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John's Annual Psychophysical Decline

2025-11-11 · letter vlog · John · 4:49 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development (also: Projects, Personal life, Philosophy & meaning) · mode: Personal essay · tags: fundraising ask, self promotion

Sick, tired and low in his annual November slump, John tells Hank that hope remains the correct response and that there is work to do: he recalls the completed Maternal Center of Excellence in Sierra Leone as his proudest YouTube moment, urges donations to Partners In Health, notes TB deaths are curable for under $300, and plugs Good Store's holiday bundles.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — November, ill health, sadness and anxiety, non-stop travel: John's annual psychophysical decline

  • ★★ John says it's November with snow on the ground, which means it is time for his annual psychophysical decline. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★ John says, as Hank always reminds him, he is just 30 trillion cells trying to maintain homeostasis, which is hard work, so things will go wrong all the time. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Hank Green
  • ★★★ John says he has been battling some ill health alongside the feeling he gets every November: if he is not sad, it is only because he is so anxious. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John says his travel has been non-stop; he feels fortunate to preach that the world's deadliest infectious disease is curable and preventable, but he is tired. — 00:00:00 · tuberculosis

00:00:29 — Hope as the correct response to consciousness; despair is a lie; work as a path to wellness

  • ★★★ John says he knows this experience is temporary, that hope remains the correct response to consciousness, and that despair is a lie, even if a very convincing one. — 00:00:29 · hope

    “Despair is a lie, even if a very convincing one.”

  • ★★ John says getting up, doing work and engaging in relationships is a path to wellness, even if it feels like an obstacle to wellness. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Doing good despite it all: the completed Maternal Center of Excellence and the community's role

00:02:06 — Best ways to support Partners In Health; TB deaths and a sub-$300 cure

  • ★★★ John calls it his proudest moment in 19 years of YouTube videos that their corner of the internet made the MCOE possible: helped by many others, but he doesn't think it would have happened without them. — 00:02:06 · YouTube, Nerdfighteria
  • ★★★ Asked how best to support Partners In Health, John says by far the best way is a monthly or one-time donation at pih.org, or pih.org/hankandjohn for the MCOE specifically. — 00:02:35 · Partners In Health, Maternal Center of Excellence, health equity
  • ★★ John says it is also valuable to talk to friends and family about Partners In Health or about global health inequity more broadly. — 00:02:35 · Partners In Health, health equity
  • ★★★ John says over a million people die every year from tuberculosis, though almost all could be saved by a drug regimen costing less than $300, which he calls bonkers. — 00:02:35 · tuberculosis
  • ★★★ John says providing the right TB regimen is not always simple, since it takes space, staff, stuff and systems to diagnose, treat and prevent it: not simple, but possible. — 00:02:35 · tuberculosis

00:03:04 — Good Store holiday gift bundles, their charities, and EcoGeek's dishwasher powder with Alec from Technology Connections

  • ★★★ John says Good Store, another way to support Partners In Health and the Coral Reef Alliance, raised about $10 million over the last five years to fight maternal and child mortality in Sierra Leone. — 00:03:04 · Good Store, Partners In Health, maternal death, child mortality, Sierra Leone
  • ★★ John explains that Good Store finds the world's best stuff, sells it rather than giving it away, and donates 100% of its profit to charity. (playful) — 00:03:04 · Good Store
  • ★★★ John presents Good Store's holiday bundles in three categories: socks and Sun Basin soap, candles and bath bombs fund the MCOE; coffee and tea fight TB; EcoGeek products fund the Coral Reef Alliance. — 00:03:34 · Good Store, Maternal Center of Excellence, Sun Basin Soap, tuberculosis, EcoGeek
  • ★★ John says EcoGeek sells dish soap, laundry sheets and a new dishwasher powder designed in part by Alec from Technology Connections. — 00:04:03 · EcoGeek
  • ★★ John calls Alec his current favorite YouTuber, a self-made dishwasher expert who serves as an unpaid intern for EcoGeek and their sock company because he is kind of an angel. (playful) — 00:04:03 · EcoGeek, YouTube
  • ★★ John asks viewers to get Good Store for the holidays. — 00:04:03 · Good Store

00:04:32 — Still sad but cheered up; back to bed; sign-off

  • ★★ John says he started the video sad and frustrated and still is, but feels a hint of something else because talking to Hank cheered him up; he calls it a win before getting back in bed. — 00:04:32

In the description and comments

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Good Store · Maternal Center of Excellence · tuberculosis

Also: Projects: EcoGeek · Sun Basin Soap

Organizations: Coral Reef Alliance · Partners In Health · YouTube

Concepts: Caesarean section · child mortality · despair · health equity · homeostasis · hope · maternal death · neonatal intensive care unit · nihilism

Places: Kono District · Sierra Leone

Only in the description or credits: Alec Watson · Technology Connections

Replies to

  • continues · We Did It… — “Hank, as you noted last week, the ribbon has been cut on the completed Maternal Center of Excellence in Sierra Leone.”

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