Skip to content

Meeting Greg Mortenson

2011-04-25 · John · watch on YouTube · Books & writing · personal update

Lower-confidence wave

2011 videos did not pass the QA gate (17 %); their analysis is shown but less reliable.

In a four-part video John tells how, at a Penguin author dinner, he talked for twelve minutes at a man he took for Greg Mortenson, who was not; he then points Dutch viewers to the description, outsources Hank's birthday to Nerdfighteria and announces a Question Tuesday.

What is said

00:00:05 — Part one: Greg Mortenson in the news; John mistakes another man for Mortenson at a Penguin author dinner

  • ★★ John reports that Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, is in the news over accusations of fabricating part of his memoir and running his charity inefficiently. — 00:00:07
  • ★★ A couple of years earlier, when Paper Towns came out, John was one of about eight authors, with Mortenson, at a Penguin dinner for some 200 young adult librarians at a library convention. — 00:00:24 · Paper Towns, Penguin Books
  • ★ John says almost all young adult librarians are women: ninety-five percent. (playful) — 00:00:33
  • ★★ In his two-minute talk John described his book as about Walt Whitman and imagining others complexly; Mortenson followed with a book about nearly dying and devoting his life to education in Afghanistan. — 00:00:50 · Paper Towns, Walt Whitman
  • ★★ Feeling his pee-joke book was outclassed, John remembered that Nerdfighters had helped rebuild a school in cyclone-ravaged Bangladesh and wanted to tell Mortenson. — 00:01:03 · Nerdfighteria, Bangladesh
  • ★★ At the cocktail party John told the man he took for Mortenson about Nerdfighters' pond sand filters, Kiva loans and the school, talking for twelve minutes without letting him speak. — 00:01:33 · Nerdfighteria, Kiva, Bangladesh
  • ★★★ The man answered that he was not Greg Mortenson: since nearly all the librarians were women, John had simply walked up to the white man, assuming he was Mortenson. — 00:02:00
  • ★★ John's addition to the Mortenson discussion: his heart seems to be in the right place, though that does not always matter, and he looks like many other white men. (playful) (hedged) — 00:02:23

00:02:31 — Part two: Dutch viewers should read the description (Dutch Will Grayson, Will Grayson)

  • ★ The description says the Dutch edition of Will Grayson, Will Grayson can be downloaded free for a few days, and asks for votes for it in a Dutch youth-literature prize. — 00:00:00 · Will Grayson, Will Grayson
  • ★★ John asks Dutch viewers to read the video description, which has information for them. — 00:02:33

00:02:40 — Part three: Hanko de Mayo outsourced to Nerdfighteria via a Your Pants thread

  • ★★ Hank turns 31 on Hanko de Mayo, May 5; because John is desperately trying to finish his book, he outsources Hank's birthday to Nerdfighteria. — 00:02:42 · Hank Green, Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ John asks Nerdfighters to discuss ways to make Hank's birthday awesome in a Your Pants thread linked in the description, and tells Hank not to read it. — 00:02:57 · Your Pants, doobly-doo, Nerdfighteria

00:03:11 — Part four: Question Tuesday on Friday for new viewers; sign-off

  • ★★ John will do a Question Tuesday on Friday about things that don't make sense to new viewers, and asks for questions in the comments. — 00:03:11 · Question Tuesday

Humor (significant)

  • John explains why he talked at the man without pause. — 00:01:33 > «in this equation, X equals not being able to shut up»
  • After twelve minutes of John's monologue praising his work, the man finally speaks. — 00:02:00 > «Thank you, but I'm not Greg Mortenson.»
  • John offers what he can add to the national Greg Mortenson discussion, echoing his mistaken-identity story. — 00:02:23 > «he looks like a lot of other white guys.»
  • John forbids Hank to read the secret birthday thread. — 00:03:05 > «Hank, don't read it or I will gouge out your eyes.»

Threads in this video

BR2_eacc8687b0