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A Strong but Fleeting Flavor: A Reunion Video

2020-03-10 · Q&A · John, Hank · 3:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: recurring series, guest or collab, on location, self promotion

On tour in Columbus, John and Hank answer Question Tuesday questions together: Cats 2, Hank's childhood tree concussion, cake on Mars, Fruit Stripe gum's 'strong but fleeting flavor', John's praise for A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, being called the modern-day Brontë sisters, and TikToks about them.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Coronavirus hot-take opener; Question Tuesday: Cats 2 and John's first memory of Hank, the tackle-football tree concussion

  • ★★ 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'. (playful) — 00:00:00 · COVID-19 pandemic
  • ★ Hank: Asked what should happen in Cats 2, one brother wants some cats to be really big and some really small. (joke) — 00:00:20
  • ★ The other brother wants only one thing: for there not to be a Cats 2. (playful) — 00:00:25
  • ★★ Hank: Asked his first memory of John, Hank says his memories are not chronological, but recalls John hitting a tree during childhood tackle football and getting a concussion; the tree bent. — 00:00:30

00:00:50 — The tree at their childhood home; boxed cake on Mars; poetry and podcasts

  • ★ John recently went to their childhood home; asked if the tree is bigger, he jokes it is the biggest tree in the world. (playful) — 00:00:50
  • ★★ Hank: Asked how boxed cake directions would differ on Mars, Hank guesses you would need a different mix: with lower pressure and more oxygen in the hab, the cake would rise fast and big like a giant muffin. (speculative) — 00:00:55 · Mars
  • ★ Asked about writing poetry, the brothers joke that they write poetry all the time, besides SciShow Tangents, and podcasts like The Anthropocene Reviewed. (joke) — 00:01:30 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)

00:01:38 — Juicy Fruit versus Fruit Stripe gum; John on A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

  • ★★ both: The brothers establish that Juicy Fruit is the yellow gum and, with Google and Wikipedia, that the striped gum with a zebra mascot is Fruit Stripe. — 00:01:42 · Google, Wikipedia

  • ★★ John calls 'a strong but fleeting flavor' perhaps the most succinct description of Fruit Stripe gum he has ever heard. — 00:02:00

    “A strong but fleeting flavor.”

  • ★★★ John has just finished A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor and says it is so great that, like the last book, it seems impossible it was written by his brother, who is kind of a doofus. — 00:02:10 · A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, Hank Green

00:02:20 — Pre-order and a possible July tour; the modern-day Brontë sisters and Google on Charlotte Brontë; TikToks about them

  • ★★ John tells viewers to pre-order Hank's book, signed copies of which are available for pre-order now. — 00:02:28 · A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor
  • ★★ John says they are going on tour for Hank's book in July, maybe. (hedged) — 00:02:30 · A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, Hank Green
  • ★★ On NPR's Ask Me Another the brothers were described as the modern-day Brontë sisters; John finds it extremely kind but way over the top. — 00:02:33
  • ★★ John says either he or Hank would be lucky to be the Brontë sisters' ne'er-do-well brother Branwell. (playful) — 00:02:45 · Hank Green
  • ★★ both: Asked by the brothers, Google says Charlotte Brontë, the most famous and longest-lived of the sisters, died on 31 March 1855. — 00:02:55 · Google
  • ★★ The brothers joke that Google pronounces the Brontë name correctly, as it was probably pronounced, while they say it as it is spelled. (playful, hedged) — 00:03:05 · Google
  • ★★ Asked about TikToks about them, John has seen only one, which Sarah sent him today; he jokes he gets his TikTok news from The New York Times. (playful) — 00:03:18 · TikTok, Sarah Urist Green, The New York Times
  • ★ John says he probably won't see any TikToks about himself unless they are reported in The New York Times, where he gets his TikTok news. (playful, hedged) — 00:03:36 · TikTok, The New York Times

00:03:38 — Tour stops in Columbus, Indianapolis and Ann Arbor; outro

  • ★★ John says he and Hank are going to their show in Columbus, Ohio, tomorrow will be in Indianapolis and then Ann Arbor, Michigan. — 00:03:43 · Indianapolis, Hank Green

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description thanks everyone who has come out on this mini-tour. — video description

Humor (significant)

  • Asked whether the tree John hit as a child is bigger now, John answers — 00:00:50

    “It's not bigger, Hank. It's the biggest tree in the world.”

  • After Hank's guess about Mars cake mix ends with 'I might be wrong', John explains hot takes — 00:01:30

    “Oh, I mean, that's the whole point of a hot take, Hank. You don't do your research first.”

  • John praises Hank's novel, then explains why it seems impossible Hank wrote it — 00:02:20

    “it seems impossible that it was written by my brother, who's kind of a doofus.”

  • Called the modern-day Brontë sisters, John downgrades the comparison — 00:02:45

    “either Hank or myself would be lucky to be the Bronte sisters' ne'er-do-well brother Bramwell.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

Also: People: Branwell Brontë · Charlotte Brontë · Lizzo · Sarah Urist Green

Projects: SciShow Tangents · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)

Works: Ask Me Another · Cats (2019 film) · Truth Hurts (“that Lizzo song that goes, like, why men great till they gotta be great”)

Organizations: Google · NPR · The New York Times · TikTok · Wikipedia

Groups: Brontë sisters

Rituals: Question Tuesday

Places: Ann Arbor, Michigan · Columbus, Ohio · Indianapolis · Mars

Events: COVID-19 pandemic

Products: Fruit Stripe · Juicy Fruit

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