:19) |
| Taika Waititi | 2020-05-19 | recommended | In a comment John points to Taika Waititi and others, including Meryl Streep and Cumberbatch, reading Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach to raise money for PIH. | Didn't Make Sense Not to Live for Fun (00:00:00) |
| Takeru Kobayashi (competitive-eater) | 2007-03-09 | cited | John explains the competitive-eating 'wall of fat': an expanding stomach runs into subcutaneous fat, which thin eaters like Takeru Kobayashi, 'the greatest competitive eater in history', avoid. | Brotherhood 2.0: March 9, 2007: Peeptastic! (00:01:43) |
| Tameka Norris (artist) | 2015-05-12 | credited | John says Tameka Norris's assignment 'Become Someone Else' has stuck with him, so he tries it with his friend Zulaiha, office manager and long-time nerdfighter. | Becoming Someone Else (00:00:26) |
| Ted Kaczynski (criminal) | 2012-08-24 | joke | Beyond videos, Hank lists that they started companies with people who like their jobs, a non-profit foundation, went on tour, and both stage-dived. | Happy Birthday John Green! (00:00:58) |
| Ted Turner | 2018-07-27 | criticized | Hank says the whole project was conceived and funded by Ted Turner, who also owned the TV stations it ran on. | Why Environmentalists Hate Captain Planet (00:01:06) |
| Terry Tempest Williams | 2021-01-12 | recommended | Under 'read books, not tweets', John says reading Annie Dillard, Terry Tempest Williams or even Paul Farmer's upsetting book on Sierra Leone and Ebola leaves him informed and engaged, without Twitter's panicky dopamine rush. | My 2021 Vision Board (00:02:45) |
| The Felt Forge (artist) | 2024-02-23 | credited | Hank shows a crystal wizard hat he commissioned from an artist who goes by the Felt Forge on Instagram, perfect for a livestream. | The Juiciest Hank in the World (00:04:39) |
| The Garbage Queen | 2022-02-08 | credited | The description lists the educational grant recipients funded by the ad revenue: MattieWex, Tom Lum, Sofishtication, Alexis Nikole, Entomology Abby, Astrokirsten, The Garbage Queen and Flipping Physics. | How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) (00:00:00) |
| the intelligence officer who visited John | 2024-08-13 | subject | A few months later a friend told John that his diplomat buddy was coming to Indianapolis for the Indy 500 and wanted to meet him. | The Time a Spy Visited Me Because of P*tin. (00:00:15) |
| Thet Thet | 2017-03-07 | subject | John says Saw Kyar Aye found unofficial work in a restaurant where he met Thet Thet, a fellow Burmese refugee and waitress; they married, but their refugee cases were processed separately. | Hoping for an Airport Reunion: One Refugee Family's Story (00:00:57) |
| Thomas A. Hendricks | 2020-12-15 | cited | John shows the grave of Thomas Hendricks, vice president for about eight months in 1885. | America's Capital of Dead Vice Presidents (00:00:29) |
| Thomas Cranmer (archbishop) | 2016-10-04 | cited | At the National Portrait Gallery John reflects that portraits are artworks but also historical artifacts: the pictures we keep show who and what mattered to us. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:00:41) |
| Thomas Cromwell (statesman) | 2020-10-20 | passing | John says he is now enjoying Hilary Mantel's trilogy about Thomas Cromwell while he signs. | How to Sign Your Name 150,000 Times (00:00:53) |
| Thomas Huckle Weller | 2022-09-16 | credited | After much work in the 1950s, the shared pathogen was confirmed separately, in two different ways, by Thomas Weller and Evelyn Nicol. | Here's Why Younger People are Getting Shingles (00:00:29) |
| Thomas Lindemann | 2020-06-19 | credited | Hank thanks Thomas Lindemann for letting him use his shooting star footage and links his channel. | Only Shooting Stars (00:03:41) |
| Thomas Matthew Crooks | 2024-07-19 | subject | Hank says it is more comfortable for progressives if Thomas Crooks was conservative, and for conservatives if he was progressive. | The Assassination Attempt and the Comfort of Certainty (00:03:37) |
| Thomas P. Stafford | 2021-10-11 | cited | By the 1960s people went from 120 to over 24,000 miles per hour; the record, set by Tom Stafford, John Young and Eugene Cernan returning from the Moon on Apollo 10, is unbeaten. | The Fastest Things in the Universe (Entirely According to Me) (00:01:18) |
| Thomas R. Marshall | 2020-12-15 | cited | John shows the mausoleum of Thomas Marshall, vice president from 1913 to 1921. | America's Capital of Dead Vice Presidents (00:00:58) |
| Thomas Wolsey (cardinal / statesman) | 2016-10-04 | cited | At the National Portrait Gallery John reflects that portraits are artworks but also historical artifacts: the pictures we keep show who and what mattered to us. | Drowzees and Masterpieces: Thoughts from London (00:00:41) |
| Thor Aackerlund (gamer) | 2018-10-23 | cited | Back then only Thor Aackerlund claimed a max-out score at level 30; many thought he was lying, but he was not. | Why Are Humans Suddenly Getting Better at Tetris? (00:00:44) |
| Tilda Wilson | 2023-05-26 | passing | Hank guesses the NPR author, Tilda Wilson, is already in the community: a They Might Be Giants lyric in the Twitter bio, and they follow him. | My Cancer Press Tier List (00:01:56) |
| Tim (stagehand) (stagehand) | 2020-10-27 | personal story | On the way to the stage a stagehand, Tim, asked Biden for an autograph and they fell into intense conversation; Biden asked Tim to wait and resumed talking with him after the hour-long Q&A. | The time I met Joe Biden (00:01:27) |
| Tim Payne | 2026-06-09 | passing | New Zealand have Tim Payne, with whom all things are possible. | Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup (00:00:58) |
| Tim Saint | 2017-10-06 | cited | Christine McCallum grew the world's largest pineapple. | The World's Largest Fruits (00:01:34) |
| Tim Sheehy | 2024-09-13 | criticized | Hank thinks Gianforte, Sheehy and Daines are trying to make Montana a monolithic national red place, which Montana has always resisted. | My Governor is Weirder than Yours (00:43:26) |
| Timmy Thomas | 2018-01-12 | subject | Timmy Thomas's 'Why Can't We Live Together', a weird mix of organ and percussion, sped up with reverb and the high end taken off, becomes Drake's 'Hotline Bling'. | 5 Songs You've Never Heard That You've Heard 1000 Times (00:02:04) |
| Timothy Simons | 2019-10-08 | passing | The description says John will be at a Looking for Alaska event on October 16 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale: a first-episode preview and discussion with the showrunners, Timothy Simons, Ron Cephas Jones and John. | Looking for Alaska (...with Alaska) (00:00:00) |
| Timothée Chalamet | 2023-08-22 | credited | John says the family names its hot sauce every year; last year's (2022) was Societal Collapse Is in the Air, after something Timothée Chalamet said during a press junket. | The Panera Phenomenon (00:03:20) |
| Titian | 2022-07-26 | cited | John's verdicts: Jacques-Louis David has definitely seen a baby, Botticelli once long ago, Paolo Veneziano more recently than a woman, and Titian has. | Has this artist ever seen a baby? (00:00:58) |
| Toby Hendy | 2018-06-22 | takes part | On VidCon day two, Hank has been talking to educational YouTube creators and decides to ask them trivia questions to see how smart they really are. | Stumping EDU Creators - Trivia at VidCon (00:00:00) |
| Toby Sibbick | 2019-01-29 | passing | AFC Wimbledon beat West Ham 4-2: Kwesi Appiah scored in front of the John Green stand, Scott Wagstaff scored twice, and 19-year-old Toby Sibbick scored. | Do You Believe in Miracles? (00:02:54) |
| Tom (community-member) | 2009-08-24 | credited | The description credits the Ze Frank clip, picked as the 'Biggest Get', to Tom, Patricia, Lidewij and Lotte (Lotte and Lidewij also run Best Wishes from NL), and names Valerie2776 for 'Best Painter's Tape'. | HAPPY JOHN DAY!!! (00:00:00) |
| Tom Cardy | 2026-09-29 | credited | The description says Pizzamas is on for only two more weeks, both the videos and the merch at pizzamas.com. | Pretend You Don't Know This (00:00:00) |
| Tom Cole | 2025-06-10 | cited | John says living in a red state makes him unusually powerful now: people in Indiana, South Carolina, Texas or Maine, or represented by Tom Cole or Mario Diaz-Balart, matter enormously. | 90,000,000 Lives for $20 (00:05:21) |
| Tom Creighton | 2022-08-23 | cited | Prospector Tom Creighton found a large, deep copper vein and named his mine the Flin Flon Mine after just reading The Sunless City; the town that grew around it took the name. | Flin Flon: One Book's Unlikely Survival (00:03:25) |
| Tom Ridge | 2018-03-23 | quoted | Bullock says his best advice came from Republican Tom Ridge: you run for office to win, but you win to run government. | Trump, Guns, and Net Neutrality...With Governor Steve Bullock?! (00:05:45) |
| Tom Wheeler (FCC chairman) | 2015-03-06 | cited | Hank notes that Tom Wheeler of the FCC used to work for the cable industry, which hates net neutrality. | WE WON! Net Neutrality and Re-Thinking Cynicism (00:01:49) |
| Tony Stewart | 2025-05-20 | cited | 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. | The Double (00:00:29) |
| Track Palin (public-figure-relative) | 2008-08-29 | passing | John says Palin's son Track has joined the Army and is going to Iraq, joking that the name is a political liability and the deployment an asset. | Sarah Palin: An Introduction (00:01:17) |
| Tracy (second assistant director) (crew) | 2022-08-23 | personal story | During the Turtles All the Way Down movie shoot John befriended second assistant director Tracey, who grew up in the small town of Flin Flon, Manitoba. | Flin Flon: One Book's Unlikely Survival (00:00:00) |
| train enthusiast in a viral clip (viral-clip subject) | 2015-11-11 | cited | Hank shows a train lover thrilled to see a historic engine he had waited months for, and Aleksander Gamme screaming with joy at treats he had left in his final cache while hiking across the Antarctic. | Watch This If You Want To Smile (Pizzamas Day 3) (00:01:01) |
| Travis Gilbert | 2021-02-09 | credited | John loves Curious Tangents, where Travis Gilbert models inquiry-based learning, exploring e.g. which kinds of stress are productive or the history of dragons. | Lesser Known YouTube Channels I Love (00:00:29) |
| Trent Alexander-Arnold | 2019-07-23 | passing | John has been thinking about what we love and how, because loves give us communities, and we need communities bound by enthusiasms to combat what Vonnegut called the terrible disease of loneliness. | What to Love and How (00:00:00) |
| Tressie McMillan Cottom | 2021-04-16 | recommended | Hank recommends an episode of the Ezra Klein Show with Tressie McMillan Cottom as amazing. | Gene Editing and Intelligence: A Bad (00:00:00) |
| Trifko Grabež | 2023-05-16 | passing | Citing a historian, John says all three suffered from tuberculosis and knew they would not live long, which made them willing to give their lives for what they saw as a great cause. | Did TB Cause World War I? (00:01:57) |
| Trisha Pasricha | 2026-04-07 | takes part | Months ago John saw Dr. Trisha Pasricha give a talk; she offered her book, and though he meant to read five pages, he read it all and then again. | I've Been Pooping All Wrong (00:00:29) |
| Tutankhamun | 2022-02-24 | cited | John says that, rather than tuberculosis, King Tut might have died of a fractured femur. | How to Make Potatoes While Dread Presses In from Every Direction (00:01:56) |
| Tyler (guest) | 2013-04-19 | takes part | Hank writes that he wanted a frank, adult video about sexual orientation, but since he is pretty much totally straight he asked friends to share their experiences, and thanks Hannah Hart, Tyler Oakley, Ze Frank and Meg Turney of SourceFed for sticking their necks out. | On Sexual Orientation, with Hannah, Ze, Tyler, and Meg (00:00:00) |
| Ubay (refugee interviewee) | 2016-06-07 | takes part | John met three teenage boys in a photography class taught by refugee volunteers; 15-year-old Ubay had dropped out of school to work but joined because he missed learning. | Zaatari: Thoughts from a Refugee Camp (00:00:09) |
| Ulay | 2022-09-30 | cited | John cites Marina Abramovic and her partner Ulay, who agreed to meet in the middle of the Great Wall of China and each walked over 2,000 kilometers. | COMMIT TO THE BIT (00:02:15) |
| Umberto Eco | 2025-10-24 | criticized | Hank says Umberto Eco, smarter than him, was wrong that the book, like the spoon, hammer, wheel or scissors, cannot be improved once invented: the wheel keeps being improved. | What Will Books Become? (00:03:34) |
| Uroš Novina | 2019-05-28 | credited | The description says the old footage is from January 2007 and from John's July 2007 video about leaving New York City, and the night-sky image is by Uroš Novina in Slovenia. | 3 Minutes and 58 Seconds of Darkness (00:00:00) |
| Valerie (person, mentioned from 2019) | 2019-04-05 | personal story | Hank, who is 38 and loves zines, shows his friend Valerie's draw-a-horse zine, made from people's drawings of one horse each, and says it can be bought on Etsy. | TOO MANY MILKS (00:01:53) |
| Vic Michaelis | 2025-01-10 | takes part | The show's guests include old friends Michelle Khare and Akilah Hughes and people Hank had never met, Vic Michaelis and Jacob Collier. | SECRET PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT! (00:03:02) |
| Victor Glover | 2021-11-16 | quoted | American astronaut Victor Glover wrote that the bands of color of the orbital sunrise remind him of Psalm 30: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. | Orbital Sunrise: The First Art Made in Space (00:01:25) |
| Victor Jones | 2025-09-30 | credited | Hank thanks Victor Jones for letting him use the song. | WHO ARE WE AND WHAT ARE WE DOING (00:07:50) |
| Vidya Krishnan | 2023-03-28 | credited | John recommends Phantom Plague by Vidya Krishnan, probably his favorite TB history: approachable and readable yet rigorously researched. | My Tuberculosis Reading List (00:00:58) |
| Viggo Mortensen | 2021-05-21 | subject | Hank's best movie fact, which he admits everyone knows: Viggo broke his foot. | The 19 Best Facts (00:01:13) |
| Virgil | 2017-11-21 | quoted | John says we are also surrounded by love, romantic, friend and family love; as the poet wrote over 2,000 years ago, love conquers all. | Two Love Stories (00:02:47) |
| Volodymyr Zelenskyy | 2022-03-15 | cited | John says the war is not about denazification of Ukraine, a nation with a democratically elected Jewish president. | Ukraine and Russia: What Caused the War? (00:06:19) |
| Walter Cronkite | 2025-04-15 | cited | Schiff says in Walter Cronkite's era people shared agreed facts; now they choose their news, algorithms curate it and contrary views arrive only in obnoxious, vile forms. | Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? (00:12:40) |
| Walter Isaacson | 2026-02-27 | cited | Hank lists names he knows that share a name: Percy Jackson and LaToya Jackson; Isaac Mizrahi, Isaac Asimov, Oscar Isaac and Walter Isaacson. | Can We Do a Science Together?? (00:00:29) |
| Wayne Earl (community-member) | 2021-08-03 | credited | John is amazed by what Wayne and Lori have accomplished in the last ten years. | I L*** Hank (00:01:27) |
| Wei-Hwa Huang (puzzler) | 2009-08-02 | passing | Videos go to the Global Geek Week YouTube group and are judged by a committee including Hank, Lisa Nova, HotForWords, Guy Kawasaki and the 2008 U.S. Sudoku champion. | ANNOUNCING: Global Geek Week!!! (00:00:58) |
| Wernher von Braun | 2025-12-05 | credited | The guide says the Saturn V is a multi-stage rocket, with Wernher von Braun as its chief designer. | Why Don't Rockets Melt Themselves (00:01:47) |
| Weston McKennie | 2026-06-23 | cited | John says a song about Will Grigg started on YouTube, became a huge phenomenon and is now adapted for others, such as Scotland. | A Very French Reunion (00:03:02) |
| White Bird (Nez Perce chief) | 2011-05-25 | quoted | Hank quotes Chief White Bird, October 22, 1877: the Nez Perce left their homes as wanderers, robbed of their wealth by white man's greed and made beggars with no country, people or home. | Thoughts from a Battlefield (00:00:00) |
| Will Grigg | 2026-06-23 | cited | John says a song about Will Grigg started on YouTube, became a huge phenomenon and is now adapted for others, such as Scotland. | A Very French Reunion (00:03:02) |
| Will Rogers | 2025-04-15 | quoted | Citing Will Rogers' quip, Schiff says Democrats lack a top-down hierarchy: less discipline and diverse opinion are a strength but can weaken cohesion to fight back. | Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? (00:06:57) |
| William A. Clark | 2024-09-13 | cited | Busse says Montana's labor history is not pretty: the Copper Kings, including William Clark, bought elections with $100 bills and owned the newspapers. | My Governor is Weirder than Yours (00:42:58) |
| William Cowper | 2024-10-11 | quoted | Hank reveals 'Right by Chance' is a fake title taken from a William Cowper quote about a fool being right by chance. | October 11, 2024 - Goofing off with John (a Vlogbrothers Video) (00:00:58) |
| William James Sidis (child prodigy) | 2007-09-26 | cited | John says Sidis as an adult turned to railroad traffic signals, spent about 30 years writing an 8,000-page manuscript on them while working as a bookkeeper, and died alone. | September 26th: Norbert Wiener (00:01:50) |
| William Kentridge (artist) | 2010-11-24 | recommended | At the Albertina, John's camcorder was confiscated by security when he tried to film the William Kentridge show for Hank; he got it back. | Babies and Catacombs: VIENNA (Thoughts from Places) (00:01:29) |
| William Lyon Mackenzie King | 2019-02-05 | cited | John says in 1939 the Canadian Prime Minister had King George VI cut out of a photo, thinking he'd look more powerful talking only to the Queen Mum. | Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images (00:02:26) |
| William Osman | 2024-08-07 | quoted | Hank recalls telling William Osman he had cancer and couldn't come to Open Sauce; Osman replied it was an easy video, YouTuber morbid humor. | Dear Hank and John Livestream! (00:08:32) |
| William R. King | 2023-08-22 | cited | John says Pierce's secretary of state was mourning a son who had just died of tuberculosis, and his vice president was in Cuba trying to cure his own tuberculosis. | The Panera Phenomenon (00:01:10) |
| Willis Carrier | 2017-11-01 | joke | 'Keep It Simple' is just a shot of bubbly water, which the brothers drink in a toast to Willis Carrier. | Pizza Cocktails with John and Hank! (00:02:16) |
| Willis Gibson | 2024-01-23 | subject | The description (and John's pinned comment) points viewers to follow Complexly-sponsored Willis, aka Blue Scuti, on Twitch and YouTube. | Breaking News: Complexly Signs Major Tetris Athlete (00:00:00) |
| Willow (person) | 2023-06-30 | personal story | John says Willow taught him how to pack socks today. | Bon Your Vivant (00:00:00) |
| Wilson Bentley (photographer) | 2020-02-18 | cited | John tells of Wilson Bentley, amateur photographer who took the first close-up photograph of a snowflake in 1885 and photographed over 5,000, calling them ice flowers and tiny miracles of beauty. | wintry mix (00:01:43) |
| Winona Ryder | 2018-01-16 | passing | John's favourite Winona Ryder movie is Heathers. | My Hollywood Star, Brexit Pears, and Hank's Book: It's QUESTION TUESDAY (00:02:14) |
| Winslow Rojas | 2024-11-13 | credited | John says Potato has giardia and has been sick for about a week, preferring to have his diarrhea inside. | Some New Things… (00:23:01) |
| Wyatt Earp (lawman) | 2011-12-07 | joke | Hank introduces his dog Lemon as, put delicately, a 'derp', illustrated with a string of derp puns. | World's Stupidest Dog (00:00:07) |
| Xerxes I | 2021-01-26 | cited | Herodotus wrote 2,400 years ago that the Persian emperor Xerxes, marching through a sycamore grove, found one so beautiful he decorated it with gold and left a soldier to guard it. | The Sycamore Tree: The Anthropocene Reviewed (00:08:55) |
| Yaho (comic artist) | 2016-06-03 | credited | Hank saw a comic by Korean artist Yaho on Tumblr with 88,000 notes, voicing a theme he hears online, at his shows, in real life and in his own head. | Redefining What it Means to Matter (00:00:00) |
| Yakov Smirnoff | 2018-03-20 | cited | John says the Russian reversal was a popular joke construction in his childhood; he first heard one in a 1985 Miller Lite commercial with comedian Yakov Smirnoff. | The Russian Reversal (00:00:01) |
| Yoan Capote (artist) | 2022-10-18 | recommended | John was drawn to landscapes: Lucas Arruda's paintings, Byron Kim's abstracted landscape, Didier William's underseascape, Yoan Capote's plaster-and-metal landscape and Sam Moyer's stones-and-canvas painting. | Terraverse Over Everything: Thoughts from London (00:01:49) |
| Yoshitomo Nara (artist) | 2015-09-29 | passing | John tours the wall's relics: Willy, a puppy-sized elephant, a card of Hank humping Peeps, Daniel Biss's 'bloated triangles' paper, an Agloe road map, An Imperial Affliction 'stolen' from the movie set. | Writing, Walling, Racing, and Wizard Schooling (00:01:35) |
| young guy Hank followed on TikTok | 2023-09-01 | subject | Hank started following a young man on TikTok after getting cancer because he talked about his cancer; the man has died but his videos, normal content, keep being posted. | The Weirdest Post-Chemo Symptoms (00:00:00) |
| Yung Gravy | 2023-08-22 | cited | John notes Yung Gravy did not need Panera for the rhyme and could have named Fazoli's or O'Charley's, but chose Panera. | The Panera Phenomenon (00:02:20) |
| Yvonne Holden | 2021-06-01 | quoted | Yvonne Holden, who works at a plantation centered on enslaved people's experiences, notes in the book that legacies are not just what we choose; many we don't choose. | My Two Favorite Books of the Year (00:01:20) |
| Ze (guest) | 2013-04-19 | takes part | Hank writes that he wanted a frank, adult video about sexual orientation, but since he is pretty much totally straight he asked friends to share their experiences, and thanks Hannah Hart, Tyler Oakley, Ze Frank and Meg Turney of SourceFed for sticking their necks out. | On Sexual Orientation, with Hannah, Ze, Tyler, and Meg (00:00:00) |
| Zhou Enlai (Chinese statesman) | 2010-11-11 | quoted | John calls the best quote on the French Revolution former Chinese president Zhou Enlai's answer, when asked in the 1960s about its impact, that it was too soon to say. | REIGN OF TERROR: The French Revolution, Part III (00:03:44) |
| Zlatan Ibrahimović | 2018-06-12 | passing | Sweden no longer has Zlatan Ibrahimović, football's biggest personality, 'so why bother?' | Your 4-Minute Guide to ALL 32 TEAMS at the 2018 World Cup (00:03:20) |
| Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville | 2021-07-23 | cited | Hank says the first noise was kind of recorded by Edison, but technically the first audio recording, by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville's device turning sound into an image, was not replayable until very recently. | The Last 25 Questions I Asked Google (00:02:21) |