Today's episode is an encore presentation of a conversation I had with author John Green a few years back.

I picked out 10 of my favorite all-time episodes, and we're playing them once a month for the next 10 months.

John Green has all the characteristics one would hope for in a podcast guest.

He's smart, done a lot of interesting things.

He's a great storyteller.

He's famous.

And he's not afraid to open up about his struggles.

I thought this conversation would go well.

What I hadn't expected is that by the end of the episode,

John Green would feel like a good friend.

My guest today is John Green.

He's the author of The Fault in Our Stars, which began as a novel for young adults and ended up a cultural phenomenon.

And he also, with his brother Hank, created the educational YouTube channel Crash Course, which has grown to an incredible 13 million subscribers.

If there's one thing I've learned after 30 years of being on the internet is that I have absolutely no idea what the future looks like.

Welcome to people I mostlyire with Steve Levitt.

One of the perks of having teenage kids is that it gives you an excuse, as a grown man, to read young adult fiction without people thinking you're strange.

So I've secretly been a fan of John Green for a while.

But when I stumbled onto his latest book, the Anthropocene

reviewed, I was shocked to discover that it was nonfiction, actually meant for adults. I bought it,

I went home, and I immediately started reading it. I could not believe how good it was. I put it down,

grabbed my phone, and I fired off an email inviting John to come on the podcast.

Then I picked the book back up, and I finished it that very same day.

...