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POTATO!

2023-12-12 · letter vlog · John · 3:13 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life · mode: Personal update · tags: community lore

John introduces Potato, his family's five-month-old Lagotto Romagnolo puppy, explains that the kids named him after the breeder's 'little potato' and that the breed suits their lung allergies, then answers joke questions about him, including a mock lesson on tuberculosis.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Meet Potato: his work, how the kids named him, why he suits the family

  • ★★★ John tells Hank his family has a puppy named Potato, five months old, whom he calls the greatest and a very good boy. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John says Potato already does a lot of work: fetching a Poké Ball and eating any granola left on the kitchen table. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ The name comes from the woman they got him from, not a native English speaker, who called the puppy 'just little potato'; the kids immediately took it up. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John says the parents wanted a regal name like the Dread Pirate Fireball Wilson Roberts, but the kids insisted on Potato and won. (playful) — 00:00:36 · Willy

00:01:05 — Potato's breed and joke questions about him: cannibalism, memory card, tail, the format, tuberculosis, socks

  • ★★ Because John's kids have serious lung and allergy issues, Potato was one of the only dogs that would work for the family. — 00:01:05
  • ★★ Potato is a Lagotto Romagnolo; as he outgrows his puppy coat he will turn browner and so resemble a potato. (playful) — 00:01:05
  • ★★ Potato will eat almost anything (small rocks, grass, a kind of moss) but is not a huge fan of potatoes; he ate a 128 GB memory card, and John says he would get mad, but about six years ago (2017) he ate one himself. (playful) — 00:01:34
  • ★ Potato seemingly does not know he has a tail and is astonished each time he sees it. (playful, hedged) — 00:02:03
  • ★★ Addressing Potato, John says dogs can get tuberculosis, but it is quite rare. (playful) — 00:02:32 · tuberculosis
  • ★★★ John says tuberculosis is the world's deadliest infectious disease among humans, and that it is curable. — 00:02:32 · tuberculosis
  • ★★ John says we don't have to accept the world that we are choosing right now. — 00:02:32 · tuberculosis
  • ★ Asked whether Potato likes socks, John offers him a Hank Green cancer sock. (playful) — 00:02:32 · Hank's Cancer Socks

00:03:08 — Sign-off from Hank, Potato and John

In the description and comments

  • ★ The description says the family loves Potato and wishes he would sleep a little more at night. — video description

Humor (significant)

  • Asked whether it is cannibalism for Potato to eat potatoes, John answers with an analogy. — 00:01:34

    “not cannibalism for people named venison to eat deer meat”

  • Potato ate a 128 GB memory card, and John cannot be mad. — 00:01:34

    “like six years ago, I also ate a 128 gigabyte memory card, so I know what it's like”

  • Asked whether Potato can do the format, John delivers his own hopeful closing line in dog form. — 00:02:03

    “hope is still the correct response to the miracle of dog consciousness”

  • After lecturing Potato that tuberculosis is curable, John hands him a treat. — 00:02:32

    “Thank you for listening to my TED Talk.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Potato (animal)

Also: Hank's Cancer Socks · infectious disease · Lagotto Romagnolo · Poké Ball · tuberculosis · Willy

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