What Inspired Hank Green To Start Science Communication Videos?

I get excited every time the community rallies behind another charity drive, so here's how I usually explain it: Hank Green doesn’t run a fixed list of causes under the Nerdfighter banner — instead, Nerdfighteria primarily channels its charitable energy through the annual 'Project for Awesome' and the volunteer-run 'Foundation to Decrease World Suck'. Those two vehicles let hundreds of nonprofits benefit each year, and the specific roster changes as the community nominates and votes for organizations. From watching multiple years of P4A, I can say the kinds of groups that often show up include international health and development groups, literacy and education charities, clean water projects, and emergency relief orgs. Examples that have appeared repeatedly in campaigns or that Hank and John have highlighted over time are 'charity: water', 'Doctors Without Borders', 'Partners In Health', 'Save the Children', 'Worldreader', 'Room to Read', 'Kiva', and organizations tackling malaria or refugee crises. But note: the yearly slate is crowdsourced, so smaller grassroots groups often get spotlighted too. If you want a definitive, up-to-the-minute list, I usually point people to the 'Project for Awesome' site or the Foundation to Decrease World Suck’s pages during P4A week — they post the nominated charities and donation links. It's one of my favorite parts of the community because it’s participatory and always surprising who gets helped next.

One of my favorite YouTube origin stories feels like watching two brothers turn a personal challenge into a community heartbeat. Back on January 1, 2007, Hank and his younger brother John launched what would become 'Vlogbrothers' with a video project they called 'Brotherhood 2.0'. The basic idea was really simple and incredibly human: they vowed to stop communicating by text and email for a year and instead post video responses to each other. That constraint pushed them into candid, often hilarious face-to-camera conversations about life, books, music, and whatever odd topic caught their fancy that week. I got sucked into their early videos because they were raw and honest — low-budget webcams, quick edits, inside jokes that made you feel like a fly on the wall. Hank's energy is contagious: he combined curiosity, humor, and a knack for storytelling, which hooked viewers fast. What started as an experiment morphed into something larger when the viewers showed up and called themselves 'Nerdfighters'. They developed catchphrases like 'DFTBA' and took collective projects seriously. Over time, the brothers spun off all kinds of initiatives — 'Project for Awesome', 'VidCon', educational shows like 'Crash Course' and 'SciShow' — but it all traces back to those first few months of mutual video letters. If you watch early 'Vlogbrothers' clips now, it’s like peeking at the genesis of a community that treasured curiosity and kindness. Hank didn’t just start a channel; he helped plant a culture that turned casual viewers into an active, creative crew. That grassroots vibe still shows up whenever they rally people for a good cause, and that’s part of why I keep coming back to their channel even years later.

I still get a little giddy telling people about these — Hank Green has two novels out and they come as a pair that really stuck with a lot of readers. The first is 'An Absolutely Remarkable Thing', published on September 25, 2018. It follows April May and the surreal, viral-phenomenon mystery that springs up around her discovery of giant statues, and it reads equal parts social satire and sincere character work. It landed with a lot of buzz, and I remember seeing it on bookstore displays and on bus-stop ads — it felt like a book that belonged to the internet age, which is fitting. The follow-up novel is 'A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor', released on July 7, 2020. It continues the story from the first book and pushes deeper into questions about technology, community, and what it means to be human when systems begin to feel almost alive. Both novels were published by Dutton and are written in that energetic, modern voice that mixes humor and earnestness. If you liked one, the other is a must-read; if you haven’t tried them yet, they’re a compact, thoughtful two-book arc that stuck with me long after I closed the covers.

There’s this energized, slightly nerdy thrill I get when I think about how Hank Green approaches a novel — and I’ve dug through interviews, podcasts, and his YouTube chats enough to see a pattern that really clicked for me. He balances planning and discovery: he doesn’t wing everything, but he also leaves room for surprises from his characters. He’ll map out acts and key beats first so the story has a shape, then write scenes to see how the characters actually behave inside that shape. That combination keeps momentum without strangling creativity. He talks a lot about discipline too — setting daily targets or at least regular writing habits so the manuscript keeps moving forward, then switching gears into ruthless revision once a full draft exists. From what he’s described, the early drafts are about finding voice and stakes; later drafts are precise, shaving away anything that doesn’t serve the engine of the plot. He leans on feedback often: friends, beta readers, and professional editors help point out where jokes land or where the science and internet-culture bits need tightening. As a reader who loved 'An Absolutely Remarkable Thing' and 'A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor', I appreciate this hybrid approach. It explains why his books feel structured and fast-paced but still full of character discovery. If you’re trying to write, his method suggests being kind to early messes, planning enough to avoid getting lost, and inviting outside eyes to make the work cleaner and braver.

I still get excited whenever I spot someone wearing a Nerdfighter tee in public — it reminds me of the time I grabbed one at VidCon and promptly spilled coffee on it (true story). If you want merchandise that Hank Green has actually endorsed, the go-to place historically has been DFTBA Records (Don’t Forget To Be Awesome). They’ve carried Vlogbrothers gear, Nerdfighter items, and a lot of creator-collab pieces tied to Hank’s projects. I usually search there first because it’s where much of the community’s official swag has been sold. Beyond DFTBA, check the official stores connected to his channels and projects. SciShow and Crash Course sometimes have branded items in their shops, and projects Hank backs — like Team Trees or Project for Awesome — often run limited-time merch drops where proceeds go to charity. Publishers also sell author-related items when he releases books, so I’ve snagged signed editions and bookish merch through publisher shop pages and event booths. If you want to be safe, follow Hank’s social accounts or sign up for newsletters; he announces merch drops, collabs, and charity campaigns there. I usually wait for those official links rather than hunting random marketplaces, because a lot of the charm is knowing the purchase supports causes or creators I care about.

I get nerdily excited about this kind of tally, so I did a little mental spreadsheet for you. If you add up the big YouTube channels Hank has founded or fronts, plus his personal social accounts, you land in the ballpark of tens of millions—but the exact total bounces around with every new subscriber. Roughly speaking (using public channel sizes from around 2023–2024 as a guide): 'CrashCourse' is in the low double-digit millions, 'SciShow' sits in the high single-digit millions, 'vlogbrothers' and 'Hank Green' (his personal channel) are a few million each, and a handful of related channels like 'SciShow Psych', 'SciShow Kids', 'Eons', and 'Healthcare Triage' add several more. On top of YouTube you’ve got social followers — Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok — which together tack on a few million more. Tallying everything conservatively gives me a rough range of about 35–45 million subscribers/followers across the major platforms tied to Hank and the networks he helped build. If you want the current exact number, I usually check each channel/profile directly or use sites like SocialBlade for live totals. It’s kind of fun to watch the number creep up during a big new video or a trending topic, honestly.

I still get a little giddy when I spot a new episode with Hank Green in my feed — he’s one of those people who pops up more often than you’d expect, but mostly on shows he actually runs. If you want podcasts that regularly feature him (as host, co-host, or main voice), start with 'Dear Hank & John' — that’s the weekly show he does with John Green where they read questions, riff, and sometimes bring in guests or interview people related to their topics. Another steady place is 'The Anthropocene Reviewed', which is Hank’s more personal, essay-style podcast; while it isn’t an interview show in the traditional sense, episodes sometimes include conversations or guest contributions tied to the subject matter. Beyond those two, Hank is a frequent voice on science-adjacent podcasting projects from the SciShow family. 'SciShow Tangents' is the closest fit: it’s casual, conversational, and Hank shows up regularly to discuss odd science topics and occasionally speak with guest experts. The broader 'SciShow' network also releases podcast-format episodes where Hank’s involvement can be recurring, depending on the series. If you’re hunting for guest appearances rather than his own programs, those are more sporadic — he pops onto other people’s shows from time to time. My advice: follow his social feed or subscribe to his channels so you’re alerted when he’s a guest, and use podcast search engines like Listen Notes or Podchaser to filter by his name. I usually queue things up on long train rides and discover half my new favorites that way.

Lucinda Williams and Hank Williams are not related—it's purely coincidence that they share the same last name. Her father, Miller Williams, happened to be a big fan of Hank's music, which influenced Lucinda’s own artistic sensibility, but there’s no family connection.