Hello!
How you feeling out there tonight? I'm not feeling good.
One thing no one likes is not knowing. For a lot of our lives, we are able to predict what our own lives will be like in the next days, weeks, months, and even years. But people dealing with severe illness, financial uncertainty, or an unstable home life are aware that that expectation is an illusion.
There are times when change is exciting. In the early days of the internet, I remember YouTube being a little bit of uncertainty tossed on top of the relative certainty of modern American life. But that's not how it felt when COVID hit. That uncertainty of never knowing what we were dealing with, or what we should do, or what the future would look like, is reminiscent of the feeling I felt when I knew I had cancer, but I didn't know what kind. What use is planning when everything's about to change?
And that's a little of how I feel right now, watching political violence happen in near real time, and doom-scrolling through reactions to that political violence.
These feelings made it really hard for me to figure out what I wanted to do with my Vlogbrothers video. How am I supposed to make videos in a world that is changing this fast? But then I remembered what a friend of mine who has terminal cancer said recently. He was talking about whether he would plan to go to his friend's wedding, and he simply couldn't be sure whether he would be able to or not. But then he realized that, if he acted that way, he'd basically never do anything again. "I just need to learn how to live sick," he said.
I'm not saying I think America has terminal cancer. I don't know what America has. I don't think anyone knows. I just know it doesn't feel as clear and stable as it once did, and that's really hard. But I can't let that box me into never being able to make another choice. I just gotta keep doing my thing. So I worked my ass off on a video about life on Mars, and now that video's up and doing well, and I'm really proud of it.
I don't know what to do, say, or think about Charlie Kirk's assassination. It's too big, too sad, too upsetting, too scary. I'm just a person. I have no simple conclusion.
I sincerely hope you're well.
Hank
You can always email us at [email protected]
This Week in Stuff
Hank shared the video version of Dear Hank and John, Ep. 421! (YouTube) You can watch all new episodes as videos by becoming a Patreon member. (patreon.com)
A nerdfighter on Reddit made a 3D-printed version of their Focus Friend bean. (Reddit)
The sound of thousands of dropping marbles led scientists to a new species of gecko. (GoodGoodGood.co)
A retired accountant fulfilled his lifelong goal of joining the LSU marching band. (APnews.com)
Oceanside Museum of Art figured out how to keep people from touching the art. (TikTok)
Please send us stuff you think we should feature to [email protected]
A century ago, around half of today’s independent countries were European colonies
Saloni Dattani and Bastian Herre
Just a century ago, many of today’s independent countries weren’t self-governing at all. They were colonies controlled by European countries from far away.
Modern European colonialism began in the 15th century, when Spain and Portugal established overseas empires. By the early 20th century, it had peaked: the United Kingdom and France dominated, and nearly 100 modern-day countries were under European control, mostly in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.
As the chart shows, this changed rapidly after World War II. A wave of decolonization spread across the world, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. Colonies became independent countries, formed their own governments, joined international institutions, and started having their own voice in global decisions.
The decline of colonialism marked one of the biggest political shifts in modern history, from external rule to national sovereignty.
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
In our world today, we are increasingly exposed to, and influenced by, complicated mazes of buzzwords, mantras, euphemisms, clichés, and redefinitions: in short, language that’s just a little bit cultish. In this lecture about linguistics, culture, and belonging, we'll learn how these linguistic tricks are so effective, how we got here to the most cultish era of all time, and how we can avoid 'drinking the kool-aid.'
While traditional Crash Courses on our channel break open an entire subject, a Crash Course Lecture tackles a single topic in-depth. Each lecture shares the perspective of a scholar, journalist, or thinker. This lecture will be hosted by Amanda Montell, a linguist, social commentator, and author of "Cultish."
Join the live premiere of our next Crash Course Lecture on September 16 at 9 am PT / 12 noon ET!
We’re in our self-determination era! In this episode of Crash Course Native American History, we explore the activism that led to the biggest change in modern federal Indian policy, and how it affects Native nations today.
Some Games to Play!
Battleships (by Luke Rissacher)
SpellCheck.xyc (by Answer in Progress)
This Gubbins postcard was made by Sarah. 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)
Your seasonal poetry
In the last edition of We’re Here, we celebrated Good Store’s fall releases by asking for poetry inspired by the changing of seasons. Thank you to everyone who sent us a poem!
Fall
Down from the thick, warm pedestal of summer and its endless possibilities
To the modest blanket of leaves who are rarely beautiful but sometimes soulful when seen during a sentimental moment
To a new beginning for students who must drop everything from their branches and try to start again
To a season that seems flavored seltzer not soda — the suggestion of a feeling not the submersion in it
Like a cuckoo clock’s chimes the coming of autumn is a reminder that time moves fast so we mustn’t dally or we’ll
fall
clouds like muslin tapestry,
sky like a funeral shroud
to eulogize the end of life.
skeletal forms stretch to the heavens
with arms reaching for something beyond themselves.
for a world perched on the brink of death,
there's more life in my breath
than one soul could ever need.
It’s snowing here in Alaska
Even though autumn’s just barely begun
Blueberry picking was yesterday
And our jam isn’t even quite done
I’m seasonal here in Alaska
A few months blown in with the wind
I was a stranger enjoying the sunshine
Cooking salmon deboned and de-finned
I’ve made some good friends in Alaska
Like Higgins the doodle refined
The fireweed leaves burnish garnet
As the changes all ponder our minds
The sun changes fast in Alaska
We used to cluster to smoke on the porch
In the brightness of endless sunlight
Now our smoking demands a lit torch
I hope we’ll be kind to Alaska
In her rapid leaf changes and frost
The moose moms and bear cubs are snuggling
They don’t care how much TP costs
It’s snowing here in Alaska
Fat flakes ticking onto my beer
Soon my contract is ended
But for now I do know that we’re here.
As the cool, jonquil-scented winter nights,
Give way to blossom-dripping warm spring days,
My heart sings like the birds in the early morning.
I breathe the peace in deep,
And simply exist, in another turning of the wheel.
Wet and warm the bug swarm
Heated by the sun the lizards run
Rain comes from the west, convective heat
Rain comes from the east, tropical breeze
But the breeze turns to gust
And the gust turns to gale
The sirens wail
Fall is the season of hurricane wind
The birds flee with the evacuees
But the ibis will stay til the wind and water wash their home away
With the ibises I will stay for no good reason
Except to enjoy hurricane season
In solemn arcs the crimson leaves
Past moss-flecked bark and yawning trees
Are earthward bound (as are we all)
The gentle ground embraces fall
No sound disrupts the frigid scene
Then all erupts with vivid green
With scaffold nests and perfumed winds
Let old life rest – new life begins
Autumn always feels like falling in love. The day you finally asked me to be yours was the winter solstice, and every year I relive the rush, the leaves, lying on the grass with my glasses balanced on your nose, the sun on our faces. I had to look at you through my camera, it was all just too bright. Would have sworn I was looking at everything we were straight on, throwing myself headfirst into the future. Now I know I was falling for you slant, couldn’t bring myself to face what was coming. Didn’t know the light would end, and didn’t know you’d be there to hold me when it did. Every autumn is a balancing act—how beautiful things are and how soon they will end. How fast everything’s changing and how quietly it will settle. The whirlwind of falling and the certainty of a soft landing. What my seasons would be like without you, I hope I never know.
I open my eyes
To the scent of morning
Where dewdrops glisten
Across shimmering silken trellises
Carefully strung between blades of grass
And fallen leaves.
Now yellowed or blazing with fire -
They grace the ground with their beauty
They are not yet stiff, but curled at the edges
They lay silent - seeking rest,
Signaling a season’s slow retreat
While an unfamiliar breeze whispers
That winter is near.
every time the seasons turn, i think:
wow, this is my favorite season
maybe love is real
it's going to be okay
Here, the seasons don’t change
It’s the same, actually
Hot. Dry
It rains, sometimes
In January
Summer rains
Between the rains
Hot. Humid
Some seasons don’t exist in the south
Sound like an American thing
Like Halloween
Here, the seasons don’t change
When the mango trees bloom
You can call it spring
When school stops
It’s summer, or not
When the mangos are ripe
‘Autumn’ has arrived
Whenever it rains
It’s winter, for a change
Tea or Coffee? The Showdown Steeps On
Good things seem to be percolating on the Vlogbrothers channel this month—from Hank’s recent deep dive into all things tea, to John’s rebuttal on why coffee is the superior beverage, Keats & Co tea and coffee are at the forefront of this battle of the brews. We’re not taking sides in this debate; but you can cast your vote for Team Tea or the #BeansRule Camp by stocking up on your drink of choice! Team Tea: Grab your spot in Hank’s Tea Experience here before the limited-time subscription closes. For the caffeine lovers: use code BEANSRULE to get 11% off your next order of Keats & Co coffee.
We want to hear about something good that has happened in your life recently. This could be an accomplishment, of course, but it could also be something small that made you happy. Tell us about it!
Send your good thing to [email protected]
