Skip to content

Viewer questions, 2023

15 viewer questions, requests and challenges answered in 5 videos uploaded in 2023, 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: Everyday life (3) · Global development (3) · Pop culture (3) · Books & writing (1) · Health (1) · Nerdfighteria (1) · Personal life (1) · Philosophy & meaning (1) · Science & nature (1)

Everyday life

  • Q [request]: “Chair ranking.” (00:00:29) — This is a Video!!
    • Hank: Ranking his studio chairs, Hank calls the one his mother painted his best, gives his microscope chair seven out of ten and his drum throne, which falls whenever he sits on it, zero. (00:00:29)
  • Q [request]: “Dan Lewis wants me to talk about how niche escalators are.” (00:00:53) — This is a Video!!
    • Hank: Asked about how niche escalators are, Hank says Missoula recently lost its only escalator, in the Herberger's, but got another at the new airport. (00:01:22)
  • Q [request]: “Maybe a book recommendation video.” (00:01:22) — This is a Video!!
    • Hank: Hank recommends She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, which he loved: beautiful and kind of terrifying, not as horror but in what humans are capable of. (00:01:22)

Global development

  • Q: “people often ask me why I'm obsessed with tuberculosis” (00:00:00) — Henry
    • John: John says people often ask him why he is obsessed with tuberculosis, and this video is why. (00:00:00)
  • Q: “So can you talk a little bit about skin testing and the upsides and downsides of skin testing and why gene expert tests are better even if they're more expensive?” (00:26:53) — Talking Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, J&J, and more with MY HEROES
    • Animesh Sinha: Answering a chat question, Dr. Sinha says skin tests only show past exposure to TB bacteria, not active disease, so GeneXpert, not skin testing, is the test of choice for most people with TB. (00:27:22)
  • Q: “do we know how much of the percentage of the development of GeneXpert came from public funding?” (00:39:57) — Talking Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, J&J, and more with MY HEROES
    • John: Asked by a viewer how much of GeneXpert's development was publicly funded, John says it was $250 million but he doesn't know what share of the total that was. (00:39:57)

Pop culture

  • Q: “Do you have a favorite musical, and if so, what is it?” (00:02:56) — Bon Your Vivant
    • Hank: Asked for his favorite musical of all time, Hank names Shrek 2. (00:02:56)
  • Q: “What do you put in first, cereal or milk and wine?” (00:02:56) — Bon Your Vivant
    • John: Asked about cereal and milk, John describes putting the cereal in, then filling the bowl with cold water from the refrigerator's water button. (00:02:56)
  • Q: “On three, Hank, what's your favorite baseball team?” (00:03:25) — Bon Your Vivant
    • John & Hank: Asked their favorite baseball team, both answer the Missoula PaddleHeads; they went to a game yesterday, which was wildly enjoyable, and the team won. (00:03:25)

Books & writing

  • Q: “Nix asks if I could talk about Crash Course in Spanish.” (00:01:51) — This is a Video!!
    • Hank: Hank announces Crash Course in Spanish, starting with chemistry (química), produced in Spanish from the ground up; a few episodes are up and more are being made. (00:01:51)

Health

  • Q: “I'm confused. Is there any cancer inside of you now?” (00:04:41) — Remission
    • Hank: Asked whether there is cancer inside him now, Hank says he is also confused: nobody knows whether cancer remains, whether his immune system will clear it, or whether he will relapse. (00:04:41)

Nerdfighteria

  • Q [request]: “Do the format, bestie.” (00:00:53) — This is a Video!!
    • Hank: Asked to do the Format, Hank says it isn't easier: it is fun, but you still have to make the video and have all the words; this one will be mostly regular. (00:00:53)

Personal life

  • Q: “This person asks, have I ever considered being a comedian?” (00:00:28) — Bon Your Vivant
    • Hank: Asked whether he has considered being a comedian, Hank says he has considered every job one shouldn't try: he desperately wants to do everything once. (00:00:51)

Philosophy & meaning

  • Q: “I actually want to know what my current favorite hyperfixation is.” (00:02:28) — Bon Your Vivant
    • Hank: Hank says he has a current favorite hyperfixation but keeps it secret because he is going to turn it into a project; he regularly sends John related things. (00:02:28)

Science & nature

  • Q: “Jake says piezoelectric activity of bone cells?” (00:02:28) — This is a Video!!
    • Hank: Prompted by a viewer, Hank reads that bone is piezoelectric: its oriented collagen responds to mechanical load, and shearing collagen fibres past each other generates a charge. (00:02:28)