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2020-09-01 · announcement · John · 3:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Personal life) · mode: Announcements · tags: self promotion, community lore

John announces that his podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed, which he says is really about hope and humanity's paradoxical power, will become his first nonfiction book on May 18, 2021, that he will sign the entire US and Canadian first printing, and updates his circle-drawing project at 17,000 circles.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — The title commitment; what The Anthropocene Reviewed podcast is about; the book announced

• ★ John says 'I have a new book coming out' would make a great title if he hadn't made an absurd, increasingly ridiculous title commitment several months ago. (playful) — 00:00:00
• ★★ For two and a half years John has written the podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed, reviewing facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale, from a bacterium to Taco Bell breakfast. — 00:00:00 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast), The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)
• ★★★ John says the podcast is really about hope and whether it is justified, people being wonderful and horrible, and humans being too powerful yet not powerful enough to reshape the climate beneficially. — 00:00:29 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast), hope
• ★★ John worries that makes it sound serious: he wants the essays to be funny and sometimes sad, and says he is very bad at talking about his own work. — 00:00:58 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)
• ★★ John calls the reviews his attempt to pay attention to what he pays attention to, borrowing a line from his friend Amy Krouse Rosenthal. — 00:00:58
• ★★★ After a year of expanding and revising podcast reviews and writing new ones, John announces The Anthropocene Reviewed will be a book, his first nonfiction book. — 00:00:58 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book), The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)
• ★★ John is very nervous and/or excited, and says a symptom of 2020 is that he genuinely can't tell whether it's 'and' or 'or'. (playful) — 00:00:58

00:01:27 — Publication date, pre-order and audiobook; response to the personal episode; signing the US and Canadian first printing

• ★★★ The Anthropocene Reviewed book will be published on May 18, 2021, is available for pre-order now, and will have an audiobook read by John. — 00:01:27 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book), The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)
• ★★ John says the response to the podcast, especially the recent quite personal episode he was more worried about sharing than anything, has been overwhelming and generous; he thanks listeners. — 00:01:27 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)
• ★★★ As he did with The Fault in Our Stars, John says he will sign the entire first printing of the American and Canadian edition. — 00:01:27 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book), The Fault in Our Stars, United States, Canada
• ★★ John says copies ordered from outside the US or Canada, even the American English edition, will probably not be signed, because international printing and shipping systems don't allow it. (hedged) — 00:01:56 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book), United States, Canada
• ★★ John says anyone in the US or Canada who pre-orders the book will get a signed copy. — 00:01:56 · United States, Canada, The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)

00:02:26 — Signing for himself; circle update at 17,000 of 170,000; viewers' circles

• ★★ John admits he is not signing as a gift to pre-orderers but for himself: he wants to make a small repeated mark on paper over 100,000 times that hopefully makes some people happy. (playful) — 00:02:26
• ★★★ John shows his circles: 17,000 drawn so far in his attempt to understand the number 170,000, perhaps enough to freak out YouTube's compression, yet only 10% of the total. — 00:02:26 · YouTube
• ★ John notes he has less than 90% of the paper left for the remaining 90% of the circles and looks forward to finding out how that resolves. (playful) — 00:02:55
• ★★ John loves seeing viewers' circles, drawn to grieve a loss, understand their own large numbers or for the relief of doodling, and thanks those sharing them on the Nerdfighter subreddit and Discords. — 00:02:55 · Nerdfighteria, Reddit

00:03:24 — Three hard years since Turtles, the joy of writing the essays, sign-off and thanks to Hank

• ★★ John says, as he discussed on the latest podcast episode, the three years since Turtles All the Way Down was published have been long and at times very challenging. — 00:03:24 · Turtles All the Way Down, The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)
• ★★★ John says writing these essays has been the most fun he has had writing since maybe ever, and he is going back to it. — 00:03:24
• ★★ John tells Hank he is a good brother and that he never would have done this without him, thanking him for the encouragement. — 00:03:24 · Hank Green

In the description and comments

• ★★ In a comment John says the book is mostly podcast essays plus five to ten new reviews, with some podcast reviews substantially updated and revised, and small differences in scoring and pacing. — creator comment · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book), The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)
• ★★ In a comment John says a separate ISBN for signed copies would confuse thousands of buyers and let Amazon control and resell many signed copies, while he wants to support local bookstores. — creator comment · Amazon
• ★★ In a comment John says it matters much more that a reader likes a book than which format they buy, because recommendations make a huge difference in a book's life. — creator comment
• ★ In a comment John says the book can not yet be pre-ordered on Bookshop.org, which awaits a third-party data feed, and hopes it will be possible within a couple of days. (speculative) — creator comment
• ★ In a comment John thinks the book will be available in Brazil and says he really hopes his Brazilian publisher Intrinseca will publish it. (speculative) — creator comment · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)

Threads in this video

• variation · Vlogbrothers videos titled with Smash Mouth's All Star lyrics (2020) — The title continues the All Star lyric titles with the next line of the song.
• callback · Vlogbrothers videos titled with Smash Mouth's All Star lyrics (2020) — John says 'I have a new book coming out' would make a great title if he hadn't made an absurd, increasingly ridiculous title commitment several months ago. (00:00:00)
• announced · The Anthropocene Reviewed book: announcement and publication (2020) — The Anthropocene Reviewed book will be published on May 18, 2021, is available for pre-order now, and will have an audiobook read by John. (00:01:27)
• promised · John: sign about 150,000 sheets so every US and Canadian pre-order and first-printing copy of The Anthropocene Reviewed book is autographed (2020) — As he did with The Fault in Our Stars, John says he will sign the entire first printing of the American and Canadian edition. (00:01:27)
• predicted · John: copies of The Anthropocene Reviewed book ordered outside the US and Canada will probably not be signed (2020) — John says copies ordered from outside the US or Canada, even the American English edition, will probably not be signed, because international printing and shipping systems don't allow it. (00:01:56)
• update · John draws 170,000 circles to grasp the US COVID-19 death toll (2020) — John shows his circles: 17,000 drawn so far in his attempt to understand the number 170,000, perhaps enough to freak out YouTube's compression, yet only 10% of the total. (00:02:26)
• told · John writes his first nonfiction book, The Anthropocene Reviewed (2020) — John says writing these essays has been the most fun he has had writing since maybe ever, and he is going back to it. (00:03:24)
• predicted · John: The Anthropocene Reviewed book will be available to pre-order on Bookshop.org within a couple of days (2020) — In a comment John says the book can not yet be pre-ordered on Bookshop.org, which awaits a third-party data feed, and hopes it will be possible within a couple of days.
• predicted · John: The Anthropocene Reviewed book will probably be published in Brazil (2020) — In a comment John thinks the book will be available in Brazil and says he really hopes his Brazilian publisher Intrinseca will publish it.
• milestone · The Anthropocene Reviewed: John's podcast reviewing facets of the human-centered planet (2017) — After a year of expanding and revising podcast reviews and writing new ones, John announces The Anthropocene Reviewed will be a book, his first nonfiction book. (00:00:58)
• looked back · Turtles All the Way Down: announcement and publication of John's novel (2017) — John says, as he discussed on the latest podcast episode, the three years since Turtles All the Way Down was published have been long and at times very challenging. (00:03:24)
• promised · John: narrate The Anthropocene Reviewed audiobook (2020) — The Anthropocene Reviewed book will be published on May 18, 2021, is available for pre-order now, and will have an audiobook read by John. (00:01:27)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• John: copies of The Anthropocene Reviewed book ordered outside the US and Canada will probably not be signed (2020) — unresolved; last: repeated, 2021-04-20
• John: The Anthropocene Reviewed book will be available to pre-order on Bookshop.org within a couple of days (2020) — its date passed (2020); no outcome reported; last: predicted, 2020-09-01
• John: The Anthropocene Reviewed book will probably be published in Brazil (2020) — came true
• John: narrate The Anthropocene Reviewed audiobook (2020) — kept; last: recalled, 2022-09-28
• John: sign about 150,000 sheets so every US and Canadian pre-order and first-printing copy of The Anthropocene Reviewed book is autographed (2020) — kept; last: recalled, 2022-06-21
• The Anthropocene Reviewed book: announcement and publication (2020) — completed; last: milestone, 2025-01-21
• The Anthropocene Reviewed: John's podcast reviewing facets of the human-centered planet (2017) — completed; last: looked back, 2026-10-13
• John writes his first nonfiction book, The Anthropocene Reviewed (2020) — told 8×, last update 2025; last: retold, 2025-06-03

Mentioned

Central: The Anthropocene Reviewed (book) · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)

Also: People: Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Works: The Fault in Our Stars · Turtles All the Way Down

Organizations: Discord · Reddit · YouTube

Concepts: Anthropocene · audiobook · English language · grief · hope

Places: Canada · United States

Only in the description or credits: Amazon · Bookshop.org

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