Viewer questions, 2009

131 viewer questions, requests and challenges answered in 25 videos uploaded in 2009, grouped by topic (the domain of the part of the video the answer is in), in upload order within a topic. Each question is followed by the answer as summarised, with the speaker and timestamp. Question Tuesday marks the Q&A series. Back to the overview.

Topics: Nerdfighteria (59) · Books & writing (29) · Everyday life (16) · Global development (9) · Projects (9) · World affairs (3) · Personal life (2) · Pop culture (1) · Science & nature (1) · Sports (1) · US politics & society (1)

Nerdfighteria

• Q: “Are you thinking about writing more books?” (00:01:28) — Giraffe Love and Other Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says he is contracted to write at least three more books. (00:01:28)
• Q: “Are you an optimist with regard to the future of humanity?” (00:01:37) — Giraffe Love and Other Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John: John calls himself an optimist only in the sense that he thinks humanity's relentless attempt to extinguish itself will fail for the foreseeable future. (00:01:37)
• Q: “Are you Kurt Vonnegut?” (00:01:47) — Giraffe Love and Other Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked whether he is Kurt Vonnegut, John says he wishes he were. (00:01:47)
• Q: “Hank has song Wednesday but why don't you ever sing?” (00:02:40) — How to Get Girls to Like You · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked why he never sings, John says at the end of 2007 he gave nerdfighters the gift of him not singing anymore. (00:02:40)
• Q: “Any new hot youtubers?” (00:02:46) — How to Get Girls to Like You · Question Tuesday
  • John: John names Ransriggs and Wheezy Waiter as recent favourite new YouTubers, linked in the sidebar. (00:02:51)
• Q: “Are you really coming to Melbourne, Australia?” (00:00:00) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John confirms an awesome Nerdfighter gathering from 2 p.m. in Melbourne on May 31 to promote the Australian edition of Paper Towns; booking and details are in the sidebar. (00:00:00)
• Q: “What is a Nerdfighter?” (00:00:00) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked what a Nerdfighter is, John jokes that people haven't spent the 24 hours needed to watch all 465 videos, and says Nerdfighters are made out of awesome instead of bones and organs. (00:00:00)
• Q: “Is there some kind of initiation pro-” (00:00:00) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says seriously that anyone who wants to be a Nerdfighter is one. (00:00:40)
• Q: “So is this just like communication between two guys and then people were interested so they subscribed?” (00:00:40) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John agrees the channel is just communication between two guys that other people got interested in and subscribed to. (00:00:40)
• Q: “Why do the brilliant always die young?” (00:01:08) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says the brilliant die at all ages, not just young (Einstein was 76), but we romanticize the ones who die young. (00:01:08)
• Q: “What's your favorite poem?” (00:01:08) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John's favourite poem short enough to recite is John Keats's last poem, also his will: one line of perfect iambic pentameter. (00:01:08)
• Q: “Why do guys get obsessed to the point of cre-” (00:01:08) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: On why guys become obsessive to the point of stalking: they fixate on the idea that someone's affection stands between them and happiness, but no single person does, and fixation is not love. (00:01:40)
• Q: “How do I get Maureen Johnson to like me?” (00:02:04) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John recommends Maureen Johnson's brilliant Suite Scarlett, out in paperback in a few days, as a way to get her to like you (or become a puppy). (00:02:04)
• Q: “Wait, your book, Paper Towns, is being turned into a movie?” (00:02:04) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Paper Towns may become a movie: the people who made Juno optioned the rights with John writing the screenplay, which he is working on now. (00:02:04)
• Q: “Is Hank gonna make a second CD?” (00:02:04) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John urges viewers to buy Hank's first CD while waiting for a second; anyone who buys it in the next week gets a special secret bonus video emailed by John. (00:02:04)
  • John: Asked whether Hank will make a second CD, John says he hopes so. (00:02:04)
• Q: “What happened to your superpower nerd glasses?” (00:03:02) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John's 'superpower nerd glasses' broke in a long story that ended with him falling face-first into the Baltic Sea. (00:03:02)
• Q: “Hold on, who the F is Hank?” (00:03:02) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John (joke): New joke answer to 'who the F is Hank': Hank is a white-coated dog breed bred to dig out foxholes (Willy shown). (00:03:02)
• Q: “Why don't you blink?” (00:03:31) — Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked why he doesn't blink, John recalls his March 2007 hospital visit for an eye infection, known to Brotherhood 2.0 viewers, and jokes that they installed robot eyes. (00:03:31)
• Q [request]: “I want to meet you.” (00:00:00) — Saturday Video?!?!?! · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says people can meet him this Monday (27 April 2009) at 4 p.m. at the Elizabeth Public Library in Elizabeth, New Jersey. (00:00:00)
• Q: “What's your favorite color of peep?” (00:00:35) — Saturday Video?!?!?! · Question Tuesday
  • John: John's problem with Peeps is that their flavour doesn't change with their colour; he believes flavour and colour should be correlated, and has the same problem with M&Ms. (00:00:35)
• Q: “Who created the original DFTBA acronym?” (00:01:04) — Saturday Video?!?!?! · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked who created the original DFTBA acronym, John credits his friend Katie (surname heard as 'Els'). (00:01:04)
• Q: “Favorite Mountain Goat song?” (00:01:04) — Saturday Video?!?!?! · Question Tuesday
  • John: John's favourite Mountain Goats song is 'Up the Wolves'. (00:01:04)
• Q: “Was Hank's book any good?” (00:01:04) — Saturday Video?!?!?! · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked whether Hank's book was any good, John says he still hasn't read it. (00:01:04)
• Q: “John, will the world end in 2012?” (00:01:34) — Saturday Video?!?!?! · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked whether the world will end in 2012, John dismisses the worry as dated eschatological anxiety. (00:01:34)
• Q: “What's your favorite part about libraries?” (00:01:34) — Saturday Video?!?!?! · Question Tuesday
  • John: John's favourite things about libraries are free books and secret superhero librarians. (00:01:34)
• Q: “How do you get a nerdfighter to notice that you romantically like him?” (00:01:34) — Saturday Video?!?!?! · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked how to get a Nerdfighter to notice you like him romantically, John advises simply telling him so. (00:01:34)
• Q: “Has your opinion on zombies vs. unicorns changed since 2007?” (00:01:34) — Saturday Video?!?!?! · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked whether his opinion on zombies vs. unicorns has changed since 2007, John says only in that he hates unicorns more than ever. (00:01:34)
• Q: “Do you think anyone actually reads books anymore?” (00:02:03) — Saturday Video?!?!?! · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked whether anyone reads books anymore, John says he has extensive empirical evidence that people still read books. (00:02:03)
• Q [request]: “Is it okay if I teach your happy dance during my aerobics class?” (00:02:03) — Saturday Video?!?!?! · Question Tuesday
  • John: John doubts happy dances can be copyrighted and gives a viewer permission to teach his happy dance in her aerobics class. (00:02:03)
• Q: “I can't do the Nerdfighter hand sign. Do you have a workaround?” (00:00:00) — Question Tuesday! · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked about the hand sign, John says those who can't make it can use a workaround invented by the brothers' 'secret niece and nephew' in Australia, whom he'll meet soon. (00:00:00)
• Q: “If you think the world sucks, then why are you living on it?” (00:00:53) — Fighting the Flame War!
  • Hank: Answering why someone who thinks the world sucks lives on it, Hank says one of the great things about being on the world is getting to make it suck less. (00:00:53)
• Q [challenge]: “The world does suck. That's why we should destroy it.” (00:00:53) — Fighting the Flame War!
  • Hank: Hank disagrees with a commenter who says the world sucks and so should be destroyed, offering no complicated philosophical reason. (00:00:53)
• Q: “How come John never blinks?” (00:00:53) — Fighting the Flame War!
  • Hank: Asked why John never blinks, Hank jokes it is because Ze Frank, a pioneering video blogger, never blinked and 'everything we do is stolen' from him; he urges viewers to watch Ze Frank. (00:00:53)
• Q: “Are you guys in the same room?” (00:01:29) — Fighting the Flame War!
  • Hank: Hank says the brothers are not in the same room: they started the project because they live across the country from each other and wanted to talk more. (00:01:29)
• Q: “What is a nerdfighter and how can I be one?” (00:02:54) — Fighting the Flame War!
  • Hank: Hank defines Nerdfighters as people who fight for awesome, love learning and discovering, and try to understand others complexly; anyone who wants to be one probably is. (00:02:54)
• Q: “How's the Vlogbrothers 2009 Fitness Challenge going?” (00:00:00) — Nerdfighter MARRIAGE PROPOSAL · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says he has lost about three pounds in the fitness challenge but expects Hank to win the BMI part, so he must focus on running and push-ups. (00:00:00)
• Q: “Are any of your books available in Spanish?” (00:00:00) — Nerdfighter MARRIAGE PROPOSAL · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked whether his books are available in Spanish, John says yes: Looking for Alaska as Buscando a Alaska. (00:00:39)
• Q: “Behind your head, is that a polar bear with a top hat?” (00:00:39) — Nerdfighter MARRIAGE PROPOSAL · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked about an object behind his head, John runs through a My Little Pony, wooden shoes from Dutch fans and a sculpture of Willy as the Dread Pirate Fireball Wilson Roberts. (00:00:39)
• Q [request]: “Will you ask my girlfriend to marry me?” (00:00:39) — Nerdfighter MARRIAGE PROPOSAL · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked to propose for a viewer, John says Nerdfighters sometimes meet, fall in 'nerdfighter-like' and occasionally love, but he is unsure about proposing to someone other than his wife. (00:00:39)
  • John: John phones the requesting viewer's girlfriend, apologises for misspelling her name when he signed her book, then asks whether she will marry her boyfriend; she says yes. (00:01:25)
• Q [request]: “You know what would be cool? If Nerdfighters made someone up” — asked by Paige (00:01:08) — Robert Pattinson and DJ Railstone
  • John: John and other Nerdfighters invent DJ Paige Railstone in a BlogTV room and give her a website, photos, Twitter and Facebook pages. (00:01:49)
• Q: “Now Hank, a lot of people have been asking me if Paige Railstone is made up” (00:02:18) — Robert Pattinson and DJ Railstone
  • John: Asked whether Paige Railstone is real, John says they made her up but that does not mean she is not real, because we also made up Rob Pattinson. (00:02:18)
• Q [request]: “Online hip-hop collaboration between Hank and Natalie from Community Channel.” (00:00:32) — The Island of Nerdfighteria?
  • John: Answering a suggestion, John enthusiastically urges Hank and Nerdfighters to make an online hip-hop collaboration between Hank and Natalie from Community Channel happen. (00:00:32)
• Q [request]: “Do another tour to Nerdfighting!” (00:00:32) — The Island of Nerdfighteria?
  • John: John promises the brothers will do another Tour de Nerdfighting, though planning, logistics and money mean it may be a while. (00:00:32)
• Q [request]: “Buy each of your subscribers an iPod.” (00:00:32) — The Island of Nerdfighteria?
  • John: Rejecting an iPod for every subscriber, John says most probably already have one and it would cost about $10 million. (00:01:01)
• Q [request]: “You could publish Paper Towns in the United Kingdom.” (00:01:01) — The Island of Nerdfighteria?
  • John: John announces that Paper Towns will be published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury, and thanks Bloomsbury. (00:01:01)
• Q [request]: “John and Hank should perform a choreographed dance to the Vanilla Ice song, Ice Ice Baby.” (00:01:01) — The Island of Nerdfighteria?
  • John: John recalls the brothers may already have a choreographed dance to Vanilla Ice's 'Ice Ice Baby' from childhood, and maybe one to R.E.M.'s 'Stand', and hopes they stay unseen. (00:01:01)
• Q [challenge]: “John, if you really want to thank your subscribers, you should say, I love uni-” (00:01:39) — The Island of Nerdfighteria?
  • John: John catches a viewer's attempt to trick him into saying he loves unicorns and declares that he hates unicorns. (00:01:39)
• Q [request]: “Please show us the Yeti.” (00:01:39) — The Island of Nerdfighteria?
  • John: Asked again to show the Yeti after three years, John says he cannot, because her cuteness would break viewers' computers. (00:01:39)
• Q: “Will Paper Towns be published in France?” (00:00:22) — 100 QUESTIONS ANSWERED!!!!!!! · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked whether Paper Towns will be published in France, John answers in French that he thinks so. (00:00:22)
• Q: “Will you write a sequel to Looking For Alaska?” (00:01:15) — 100 QUESTIONS ANSWERED!!!!!!! · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked whether he will write a sequel to Looking for Alaska, John answers probably not. (00:01:15)
• Q: “What's the meaning of life?” (00:01:27) — 100 QUESTIONS ANSWERED!!!!!!! · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked the meaning of life, John answers other people; his favorite word is 'together', he chooses hope over despair, and says he is almost happy. (00:01:27)
• Q: “Is the character of Ben in your book Paper Towns based on anyone you knew in high school?” (00:00:00) — Question Tuesday: The Free Money Edition · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked whether Ben in Paper Towns is based on someone from his high school, John says the character is based on himself. (00:00:00)
• Q: “Is it still possible to be a secret sibling?” (00:00:00) — Question Tuesday: The Free Money Edition · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says it is still possible to be a secret sibling: everyone who makes video responses is one. (00:00:00)
• Q: “How's NaNoWriMo going?” (00:00:00) — Question Tuesday: The Free Money Edition · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says he is 10,000 words behind on NaNoWriMo because of the Paper Towns screenplay revision, and behind on the screenplay because of NaNoWriMo. (00:00:00)
• Q: “How's Paper Towns screenplay?” (00:00:00) — Question Tuesday: The Free Money Edition · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says he has had to work on the Paper Towns screenplay revision, which has put him 10,000 words behind on NaNoWriMo. (00:00:00)
• Q: “What's up with the beard?” (00:00:35) — Question Tuesday: The Free Money Edition · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says he is growing his beard for Movember, in which people grow facial hair to raise money for prostate cancer research; someone offered a donation if he kept it all month. (00:00:35)
• Q: “Is Hank's album gonna be on iTunes?” (00:00:35) — Question Tuesday: The Free Money Edition · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says Hank's album is already on iTunes but recommends buying the physical CD because it comes with a poster. (00:01:05)
• Q: “Do you have any tips on coming out to my parents?” (00:02:33) — Question Tuesday: The Free Money Edition · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked for coming-out tips, John advises honesty and says the hard part is not saying 'I'm gay' but being understanding of however parents respond. (00:02:33)
• Q: “Have we found Gus as a bug yet?” (00:02:33) — Question Tuesday: The Free Money Edition · Question Tuesday
  • John: John confirms Gus Is a Bug was found: what he could not do in three years, Nerdfighteria did in about 20 minutes, and the book is on its way to him. (00:02:33)

Books & writing

• Q: “What is Paper Towns about?” (00:00:00) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says Paper Towns is about Margo Roth Spiegelman, her next-door neighbour Q, the state of Florida and Walt Whitman. (00:00:00)
• Q: “How did Song of Myself get to be so central to the plot of Paper Towns?” (00:00:00) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Song of Myself is central because it is a beautiful poem deeply involved with how we can imagine other people more effectively (and, he jokes, Whitman is hot). (00:00:00)
• Q: “Will Paper Towns ever be a movie?” (00:00:00) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: The Paper Towns movie rights were acquired by Mr. Mudd and Mandate, the people behind Juno. (00:00:00)
• Q: “How'd you pick the character names?” (00:00:46) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Margo is the book's mirror maker: people looking at her see a funhouse-mirror reflection of themselves, not what is true of her, hence the two different, equally inaccurate covers. (00:00:46)
• Q: “I'm 20 years old. Am I too old to enjoy Paper Towns?” (00:00:46) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked by a 20-year-old whether they are too old for the book, John says no: that day an 82-year-old woman emailed that she liked it. (00:00:46)
• Q: “Is the way Q misimagines Margo similar to the way that Pudge misimagines Alaska in your first novel?” (00:01:22) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Q's misimagining of Margo resembles Pudge's of Alaska; John argues that imagining someone as more than a person does them and ourselves a profound disservice. (00:01:22)
• Q: “I would like you to talk more about the use of colors in the book and what each color is meant to represent.” (00:01:22) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: On colours: the book has much Moby-Dick in it (white imagery, Black Santas, Margo's middle name meaning red); like Melville, John wanted to subvert white as a symbol of purity and put Margo outside the good/evil dichotomy. (00:01:51)
• Q: “How many of the details in your novel are purposeful and how many are random?” (00:01:51) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Ideally nothing in a novel is totally random, John says, though asked about Ben's beer sword he concedes some things are random. (00:01:51)
• Q: “Is Q based on your high school self?” (00:01:51) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Q is not really based on John's high-school self; he thinks they share nothing except being tall and vaguely nerdy. (00:01:51)
• Q: “Will Paper Towns ever be a paperback?” (00:02:36) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: The Paper Towns paperback will be out at the end of this year (2009). (00:02:36)
• Q: “Where'd you get the idea for the Black Santa collection?” (00:02:36) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: The book is about how we misimagine other people and our stories; Radar's parents own the world's largest Black Santa collection because John finds it funny and it asks us to imagine the world more complexly. (00:02:36)
• Q: “Did you ever find yourself writing directly from experience?” (00:02:36) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John very rarely steals directly from his own experience, though he says there are two occasions where he clearly did. (00:02:36)
• Q: “Would you agree with the opinion that you have written the modern-day Great Gatsby?” (00:03:05) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Paper Towns shares many of The Great Gatsby's questions, above all whether there is such a thing as the self-made man; John then jokingly declines the 'modern-day Gatsby' label. (00:03:05)
• Q: “Did you have any alternate titles for Paper Towns?” (00:03:27) — Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Alternate titles: 'More Light Than Heat', from a line in Hamlet, and 'Under the Red, the White, and the Blue', one of Fitzgerald's alternate titles for Gatsby. (00:03:27)
• Q: “Are you doing any public appearances soon?” (00:00:30) — Paper Towns and PUPPY
  • John: On Friday, March 13th, John will do a reading in Indianapolis as part of a fundraiser for the organization Second Story; details in the sidebar. (00:00:30)
• Q: “How long did it take you to write Paper Towns?” (00:01:00) — Paper Towns and PUPPY
  • John: John says writing Paper Towns took about three years. (00:01:00)
• Q: “You seemed kind of rushed in the end, were you?” (00:01:00) — Paper Towns and PUPPY
  • John: John denies the ending was rushed: he did not want to say everything on the page. (00:01:00)
• Q: “Why do you love road trips as they appear in two of your three books?” (00:01:00) — Paper Towns and PUPPY
  • John: Road trips appear in two of his three books because they are fun and a really, really good metaphor. (00:01:00)
• Q: “Why'd you call it Omnictionary and not Wikipedia?” (00:01:00) — Paper Towns and PUPPY
  • John: He named the book's wiki Omnictionary not for fear of a Wikipedia lawsuit but for literary reasons: the name means it contains all knowledge. (00:01:00)
• Q: “Is the girl on the cover a nerdfighter?” (00:01:45) — Paper Towns and PUPPY
  • John: John doesn't know whether the girl on the cover is a Nerdfighter; he only knows she is a nice young woman from Canada. (00:01:45)
• Q: “What about other countries?” (00:01:45) — Paper Towns and PUPPY
  • John: Paper Towns is out in Australia, though apparently hard to find, and is coming out in a number of other countries. (00:01:45)
• Q: “Either there are Brotherhood 2.0 references in Paper Towns, or there are Paper Towns references in Brotherhood 2.0. Which is it?” (00:01:45) — Paper Towns and PUPPY
  • John: There are Paper Towns references in Brotherhood 2.0, not the reverse: viewers shared the last year and a half of writing and revision, so they saw what he was thinking about. (00:01:45)
• Q [request]: “You should do more collaborative writing.” (00:02:15) — Paper Towns and PUPPY
  • John: John's next book, out in spring 2010, is written collaboratively with his friend David Levithan. (00:02:15)
• Q [request]: “Will you ask Hank about the Carrie Bradshaw punishment?” (00:02:15) — Paper Towns and PUPPY
  • John: Relaying a question, John tells Hank he needs to do the Carrie Bradshaw punishment now. (00:02:15)
• Q: “Where and when is your event in Amsterdam next week?” (00:00:18) — How to Get Girls to Like You · Question Tuesday
  • John: John's event in Amsterdam is on Thursday, March 19, at 7 p.m. at De Jaren; everyone in and around Amsterdam should come. (00:00:18)
• Q: “Do conjoined twins get two different social security numbers?” (00:00:50) — Question Tuesday! · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says each conjoined twin gets his or her own social security number. (00:00:50)
• Q: “Why are there so many blank pages at the back of the hardcover of Looking for Alaska?” (00:00:50) — Question Tuesday! · Question Tuesday
  • John: John explains the blank pages at the back of the Looking for Alaska hardcover: a printed book's page count must be a multiple of eight, so extra pages are added. (00:00:50)
• Q: “your ongoing story, This Is Not Tom, to the public?” (00:01:49) — Question Tuesday! · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says his ongoing story This Is Not Tom is already free online each week and will not be published as a book. (00:01:49)
• Q: “Why do the same books have different covers in different countries?” (00:01:49) — Question Tuesday! · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says books sometimes have different covers in different countries because each country's publisher designs its own. (00:01:49)

Everyday life

• Q: “I'm not very popular. How do I get boys to like me?” (00:00:20) — How to Make Guys Like You
  • John: John devotes Question Tuesday to a single question, emailed by a 15-year-old girl who is not very popular: how does she get boys to like her? (00:00:00)
• Q: “How do I get nerd girls to like me?” (00:00:40) — How to Get Girls to Like You · Question Tuesday
  • John (joke): Asked how to get nerd girls to like you, John jokes that girls love his puppy Willy, so his first advice is to become a puppy (or a kitten or sneezy panda). (00:01:18)
  • John: Having been dumped often, John says girls dislike creepy, stalkery behaviour; guys are taught not to be needy, so when allowed to be vulnerable the need floods out. (00:01:29)
• Q [request]: “There's this boy I'd really like to ask to prom.” (00:00:53) — Peeps! Prom! Puppy!
  • John: At a viewer's request, John phones the boy she wants to take to prom and asks whether he will go to prom with her. (00:00:53)
• Q: “What was your first job?” (00:01:19) — Question Tuesday! · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says his first job was loading semi-trucks with boxes of stereo equipment in a warehouse, like Tetris in 110-degree heat with 30-pound pieces. (00:01:19)
• Q: “Why am I so scared of rejection?” (00:00:15) — Love and Romance Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says everyone is afraid of rejection; others just don't seem so because you are not living inside their thoughts. (00:00:17)
• Q: “You probably meant, " how can I tell when my boyfriend's gonna PROpose?” (00:00:51) — Love and Romance Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John: John advises asking a boyfriend about marriage and talking it over, calling it weird that culture thrusts marriage on women: boys deliberate for months, girls get seconds to answer. (00:00:55)
• Q: “Where are all the nerdy girls?” (00:01:11) — Love and Romance Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John (joke): Asked where the nerdy girls are, John jokes that they are right here, watching the video. (00:01:13)
• Q: “Is it weird having your first kiss?” (00:01:25) — Love and Romance Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says an ordinary first kiss is no big deal, but for a kiss with tongue his one piece of advice is that the tongue should not lead. (00:01:30)
• Q: “Is it still acceptable to ask someone out by writing them a note” (00:02:26) — Love and Romance Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • Sarah Urist Green: Sarah says asking someone out with a check-yes-or-no note has never been cool and is the wimp's way; she recommends asking them. (00:02:34)
• Q: “I'm almost 18 and I've never been out on a date or had a boyfriend” (00:03:04) — Love and Romance Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John: John tells a nearly 18-year-old who has never dated that this is not weird, and that guys are people in exactly the same way girls are. (00:03:10)
• Q: “Do guys really not like girls who are smarter than them?” (00:03:29) — Love and Romance Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says guys who don't like girls smarter than them are exactly the guys you don't want to date. (00:03:32)
• Q: “Is breaking up over text message bad?” (00:03:38) — Love and Romance Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says breaking up over text message is bad. (00:03:41)
• Q: “How do you get over crushing shyness to ask a boy out on a date?” (00:03:42) — Love and Romance Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John: To overcome shyness about asking a boy out, John says just ask: call him now, before the video ends, and say John Green told you to. (00:03:45)
• Q: “This guy I really like wants my advice on how to ask out another girl. What should I do?” (00:00:52) — In Which A Secret Is Revealed · Question Tuesday
  • John: To a viewer whose crush asks her advice on asking out another girl, John suspects he actually likes her: boys commonly use this 'colossally stupid' strategy. (00:00:52)
• Q: “What time should I upload my Project for Awesome video?” (00:01:17) — In Which A Secret Is Revealed · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says P4A videos should be uploaded as close to noon Eastern time (5 p.m. GMT) as possible. (00:01:17)
• Q: “What's the best way to tell a close friend that you're in nerdfighter-like with them?” (00:02:50) — In Which A Secret Is Revealed · Question Tuesday
  • John: In a message for a friend a viewer is in nerdfighter-like with, John says: don't freak out, think it through; it is an 'I like you if you like me' thing that needn't jeopardise the friendship. (00:02:50)

Global development

• Q [request]: “You could give some money to charity.” (00:02:28) — The Island of Nerdfighteria?
  • John: John says he and Willy will give $1,000 to the charity of Nerdfighteria's choice. (00:02:28)
• Q: “How long has the Project for Awesome been going on?” (00:00:05) — In Which A Secret Is Revealed · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked how long the Project for Awesome has been going on, John says this will be its third year. (00:00:05)
• Q: “Wait, what is the Project for Awesome? How do I make a video and where do I post it?” (00:00:21) — In Which A Secret Is Revealed · Question Tuesday
  • John: John defines the P4A: an annual tradition where many make videos for charities and many more rate, favorite and comment on them, so for one day YouTube's most popular videos are about decreasing world suck. (00:00:25)
• Q: “How do I make a video and where do I post it?” (00:00:21) — In Which A Secret Is Revealed · Question Tuesday
  • John: John tells viewers to make a video advocating for their favorite charity, upload it on Thursday (17 December 2009), ideally with the shared thumbnail linked in the doobly-doo, then rate and comment for 48 hours. (00:00:39)
• Q: “Wait, what can I do for Project for Awesome if I can't make a video?” (00:01:36) — In Which A Secret Is Revealed · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked what to do without making a video, John says 90% of the Project for Awesome is commenting on and rating videos, not making them. (00:01:36)
• Q: “How do I get my ex girlfriend back?” (00:02:09) — In Which A Secret Is Revealed · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked how to get an ex-girlfriend back, John recommends reading up on Buddhist non-attachment, linked in the description. (00:02:09)
• Q: “How do I get the picture that I can download in the dooblydoo to be the thumbnail in my video?” (00:02:13) — In Which A Secret Is Revealed · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says making the shared thumbnail your video's thumbnail is hard; they think they've cracked YouTube's algorithm, but a P4A video can be great without it. (00:02:16)
• Q: “You have a lot of advice about guys and girls who wanna find each other, but what about gay people?” (00:02:28) — In Which A Secret Is Revealed · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked about advice for gay people, John says it is the same advice with different pronouns. (00:02:28)
• Q: “Any advice on how to make my Project for Awesome video good?” (00:02:33) — In Which A Secret Is Revealed · Question Tuesday
  • John: John advises that a good P4A video advocates for a charity rather than just talking about it, should be creative and awesome, and can find creative ways to encourage fundraising. (00:02:33)

Projects

• Q: “Are you going to come out with another album?” (00:02:20) — Ulcerative Colitis: A Song · Question Tuesday
  • Hank: Asked about another album, Hank says he will put one out, but does not know when. (00:02:20)
• Q: “Hank, what's going on with DFTBA Records?” (00:02:20) — Ulcerative Colitis: A Song · Question Tuesday
  • Hank: Asked about DFTBA Records, Hank says it is doing very well and has just released Dave Days' first album, available from DFTBA. (00:02:20)
• Q: “Anything for non-Harry Potter Nerdfighters at all?” (00:03:19) — Ulcerative Colitis: A Song · Question Tuesday
  • Hank: Hank says John leaves right after LeakyCon, but Hank will stay in Boston and play songs and gather with Nerdfighters at the LilyPad, 4 to 5:30pm Sunday. (00:03:19)
• Q: “The first question, does my order get a guitar pick?” (00:00:32) — The TOUR DE HANK!!!
  • Hank: Answering whether an order gets a guitar pick, Hank says any pre-order, bundle or CD alone, gets a free signed pick. (00:00:32)
• Q: “Number two, do you ship to my country?” (00:01:01) — The TOUR DE HANK!!!
  • Hank: Asked whether they ship to a viewer's country, Hank says they ship everywhere there are people. (00:01:01)
• Q: “Are the shirts going to be available outside of the bundle?” (00:01:01) — The TOUR DE HANK!!!
  • Hank: Hank says small and medium album bundles are sold out, large to extra-extra-large remain, and they may reprint the shirts but have not decided. (00:01:31)
• Q: “Will the album be out on iTunes?” (00:01:31) — The TOUR DE HANK!!!
  • Hank: The album will be on iTunes alongside its physical release on November 16. (00:01:31)
• Q: “Should I buy a CD?” (00:02:00) — The TOUR DE HANK!!!
  • Hank: Hank says people coming to his tour stops (San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle) probably should not order the CD, since he will reach them first; they can buy it there. (00:02:00)
• Q [request]: “I want to buy Hank's album but I don't have any money though.” (00:01:05) — Question Tuesday: The Free Money Edition · Question Tuesday
  • John: For 48 hours after upload (until 19 November 2009), John will pay $2 toward Hank's CD for buyers using the DFTBA.com/John link, so it costs $13; he plans to pay Hank in $2 bills. (00:01:34)

World affairs

• Q: “One, why do you care about Iran? Iran is Iran's problem. Why don't you care about America?” (00:00:59) — On Iran, Islam, and Amazingly Stupid Comments
  • John: Answering a commenter, John says caring about America and caring about Iran are not mutually exclusive; Iranians must solve Iran's problems, but the two countries share a planet. (00:00:59)
• Q: “Number two, don't you know it doesn't matter who the president of Iran is, because no matter who is president, the same Grand Ayatollah will still be the supreme leader?” (00:01:27) — On Iran, Islam, and Amazingly Stupid Comments
  • John: John says it still matters who Iran's president is, despite the Supreme Leader: Ahmadinejad ruined Iran's economy and unleashed morality police, and relations were better under his less crazy predecessor. (00:01:27)
• Q [challenge]: “They're all Muslims who want to destroy America.” (00:01:56) — On Iran, Islam, and Amazingly Stupid Comments
  • John: To the claim that they're all Muslims who want to destroy America, John replies that Islam is not a single monolithic thing; all religious traditions are massively diverse. (00:01:56)

Personal life

• Q [request]: “Natalie Community Channel told us to tell you what your favorite toy from your childhood was.” — asked by Natalie Tran (00:01:14) — On a Plane - On the Ground
  • Hank: Answering a prompt from Natalie (Community Channel), Hank shows his favourite childhood toy, Dexter, a stuffed ferret he slept with every day from age six to fifteen. (00:01:14)
• Q: “Do you guys have real jobs?” (00:00:41) — How To Be a Nerdfighter: A Vlogbrothers FAQ
  • John: Asked whether they have real jobs, John says Hank runs the environmental technology website EcoGeek. (00:00:44)

Pop culture

• Q [request]: “So Hank, after the last video, more than 100 Nerdfighters commented that they wanted to see a Chewie for President 2012 t-shirt.” (00:01:14) — Chewbacca for President! Let the Wookie Win!
  • John: After John's last video more than 100 Nerdfighters asked for a Chewie for President 2012 t-shirt; the brothers designed one, on sale at DFTBA.com. (00:01:14)

Science & nature

• Q: “Are you aware that, on average” (00:00:21) — Giraffe Love and Other Questions ANSWERED · Question Tuesday
  • John: John agrees and, as previously noted, says people love giraffes who love giraffes, maybe because giraffe mating habits are fascinating. (00:00:27)

Sports

• Q: “Demolition Derby? I thought those were fictional!” (00:00:00) — DEMOLITION DERBY!
  • Hank: Hank says commenters on his county-fair video thought demolition derbies were fictional, so he wants to introduce people to them with today's song. (00:00:00)

US politics & society

• Q [challenge]: “I am annoyed by people who leave YouTube comments telling me that I have an unsupportable position on the national anthem.” (00:00:29) — Things I'm Not Thankful For
  • Hank: Answering commenters who called his anthem position unsupportable, Hank admits he put it poorly and says his problem is that it is a song about defending ideals, not about the ideals. (00:00:29)