Journey to the Microcosmos: Hank and James's YouTube channel about microscopic life (2019)
project history · status: running · last event: milestone (2024-04-16) · last mentioned: 2025-12-09
Hank and James launched Journey to the Microcosmos, a weekly YouTube channel about microscopic life, in June 2019; it later ran a Kickstarter for a microscope with a phone attachment. In April 2024 Hank announced it was closing down, with production wrapping up.
Part of: Complexly: the brothers' production company, renamed from EcoGeek (2016)
Parts: John asks viewers to watch Hank's Journey to the Microcosmos (2019)
Told alongside: Hank asks viewers to buy Complexly calendars at complexlycalendars.com (2022)
About: Journey to the Microcosmos, James (person, mentioned from 2019)
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-06-28 | launched | 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 |
| 2019-08-27 | milestone | John tells Hank that Journey to the Microcosmos helped him grasp the diversity and ubiquity of life on Earth and is maybe his favorite YouTube channel of all time. (hedged) | Are Viruses Necessary? 00:02:26 |
| 2020-08-14 | milestone | James from Journey to the Microcosmos just got a new microscope so beautiful it made Hank cry. (playful) | Hit The Ground Running 00:03:49 |
| 2021-01-08 | milestone | Journey to the Microcosmos is running a Kickstarter for this microscope with a phone attachment for making content, plus a guide to starting your own microcosmos journey. | In Which Hank Worries for a Little Bit and then Looks at Microbes 00:03:00 |
| 2022-09-02 | milestone | 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 |
| 2023-04-14 | milestone | Hank says Journey to the Microcosmos just released an episode on lichen that inspired this video, for those who want to go deeper into lichens' history and beauty. | The Organism that Broke Biology 00:03:21 |
| 2024-04-12 | paused | Hank announces that Journey to the Microcosmos, their channel about the microscopic world around us, is closing down: more videos will come out, but production is wrapping up, and he is sad. | Feeling Like a Failure (During an Eclipse) 00:01:59 |
| 2024-04-16 | milestone | 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 |
| 2025-12-09 | looked back | John says Journey to the Microcosmos was a YouTube show Hank hosted about the vast life of microscopic organisms. | Hank Green, from A to Z 00:01:56 |
What is said about it
6 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2019-06-28 · My New Obsession — Hank watches many YouTube videos of microscopic life and got so obsessed that he asked one of his favorite creators, James in Poland, to make a YouTube channel with him. — 00:01:55
- 2019-08-27 · Are Viruses Necessary? — John notes there are no viruses in Journey to the Microcosmos because viruses are very small even by microscopic standards. — 00:02:55
- 2019-08-27 · Are Viruses Necessary? — John says Hank's show has helped him see the microscopic world as more than a mere threat, which he appreciates. — 00:03:24
- 2019-08-27 · Are Viruses Necessary? — ask: John tells viewers to go watch Journey to the Microcosmos: it's so good. — 00:03:24
- 2023-04-14 · The Organism that Broke Biology — announcement: Hank says they worked with their microscope expert on a starter microscope, from $350, available at microcosmos.store with other merchandise. — 00:03:33
- 2024-04-12 · Feeling Like a Failure (During an Eclipse) — In a channel comment, Hank credits Journey to the Microcosmos entirely to Matt, Deboki, Chayton, many others and especially James. — creator comment