Skip to content

The Panera Phenomenon

2023-08-22 · letter vlog · John · 3:46 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life (also: Global development, History & curiosities, Pop culture) · mode: Personal update · tags: community lore, recurring series, fundraising ask

In a four-part Format video John shows the nearly finished Maternal Center of Excellence as hope realized, argues from Franklin Pierce's tuberculosis-ridden administration that today's world is new and so changeable, muses on Panera's frequent mentions in hip-hop, and shows his bathtub-grown peppers for his family's annual hot sauce, asking for name ideas.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Format opening; part one: the Maternal Center of Excellence as an activation of hope; weather gag and the 30-foot microphone cord

  • ★★ John opens a Format video in four parts, like the heart's chambers, starting with one normal shot so the thumbnail tricks viewers into thinking it is a normal video. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ John shows Hank a picture of the Maternal Center of Excellence, a massive extension to Sierra Leone's Koidu Government Hospital funded primarily by Nerdfighteria. — 00:00:20 · Maternal Center of Excellence, Koidu Government Hospital, Sierra Leone, Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ John says the building at the top left of the picture is a maternity ward that will open this year (2023). — 00:00:20 · Maternal Center of Excellence

  • ★★★ John says the MCOE is not a symbol of hope but an activation of hope; English lacks a word for hope realized, which is telling, but that is how he feels. — 00:00:29 · Maternal Center of Excellence, hope

    “The MCOE is not a symbol of hope. It's an activation of hope.”

  • ★ In a weather check John says it is hot and disgusting, like a bath made of wet air, and he hates it. (playful) — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Part two: tuberculosis around Franklin Pierce in 1852 and why a recent world can be changed; part three opens

  • ★★ John's current favorite tuberculosis fact comes from rereading the book Living in the Shadow of Death; he admits it can seem he only thinks about tuberculosis. — 00:00:58 · tuberculosis
  • ★★ Citing the book, John says that in 1852, when Franklin Pierce was elected US president, his wife was sick with tuberculosis. — 00:00:58 · United States, tuberculosis
  • ★★ 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. — 00:01:10 · tuberculosis
  • ★★ John says Franklin Pierce probably had tuberculosis too, but drank himself to death before it could kill him. (hedged) — 00:01:20 · tuberculosis
  • ★★★ John says this was not ancient history but two human lifetimes ago: the idea that anyone is insulated from tuberculosis is very recent. — 00:01:27 · tuberculosis
  • ★★★ John says we act as if everything is stable and always has been, but that is a lie; so much is new, which encourages him, because it means we can change it. — 00:01:35
  • ★★ John says he thinks about how frequently the fast casual chain Panera has been mentioned in hip-hop lyrics lately. — 00:01:50

00:01:56 — Part three: Panera's frequent mentions in hip-hop and the second John

  • ★★ John first noticed this in the Prof song Pack a Lunch, where Redman names Panera. — 00:02:05
  • ★★ A couple of weeks later John heard a Yung Gravy song that mentions Panera. — 00:02:10
  • ★★ John notes Yung Gravy did not need Panera for the rhyme and could have named Fazoli's or O'Charley's, but chose Panera. (playful) — 00:02:20
  • ★★ John says many rappers mention Panera, among them Lil Uzi Vert, Rick Ross and Lil Yachty, and the list goes on. — 00:02:30

00:02:38 — Part four: bathtub-grown peppers, the family hot sauce and a request for names; sign-off

  • ★★ John wondered whether Panera pays rappers to name-drop it, but thinks instead that the word Panera is just inherently melodic. (playful) — 00:02:40
  • ★★ John shows peppers he grew from seeds in his bathtub, now proper plants (habaneros, cayennes, sweet peppers): over a hundred harvested and more than a thousand still growing. — 00:02:50
  • ★★ The peppers are for John and his mom's annual hot sauce: he is making experimental fermented sauces with the early peppers, and the traditional family sauce later in the year. — 00:03:08 · Sydney Green
  • ★★ 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. — 00:03:20
  • ★★ John asks viewers to suggest this year's (2023) hot sauce name in the comments, conveying that it will be hot but also fun, like August in Indiana. — 00:03:30 · Indiana

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description invites viewers to support the community's efforts to radically reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone at pih.org/hankandjohn. — video description · maternal death, Sierra Leone
  • ★★★ The description says John made the video before the news was public that Hank is in remission; John is grateful and relieved and hopes Hank will talk about it on Friday. — video description · Hank Green
  • ★★ In the description John says he is grateful and relieved at Hank's remission and more committed than ever to the idea that everyone should be able to access high-quality health care. — video description
  • ★ In a comment John explains he grew the peppers in his bathtub because he has no greenhouse. — creator comment
  • ★ Replying to a commenter who fundraises for a charity on their channel, John says he is a big fan of EmmaCruises. — creator comment

Humor (significant)

  • John, holding his long microphone cord, sums up his life in terms of the cord. — 00:00:29

    “I spent half my life gathering up this 30-foot microphone cord, and the other half I wasted.”

  • A second John appears, claims he has been there the whole time, and is asked to leave. — 00:01:56

    “can can you can you go away That was easy.”

  • Checking the weather, John describes the humid heat. — 00:00:29

    “It feels like I'm taking a bath, but the bath is made out of wet air.”

  • John names the tuberculosis history book he is rereading. — 00:00:58

    “which only appears to be the third album by an obscure heavy metal band.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Maternal Center of Excellence · Panera Bread · tuberculosis

Also: People: Franklin Pierce · Jane Pierce · Lil Uzi Vert · Lil Yachty · Prof · Redman · Rick Ross · Sydney Green · William R. King · Yung Gravy

Works: Living in the Shadow of Death · Pack a Lunch

Organizations: Fazoli's · Koidu Government Hospital · O'Charley's

Concepts: hope

Places: Cuba · Indiana · Sierra Leone · United States

Only in the description or credits: maternal death · Timothée Chalamet · universal health care

← Previous: The #1 Tip for People Who Use the Internet · Next → Remission