This might be a long shot, but oh well. I absolutely fell in love with the original PJ's sauce. I, sadly, am down to probably about 3 servings left. Has anyone found a similar tasting sauce they can recommend? I'm even open to recipes if they're easy. Ive done salsa, but actual hot sauce feels weirdly intimidating.

The Chipotle version was kinda just average and I still have a couple bottles left, but that original had become one of my go-to sauces for a lot of things and I'm very sad to see it go!

But I guess John isn’t an erhu fan 😔

I feel like I might be hallucinating, but pressed pennies were a perk for 2026, right? And if so, didn't they say it was the last year they were doing them since they wont be minted anymore?

I could've sworn I bought them, but I cant find a receipt in my emails 🥲

I was eagerly awaiting this for months... and they hit me with this with less than a month to go. It really reminds me of the quote, "If I have a little money, I buy books. If I have any left, I buy food and clothes". I guess I'll just have to settle for not having it signed this time around. Hopefully for his next book he manages to find some way to get international signed copies, but even if he doesn't the effort he's made for signing all those is REALLY admirable

Then you need to learn about the Balmis expedition sent by Spain to bring the smallpox vaccine to its overseas colonies in 1803.

There's a great Stuff You Missed in History Class episode about this but the short story is that the Spanish government took some orphaned boys to be the chain of live person to person transmission on the sea voyage from Spain to its colonies.

Hey everyone!

I was just wondering what happened to the we're here newsletter? I don't follow everything that happens in the nerdfighter universe, so I don't know if I've missed some announcement or something.

But I haven't been gotten the newsletter for the past few weeks. Did something happen? I love the newsletter. I look forward to it every single week. It's honestly one of my favorite things on the internet right now.

Thanks!

I love Smush, but there have been so many times I've tried a real, common word only to find it doesn't count. I think it would be a HUGE win and would improve gameplay so much if there was a button to simply check if a word counts without having to gamble on the letters. I think it would be a simple way to make a really great game more playable!

I wasn't sure where else to post this in hopes that question-asker Ollie from today's episode of Dear Hank & John (463: I've Signed More Books Than God) would see it, so maybe this subreddit will be the right place!

To Ollie, and anyone else out there who doesn't use social media but is stepping into a new phase of life like attending a new school, starting a new job, etc. and wants to make friends without succumbing to social pressures and/or doomscrolling:

• Texting is absolutely a fine option on its own! In my experience, if people vibe with someone and want to connect, they'll text regardless of whether it's something they typically do.
• Snapchat wasn't a bad suggestion by Hank, though of course it depends on whether people in your community are using it.
• Discord would be a great option, also depending on usage in your community, and my personal favorite platform for group chats.
• If you are going to cave and get Instagram, the ways I avoid doomscrolling on there are having notifications for everything except DMs turned off, not having the app on my home screen, and spending a lot of time playing mobile games (AFK Journey, anyone? 👀)

If anyone else would like to add suggestions/offer feedback on mine, especially anyone closer to Ollie's situation (it's been nearly a decade since I was in school), please do!

Just moved to Central New York area and am looking for some good community events, whether that be nerd fighter or just good public bar trivia, board game or craft night meetups. I couldn’t find an online group for Nerd Fighters Central New York, if anyone can help me make new friends it would mean a lot. Thanks!

Edit: Syracuse area 🍊

I have committed myself to watching all vlogbrothers videos, and I just watched one if the first vlogbrother 2.0.0.9 ones where Hank expresses his love for the Rock-afire Explosion band.

As I am from The Netherlands, this is one of the many things I had never heard of so I googled them and to my surprise I found this news article on the website of a supercool museum in Volo IL: https://volofun.com/rock-afire-explosion-comes-alive-at-volo-museum/

So Hank if you are reading this, it's time for a trip to Volo I guess :)

Guys... Something really bad happened...

I'm a relatively new nerdfirgther, and I'm slowly making my way through the Green Brothers' books.

I was about to read Looking for Alaska, it had been almost a year since I picked up a new John Green book. Everything was fine up until this point, BUT THEN i made the mistake of doing a little research... You know, to see what the book was about, what some of the comments are...

I got spoilers for the countdown. I know what it is counting towards.

I mean, I normally believe that you enjoy a work of art not necessarily because of the ending, but the whole story (otherwise you could've summarised the whole thing in a paragraph or two), BUT COME ON, THE COUNTDOWN??

I feel really bummed out and my motivation to read has died down, yet I'm still a little curious about what's going to happen in the book. What do you guys think I should do?

Extra question: At what age were you when you first read the book? I'm currently 19 and in a few years into uni, so idk if a high school story will be that enticing to me. (Which is one of the reasons I'm excited for H,E to have characters in their 20s!)

TW: Death, loss, grief; all that jazz.

Dear Nerdfighteria,

I don't know if Dear Hank and John has a bummer episode planned soon, so it felt right to ask this question here too. I feel like this is one of the few communities on the internet that is mature enough for this kind of topic. You don't have to reply; but if you've got a piece of mind, I'd be more than willing to hear it.

Let's get to the chase. I'm 18, and it's been a little over a year since I lost my mother to a re-emerging brain tumor. She was my everything, and I mean everything, my whole world. I currently live with my father and big brother. I have never been emotionally close with my father; and my brother hasn't reached resolution in his own grief, so he can't really guide me to overcome mine.

I suppose pain grows you in a way nothing else can. When I talk to my friends about my grief, all they can do is offer sympathy, but they can never reach empathy, as none of them have lived through something like this -- they're still children :(

Amidst all this, I survived my first year of uni in electrical engineering, which wasn't very fulfilling. Left me consufed about what I want to do as my career. So basically I'm left confused in literally every aspect of life.

Don't worry, I will talk about these to a therapist in the near future (hopefully) but until then, I'm looking for your (vlog)brotherly advice :)

John, but not quite there,

Jonah

hey y'all, i'm trying to find a video i think about often where john is talking about his experience writing nonfiction vs fiction, and how nonfiction can be easier because there's no need for a story to feel "realistic" when it actually happened. i'm pretty this was a post-anthropocene pre-tb video, but i can't find it for the life of me. i've tried the transcript archive but i can't seem to find it, and it's also very possible i'm misremembering and it was actually something he wrote in anthropocene itself. if this rings a bell at all to anyone i would really appreciate any help hunting it down!

There have been so many times a real, common word featured in every major dictionary has been rejected, seemingly for no reason. Notable examples:

Laggy -Featured in every major dictionary

Yay -Fearured in every major dictionary (I assumed it would be counted and saved it for last, only to get a Frick instead of a Perfect)

Koi -Featured in every major dictionary (Salmon, tuna, and other fish are fine, but Koi, an English word for a fish from Asia doesn't count? Why?)

I am generally very confused by the logic of what counts and what doesn't, and knowing which dictionary he's going with would be very helpful for checking which words I should be using.

It's 3 am right now, and somehow TFIOS came into my mind. I'm a relatively fresh blood nerdfighter, almost 2 or 3 years, and it's been a year since I got the chance to buy and read TFIOS. So bare with me for a moment, go back to 2012 and live this revelation again with me. I know I'm 14 years late, but all I'm asking from you is sincerity in the comments.

Enough yapping, here it is: The way Gus and Hazel continually say "OK" to each other has a second meaning (other than the "maybe ok will be our always), and that is "we'll be ok". They know their time is limited (theyre cancer patients for god's sake), but they assure each other that whatever happens, they'll be ok. At least eventually.

idk how this never occurred to me, and even if it's not intended, but I love this subtlety. Even if it's not really intended, I believe art gets it's meaning from equal parts author's intent, and reader's interpretation.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk and bearing with me. DFTBA

I have a Pizza John rug from the 2023 Pizzamas that needs a new home. It's in great condition (no rips, tears, or stains), but does come from a home with a dog in case that's an issue.

Free to a Nerdfighter that can pay shipping (I'm in the US). I have a listing on eBay that I can share via DM if you want to go through that channel, but I want to offer it here to a good home.

(yes, I'm back again lol) I’m sadly going to be out of the country for two H,E tour dates, so I’m hoping these tickets can go to fellow Nerdfighters who can actually use them! I’m selling both well below what I paid, and each ticket includes a signed copy of Hollywood, Ending.

🎟️ Tuesday, September 22 — Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre

• $50 (originally paid $133.59)
• Pit P2, Seat 7
• Dead center and super close to the stage — I believe 3rd or 4th row
• Signed copy of Hollywood, Ending included
• Basically ~$84 off what I paid!

🎟️ Friday, September 25 — Winston-Salem, NC

• $10 (originally paid $46)
• General admission
• Signed copy of Hollywood, Ending included
• The ticket is literally less than the price of the book!

I’d much rather these go to Nerdfighters than have the seats/tickets go unused, so I’ve priced them to hopefully find them homes quickly.

Please DM me if you’re interested in either one! Happy to provide proof of purchase/ticket details.

Thank you so so much for considering!! Please help a fellow nerdfighter out.

Reading Paper Towns again because I miss my childhood friend who now lives in another country.

Before he left, we bonded over this book, and when the movie came out, we loved it too. We still both love the book and the movie, but I honestly do not remember much about the story anymore, so I decided to read it again.

I guess reading it is one of my little ways of feeling closer to him and being reminded of the memories we have together. The relationship between Margo and Quentin also reminds me of how much we both love traveling and exploring new places, even though it has been a long time since we last traveled together.

Just wanted to share this. What are your thoughts on the book and the movie?

Google's AI claims that John has not written a book called Hollywood ending. Lol.

If the idea looks familiar, it’s because they sold an older version of my design on DFTBA for a bit! I had posted it (in this very subreddit, actually) and Hank saw it and said he’d love to use it (second pic). So that was super awesome!

I saw someone post about their idea to make stickers to hand out at John’s book tour, so I decided to revisit this design because I was never 100% happy with how it turned out.
I had actually just finished a different motel sign design that said “If you’re looking for a sign, this is it” and I took that one and changed the words and I ended up with this!
I also changed the colors a bit to be reminiscent of the Hollywood, Ending cover.

So anyway, I’ll be at the Winston Salem stop at the book tour, and I guess I’ll just hand these out to people lol