Viewer questions, 2019

44 viewer questions, requests and challenges answered in 9 videos uploaded in 2019, 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 (21) · Books & writing (7) · Philosophy & meaning (7) · Pop culture (2) · Science & nature (2) · US politics & society (2) · Everyday life (1) · Global development (1) · Health (1)

Nerdfighteria

• Q: “What's your favorite movie right now?” (00:01:27) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says his favorite movie forever is Harvey. (00:01:27)
• Q [request]: “Can we get more frequent episodes of the Anthropocene Reviewed?” (00:01:27) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked for more frequent Anthropocene Reviewed episodes, John says it takes him an entire month to write one. (00:01:27)
• Q: “What do you think of people who still write first in the comment section of videos in 2019?” (00:01:27) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John thinks people still writing 'first' in comments in 2019 is great: he likes any tradition that isn't offensive and can survive for 12 years online. (00:01:56)
• Q [request]: “Can you talk about-” (00:01:56) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says Turtles All the Way Down is being made into a movie, hopefully, and Hannah Marks, who is wonderful and often watches these videos, has been hired as director. (00:02:26)
• Q: “Do you still eat cereal with water?” (00:02:26) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John still eats cereal with water, says it is still delicious and refuses to be shamed for it. (00:02:26)
• Q: “What advice would you give yourself 12 years ago when you started Vlogbrothers?” (00:02:26) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John's advice to himself 12 years ago when starting Vlogbrothers: edit jump cuts tighter, and ridiculing someone else's world doesn't make anything better, which he still needs to hear. (00:02:26)
• Q: “What advice would you give your high school self?” (00:02:55) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John would tell his high school self that he knows it's hard, he is doing okay, more loved than he knows and worthy of love, and to smoke fewer cigarettes. (00:02:55)
• Q: “Any good book recommendations?” (00:00:00) — Optimism and Spider People: Question Tuesday from the Looking for Alaska Set · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked for book recommendations, John recommends a biography of Rosalind Franklin he enjoyed, currently propping up his tripod setup. (00:00:00)
• Q: “How did you quit smoking?” (00:00:58) — Optimism and Spider People: Question Tuesday from the Looking for Alaska Set · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked how he quit smoking, John says with nicotine gum; the hard part was quitting the gum. (00:01:27)
• Q: “Kathy asks, why did you stop...” (00:00:29) — Why Are We Still Doing This? - Reunion Video!
  • Hank: Asked why he stopped making straight-up silly videos, Hank says the rest of the internet got good at being silly but not at being earnest, and he is quite earnest. (00:00:55)
• Q: “But will you let Vlogbrothers die? Or is Vlogbrothers something you will continue until you are physically unable?” (00:01:41) — Why Are We Still Doing This? - Reunion Video!
  • John: Asked whether they will let Vlogbrothers die, John says he wants to choose to end the channel, uploading the last video knowing it is the last. (00:01:41)
• Q [request]: “Pecan Pancakes wants us to do another year of Brotherhood 2.0 style vlogging. Maybe the last year that we do it.” (00:02:33) — Why Are We Still Doing This? - Reunion Video!
  • Hank: A viewer suggests another, maybe final, year of Brotherhood 2.0-style vlogging, and the idea is welcomed as a good one. (00:02:33)
• Q: “If you two could switch personalities and lives, would you? Why?” (00:02:33) — Why Are We Still Doing This? - Reunion Video!
  • John: Asked whether they would switch personalities and lives, John says no: he likes Hank's kid, but not as much as his own kids. (00:02:33)
• Q: “What's the embarrassing story that got cut from the podcast that's your most embarrassing story ever?” (00:00:33) — Hank and John's Smooth Airport Reunion
  • Hank: Asked for his most embarrassing story, cut from the podcast, Hank says everyone he tells says never say it aloud, then decides he is too embarrassed. (00:00:33)
• Q: “What was your favorite class that you took in college?” (00:00:33) — Hank and John's Smooth Airport Reunion
  • John: John's favorite college class was about the emergence of Islam in Central Asia, a bit niche but great. (00:00:33)
• Q: “Have either of you ever considered getting contact lenses?” (00:01:09) — Hank and John's Smooth Airport Reunion
  • Hank: One brother wore contact lenses for a while in high school, but they hurt his eyes; he doesn't like how he looks without glasses. (00:01:09)
• Q: “Would you ever consider writing a novel together?” (00:01:09) — Hank and John's Smooth Airport Reunion
  • Hank: Hank would write a novel with John: it would have great spaceships and great love stories. (00:01:41)
• Q: “Would you want your collective portmanteau to be jank or ha?” (00:02:04) — Hank and John's Smooth Airport Reunion
  • John: Couple portmanteaus are for people in love and dating, like Bennifer, or William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman, together about 30 years. (00:02:34)
• Q: “What would be your Patronus?” (00:02:34) — Hank and John's Smooth Airport Reunion
  • John & Hank: Asked their Patronus, the brothers name a tiny, new baby bear cub that sometimes falls over and a very old fox. (00:02:34)
• Q: “Hank, why does my cat smell like a diseased goat?” (00:03:03) — Hank and John's Smooth Airport Reunion
  • Hank (joke): Asked why a viewer's cat smells like a diseased goat, Hank advises getting it checked out. (00:03:03)
• Q: “20 years from now, what would you say to someone who wasn't alive about what now felt like?” (00:03:03) — Hank and John's Smooth Airport Reunion
  • John: Asked what now felt like, the answer after false starts: it felt like starting a lot of sentences without knowing how to finish them. (00:03:31)

Books & writing

• Q: “Brittany wants to know, am I going to cry?” (00:00:58) — Book News!
  • Hank: Asked whether he will cry, Hank says he cried in the Chipotle as he was finishing writing the book. (00:00:58)
• Q: “What is the title of your new book? Are you allowed to say yet?” (00:00:58) — Book News!
  • Hank: Hank is not allowed to say the title yet; he will tell viewers as soon as he knows for sure, rather than float one they might hate. (00:00:58)
• Q: “Life Geek wants to know when is your deadline?” (00:01:48) — Book News!
  • Hank: Hank's deadline was October 2nd and he missed it, then set himself an artificial deadline of Pizzamas. (00:01:48)
• Q: “Kate asks, have any current events or development in the social media internet discourse world changed the structure or focus of the sequel or given you a different perspective compared to an absolutely remarkable thing?” (00:01:48) — Book News!
  • Hank: Hank says internet discourse did change his perspective: the first book was about the internet as it is, the sequel imagines the social internet far in the future, though the book isn't set far ahead. (00:02:31)
• Q: “What's your favorite Christmas movie of all time?” (00:00:29) — Letting It Snow with Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Anna Akana, and Blogbrother John Green
  • a guest: Asked for their favourite Christmas movie of all time, a cast member names A Muppet Christmas Carol. (00:00:29)
• Q: “Did y'all film in the snow?” (00:00:29) — Letting It Snow with Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Anna Akana, and Blogbrother John Green
  • a guest: Cast members say they filmed in real snow with more added on top, and the coldest day was minus 30. (00:00:29)
• Q: “where can i watch let it snow” (00:02:53) — Letting It Snow with Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Anna Akana, and Blogbrother John Green
  • a guest: Asked where to watch Let It Snow, the cast says November 8 and, they add, from then in perpetuity. (00:03:23)

Philosophy & meaning

• Q: “What is the meaning of life?” (00:00:29) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John thinks the meaning of life differs between people and times; for him right now it is to use the gift of human consciousness to pay attention. (00:00:29)
• Q: “What are some things you're enjoying now that you're off social media?” (00:00:29) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Off social media, John says he treated Instagram and Twitter like first love, as if an experience's realness depended on its sharedness; he enjoys looking at things outside the frame of shareability. (00:00:29)
• Q: “Do you collect anything that other people might not understand but brings you joy?” (00:00:58) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John collects football scarves: very limited function, but a beautiful form. (00:00:58)
• Q: “How can you make yourself like physics?” (00:00:58) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked how to make yourself like physics, John says to watch MinutePhysics. (00:00:58)
• Q: “I have so little faith in humanity. I have seen so much pain. How do I keep myself from going completely apathetic?” (00:02:55) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says he has felt despair at pain and found justification for it, but believes despair is simple and humanity complex: there is cause for despair, and for other feelings. (00:03:24)
• Q: “How do you stay happy when so much of the news we” (00:00:00) — Optimism and Spider People: Question Tuesday from the Looking for Alaska Set · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked how he stays happy given bad news, John says he doesn't: he gets angry and discouraged, but doesn't want to be merely that, since it doesn't reflect the whole human story. (00:00:29)
• Q: “Have you thought about what you want your last words to be?” (00:02:55) — Death, Love, and John's Religion: The Big Questions Take Over Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked about his last words, John says you have to get lucky: Paul Claudel could not have planned 'Doctor, do you think it was the sausage?', yet they were perfect last words. (00:02:55)

Pop culture

• Q: “Gabby wants to know why Australia is so slow with movie releases” (00:01:51) — Why Does Australia... (this video is bad, I'm sorry)
  • Hank: Answering Gabby's tweet about slow Australian movie releases, Hank calls it ludicrous that in a global world content is still released by continent. (00:01:55)
• Q: “Sigrid wants to know why Australia is so obsessed with fairies.” (00:01:51) — Why Does Australia... (this video is bad, I'm sorry)
  • Hank: Answering Sigrid's question about Australia's obsession with fairies, Hank lists fairy floss, fairy bread, fairy penguins, fairy lights, and 'the fairies', which he assumes are boats. (00:02:15)

Science & nature

• Q: “When you use quotes, do you have them memorized or do you need” (00:00:29) — Death, Love, and John's Religion: The Big Questions Take Over Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked whether he memorizes the quotes he uses, John says he has to Google most of them but knows that one by heart. (00:00:58)
• Q: “How did Stegosaurus reproduce?” (00:00:58) — Death, Love, and John's Religion: The Big Questions Take Over Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked how Stegosaurus reproduced, John says we don't know, but one computer-model study found a male mounting a female from behind would risk castration. (00:00:58)

US politics & society

• Q: “My friends don't want to vote because they say it won't make a difference. How do I convince them otherwise?” (00:01:56) — Death, Love, and John's Religion: The Big Questions Take Over Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Answering how to persuade friends who think voting makes no difference, John says young people are much less likely to vote than older people. (00:01:56)
• Q: “What's your opinion on the current 2020 presidential candidates?” (00:02:26) — Death, Love, and John's Religion: The Big Questions Take Over Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked about the 2020 presidential candidates, John says the multi-year obsession with the presidential election is bad for US life. (00:02:26)

Everyday life

• Q: “Do you believe in true love?” (00:01:27) — Death, Love, and John's Religion: The Big Questions Take Over Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: Asked if he believes in true love, John says not really, but in something more miraculous: two people not made for each other can share a lifetime of joy, grief, wonder and hope. (00:01:27)

Global development

• Q: “I'm often asked, "Why Sierra Leone?” (00:04:59) — Why We're Donating $6,500,000
  • John: Answering 'Why Sierra Leone?', John says the Ministry of Health is committed to systemic change and PIH's deep connections in Kono let it help make that change. (00:05:04)

Health

• Q: “I feel really alone and isolated, and I don't know what to do. How do I break this cycle and go outside?” (00:00:00) — Battling Apathy and Searching for Meaning on Question Tuesday · Question Tuesday
  • John: John says loneliness can be a cycle: when lonely he often does things that distract him but make it worse, which can feel infinite but is not; it will get better. (00:00:00)