Hank Green
William Henry Green II is an American YouTuber, science communicator, novelist, stand-up comedian, and entrepreneur. He produces the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green, and hosts the educational YouTube channels Crash Course and SciShow. He has advocated for and organized social activism, created and hosted a number of other YouTube channels and podcasts, released music albums, and amassed a large following on TikTok.
Hank and his brother John co-created VidCon, the world's largest conference about online videos, and the Project for Awesome, an annual online charity event, as well as the now-defunct conference NerdCon: Stories, focused on storytelling. He is the co-creator of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in the style of video blogs that was the first web series to win an Emmy. He is also the co-founder of merchandise company DFTBA Records, crowdfunding platform Subbable, game company DFTBA Games, and online video production company Pemberley Digital, which produces video blog adaptations of classic novels in the public domain. Green is the founder of the environmental technology blog EcoGeek, which evolved into Complexly, an online video and audio production company of which he was the CEO until late 2023. Green also hosts the podcasts Dear Hank & John and Delete This with his brother and wife respectively, along with the podcast SciShow Tangents.
Green's debut novel, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, was published on September 25, 2018; its sequel A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor was published on July 7, 2020. Both novels debuted as New York Times Best Sellers.
In response to being diagnosed and treated for Hodgkin lymphoma in 2023, Green stepped down as CEO of his companies. While recovering, Green began performing stand-up about his experience. His comedy special titled Pissing Out Cancer was released on the streaming service Dropout on June 21, 2024. In July 2025, Green partnered with Honey B Games to launch Focus Friend, a productivity app which allows users to set a timer that temporarily blocks other apps. The app reached number one on Apple's App Store charts for free apps.
Early life and career
William Henry Green II was born on May 5, 1980, to Mike and Sydney Green in Birmingham, Alabama, but his family soon moved to Orlando, Florida, where he was raised. Green is of Irish ancestry. He graduated from Winter Park High School in 1998. He then earned a B.S. in biochemistry from Eckerd College in 2002 and a M.S. in environmental studies from the University of Montana. His master's thesis was titled "Of Both Worlds: How the Personal Computer and the Environmental Movement Change Everything".Throughout high school and college, Green created and designed websites for himself and local clients. His first project, the "Mars Exploration Page", in 1994, experienced minor success on the heels of the Mars Pathfinder Mission. A later website, IHateI4.com, which was about Green's dislike for Interstate 4, a widely unpopular highway among Floridians, brought press from local news channels and the Orlando Sentinel. Green continued as a web developer after moving to Montana for graduate school, focusing on developing websites for educational institutions and environmental nonprofit organizations.
While in graduate school, Green created "EcoGeek", a blog focusing on technological advancements that benefit the environment. Starting as a class project, EcoGeek evolved into a major environmental publication. It caught the attention of Time, where it was described as "porn for hardcore science, tech and enviro freaks". Writing about environmental issues, Green has been published on numerous environmental blogs, including Treehugger.com, Yahoo! Green, The National Geographic Green Guide, Scientific American, The Weather Channel, Planet Green, NPR, and in The New York Times. During the mid-2000s, Green wrote regularly for Mental Floss and co-authored one of their books, Mental Floss: Scatterbrained.
YouTube channels
As a host
Vlogbrothers
From January 1 to December 31, 2007, Hank Green and his brother John ran a video blog project titled Brotherhood 2.0. The original project ran every weekday for the entire year, with the premise that the brothers would cease all text-based communication for the year and instead converse by daily video blogs, made available to the public via their YouTube channel Vlogbrothers and on their website.In 2008, John and Hank first met up with their fans, known as "Nerdfighters". The first gathering was a last-minute decision, but despite the three-day notice, nearly 100 people attended. In August, John and Hank were invited to the Google office in Chicago to talk about the project. That same day, they filled the Harold Washington Library with about 400 young adults. After John's book tour for his third novel, Paper Towns, the brothers went on a national tour in November. With events in 17 different cities, they met Nerdfighters at local libraries and community centers. During this tour, Hank released his first album of Nerdfighter-themed songs, titled So Jokes.
The Green brothers have been interviewed on PotterCast, and have been recurring keynote speakers at the Harry Potter fan convention LeakyCon. The Brotherhood 2.0 project succeeded in its original mission: the brothers have come to communicate more thoroughly with each other, and have a larger influence in each other's lives than they did before the project. The brothers talked on the phone once or twice a year before Brotherhood 2.0, but, according to Hank's wife Katherine, they now "talk almost every day". John and Hank continued to post vlogs every Tuesday and Friday on their channel. Their video topics vary from explanations of current events, reunion videos, joke videos, rant videos, thoughts from various places, Question Tuesdays, and random topics. As of January 6, 2025, they have posted over 2,300 videos. The channel has more than 4 million subscribers, and its videos have been watched over 1 billion times. In light of Hank's May 2023 Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis, the brothers announced that videos might not be released with their usual regularity, and for the first time abandoned their four-minute limit for non-educational videos to save time in making them as Hank underwent chemotherapy treatment and John took on some of Hank's responsibilities at Complexly and DFTBA Records.
''Crash Course''
In January 2012, Hank and John created the educational YouTube channel Crash Course, as part of the site's Original Channel Initiative. The channel features several educational courses based on the high school curriculum, and first launched with series focusing on Biology and World History. According to John, the brothers see Crash Course "as an introduction, as a way to get kids excited about learning, not as an attempt to replace traditional classroom materials." Their goal is to create "resources that allow for more valuable interaction in the classroom," with hopes that the channel will one day span the entire high school curriculum.The two brothers initially hosted the channel, with Hank focusing on the science courses and John teaching the humanities courses. The channel has since expanded to welcome new hosts such as Craig Benzine, Phil Plait, and Emily Graslie into its roster, and has launched new courses such as Astronomy, Physics, and Philosophy. As part of YouTube Kids, a separate Crash Course: Kids channel was launched in March 2015, with Sabrina Cruz hosting a Science course geared toward a younger audience.
Crash Course has received praise from students and teachers alike. It has been awarded grants by Bill Gates' bgC3, and has struck a partnership with PBS Digital Studios to continue developing more series, although the majority of its funding comes from viewer support via Patreon. Since 2021, annual Crash Course coins have also been released, where people can buy physical tokens to support 2,000, 10,000 or 20,000 learners.
''SciShow''
Green created the science YouTube channel SciShow in January 2012, which, like Crash Course, was initially funded by YouTube. The channel features a series of videos focused on scientific fields, including chemistry, physics, and biology, as well as interviews and trivia shows with experts. Green has said that SciShowSciShow is primarily hosted by Green, with Michael Aranda taking on additional hosting duties, as well as with occasional appearances by Lindsey Doe and Emily Graslie. A spin-off channel, SciShow Space, was launched in April 2014 to cover space topics, and is hosted by Green, Reid Reimers, and Caitlin Hofmeister. A third channel, SciShow Kids, premiered in March 2015. It is aimed at children between the ages of 3 and 6 and is hosted by Jessi Knudsen Castañeda. Late in 2016, its patrons on Patreon chose a topic for a new channel, SciShow Psych, which launched in March 2017. It is hosted by Green and Brit Garner, who teach about the human brain and aim to provide clear and reputable psychology information.
Green and SciShow were granted a national advertisement deal with YouTube that featured promotion on billboards and television commercials. The channel has been praised as "informative, casual without being condescending, and funny".
Others
PBS Eons is a PBS Digital Studios partner channel hosted by Green, SciShow writer Blake de Pastino, and paleontologist Kallie Moore. Started in 2017, it documents the history of life on Earth "from the dawn of life in the Archaean Eon... right up to the end of the most recent Ice Age." As of June 4, 2023, Eons has over 2.6 million subscribers and 529 million views.Started in June 2019, Journey to the Microcosmos is hosted by Green and produced by Complexly. It explores the microscopic world, with topics such as bacteria, tardigrades, and other microorganisms. Started in June 2020, Bizarre Beasts creates videos about unusual animal species. It is hosted by Green and Sarah Suta and produced by Complexly. Journey to the Microcosmos ceased production in October 2024.
In January 2025, Ask Hank Anything was launched on the Complexly YouTube channel. Hosted by Green, the show features conversations with guests, largely internet personalities, including Michelle Khare and Jacob Collier. Guests are invited to ask Green questions, often on scientific or philosophical topics..
Hank Green also hosts Hankschannel on YouTube, which started on November 7th, 2009. The videos range from opinion pieces to behind-the-scenes work on vlogbrothers videos and video explanations.