Hey, so something worth knowing is a benefit for the nonprofit organization that makes Crash Course and SciShow Complexly. It's September 16th, 2026 in Los Angeles, California at the Wilshire Ebell Theater. Please join us. It's going to be incredible.
Friends of Complexly like Mark Rober, Katie Max, Simone Yech, and Moore will share inspiring talks about what makes them hopeful and join Hank Green on stage for fun, interactive discussions. Complexly has been creating free educational content like SciShow and PBS eons and Crash Course and Bizarre Beasts for nearly 15 years and 6 billion views. But this year, we've become a 501c3 nonprofit and we're doing something worth knowing as an in-person event that benefits Complexly and our impactful educational media. It's the first ever Complexly in-person event and it's a fundraiser to support our mission of inspiring curiosity and lowering barriers to knowledge building because curiosity builds understanding and understanding builds a better world.
Tickets to the general public June 30th at somethingworthknowing.com. So come build a better world with us on September 16th and experience something worth knowing you can get your ticket at Complexly.info slash something. Hello, and where are you just whispering? Yes, just whispering thing away.
Sorry. I was just whispering but if the cats become a problem, he should lock them out. I'm sorry. Hello and welcome to Dear Hank and John.
Or as I prefer to call it, Dear My I'm in Hank. It's a comedy podcast where me and my brother John but occasionally guest hosts like this this week's Mind Beolic. Answer your questions, give you two a few advice and bring you all the weeks news from both Mars and AFC Wimbledon. Mind, did you bring AFC Wimbledon news?
You know, I did and it's big. I'm actually looked up some and I was like, oh John's gonna be sad he missed this week. How are you? Oh yeah, well I'm okay but AFC Wimbledon is really in goalkeeper shock.
Don't tell anyone yet, we have to save it for the end of the pod. Okay, I'm doing okay. Good. Where are you at?
I'm in my children's room and I'm in Los Angeles. Why are you in your studio? Is this where your podcast studio set up is? No, there's no studio to be had here.
It's the quietest room in the house. Has it were because my children are not here? Right, yes. I would imagine that it's not usually the quietest room in the house.
No. No. I have a child now. The last time we talked, I did not.
That's right. Congratulations again. Now I do and he's sleeping inside right now and that's not me. So that's what I've heard is that if a child is sleeping, you can just leave, right and go somewhere.
Oh yeah, no they got that. They figured that out. Perfect. This is excellent.
Parented advice. I have a parenting question for you. Okay. Am I going to be okay?
Are you going to be okay? You'll be okay in about four years. Okay. All right.
Well, good. At least there's a horizon. I appreciate the perspective. Yeah, well, it's an absolute pleasure to have you here.
I've, you know, it's very interesting to hear your voice. I assume that people know some things about you, but you obviously are on some TV shows and have been for a long time. And also you are just sort of, I don't know, like a professional helpful nerd person on the internet. Is that right?
I guess. I mean, I definitely have made a sort of an active decision to find an audience that understands me as I am, since being an actor means having people like you for what they want you to be. And I started a website called Grap Nation and I started entering the YouTube space, honestly completely inspired by you and your brother to try and make an impact in positive ways that are helpful and entertaining and don't necessarily rely on a casting director telling you that you're good enough. Yeah, that must debts.
I have done a little bit of the LA thing and I don't really know why anyone would give up what I do for that. Just because it's, oh, it's rough. It's rough. It's rough and it's not like I work in the coal mines rough, but it is a it is a psychologically and spiritually challenging environment to to exist in.
And you know, I was in the industry as a child and I left for 12 years and got my undergraduate and graduate degree. I had two kids and I've returned and the big bank theory is a very big blessing in my life, but it was not what I thought my life would look like. So there's a lot of adjustment going on in general as there is for all of us. Feel that.
Well, speaking of psychological challenges, we have a question. Oh, no, wait, you have a short poem for us. I do. I have a stanza of a longer poem, but yes.
Okay. Just like go at it. Do it. So this is this is a medieval poet.
He was born in the middle of the 12th century. His name is Pear Vidal. And when I read this this particular poem and this stanza, it reminded me of one of my favorite musicians, Morrissey, and you will see from the from the final line why that is so. This is translated by Paul Blackburn.
Lady, when I was within your hall, it seemed Saint Julian must have been my host. God never made such a perfect day as you formed of that day with your hand. In your making, he made no mistake. Such arms were cast only to kill me sure.
I trust your excellence is too good a thing. But even if you killed me, it'd be my honor. And if I died, I could only die praising and rejoicing. The Morrissey lyric to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die is what I thought of when I read that medieval poem.
Yeah, things have not changed. Exactly. I mean, things have changed, but but as far as like overly sacral of poetry, we're still going at it. Oh, yeah.
In terms of in terms of painful love, not much has changed in the last, you know, 800 years or so. Well, in terms of painful love, or in this case, painful non love, this question comes out as from Lindsay who asks, dear Hank and my, I recently asked one of my friends to prom. She's a year younger than me. And I wanted to carry on my tradition in my friend circle of bringing underclass into prom a year early so they can experience it.
Unfortunately, she took my prom proselyl to mean I had a romantic interest in her, which I don't. She has confessed that she likes me too. And I don't know how to deal with this. Do I tell her that I'm not interested and have the most awkward prom ever?
Or do I just not break the facade and let her down later? Do be as advice is much appreciated. With much uncertainty, Lindsay. I don't know.
I felt like you were going to have the answer. My, I have the answer. Is it my turn to say it? Yeah.
I, I'm always going to advocate for honest and sincere conversations, even if it hurts other people. And it's never too young to start doing that kindly and lovingly. Yeah. Yeah.
So how do you do this kindly and lovingly? Is it sort of like, okay, here, Lindsay, I asked this question to a podcast, they have answered it and I would like you to I would like you to listen to the podcast so that we don't have to have the awkward conversation. That seems like a good way to do it. Yeah.
I, yeah. No, I think that I think that that's pretty much the way you have to do it. There's no way to soften the blow of reality in this case. And it's going to hurt her.
And I think a lot of people avoid having honest and sincere conversations because they're trying to take care of other people's feelings. And I feel like it creates an environment where no one is able to be honest or deal with their feelings. So this gets to be the first experience where that's the conversation. It seems that my promposal, fancy word, it seems that my promposal may have introduced a conversation that is really hard to have.
But I really want to go to prom with you, but I'm not romantically interested in you. And I hope that we can still go and have a good time. And if you don't want to, I'll understand. Yeah.
And, and, yeah, and I don't know if there's, if there's a good hug that can come along with it, that is an awkward, but it does seem like a moment that requires a hug. What a, that's a bummer. What a, what a, what a, what a, oh man. I wouldn't want a hug in that situation.
Okay. Well, that's good to notice. Yeah. Dear Hank and myam, I'm currently in the middle of getting divorced.
For the most part, everything is amicable. And we have both moved on with our lives over this past year. We do have a wonderful three year old son together. My ex-husband's birthday is usually the same week as Father's Day.
And I'm not really sure what, if anything I should do. I would like my son to be able to give his dad a gift, but I can't just give a three year old cash and send him to the store. Should I buy a gift for my ex-husband or invest time in making a craft with my son to give him? Is this my job at all now that we were separated?
Should I just assume his new significant other will take this over? As always, dubious advice is appreciated. Thank you, Kat. Kat, I have been in this exact situation.
I mean, I like this question. I have feelings like it seems like you, you ended this amicably and you're still friends. So like, I can still like, yeah, still a father and it's still his birthday and he's still a part of your life. Right.
And I would say my ex's birthday is not the same week as Father's Day, but there are other holidays that fall around my ex's birthday. So this is something that has been in my head a lot. Here's my thing. We get to teach children how to behave separate from our relationships and our resentments or issues.
The fact that it's the same week as Father's Day, I think would be really nice to show your child whether the father has a new life to show the child. This is how we celebrate dad on Father's Day and his birthday. And you don't need to go over the top. I think the first year after we were divorced, I was like, let's buy him a computer.
And my therapist was like, no, you don't need to buy him a computer. But I think making cards, having the child decorate a card is always a nice thing. When I had children that age and I was just divorced, I would have my child say nice things about daddy. Like I would say, what's something you like about daddy?
And I would sort of transcribe, you know, like daddy, whatever, give me candy or whatever it is, and then have them decorate the card. I think that's nice. And if there's something small as a gesture that the child can participate in wrapping, I think it's important to show we give important people gifts. And it really is the ultimate gift to teach that child that while giving the ex husband a gift.
Boom. You're really good at this. You're better at it. Advice that come in green are for sure.
I feel like we are dispensing actual good advice on this episode of Dear Hangadonic Superoff-Rammed. Sorry. So turn things around. I'm going to hit a question from Stephen who asked, Dear Hank and Ma'am, something that I've been wondering for years, what is the clothes, fastener technology in Star Wars?
Do they have zippers or Velcro or did all species use the same? Pemento in your eye, Stephen, in Cincinnati. So I'm going to let you take this one first. Are you a Star Wars fan?
I can't imagine you're not a Star Wars fan. I am a Star Wars fan. But did you upon reading this question go in Google like every costume designed from all of Star Wars? Oh, no.
I didn't do prep. I don't know if that's what I was supposed to do. No, I didn't do prep. I just used my brain.
Like, thought about it. So I did a little bit of prep. And I'll say that they use it. They seem to use everything.
They seem to have velveters. They seem to have even magnetic fasteners. It looks like on a couple of uniforms. Some, you know, those belts that like the straps on like backpacks, a couple of those show up.
But then you have zippers and you have buttons all over the place. Lots of zippers and buttons. I think, you know, I think but not but unlike normal life, I think there's a lot of hidden zippers. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, that's a custom design thing in general. It's like, you know, necessarily want to zipper pop it like shit. So I think there's a lot of like the fabric goes over where the zipper is because otherwise there's no way to put that shirt on. So, you know, it doesn't it just doesn't look as nice.
I mean, you can't use a Mickey Mouse zipper pole, which is what used to be on one of my favorite jackets. I mean, I think zipper pulls are so like, we need a solution to the zipper pull crisis. Zipper pulls have gotten so boring. All my hoodies have normal zipper pulls and they're just like, they're from, you know, YKK, which is the biggest, you know, they make 90% of the zippers in the world.
And I think that there like there should be a way for me to replace my YKK zipper pulls with something a little more interesting. And I like, well, I just attached things to the zipper is my solution. You would put something on the end of the zipper pull? Yeah, so like, I used to have a, this is not an advertisement for Mickey Mouse or Disney, but I used to have a Mickey Mouse.
It would clip onto your zipper so that you could grab Mickey's face and pull that up. So I took to doing that because that's what people like me do. I would attach like a cute little tie or something like that and it's easier to do then and tutor. Yeah, I mean, I think that I think the whole the whole assembly there should be a way to replace it.
I'm, if you can't hear me well, it's because I'm examining my hoodies ever right now. I did a bunch of research on the company that makes YKK that makes like every zipper in the world. And it's amazing. It's an amazing company.
I'm like, fascinating history. But anyway, do that yourself. That's not what this podcast is about. But I do like, I have had this thought several times in the last couple of years that like zipper, I feel like zipper pulls are an opportunity that we're missing is all to.
Agreed. Yeah. Like belt buckles had this for a little while. Socks are having it right now where people are expressing themselves through their socks in a way they hadn't previously.
Of course, that's true. You know, like enamel pins are happening. But I think that zipper pulls maybe the, I'm going to predict right now. The zipper pulls are the next big thing in personal expression for for nerds like us.
You heard it here first, folks. Hank Green, fashion expert. So yeah, I think that this is a, you know, obviously this is a galaxy that's very far away. It was a long time ago.
But I think that this is a case of just convergent, fascinating technology. Like it's just going to happen that these are the things that work well. Velcro, you know, straps and belts and zippers and buttons and magnetic snaps. Absolutely.
All right. Do you have another one for us? Yes. And actually if you're, here's a little hint as to which one I'm going to ask.
If you're having a cold, you may want to eat something spicy to your Hank and my him. My boss keeps asking me things like, are you kidding? Jeongun's cousin or did you bring dog meat for lunch? Oh God.
This is obviously a harmless joke, but I hate it. Is it? I'm the only, is it a harmless joke? Wait.
Well, let's see what the question is. I'm the only Asian working in a building of about 200 white people. So when I first started, I cracked some jokes about being Asian to make everyone feel comfortable with me. But now a year later, my boss is daily racially centered banter is getting old annoying and at times mean, should I say something to stop her?
I feel like if I do, she won't know how else to communicate with me. Also, I also, I feel like it's kind of my fault for starting it. Any advice? Kim Chan Vegemite.
Same. Oh, you, you, first of all, I guess so I'm understanding now. So you've got so you've got 200 white people in this building. Your direct report boss is thinks that thinks that, you know, your race is a thing to comment upon like the color of your, of your shirt.
But worse than that way, worse than that. I don't like. So the thing is, this boss is obviously not the top boss at your company. 200 people, you have an HR department.
And this is what the HR department is for. When you have a, like, when there's a problem with your boss that doesn't have anything to do with your job, that's who you're supposed to talk to. And that is the kind of exact kind of problem that they want to hear about because it is a huge, like it's a big, it's pretty big deal. And, and also, I think what's really interesting, the, I feel like it's kind of my fault for starting it.
Yeah, let's not go down that road. There is no excuse for what's going on. It is not your fault for starting it unless by starting it, you mean being Asian. I mean, it's interesting that coming into a place where you are different.
There's, there's often, there's often a sort of psychological desire to be like, Hey, I know, I'm aware that I'm different. And here, here it is. I'm Asian. And here's my joke about how I'm a different person and like, trying to like, a little bit alleviate the tension of the difference that's there.
I have as right, and as a Jewish person, I've absolutely done this. I've absolutely, when I'm in a situation where it is clear that people are either unfamiliar with Jewish people or have not had a lot of interaction with Jewish people, there is a little bit of kind of social ice breaking you do as it were. I mean, I would never say like, how do you like my nose or anything like that? And anything, anything that I would say, would not, it would not be acceptable for that to open the door to people saying, Oh, are you never going to buy lunch or anything like that?
So yeah. Yeah. I mean, that has a huge difference between those two things, calling it out and being like, I'm a little different. And then someone else being like, Yes, you are.
Let me reemphasize that every day for the rest of the time that you work here, because that was fun when you did it. No, not okay. And, you know, a really, really important, you know, kind of 21st century realization, these kind of things don't have to be brushed under the rug anymore. Yeah.
You know, a lot of the, a lot of sort of the explosion of, you know, the notion of equality and liberalism, a lot of that sometimes is taken too far. But my feeling is let's err on the side of being sensitive, cautious and respectful. Oh man, it's, it's, it's very weird when people are like, Oh God, I have to do, I have to think about that now. And I'm just like, Well, you know, if you want to be if you want to be nice, like if you want to be, you know, if you want to respect other humans who are different from you, sure.
So I'm so sorry that it's inconvenient. I guess. Yeah, I have a, I'm, I deal with this a lot in my professional life because I have a science show on YouTube where people are like, all the, of, you know, they're familiar with people who are like them mostly. And, and they are, and like the vast majority of sides of viewers are white dudes and, and they, you know, it's, it's difficult to understand the experience of other people.
And maybe they're not experienced at it. And, and when they're like, why, why did you talk that way? I'm like, well, because I have trans friends who are like, it's better, like it's, it's less troubling for me when you talk a certain way, when you don't connect biological sex and gender. And I'm like, oh, okay, well, then I won't do that.
And then people, and then like, somebody who this doesn't affect at all starts just screaming at me. Like I have caused the greatest injustice in human history by acknowledging the existence of trans people. And I'm like, I don't, I don't know what where to go from here. Like, why are you so mad?
I didn't tell you how to talk. I talked the way that I thought was respectful to the people that have talked to me about this issue. And yeah, totally lost on that. And I wanted to say it out loud because I've been, I've been experiencing it for the last two years.
And I didn't really talk about it until recently, and I started talking about it to the social audience. And it has been, I feel like better for everybody to have it a little bit out in the open. So, agreed. Anyhow, this question is from Rachel, who asks, dear brothers from a mother with a last name of another color.
That's a reference to a song I wrote a long time ago. But unfortunately, it's not applicable in this situation. Unless Bialik is a color. Actually, it is from the root of the word white.
Yes, from the Bialik region of Russia, Ukraine, Poland. Hey, we're not, yeah, unfortunately. Perfect. Excellent.
It siblings at least. Rachel, Rachel asks, I was playing a game of French toast online with friends and that I met at Nerkundert-Fiteria. Thanks for that, by the way. We stumbled upon a problem that is threatening to rip us apart.
Is a necktie a type of scarf? In all caps. Oh, I mean, I don't even want to look at the rest of this question. It's very long.
There's a substantial amount of discussion of what a scarf is that continues here. Can we just get beyond needing to label everything to know what things go and what category and people being like, pop tarts or sandwiches? And I'm like, stop it. Just go away.
Okay, but Rachel wants to know. I want you to tell her. Mime is a pop tart of sandwich because it's basically two pieces of bread with something in the middle. No.
No. You're not ready to accept that. No. It's not.
What makes it not a sandwich then? I'm like, you and me hugging someone in the middle of us doesn't make us a sandwich either. Well, it's food. It's two pieces of bread.
No. No, but this is like the transitive property of our existence. Okay. Well, we're food to someone or some animal.
That'd be good. A shark to a shark. Three people hugging is a sandwich. Perfect.
Done. It's like that shark is going to call it a pop tart. It's what they're going to call it. Pop tart is not a sandwich that a necktie is not a scarf.
My feeling is the fact that the word tie is in the name of it means it's not a scarf. It's not the word tie. That's like a verb. It's a thing you do with it.
But oh god. Now we're in the rabbit hole because you could tie a scarf. I've done it. You could do it.
But it's not called a scarf tie. But would I? You can also not. Wait, you can also not it.
But you can not. You can not a tie. You can wear a scarf as a hat. You can't wear a necktie as a hat.
Oh my god. That's not helpful. My mother used to make me wear headbands made out of vintage ties. It was like a thing.
I think I can picture Blossom doing that. Exactly. She also would give me, I would wear a necktie like belts. And when I would be like mom, I don't think this school should be like Jean Kelly did it.
That's a true story. Oh, so is the necktie a belt? Is the next question? Everything is everything.
Wow. Okay. Yes. Well, you know what?
I think it's up in the air. Honestly, Rachel, I think we're not going to get there. I think that there comes a point at which things blend. And there is no definition of what a sandwich is or what a scarf is.
And we're just going to have to accept that there are these areas where there will be disagreement. Like some people will say that color is orange and some people will say that color is red because it's right between red and orange. And that's part of life. And you're going to?
Also, this is going to vary culturally as well, right? Sure. We have a culture with a language that has names for escots and ties and bow ties and scarves. And I'm sure there are other things I don't know the names for that are related to things that go around your neck.
But we only have one word for snow, right? No, you clearly don't live in Montana. We have lots of words for snow. All right.
Let's stand corrected. Oh, man. Well, I feel like I asked that question just to get mad at Rachel. But I'm not really mad at Rachel.
I'm mad at Rachel for letting this come between her and her friends. Like don't let this tear you apart. Like you could tear apart a necktie after tying it. Right.
Strip it off. Just rip the whole controversy apart and say we share values and we share a connection and we share experiences. And that's what ties us together. Not this stupid piece of silk or other kind of fabric.
OK. You don't have another question? I'm very, I do. I'm really excited about this one, both for you and for me.
Thomas says, dear, I am in Hank. I love this question so much. At the time of writing this, I've just arrived at my favorite place to go and relax. My local library.
While the library is awesome for my de-stressification needs being quiet and peaceful, it is currently packed with shouting babies and their equally loud mothers on account of it being, according to the website, baby time. Wait, wait for it. I'm going to ask it the way I would ask it. How is this a thing?
If there's one thing everyone learns about libraries is that they're supposed to be quiet. How do you feel about this? Should baby time be a thing? Also, should I get another quiet place during the weekly shouting match between tiny humans that seems to be taking place?
Coffee and rage, Thomas. Thomas, are you single because you are absolutely the person for me? I am a mother. I'm a mother of two children and this stuff makes me bonkers.
I'm going to tell them that it's very baby and child friendly and the owners of businesses are aware that in order to fill out their clientele, they have to appeal to parents and get them out of the house and get them going to places. In my pre-baby life, I haven't gotten to the point where I can even do this yet because my child sleeps every 30 seconds and we don't want to mess with it. At this age, it's six months. It's just getting up or they're about to go to sleep.
There's 30 minutes during which you can do stuff. It's very frustrating. But eventually, I imagine this will happen. Before in my pre-baby life, I would show up at a bar and then suddenly, a person would be on the stage singing children's music and a thousand children would be running around screaming.
I came to a bar. I came to a bar to do bar things. Suddenly, I found myself in a bar, Jimberry. It's as if the McDonald's playpen got it on with an regular dive bar in the Zula Montana that smells like cigarettes and a century of beer poured across the floorboards.
This is not normal. But it is a thing. But I'm happy now that there will be a future in which I can take my three-year-old screaming pile of annoyance to a bar in a cabier. I literally could probably do an hour podcast by myself about this very topic because I think here's the thing and I live in Los Angeles, which is the ultimate in accommodating the baby culture.
I think that there's a couple things that are going on and one of the things, as a person who advocates for natural birth and I'm a lactation educator, counselor in a lot of my world revolves around people honoring the natural rhythms of babies, I think that there's this notion that life shouldn't change or can't change and we have all of these activities and things that you can do to try and prove to yourself, that life doesn't have to change just because you have kids. You can take your baby to yoga and they have movie theaters where they turn the lights down, but not all the way and everyone's encouraged to bring their children so their children can run around the theater and you can all go to the movies with your children still there. There's a restaurant here and no judgment against people who want to use it. The restaurant has a separate back room with hired babysitters and you drop your children off so you can have a fancy Beverly Hills lunch while a stranger watches your children.
Well, a qualified stranger theoretically. Sure, but then again, for me, the overarching notion here is how can you get back to your life as soon as possible and for a lot of people, I understand that's a valuable priority, but as a person who again advocates for really living in rhythm with the small mammal that you have ricocheted out of your body, it is also okay to acknowledge that your life is going to change and that tension is what makes us human and it's what makes us able to accommodate the changes in our body, the changes in our culture, it doesn't all have to be the same. So obviously Thomas may have to find another time, he's welcome to gently tell the head of the library or the HR department at the library that this seems an odd choice of a place to do baby time, but I'm the kind of person I love my kids, not so keen on other people's kids because I can't control them and I can't control the way people parent them. When I go to grown up restaurants with my children, I always go at the earliest reservation time, I ask to be seated quickly, I order quickly and I get out of there because not everyone has to like being with my children in a grown up restaurant and there were about two years when my ex and I didn't really go out to restaurants.
We cooked, we ordered in, we had people bring us food because we didn't feel like it was other people's responsibility to tolerate us wanting to feel normal again. We made a decision to have a baby, we dealt with it the way we felt was most appropriate for society at large and so Thomas I share your rage and I absolutely am holding your hand through this whole thing. So I think that your arguments here are completely valid for like the barberry, movie theater, restaurant with a nursery in the back kind of situation where people are like I had children but I don't want to have had children and so I want to have my normal life out and I have a lot of money to spend trying to pretend for a moment that it's just me and my wife again and I understand that and I understand like wanting to do that sometimes. But I think there's a difference between that and what I'm struggling with right now is I would like to meet some people who have six month old babies so that we can talk about what they're doing and commiserate and be like you're doing great and just be like some their kids made are going to go to school together and I think that that's the purpose of baby time at the library.
It's not like these parents would be going to the library, they're not going to the library to use the library while their babies are there. It's like an event for parents to meet each other and the libraries are in addition to providing the service of you know available media for you to acquire temporarily. They're also community organizing and event spaces and it would be nice if we had more different kinds of community organizing and event spaces but we kind of just have the library and libraries want to be a useful thing in the world and since this is a useful thing like so if you think about it that way maybe it's a little bit less rage that it's providing a service for your community but I understand and it is hard to find other quiet places and it is and I hope that this doesn't start happening to like coffee shops like places where I'll just give me a place where I can be quiet and we can do our thing and I think it will always be places for you. But in short yes Thomas this is a thing.
It's a thing it's a thing. I have another question Ma'am it's from Ben who asks dear Hank and Ma'am I was opening some boxes at work the day and I said it wanted to smell a little bit like gasoline. I brought the fact that I enjoyed the smell of gasoline with a coworker and began talking about how it does seem to be a smell that a lot of people like. Why is that?
I understand why evolution would shape our brains to enjoy sweet smells because I didn't get sugar or food. I understand why we might dislike the smell of rotting meat or poo because it contains things that could kill us but why gasoline? If you brought gasoline back to the time when our ancestors lived in Africa two million years ago would they appreciate the smell too? Like this is a dangerous thing.
This is me talking now. Why like do not like gasoline is like it's cancer in a bottle like do not like if you have it you will die eventually if you drink it you will die but I think this and it's clearly not just me because Ben thinks it too that gasoline kind of smells good. Oh I love gasoline. I mean I don't like I I've a little bit of research there's some some thought that like oh it's just like it connects you back to your past and it's like a nostalgia thing but but there's also some indication that you like the smell of gasoline more like you rate it more highly on the pleasantness scale if you are currently hungry which makes me think that since it's similar molecule to a lot of aromatic molecules that are the things that give like fruits and fruits they're like fun smells and good smells and in this question Ben talks about sweet smells but there are no they can't smell sugar.
So yeah like so there are smells that are associated with sweetness because they come along with sweetness and they tend to be these aromatic hydrocarbons that benzene which is like the primary thing in gasoline is sort of shaped similarly to and so I'm guessing that like it's kind of like maybe some similarity there. So yeah you know about the brain some. Well yeah and I mean I think that you know I think that for some people like a lot of sort of you know like the gasoline research out there in terms of why people like it says that like oh you're you're you're feeling a small high you're getting a small high even if it's not a conscious high meaning you're not consciously processing like whoa this feels you know whatever that you are associating it you know on an unconscious level with some sort of euphoria. I noticed one person when answering this question on the interwebs said like I like gasoline because I associate it with fun like boats like jet skis.
I don't think for me that's it but I really you know I don't think that I have a death wish but I like any noxious like noxious smell. I like you know those magic markers are like the really thick markers that we used to make poster boards for science experiments like that's just like I don't know why that's my jam but it is I've never passed out from it. I have two children one of whom really likes that smell and he's sort of my mini-me genetically and the other one who's more is dad genetically does not like this now so I will continue to do this experiment. I'm not having any more children but wouldn't that have been a great experiment?
Well now you are you are obligated by science to make a little pop a few more out yeah it's how it works yes uh so basically what we don't know but apparently it is a common thing I didn't like I didn't realize until I read that question that it wasn't just me like I've been kind of quiet about it experiencing shame right I've got I've got this weird thing about me no say it's not a dangerous thing you love gasoline and you're proud okay um well let's just throw it in a perfume then yeah um coming coming coming next year motocross the scent oh yeah that's uh that's that's pheromona for sure this episode of your hand can jump through you by shopify there are a lot of things that stand between I have an idea and this is an idea that actually exists in the world and people are buying things from me and that is what Shopify makes easier when you start with Shopify the tools to design and launch and take payments they're all there from day one you don't have to build a whole machine before you can start building the business and this is important because you also have to like look good and with Shopify's templates you could get a site set up really quick that looks credible and professional without needing to code or duct tape a bunch of different tools together and when things look real that works on my brain to be like I'm doing a real thing and it also works on other people's brains to be like this is legitimate Shopify also has one of the best checkout systems on the internet it's built to help customers finish the purchase effectively and efficiently without a bunch of roadblocks returning customers can check out with a single click that means less friction and fewer abandoned carts and a smoother experience for everybody that stuff gives you confidence early on and it gives other people confidence in what you're doing you're not wondering whether the payment system is going to work you're not wondering whether customers can get through the process Shopify handles that foundation so you can focus on the thing that you're actually trying to do it's really kind of amazing to me that Shopify is a tool that works from the first day your store launches when you're just starting to get customers all the way up to being the size of good.store or dftba.com or being the size of like Mattel and Gymshark when you build a Shopify you're building with tools that already work at every scale all you need is the idea Shopify handles the rest you can start your free trial at Shopify.com slash deerhank start your free trial Shopify.com slash deerhank with new subscription only while supplies last until September 27th 2026 see website for more details one thing I love about summary is how easy everything feels the days are a little more relaxed my kids don't have to wake up at five in the morning and I find myself reaching for the same comfortable go anywhere pieces again and again which is why I keep coming back to quince. I often wear either a long sleeve or a short sleeve button down from quince and it fits well and I never have any complaints in fact sometimes I get compliments about it I was at the airport a couple days ago as I often find myself in airports and someone said I like your shirt and I said thanks it's from quince quince's 100% European linen pants and shirts are breathable easy to throw on in the summer upgrade your rotation needs starting at just 34 dollars their tees are soft enough to live in all day and the lightweight cotton sweaters are exactly what you want when those summer nights cool down so that's why I'm wearing quince this summer and you can make your summer wardrobe easier by going to quince.com slash deerhank for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada too that's qunce.com for free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com slash deerhank for everything you love this spring head to factor meals dot com slash deerhank 50 off and use the code deerhank 50 off to get 50% off and free daily greens per box with new subscription only while supplies last until September 27th 2026 see website for more details. All right let's let's set another question from Liza. Oh go ahead.
Where's my turn. No it is and I said her name wrong anyway. So you've got it. This is kind of this is a rough one but I really I really want to ask Darcy's question.
Deerhank and Mayim I would like to preface this email by saying that I am not xenophobic or discriminatory towards religions. I just don't understand the tradition of Islam of women women covering themselves. My question is this how should I feel about head scarves and do you feel differently about hijab's and kabs and burkas. To me they seem oppressive.
I know in many countries especially in the Middle East these are used to oppress women as shown in society in law however I can appreciate that some people wear them to respect God but if God made people perfect and so on why do we need to cover ourselves like that. Why don't men have to cover heads and faces specifically in Islam but in some societies women are demonized and even killed for not wearing a burka again not as xenophobic Darcy. P.S. is there a term that means discriminatory against religious beliefs as I know I use xenophobic and correctly throughout this email.
There's a bunch of questions and a bunch of hard questions. Yes let's tackle them all or a couple. The reason that this question is so interesting to me is that I come from a religious tradition where women do cover their heads and also parts of their bodies that often men don't have to cover and so obviously Islam is different than the religious Judaism but I think one of the main things that strikes me about people's misunderstandings about religion and also about the restrictions specifically on women is that we are the interpreters of religious traditions as human beings and the notion that God has passed down ways for me to cover myself or restrict my freedoms to me those really need to be understood in the context of history and the anthropology of parts of the world where these religions originated so the laws that we impose on ourselves and on other people are exactly that they are made by humans and in most cases they're made by men so the notion that women have been restricted in Islam or even in Judaism the fact is for pretty much all of human history women have been restricted in a lot of ways and part of that is biology you know as Freud told us right biology is destiny and to some sense that's true but I think it's important to realize that our interpretation is what's important and the way we understand it in terms of history is important as well. There are restrictions for men for example in religious Judaism in terms of modesty and how they dress but historically there have always been differences in the way men and women are treated.
Now I'm not saying that burkas is the way to go for me that doesn't work or the notion that when girls are you know of the age that they start their menstrual cycle that we cover their heads in religious Judaism head covering is seen as a change in status from unmarried to married and that's sort of how I've grown up framing it. It is very upsetting to see women completely covered and a lot of women who claim that they're happy that way are also growing up and living in a culture of religious patriarchy so a lot of times we don't know things are not okay until we see more of the world and understand sort of more of how history is moving forward so I don't know that there's an easy answer to this I will say though that we shouldn't just demonize religions because honestly it's culture in general that has distinguished men and women because of their biology and because then of how culture interprets that but blaming God is really not the place to go here because you know God as far as I'm concerned God's in charge of creating the world and then we're in charge of being the human beings that try to interpret that and bring meaning to the world in a way that God cannot communicate directly with us. I feel tremendously unqualified to to answer this question and so I'm glad that you were here today to help with that. Like the thing that I generally try to remember is that we all do things based on our culture that don't like that like that we think make perfect sense but if you think about them they don't really like it would be very weird for me to go leave my house in a sundress and people would comment upon that and and as many people would you know if I did that in the wrong place I would be in a lot of trouble like I would potentially not make it home unscathed in America and so we have like like there are and like but I can also say that I prefer to not wear sundresses.
Why is that? Probably not because I wouldn't be comfortable in them if I had been raised wearing sundresses like I'd probably be super down with it and I'd probably look pretty cute but if like but the fact that like I have grown up in a culture where that is the norm like I would never be like you know like this is like like we need to restructure my society to or even force people to dress a certain way when they have had their life you know like when they have been told their their whole life that like you should cover your head and that is the thing that happens you know in you know in you know in lots of different traditions for both genders you know seeks for example like in public always have their heads covered. So like like I get very weirded out when it's like yes we should understand that this is a tool of like of culture and that it isn't like and that it is a system that you know like comes out of men trying to control women or just or succeeding in controlling women but at the same time like I don't like you can't jump in and tell people that they can't dress a certain way anymore because you're trying to free them because that is the opposite of freeing them. Absolutely.
It's a hard one though but it is very important to us I think we did well. I think it's very important to separate the culture and the idea of religion and like and know that there are many religious people who who do things differently and many people who feel very free and very liberated and also wear headscarfs like and you know I have those friends and they're like and like it doesn't even occur to me that their headscarf is like a result of you know their heritage coming from a patriarchal place because like all like first of all of our heritage doesn't like even now it does but but like they are now you know like having their experience of their you know their worldview their religion their connection their Americanness all of the things that inform who they are like it's just that like their continuing desire to have the to you know dress in the way that they like to dress is a thing and that's dope. All right. I have I have one more question before we get to the all important news from Mars and AFC Wimbledon.
This one's from Lisa who asks Dear Hank and Maia I'm 15 years old and I want to get a summer job. The thing is I have no idea how to describe myself in a CV. I'm a very awkward and shy person. How did you describe yourself when you were looking for your first job do be as advice as welcome?
Yours, Lisa. I'll be honest. You just walk into Walmart and you're like I would like to stock your shelves and they'll be like okay here's seven dollars an hour whatever it is like if you're getting if you're getting that kind of job they're happy to have it to give it. I actually have a I mean in if I CV I usually think that means sort of like an academic resume of like you know you say to describe yourself in a CV but I guess maybe she's talking about if there's like an application it says describe yourself and she's confused as to how you describe yourself as a child person.
Yeah so um I mean I happen to be an introverted person and to me I like that term more than awkward and shy. I don't typically say to people I'm a little bit on the spectrum. I usually say I'm an extroverted introvert. Here are the things that I excel at.
Some of these things are challenges for me and I'm very you know excited slash motivated slash interested in being able to find a place at your you know place where I would like to work. Yeah and also I think that it's important to know that like there are a lot of things that you aren't going to be good at because you've never had a job so you don't you don't exactly know what people want what like what this job is and how it works and and what you will be doing and what's required of you but I do think that it's like focusing on strengths obviously as the thing that you do in job applications. Can you work when you're 15? And also being honest.
Is that allowed? Like when is the age where you can start working? Clearly 15. I think 15 in some places.
Yeah. 14 minimum age for employment in specified occupations outside school hours. 16 basic minimum age for employment. So I don't even know if you can.
You got to be careful. Lisa. Maybe she's maybe she's on the cuss. Come on now.
It's not getting caught up on the details. She's asking the question. She's awkward and shy. I have to describe myself.
I used to do the right thing by not saying I'm 15 and three quarters years old because that is intolerable. So she can't wait with you. She can't. I appreciate you having done it the way that you've done it because obviously summer is coming up and you may be 16 by then.
But yeah I think it's a great thing to get a job at that age and to get a little bit of responsibility and learn what it is to and maybe even become a little less awkward and shy as you connect with folks. I'm not saying like stop being introverted but you know being able to like everything gets better with practice. Well and also finding out what you don't like is often as important as finding out what you do and a very close friend of mine who's a very strong introvert and really really struggles in social situations. You know she actually likes working in an office filing things because her actual interaction with people is minimal.
She's got the things that she does. She knows how to do them and she does them on time and she goes home. You know that works for her. So you will also find what works and doesn't work for you as the person that you are and the person that you're supposed to be.
And the person that you will be because of course remember that we all continue to change. I am 36 years old. Oh my gosh I'm gonna be 37 really soon. By the time this podcast comes out I'm gonna be 37.
Are you 36 and three quarters? Oh I feel the bird. That oh somebody get a salve. Does it smell like you're floon or burning rubber because I know you like it.
Oh man. Oh geez yeah. This podcast is brought to you by sick birds. Just don't.
Don't do it. Don't put yourself in a situation where my b-lock's gonna get you because she will. Says every man I've ever dated. This podcast has been brought to you by Shark Sandwich also known as three people hugging.
Oh delicious. So delicious. So everything is a sandwich if there's three things and you put them next to each other if you could conceivably think of a situation in which something might consume those things. It's a sandwich.
This podcast is also brought to you by Mickey Mouse zipper pulls. Absolutely adorable on young Mayan Bialik who is also wearing a necktie as a belt like Jean Kelly. This podcast is brought to you by Child Labor Laws helping you figure out how far through a year you are allowed to apply for a job. You show up and you're like hello I'm 15 and three quarters and I would like a job here at Walmart and they'll be like absolutely absolutely let us begin the application process.
Well you know it's time for the all-important news from Mars and AFC Wimbledon. I have heard that there is news from AFC Wimbledon and I want to hear it. Oh man the goalkeeper shock is what's happening. Yeah yeah.
Legend midfielder has been let go. Oh yeah. So both the goalkeeper. So what's the goalkeeper shock?
So first James Shae is leaving but now Danny Bowman and Chris Robertson are also leaving Kings Meadow. Oh my gosh. Oh man. And you know there are tough decisions to make and you know there have been over a hundred appearances in all competitions for this club between Bowman and Shae.
But you know unfortunately what Neil Arby has said he's the boss. He said we've reached a point where finances and different things go on and with a heavy heart we have to let Danny go. And it's such a bummer when finance and different things go on. And especially with a player like Danny because they have such strong allegiances with him.
He's never let them down never let them down but finances and things you know have really gotten in the way. People are going to miss him and he's really been a step up kind of player. His attitude they say is a model for him. He sounds like the perfect guy but as I said finances and different things.
Oh that's a bummer. I mean John is going to be so sad that he wasn't here to deliver that news. It's probably so sad that he's going to deliver it again next week. Oh yeah.
Oh it's tragic. I mean it's a shock palpable shock. I am pleased that you were here to give that news because I think I enjoyed it more than I would have if John I'm still reeling. I'm just reeling.
Well I mean I mean aren't we all and I'm sure that everybody out there who's listening to the pod is you know gently weaving into their car steering wheels or whatever you happen to be. Drive safe everyone and don't forget if you put something in the oven it's probably on fire by now because we did such a good job of distracting you. The news from Mars is good and bad. In the next you know like right now we have a nine operating missions on or around Mars.
So we've got we got rovers we've got we've got orbiters. That's this a lot. There's a lot happening all the same time it's more than ever but in 2020 we're going to have nine more missions. We're going to double the number of missions that are headed to Mars.
We've got SpaceX. We've got what I lost it. We've got SpaceX. We've got the Mars 2020 rover.
We've got the European Space Agency's exo-Mars mission. We've got China's thing. We've got the United Emirates hope orbiter. We've got India's Mars orbiter too.
So yeah yeah there's a lot there's a lot happening and this is great. This is very exciting but we only have like one way to communicate between Mars and Earth. We've got this deep space network that NASA set up and it lets all other you know space agencies piggyback on it but it can only handle so much data and you need a lot of data not just for sending sending like back pretty pictures and like spectroscopy stuff but also like just to figure out like telemetry and know where everything is and keep things in the right orbit and make sure they land in the right place and keeping them moving around on the surface of the planet and it's got to start getting overloaded to the point where like people are legitimately concerned about whether we will have too many Mars missions if they all make it which we know we're all hoping to do that we won't have enough bandwidth to manage the amount of data that we need just to keep the missions running not even including sending back you know beautiful high resolution images and videos so caution to the world we need it we need a more robust deep space network. This sounds like something someone should have thought about before you immediately get right now but you're absolutely right.
All these missions happen really quick like they're happening faster people are designing the missions more quickly you know SpaceX is like we're gonna land on land on Mars in 2020 and you're like what it's it's 2017 you guys like that's not long from now so we're getting better at doing it fast and uh yeah so this is the thing that we need to think about and thankfully people are starting to think about it and I'm sure you know that's the thing about NASA like they see problems coming pretty long way away they're gonna figure it out. I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful. We're all hopeful.
Maya this has been an absolute joy. I'm really good at this. Oh thank you I learned most things I know from you so thank you. Oh that's definitely not the case.
At least in the arena it is. Right sure maybe in terms of in terms of uh in terms of advice podcasts but I appreciate you taking the time out of your day spend time and uh if you want to check out Maya. Well thank you thank you for the thank you for the faith in me to allow me to participate in this. Well if you want to check out some of the other cool stuff Maya is doing her website is GRC Nation GROK Nation and uh and if you want to check out more of what's going on with your hand-conjean you can check out our patreon at patreon.com slash durehankajon.
We're not doing it this week in rhymes because Maya doesn't have any idea what that is I don't want to throw from that deep into the deep end but there will be another one next week I went John comes back so uh we appreciate all of you hanging out this podcast is edited by Nicholas Jenkins Rosiano-Haus and Sheridan Gibson our producers. Um Victoria Bonjarno is our social media manager. Uh Fame Music is from Gunnarolla and I think I said all the things I usually write it down beforehand and honestly John mostly handles this part so I forget how it goes you can email us your questions at hankandjohnajeemel.com and as we say in our hometown don't forget to be awesome.