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 older 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.

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 mostly admire 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 on to his latest book, The Anthropocene Reviewed, I was shocked to discover

that it was non-fiction, 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, grab 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.

...