Hello!

We’ve gotten a couple of letters from people who are like, “I love this newsletter, but…who are you people? It seems like something is going on…” That’s fair, and of course part of the joy of life is mysteries, so perhaps I should not explain. Another bonus of not explaining is that I find it very difficult to explain. But, basically, I’m Hank Green, my brother is John Green, and we started making YouTube videos in 2007 and then never stopped. The Vlogbrothers channel is the home base for that whole thing, where we make videos about whatever we want to make videos about.

For example, I just uploaded a video about a weird rock in Oregon and also (quietly) about time, grief, and the apocalypse.

An exhaustive list of weird, cool things built on the foundation of that YouTube channel would be too long for this, but it includes Crash Course, SciShow, several feature films, at least one Emmy award, mobile apps, VidCon, a hospital in Sierra Leone, an internet store that donates all of its money to charity, and glasses that let you watch 3D movies in 2D.

But the overall vibe of the project is, I think, more important than any of that, and it is that humanity is facing some very serious challenges, but also it has faced serious challenges before. Those challenges were overcome (or at least, moved through) not through luck or inevitability, but by people trying hard to understand problems and then working hard together to solve them. And (more than you would think) they were having a good time while they did it.

Since it worked for them, we figured we should try to do it, too.

Hank

You can always email us at [email protected]

This Week in Stuff

• There was a very wholesome real-life Bambi moment caught on video.

• Hank explained why you should STOP subscribing to things on your phone.

• WeRateDogs featured a dog named Maxwell who chooses a new human’s lap to sit on every day at the park.

• Frontier held an in-flight ceremony for a passenger who missed their kindergarten graduation.

• A deep-sea angler fish washed up on an Oregon beach and Seaside Aquarium used this as an opportunity to teach us some wild fishy facts. (Their post includes photos of the found fish.)

Ditch coffee billionaires here!

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

Much more progress can be made against child mortality

Saloni Dattani

The world has made great progress against child mortality. But in many countries, a significant share still die during childhood.

The data on this map comes from the UN IGME, which estimates child mortality rates worldwide using detailed household surveys and vital statistics.

As the map shows, child mortality is much lower in rich countries, where fewer than 1% of children die before the age of five.

However, the figures are much higher in poor countries, especially across Africa and South Asia. In Pakistan, for example, 6% die before their fifth birthday. In Nigeria and Somalia, the figure is 11%.

These statistics show that despite impressive falls in child mortality, much more progress can be made.

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

Complexly makes a lot of cool stuff and they don’t want you to miss out. To make sure you get the chance to see all of their new videos, they make weekly playlists on YouTube!

Crash Course teased the 2024 Crash Course Coin on their socials! Be sure to save the date (May 28th) if you want to help keep Crash Course free because the coins sell out quickly.

Recipe Recreations

We shared recipes that had been emailed to us in last Friday’s newsletter, and they were very loved! Thanks to everyone who told us about their recreation successes and to the folks who developed the recipes.

Some Games to Play!

Scrabble Tetris (by carykh)

SpellCheck.xyc (by Answer in Progress.)

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)

Download Gubbins on iOS or Android!

We’re Here

Last week we asked what you love about where you live. Thank you for taking a moment to tell us about it!

And that’s the end of the newsletter!

We’d love for you to draw us flowers this week. We’re excited to stop and smell the roses with you!

You can email us at [email protected].