Hank Green facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hank Green
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Green in 2023
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William Henry Green II
May 5, 1980 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
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| Years active | 2007–present |
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Notable work
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Katherine Green
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| Children | 1 |
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William Henry Green II (born May 5, 1980) is an American YouTuber, science communicator, author, and entrepreneur. He creates the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green. He also hosts popular educational YouTube channels like Crash Course and SciShow. Hank Green has worked to support social activism, started many other YouTube channels and podcasts, and released music. He is also very popular on TikTok.
With his brother John, Hank helped create VidCon, a huge event about online videos. They also started the Project for Awesome, which is an online charity event held every year. Hank also co-created The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012–2013). This web series was a modern version of Pride and Prejudice told through video blogs. It was the first web series to win an Emmy.
Hank also helped start DFTBA Records, a company that sells merchandise. He co-founded Subbable, a crowdfunding site that was later bought by Patreon. He also started Pemberley Digital, which makes video blog versions of classic books. Green founded EcoGeek, an environmental technology blog. This blog later became Complexly, a company that makes online videos and audio. He was the CEO of Complexly until late 2023. Hank also hosts the podcasts Dear Hank & John with his brother and Delete This with his wife. He also hosts SciShow Tangents.
Hank Green's first novel, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, came out on September 25, 2018. Its sequel, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, was published on July 7, 2020. Both books became New York Times Best Sellers. In 2023, Hank was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer. Because of this, he stepped down as CEO of his companies. While he was getting better, Hank started performing stand-up comedy about his experience. His comedy special called ... Out Cancer was released on the streaming service Dropout on June 21, 2024.
Contents
Early Life and Education
William Henry Green II was born on May 5, 1980, in Birmingham, Alabama. His family soon moved to Orlando, Florida, where he grew up. He finished high school in 1998. He then earned a science degree in biochemistry from Eckerd College in 2002. Later, he earned a master's degree in environmental studies from the University of Montana.
Early Career and Websites
During high school and college, Hank created websites for himself and others. His first project in 1994 was the "Mars Exploration Page." It became somewhat popular after the Mars Pathfinder Mission. He also made a website called IHateI4.com, which was about his dislike for a highway in Florida. This website got attention from local news.
After moving to Montana for graduate school, Hank continued to be a web developer. He focused on making websites for schools and environmental groups. While in graduate school, he started "EcoGeek." This was a blog about new technologies that help the environment. It started as a school project but grew into a big environmental publication. Time magazine even wrote about it. Hank also wrote for many other environmental blogs and for Mental Floss magazine.
YouTube Channels and Shows
Hank Green is well-known for creating and hosting many popular YouTube channels.
Vlogbrothers: Daily Videos with John
From January 1 to December 31, 2007, Hank and his brother John started a video blog project called Brotherhood 2.0. The idea was that they would only talk to each other through daily video blogs. These videos were shared on their YouTube channel Vlogbrothers and their website.
In 2008, John and Hank met their fans, who are called "Nerdfighters." The first meeting was planned quickly, but about 100 people still came. Later, they were invited to Google's office to talk about their project. They also met about 400 young adults at a library. The brothers went on a national tour in November, meeting fans in 17 cities. During this tour, Hank released his first album of songs, called So Jokes.
The Green brothers have been interviewed on PotterCast. They have also been main speakers at the Harry Potter fan convention LeakyCon. The Brotherhood 2.0 project helped the brothers communicate more. They now talk almost every day, according to Hank's wife. John and Hank continued to post videos every Tuesday and Friday. Their videos cover many topics, from current events to jokes and random thoughts. As of July 2025, they have posted over 2,300 videos. The channel has more than 3.84 million subscribers and over 1 billion views. In May 2023, Hank was diagnosed with cancer. Because of this, the brothers announced that videos might not be released as often. They also stopped their four-minute video limit to save time while Hank was getting treatment.
Crash Course: Learning Made Fun
In January 2012, Hank and John created the educational YouTube channel Crash Course. This was part of YouTube's plan to fund new channels. The channel offers many educational courses based on high school subjects. It started with series on Biology and World History. John said they see Crash Course as a way to get kids excited about learning. They want to create videos that help with classroom learning. Their goal is for the channel to cover all high school subjects one day.
The two brothers first hosted the channel. Hank taught science courses, and John taught history and literature. The channel has since added new hosts like Craig Benzine and Phil Plait. It has also launched new courses like Astronomy and Physics. A separate channel, Crash Course: Kids, started in March 2015. It has science courses for younger children.
Crash Course has been praised by students and teachers. It has received money from Bill Gates's bgC3. It also works with PBS Digital Studios to make more series. Most of its money comes from viewers who support it through Patreon.
SciShow: Exploring Science Topics
Green created the science YouTube channel SciShow in January 2012. Like Crash Course, YouTube first funded it. The channel has many videos about science, including chemistry, physics, and biology. It also features interviews and trivia shows with experts. Hank said SciShow aims to make science easy to understand. He wants to show that science is not always a difficult subject.
SciShow is mainly hosted by Hank Green. Michael Aranda also hosts, and Lindsey Doe and Emily Graslie sometimes appear. A spin-off channel, SciShow Space, started in April 2014. It covers space topics and is hosted by Green, Reid Reimers, and Caitlin Hofmeister. A third channel, SciShow Kids, started in March 2015. It is for children aged 3 to 6 and is hosted by Jessi Knudsen Castañeda. In late 2016, a new channel, SciShow Psych, launched in March 2017. It is hosted by Green and Brit Garner. They teach about the human brain and provide clear information about psychology.
YouTube featured Green and SciShow in national advertisements. The channel has been praised for being "informative, casual, and funny."
Other Channels Hank Green Hosts or Produces
PBS Eons is a channel that Hank Green hosts. It started in 2017 and tells the history of life on Earth. As of June 2023, it has over 2.6 million subscribers. Journey to the Microcosmos started in June 2019. It explores the tiny world of microscopic life, like bacteria and tardigrades. Bizarre Beasts started in June 2020. It makes videos about unusual animal species.
Hank Green also produced The Lizzie Bennet Diaries in 2012. This web series was a modern version of Pride and Prejudice. It was told through video blogs. The series won an Emmy Award. Green also helped produce other series like Welcome to Sanditon (2013) and Frankenstein, MD (2014).
After the success of Crash Course and SciShow, Green and his brother worked with Mental Floss magazine. They created a YouTube channel based on the magazine. Hank also partnered with Animal Wonders Inc. in 2014 to start a YouTube channel about animals. In 2013, Hank and Lindsey Doe started Sexplanations, a YouTube channel focused on sex education. How to Adult was an educational channel that taught life skills to young adults. It ran from 2014 to 2018.
Other Creative Works
Music Albums and Songs
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During the Brotherhood 2.0 project, Hank Green started writing and performing original songs. His songs include "I'm Gonna Kill You" and "What Would Captain Picard Do?". His song "Accio Deathly Hallows" was very popular. It was featured on YouTube's front page before the final Harry Potter book came out.
Green's first studio album, So Jokes, was released in 2008. He has released four other albums since then: I'm So Bad at This: Live! (2009), This Machine Pwns n00bs (2009), Ellen Hardcastle (2011), and Incongruent (2014) with his band, Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers.
Novels: Science Fiction Stories
Hank Green's first novel, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, was published on September 25, 2018. It is a science fiction story about a young woman who becomes famous overnight after finding a strange alien structure. The book became a New York Times Bestseller. The sequel, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, was released on July 7, 2020. It also made the New York Times Bestsellers list. When signing his books, Hank often draws a symbol called the "Hanklerfish," which looks like an anglerfish.
Podcasts: Conversations and Knowledge
In June 2015, the Green brothers started a weekly podcast called Dear Hank & John. Delete This started in 2018, where Hank and his wife Katherine talk about Hank's Twitter posts. SciShow Tangents, also launched in 2018, is a fun show where they share interesting facts and knowledge.
TikTok: Short Videos for Learning and Fun
In September 2019, Hank Green started making videos on TikTok. He has become very popular and has been called a "top creator" by The New York Times. As of June 2023, he has over 7 million followers and more than 563 million likes. His videos are mostly educational, funny, and about social topics. After a TikTok video about his book An Absolutely Remarkable Thing went viral, sales of his book on Amazon increased a lot.
In April 2021, Hank announced he would donate his TikTok Creator Fund earnings to the First Nations Development Institute. In January 2022, he made a YouTube video explaining how TikTok pays its creators. He pointed out that as TikTok becomes more popular, creators earn less money from the Creator Fund.
Comedy: Sharing His Story
In 2023, after his cancer diagnosis, Hank Green started creating a stand-up comedy show about his experience. He performed early versions of the show in his hometown of Missoula. Hank recorded a comedy special called ... Out Cancer. It was released on the streaming service Dropout on June 21, 2024.
Companies, Events, and Charity Work
In 2007, Hank and John Green started an annual charity project called the Project for Awesome (P4A). During this event, YouTube users make videos to promote charities they care about. The amount of money raised has grown almost every year. In 2021, the event raised a record $2,368,016.
DFTBA Records (which stands for "Don't Forget to Be Awesome") is a company Hank Green co-founded in 2008. It started as a record label for YouTubers' music. Now, it mainly sells merchandise for popular YouTubers.
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VidCon is a yearly event about online video. The Green brothers started VidCon in 2010 because the online video community was growing. Hank said they wanted to bring as many online video creators and fans together as possible. It's a celebration with performances and parties, but also a discussion about online video. Viacom bought VidCon in 2018.
In 2011, Green created "2-D" glasses. These glasses let people watch 3-D movies in 2-D. He made them for people who feel uncomfortable watching 3-D movies.
After getting grants from YouTube for Crash Course and SciShow, the Green brothers looked for a better way to fund their projects. In 2013, they launched Subbable. This was a platform where people could donate money each month to creators. In March 2015, Patreon, another similar platform, bought Subbable.
After VidCon's success, Green started a new event called NerdCon: Stories in 2015. This conference focused on all kinds of storytelling. The first NerdCon: Stories was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It attracted about 3,000 people and featured many authors and performers.
In 2016, Green's company EcoGeek was renamed Complexly. Complexly is the main organization that produces most of Hank's YouTube shows and other projects. Hank was the CEO of the company until late 2023.
In June 2016, Green founded the Internet Creators Guild (ICG). This was a group created to represent online video creators. He realized that creators needed an organization to help them, just like other industries have. The ICG worked with creators to help them talk with sponsors and platforms. The organization closed down in July 2019.
Good Store: Charity Products
In November 2020, the Green brothers started the "Awesome Socks Club." This is a monthly subscription service where members get a pair of socks designed by artists. All profits after taxes are donated to the charity Partners in Health. As of March 2022, the club had 45,000 members.
In March 2022, the brothers started the "Awesome Coffee Club" with the same charity goal. In mid-2024, the Awesome Coffee Club changed its name to "Keats and Co." because they started selling tea too. The coffee is ethically sourced. In April 2023, they launched a third charity company called "Sun Basin Soap."
In August 2022, Hank Green said the Awesome Socks Club had over 40,000 subscribers and the Awesome Coffee Club had over 10,000. In April 2023, he announced that the donations from these clubs totaled $583,911 in the first three months of 2023. In August 2023, all these subscription products were brought under the name "Good Store."
Political Events and Interviews
In January 2015, Green interviewed President Obama at The White House. This was part of a group of YouTube creators that Google organized to talk to the President. In September 2022, Hank interviewed Democrat Monica Tranel during her campaign for Congress in Montana. In May 2024, he interviewed United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
Personal Life
Hank Green lives in Missoula, Montana, with his wife Katherine Green and their son.
In 2003, Green was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a health condition. He also had a learning disorder as a child.
In May 2023, Green announced that he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer. He received encouraging letters from President Joe Biden and NASA administrator Bill Nelson. Three months later, he announced that his doctor told him he was in "complete remission" after his treatment.
Images for kids
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Hank Green's signature
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Hank Green performing music
See also
In Spanish: Hank Green para niños
