No Video Today!!
2025-02-21 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:05 · watch on YouTube
Topic: Health (also: Global development, Personal life, Everyday life) · mode: Personal essay · tags: calendar ritual
In an unscripted 'no video' video, Hank reports that the 2025 Project for Awesome raised $3,673,295, the biggest ever, describes his post-event slump as dopamine withdrawal, and says recognizing each finished task gives fuel for the next.
What is said
The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).
00:00:00 — Hank takes a break; P4A 2025 total and record; his post-P4A slump
- ★★ Hank says he is taking a break today: this is a video about not making a video. — 00:00:00
- ★★★ Hank reports that the 2025 Project for Awesome has raised $3,673,295. — 00:00:00 · Project for Awesome
- ★★★ Hank says this is the biggest Project for Awesome of all time by a fair margin. — 00:00:00 · Project for Awesome
- ★★ Hank says he has had a post-Project for Awesome slump. — 00:00:00 · Project for Awesome
00:00:49 — Post-event slump as dopamine withdrawal; people as bags of chemicals; forgiving humans their mistakes
- ★★★ Hank says after every event, such as every VidCon, he predictably feels sad, listless and sleepless a few days later, which he attributes to dopamine withdrawal. — 00:00:49 · VidCon
- ★★ Hank tells viewers that besides being individuals with sensations, memories and a self, they are bodies full of chemicals, bags of water with chemicals in them. — 00:01:18
- ★★ Hank says he is very forgiving of humans, pointing to what we have made, from Christmas lights, vodka and pickles to Beanie Sanfurbs. (playful) — 00:01:18 · Beanie Sanfurbs
- ★★ Hank says humans have made mistakes and that the US as a country is currently making a big one. — 00:01:18 · United States
00:01:56 — Not a real Vlogbrothers video; office cleanup, frog cards signed, confetti envelopes picked up
- ★ Hank says a normal Vlogbrothers video would introduce ideas and resolve them, but this one only introduces ideas and moves on because it is not a real Vlogbrothers video. — 00:01:56 · Vlogbrothers
- ★★ Hank says he still has to clean up his office, but he has signed all his frog cards and picked up 200 envelopes of confetti. — 00:01:56
00:02:25 — Recognizing a finished task gives fuel for the next one; sign-off
- ★★★ Hank says that taking a moment to recognize a finished task ('I did that, good job') gives fuel for the next task; without that recognition there is no fuel. — 00:02:25
Threads in this video
- outcome · P4A 2025 edition — Hank reports that P4A 2025 has raised $3,673,295, the number one Project for Awesome of all time by a fair margin. (00:00:00)
- restate · Are humans, on balance, good or bad? — Hank says he is very forgiving of humans, pointing to what we have made, from Christmas lights, vodka and pickles to Beanie Sanfurbs. (00:01:18)
- callback · Beanie Sanfurbs: Hank's bean Furby, P4A 2021 celebrity and meme (2021) — Hank says he is very forgiving of humans, pointing to what we have made, from Christmas lights, vodka and pickles to Beanie Sanfurbs. (00:01:18)
Where the stories that moved here went next
- P4A 2025 edition — completed; last: looked back, 2026-02-06
Mentioned
Central: Project for Awesome
Also: Beanie Sanfurbs · dopamine · United States · VidCon
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