Goldfish and Expensive Candles

AuthorAuthor

Payton Mitchell & Hank Green
June 07, 2024

Hello!

We are sending this one out early because today is the last day you can order a Crash Course Coin.

And to all of you who have already ordered a coin (AND THERE ARE A BUNCH) thank you so much for helping make Crash Course work. I often feel like Crash Course's impact is so huge compared to its budget that it's frustrating that we have to worry about money at all. Though, I suppose, if we didn't have to worry about money that would be less true!

The history of Crash Course has been mostly about trying to figure out how to most efficiently get the best possible information into the heads of learners, but it has also been about figuring out weird ways to get the money to keep doing it, and the coin project has been tremendously successful in that regard.

But again, if you want to help Crash Course exist in the world and get a beautiful little piece of art, go to CrashCourseCoin.com now.

Hank

You can always email us at [email protected]

This Week in Stuff

Please send us stuff you think we should feature to [email protected]

What’s Hank Reading?

Katherine and I have been reading the Thursday Murder Club books from Richard Osman. We're currently on book three "The Bullet That Missed." I am a big fan of mysteries but oftentimes these days it feels like people may have learned one too many things from "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and a mystery novel is an excuse to showcase graphic violence and human depravity. Unsurprisingly, I do not like that kind of mystery novel!!

I like a mystery novel where the characters are good (if flawed) people who are capable and care about trying to make the world better. Also, these books are frequently "laugh out loud" funny. They’re absolutely adorable, fascinating, and so fun. I find them to be a perfect escape.

Many countries are “leapfrogging” landlines and going straight to mobile phones

Hannah Ritchie

The concept of “leapfrogging” is popular in development. It suggests that lower-income countries can, as they develop, skip intermediate technologies or systems to go straight to the modern equivalent.

One example of this is the use of landlines and mobile phones.

The landline telephone was invented in 1876 and became a dominant form of communication across Europe and North America. As you can see in the chart, it was increasingly adopted in the United States and the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century.

However, mobile phone adoption increased rapidly in the 1990s, and landlines have declined since the millennium. Mobile phones have become a substitute for landlines.

Many countries, however, have almost skipped the adoption of landlines entirely. India, Ghana, and Nigeria are good examples: landline subscriptions have remained extremely low, and instead, mobile phone adoption has exploded.

Our World in Data is a UK-based non-profit organization that publishes research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems. You can find more of their data insights here.

This Week at Complexly

Hank is on a mission to learn how people have learned - so he’s interviewing notable folks from various fields to discuss their lives, careers, and college journeys. The premiere episode of “College Journeys” (out now!) features game master, writer, comedian, and overall great guy: Brennan Lee Mulligan. And trust us when we say this man has so. much. lore.

Don’t miss your chance to get the beautiful 2024 Crash Course Coin, featuring imagery of figs, which are one of the first plants that humans ever domesticated. You can grow your own knowledge, just like early humans grew fig trees! Pretty cool, right?

Today is the LAST DAY to get your coin! Go to crashcoursecoin.com and help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever!

20,000 Learner Coin

Some Games to Play!

Blossom (by Merriam-Webster)

SpellCheck.xyc (by Answer in Progress.)

Scrabble Tetris (by carykh)

Download Gubbins on iOS or Android!

This Gubbins postcard was made by Locke. Send yours to [email protected]

If you post your results on social media, we’d love it if you post a link for folks to subscribe to “We’re Here” (https://werehere.beehiiv.com/subscribe)

Thank you, Crash Course!

Last week, we asked if you’d ever used Crash Course and we got SO MANY responses. Lots of wonderful people put their effort and expertise into Crash Course but don’t get thanked because they aren’t the ones hosting the videos. So, a very special THANK YOU to those folks!! We appreciate you!

I've had the pleasure to be taught by Crash Course. It carried me through classes such as World History (with John) and Psychology (with Hank). I love to learn, and this platform is a wonderful way to do it. More often then not, I find myself turning it on to listen to as I do various tasks. I find it very nostalgic, allowing me to look back on simpler times. As a student, I've got to experience the seemingly forever upclimb in my education, and Crash Course has helped so much. On days when I feel defeated, I remember my resources; besides, you can't have the full human experience without struggles.

RJ

I graduated high school when I was 15 by skipping my junior and senior years and going straight to community college, so I never took chemistry in high school. Well, chemistry was required for my major and I was terrified because of how hard people said it was, so I watched the entirety of crash course chemistry during my winter break to prepare for the class. I ended up loving chemistry! I aced the class and then worked as a chemistry tutor at the college the next year.

Hayley

I am a high school science teacher and I play at least one Complexly video a week. Just yesterday we watched the Crash Course on Phylum Chordata! My students all know I love Crash Course and would definitely recognize Hank as "the guy from the biology videos".

Thanks for all you do to make teaching easier!

Marie

Crash Course has helped me get through high school and college. As a student with learning disabilities I always felt like I was behind my peers and would never be "a good learner" like them. However, the visual style of Crash Course videos and the humor used by the hosts helped me understand topics that a traditional classroom setting would have never accomplished. I was able to graduate with the career I wanted thanks to Crash Course. Thank you Hank and John for making learning awesome and fun.

Moriah

When I was working as an academic librarian, I was assigned the History department as one of my liaison areas. I was an English major and had studied history only tangentially, so I used Crash Course U.S. and World History to get up to speed have better, more-informed conversations with my students and faculty. Thank you for the amazing resource!

Jennifer

I'm a history professor at a community college, and I provide my students with Crash Course US History as a supplement to my lecture. One time, I had a student ask me if I was a nerdfighter (of course), and she and I were able to talk about the various projects of y'alls that we have enjoyed.

Kevin

And that’s the end of the newsletter!

What’s your secret talent? Do you have a party trick? We want to learn about the silly, weird, and wonderful things our readers can do.

We're Here is the newsletter of Nerdfighteria; the community of people that sprung up around Hank and John Green's YouTube videos. That community has many focuses and has spawned many projects, but the overarching theme is that hopelessness is the wrong response to imperfection. What makes the world better is groups of people trying to understand and solve problems, and people can only do that for an extended period if they're having at least a little bit of fun.

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