Happy Sad Confused - John Green

Episode Date: June 2, 2014

John Green is more than a best-selling author. He’s pretty much the leader of a movement. Nerdfighters, you know who you are. Green stops by Josh’s office to talk about “The Fault in our Stars��, why he doesn’t want to meet J.K. Rowling, and what his plan is for the zombie apocalypse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the Volvo Fall Experience event, discover exceptional offers and thoughtful design that leaves plenty of room for autumn adventures. And see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety brings peace of mind to every crisp morning commute. This September, lease a 2026 X-E-90 plug-in hybrid from $599 bi-weekly at 3.99% during the Volvo Fall Experience event. Conditions apply, visit your local Volvo retailer

or go to explorevolvo.com. Ontario, the weight is over. The gold standard of online casinos has arrived. Golden Nugget Online Casino is live. Bringing Vegas-style excitement and a world-class gaming experience right to your fingertips. Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting, signing up is fast and simple. And in just a few clicks, you can have access to our exclusive library of the best slots and top-tier table games. Make the most of your downtime with unbeatable promotions and jackpots that can turn any mundane moment into a gold

Opportunity at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Take a spin on the slots, challenge yourself at the tables, or join a live dealer game to feel the thrill of real-time action, all from the comfort of your own devices. Why settle for less when you can go for the gold at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Gambling Problem Call Connects Ontario 1866531-260. 19 and over. Physically present in Ontario. Eligibility restrictions apply.

See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for details. Please play responsibly. Hey, guys, welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. This is my podcast. Thanks for stopping by. This one is a big one for all John Green fans. You know who you are, your nerd fighters, whether you're nerd fighter or just a casual fan or just curious about who I'm talking to or if you've heard a little bit about fault in our stars

and curious about that. This week's episode is a really special one. John Green is a really a force of nature in publishing right now, in vlogging, in video blogging, obviously he is huge. His fans, I've kind of never seen anything like it, and it's no wonder why. I've gotten a chance to talk to John a bunch in the last few months and got him to know him thanks to my covering of this film The Fault in Our Stars, which opens this Friday, which is going to be huge.

I know it. It really checks all the boxes for fans of the book, and I've seen it with audiences, and I've seen them respond, and it's, if you don't know it already, it's a love story. It stars Shailene Woodley, and the next big thing, which is Mr. Ansel Elgort, and it all comes from the brain of John Green, and he is so entertaining in this podcast, so open, so funny. It was such a thrill to talk to him. He literally just left the office moments ago as I tape this. And tonight, on Monday, as I tape this, is the big premiere here in New York, the world premiere for The Vault on our stars. And this Friday, all of you guys can check it out, and I know you will. So I'm not going to say much more except to say, as always, hit me up on Twitter, Joshua Horowitz.

Tell me who you want to hear on the next podcast, because I do want to hear from you guys and know what I'm doing right and what I can improve on and who you just want to hear. And as always, check out all my stuff on MTV.com and MTVNews.com and afterhours.mtvee.coms. And just all the dot coms. And I think that's all the plugging for today. So without any further ado, here is John Greene. Is this where I'm sitting? Yeah. Make yourself a good one. How's it going? Good. Where'd you fit in on the approval matrix? I made it to brilliant lowbrow. which um i was brilliant highbrow were you really i was there's a rivalry i fucked up your mic adjust as as you see fit you're a pro i actually don't know how it now it looks like you know what you're doing yeah no i know i got it now i got it with someone mind closing the

actually we'll wait on some soda right now you got i got the soda now we're good don't lock us in don't you dare i can't survive in here with john green all the day It's not being by, man. It's good to see you. It's been a whole, what, 12-50 hours. I know, yeah. It's good to see you, too. Hold on. I'm looking at who you're podcasting with in the future. It's a very impressive list. Don't reveal the secrets. I won't. I'm not going to say it on the podcast, but I'm just going to say it on the podcast. I'm just going to stay under your desk so that I can hang out with Charo. Right. It's pretty exciting. I don't know why my first reference of the podcast was a 30-year-old love book. actress, but we're off and running, I guess. Yeah, although I think it's hard to argue that Charter is 30.

Well, I was going to say 30, meaning 30 years ago she was relevant, but she's still relevant. She's relevant. Yeah, if she's not relevant, how come we spent the first two minutes of our special talk talking about her? It's so exciting to see you, especially this time. I mean, as we talk today, hours away from the New York premiere, big premiere. Yeah. Everything about all the events on this are, as you well know,

must be getting a headache in the best possible way from the screaming fans. It's been, it's been crazy. It's been very difficult for me to get my head around, but I'm just trying to enjoy it, and I'm so grateful to everybody for coming out and supporting the movie. Yeah. Does it feel like I'm in a privileged position when I cover films like this, and I get to, I feel in a small way, I get to, like, ride along with you guys through this process, and I got to visit you guys on set, and it's honestly, I was exciting to then to see, I mean, I was at

that screening a month or two ago here in New York, and I had never, I literally never, heard like that kind of response in a crowd um yeah i mean neither that doesn't happen in movies uh does it i mean i i i would think it doesn't get old it's always bizarre and shocking and that that's not what the human brain is meant to

deal with on regular basis yeah yeah brains are not designed to deal well with crowds they aren't designed to deal well with yelling um but the thing i keep telling myself is that i'm very very lucky that they made such a good movie because That's that's no credit to me and all credit to the filmmakers. I got really lucky, you know, so many books that I love were turned into movies that I don't love. It's a very rare thing to be in this situation, and I'm just so proud of the movie and so excited about it.

You've talked a lot about how you, you know, in the past you've shied away from doing a ton of television press, and obviously the nature of a movie trying to get the word out on this is like, you know, I saw you this morning on the Today Show. Yeah, dude, I have been on TV more times in the last three hours than in the previous 10 years because I hate being, no, I mean, no offense to television people, but I kind of hate being on television. I find it very stressful and weird and you can't control your image and it's just a weird thing. So what are the devices for coping? Have you figured out like a... There's a great Robert Frost quote, the only way out is through. but I felt I really like this movie

and I felt like I had to say thank you and the only way that I can say thank you is by doing press you know so this is fun like this is this is chill and cool and it's good to hang out with you and I know you and I like you and no one can see our faces right now

you don't know about the cameras oh god oh god is this a Vodcast only for you only for you Does it feel like Because it's an odd kind of conundrum about you You're a very, in many ways You're a very public person, obviously

You put a lot of yourself out there Thanks to the vlogging and the And obviously you're writing Yet you have to keep some things back Have you had to wrestle with that Over the last few years in terms of like What you keep to yourself? You know, we've had to think about it a little more

My wife and I than we used to Because even when we There's long been a very supportive community of nerd fighters who made our work possible and did great projects with us and that's still a huge part of our lives and it will be hopefully as long as I'm working but um you know in the last couple years with so much more attention and the book reading uh reaching a much much broader audience than Sarah or I ever imagined possible I mean this never crossed our minds we've had to be a lot more cautious just in the way we

deal with our kids um because I want our kids you know we live in Indiana and I want our kids to have normal Midwestern lives and to not have to think about this stuff too much. I don't want my kids to think about their parents too much. Like I never really understood what my dad did for a living and I think that was a great blessing to me. Right. I mean, I know you spent time here in New York years ago. Will Indiana remain home? Is that important for you guys to? I really love it there. I'm really happy there and we have great friends. I miss New York sometimes. I miss being able to order sushi at 3.30 in the morning. I miss the energy of the city. This is such a special place. There really is no place I've ever been that's remotely like it. But a lot of

the things that I dislike about being a person, like standing in line and getting a driver's license and the sort of like general oppression of crowds and bureaucracy, these are not things that New York is great at dealing with. So you're saying you're really happy to be right here at Times square right now. It's a delight. I always say, yeah. It might be the one demerit of this job is the last five walks on my commute of just waving through the lovely tourists.

It is a lot of very stressful weaving. You have to weave and weave. And everyone is nice. And I have to say, I mean, one of the nice things about New York is that the people who are well known are treated with a great deal of respect in New York. That isn't the case really anywhere else. I think Daniel Radcliffe once called it his only heads-up city, like the only city where he doesn't have to look at his shoes when he's walking. It's an important factor when you're Harry Potter.

It's also got to be kind of like a screw the brain a little bit, knowing that, you know, you're the same guy you were basically, I would think, you know, five, ten years ago. And five ten years ago, as you've been open about, like, you know, you would have like a book reading or something and there would be, what, five people in the audience. Oh, if I was lucky. I would be delighted with five. So how do you reconcile that that you're the same guy up there? Yeah. And that was most of your life. And now you're in this weird period that hopefully will continue where you're Mick Jagger up there.

I mean, it's crazy. A young Mick Jagger, to be clear. Not current Mick Jagger. Mick Jagger is still young. He will live past beyond all of us. Let's be honest. Sort of pickled. I mean that in a loving way, Mick Jagger.

I know he's a huge fan of the podcast. I love it, yeah. See you next week. Yeah, we're looking forward to it. I'll still be here, cowering under Horowitz's desk, waiting for you. Yeah, it is at times difficult to reconcile. You know, the main thing is that my professional life is not my life, and what I do for a living is not me. And as long as I can hold on to that,

as long as I can hold on to the sense that my life, my identity, my sense of self is not wrapped up in my work, then when five people come to my readings, it won't be devastating, and when 10,000 people will come to my readings, it won't make me think that I am a different person or a better person or whatever. I mean, the great privilege and opportunity of consciousness is being able to relate to other people, but it has to be on a real personal level. So the most important, I mean, the relationships that I have with the NIRFeder community

is tremendously important to me, but the most important relationships in my life are with my family, my closest friends. And, you know, that stuff hasn't really changed. They don't care. I mean, my one-year-old baby definitely doesn't care. But even, you know, they don't care. They're proud of me in the same way that I'm proud of them when good stuff happens at their work.

Going back a little bit, when did you realize that you could make a living at this? What was the turning point? I mean, my first novel came out. It sold a couple thousand copies in the first year. But somehow I could make a living because I'd had some foreign deals and also I had no needs back then.

I was living very inexpensively, and there's lots of different ways to sort of piece together a living writing, lots of freelance jobs and stuff. And it occurred to me that I could just do it, but then I didn't actually want to. I like having a day job. I like having steady income. It's weird to me not to have a day job. It feels very scary. So I like not having to mentally rely upon the idea of writing a certain book by a certain

deadline that has to sell a certain number of copies. that limits my creative expression and creative experience. So I still work. I mean, I still do Crash Course, the online education series on YouTube. And we're lucky to work with lots of nonprofit organizations on that stuff. And, you know, I go into the office every day. So you consider that.

That's the day job. I go in the office every day, I do it. But then in the morning, I try to write. Gotcha. I was curious because, like, when looking at the, just the output of your material, I mean, there's such a, in addition to the books, that's just the tip of the iceberg, there's so much out there that you've produced already. I mean, and most of our brains have a finite amount of creative juice and energy. I mean, does, do you worry that, like, does the well run dry at a certain point, or does it run dry for a period of time? And does the online videos take away anything from the writing? Well, I don't know. I mean, the hope I find in that is that I wrote Fault and Our Stars why I was making videos and it was by far my best received book. So I take some hope away from that. I do worry about it sometimes. On the other hand, at times I feel like the well doesn't run dry as long as you're pumping, you know, the well doesn't run dry as long as you're working. And it's when I stop working that the well runs dry. And also, I mean, I've had some mental health problems in my life and periods where, you know, when you're in a state of really profound. obsessiveness or depression or whatever, you don't get much done. And that becomes a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Then you get mad at yourself or not getting anything done. So I feel

very lucky to be in a place in my life where I can work, where I have the energy, where I have the excitement, where I have an audience that gets me excited to work every day. So I try to focus on that. I do work a little bit too much sometimes. But I like it. I really like it. I like all the stuff that I do. Does the writing come in spurts? I mean, is it more routinized? You say, you know, try and write in the morning. I mean, do you feel? find like you'll wake up at three in the morning and write 10 pages because no i wish i love those people who can do that i think that's so awesome like they just wake up inspired they had a dream and the dream was perfect i wake up and i had a dream and i'm like that dream would make an

amazing novel and then i write it down and i'm like this is insane i have to burn this so that no one ever finds it uh no i i i do write in spurts i mean i you know it takes me a long time to get to get sort of started. So I'll write a hundred thousand words that I can say very little of and then I'll find my way into a narrative voice that I can follow through and then suddenly you know the novel comes out, the draft of it anyway relatively quickly. But I just have to trust that process and for me that means that means being disciplined and trying to you know write on a schedule as much as I can as many days as I can. Are you critical of your own work? I mean the fault come more naturally and in a more, did it feel like once you had that first draft of it,

did you have to go back and edit it a lot? Or did it feel like this beyond the other works feels more complete? It feels like I nailed it the first time. Oh, no, I always delete more than half of my first drafts. And that was very much the same case for fault in our stars. I mean, there were some wretched, wretched parts of it. But I'm glad I knew that, you know, at this point in my career, like I've done it a few times. So it's not devastating to me to have to delete 70% of a first draft, I understand that that's just part of my process, and unless I find, magically find some more efficient way of doing it, like, that's going to be the way that I write probably for the rest of my career.

Right. I mean, here's also, like, in an experience like this, which is so unique and just, it just happens once in a lifetime, if you're lucky for a creative type, where audiences graft onto material and make it their own, and then a film is made, and you're happy with a film, and that's its own thing. It's obviously not a literal adaptation, but it is a very full. faithful one, do you feel like more connected with the book? Is your relationship with your own book different now, thanks to both the fans and the fact that there's slightly, there's a,

you know, by the nature of the medium, there's a different interpretation of it out there. That's a good question, man. That's a really interesting question. In some ways, I feel closer to it. But in the most important ways, I feel more able to let it go. I feel more able to let it belong to other people and to let it, you know, hopefully have a, place in their lives. It was a very personal story for me. It was hard to write. It was painful to write.

I should add, whenever I complain about writing, there's a little voice inside of my head. It's my dad. As my dad saying to me, as he has said to me many, many times when I complain about my job, well, kid, it ain't coal mining. And it ain't. And I don't want to, I don't want to sound like it's so, so wretched to have to sit at a typewriter or computer every day. and move my fingers over a keyboard.

But it was a difficult book for me to write. And as, you know, I mean, I hope I came to a hopeful place with it, but it was a long road getting there. It's been a great gift to me that so many people have responded so generously to the book that these people made the movie so well, because it has been a way of sort of letting me go, letting me let go of some of those fears, some of those things that terrify me about being.

a human. And I do feel a lot better. I do feel a lot better in my relationship to human life and to the universe than I did before all of this. And I don't think it's because the book has been successful. I think it's because the readers of the book and the people who made the movie have given me this great gift of kind of believing with me in the idea that short lives can also be meaningful lives and in the idea that there is meaning to life. It doesn't matter. matter if it's constructed or if we derive it from somewhere, it can still be real. One thing I appreciate about your work, and I think a lot of your fans do as well, is that you, you know, for some YA, whatever you want to call it, is a stigma. Maybe it's too

a harsh a word, but some people almost view it as a lesser thing. Yeah. And you embrace it. This is what you do best, and there's nothing to apologize for in connecting with teenagers and in the way that you do. Yeah. Was that something you had, again, had to reconcile a little bit, or you had to feel like you were apologizing in the beginning, or did you always feel like, yeah, this is what I do best, and this is awesome that I can connect with such an important part of the development

of a human being? Yeah, that's a good question. I think, you know, very early on, I wanted to write a YA novel because I admired so many YA novels. I'd started reading them as an adult when I started working at this magazine booklist, and I was blown away by how good. they were. But there was still a little part of me that was like, I want to be a proper fancy writer. I want to be a writer who gets proper fancy reviews and all of that stuff. It turns out

that I have gotten a lot of proper fancy reviews, and I'm very grateful for that. But there is still a stigma associated with it. I think that I kind of get a pass on that stigma, partly because of a lot of privileges associated with, you know, my sex and my race, but also because I write so-called realistic fiction. And one of the things I actually love most about Y.A. is that I share a shelf with science fiction and fantasy and mysteries and all kinds of romances. I mean, I write romance, but a wide variety of romance. And I share a shelf with dystopian novels. And I love that. I love that those books can be in conversation with each other and that we aren't drawing these bright lines between, you know, genre fiction and proper fiction because I think of myself as a genre

fiction writer and I wish I could write fantasy. I have tried to write fantasy and my friends have kindly told me that I should probably stick with what I'm good at. But, you know, we're so lucky in YA to live in a relatively diverse publishing climate where teenagers, you know, move back and forth in their readings and they're comfortable reading both, you know, they're comfortable reading dystopias, they're comfortable reading urban fantasy and realistic fiction. And that's really important to me. I think it's also been cool from my perspective. Like I've been able to interview a bunch of folks in that space, including like Veronica, Roth, and Cassandra. And there really seems to be camaraderie among you guys. I mean, Veronica just tweeted something at you the

other day I saw. It seems like it's a very like collegial atmosphere to say the least. It's a tremendously supportive community. I have to say that I have, I don't think, I don't know about much about the world of adult fiction, but I don't think maybe it's quite so supportive. You know, we, we all, we are all fans of each other's books. I am, I am a fan of Cassandra Claire. I am a huge fan of Veronica Roth. I, you know, I am a fan of these writers.

I, I buy their books the day they come out, you know. I love Holly Black, and I love Walter Dean Myers, and I love Jackie Woodson, and I, I love their books. Like, I, you know, beg Jackie Woodson for a pre-publication galley of her most recent book and got it yesterday and have been, like, reading it while I'm having to do all of this interview stuff. Like, as soon as I'm done talking to you, I'm going to go back to reading Brown Girl Dreaming. So it is. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing. We're very lucky to have it. How much did you think JK Rowling change, publishing change, your space?

I mean, I think J.K. Rowling made it possible. I think that children's books, YA books, first off, they were seen as only for children and teenagers, not for adult readers. But more importantly, they were seen as sort of an afterthought in the world of publishing. And now, you know, we live in a world in which probably 20 of the 50 best-selling books in the United States are published for teenagers or children. That's a very different world from the one that we lived in even 10 years ago when I started publishing.

And I think that a lot of credit goes to J.K. Rowling. I think not enough credit goes to Stephanie Meyer. I think Stephanie Meyer also opened up a lot of doors for Y.A. novels in terms of adult readership, broad adult readership. And that's made a huge difference as well. Have you spent time with JK? No, I have never met J.K. Rowling. I couldn't.

I would never, I wouldn't know what to say. I would freak out. I don't even, I don't want to meet her. Never meet. Sweat starts pouring down. Seriously, you're making me anxious, just imagining it. I never meet your... Jay, come out!

Never meet your idols. Is she going to be on the pond? No, I am... I really... I'm so grateful to her as a writer, but also because the world that she created has been such a hugely important part of the video blog community

that Hank and I have been lucky to be at the... kind of at the front of for the last seven and a half years. I mean, Hank sings songs about Harry Potter. We go to Harry Potter conferences, Like, I was going to Harry Potter cons a long, long time ago, and the thought of actually meeting her? I don't know.

No, thank you. Can you deal with Radcliffe at least? He's the nicest. I could deal with Radcliffe. I could totally deal with Radcliffe. He seems like a really cool guy. He's literally the nicest dude on the planet. Is he?

Yeah, he seems like he is. Oh, that's cool. So, talk me a little bit about, I mean, the fact that this was not your first, this is your first, obviously, book that's been adapted for Hollywood, but it wasn't your first, the process wasn't the first for you. Yeah. What was the first one? Was it for Paper Towns or what was...

No, it was for looking for Alaska and it was shortly after the book came out and it was amazing. It was life-changing. It allowed us to move to New York. I was very, very, very grateful that that happened. And that was selling the rights to Paramount, basically, right? Yeah, we sold the rights to Paramount.

And then, you know, Paramount's hat still has the rights and we'll have them forever. And they will choose when to make a movie and what movie to make and whether to make a movie. and if I can be of use to them in that process, I'm happy to do it. You know, there was a couple great scripts along the line written by Josh Schwartz who created the OC, and he just did a great job, and they just didn't see a way to make it. And, you know, Hollywood is a very complicated business that I don't have a great understanding of.

But that one's out of my control. The other ones are in my control, which is awesome, and I'm very lucky about that and very grateful for it. some of them were optioned, but they've all returned to me now. One would think, you know, I don't want to jinx anything, but after opening weekend of this one, that suddenly there will be a lot more movement. I mean, Paper Towns is already obviously moving. Yeah.

But suddenly a lot of people, maybe Paramount might be giving you a call. Have they already talked about potentially? Yeah, we've had some conversations. Look, the main thing to me is not, I, there is something magical about reading a book where you haven't seen the movie or where you don't know the movie adaptation because the characters belong to you. They are wholly inside of your minds.

If you're the kind of person who pictures characters when you read, you can picture them. If you're not, like, I don't really picture faces when I read or anything. But the thing that's happening inside of your consciousness is so special and weird and powerful. And the visual image, I think, is, you know, it's so ingrained in us as central. We live in such a culture of hyper-saturated images. that, or hyper-saturated with images, that, like, I think it's very difficult then to read a book and not see those people, you know?

So I think I'm okay if they don't make a movie. To me, to me, the question is not, like, should we make a movie? The question is, can we make a good movie? And if the answer to that question is, yes, then let's do it. Like, if it's going to be as good as the fault in our stars and it's going to be as wonderful and experience and I'm going to have amazing friends out of it, like Shalene and Ansel and Nat and Laura Dern and Sam Trammel,

like, yeah, absolutely, let's do it. it. But if it's not going to be a great movie, let's not. So personally, as you were talking, like, have they put out a version of Fultonar stars with the actors on the cover? Yeah. And is that, that's okay with you. Yeah, you know, it's funny. I was not psyched about it. To be honest with you, I've never been a big fan of the movie tie-in edition, as it's called. But, you know, a couple months spending time with Shailene and Ansel in Pittsburgh and Amsterdam, I started to think these young people have given so much to this book

and they have been given such extraordinary life to Hazel and Augustus that I'm honored that they're on the cover. I'm honored that they get to share that book with me and I will always treasure my copy of that book. It's exciting to also see, and I've gone through this a couple times watching films and development come to fruition and to see kind of a star-born.

Shailene was already a star, but see the fever around Ansel and the excitement and I mean obviously he's a great looking guy but he's got just charisma to spare and and this is this is by far his first leading role like yeah it's just it must be fun just as like a fan and friend to kind of see him emerge through this too I am excited for him I also think that he probably doesn't know what's about to happen you know so I'm excited I'm excited for him but I also want to like hold on to him hold on to him real tight he's just a wonderfully talented guy and he just did such a great job in this movie. I mean, I don't think, I was a big fan of his and a huge advocate for him being cast as Augustus, but I had no idea he was going to be that good. And I think he just, he understood Gus in profound ways.

And yeah, he's going to be, his life is about to change, for sure. But I'm so excited for him. And he, he's going to have a great career, I think, as an actor because he is wildly talented. Friday. I know there are a bunch of events. Obviously, there's the premiere tonight here in New York. I think you guys are doing an event the night before, like the night. Yeah, Thursday night, yeah. Are you also, like, are you just going to be kind of going from theater to the theater, trying to, I mean, if I were you, I would want to just like soak in that reaction because it's going to be so catholic people and it's going to be just a buzz to feel it. Are you going to be out in the theaters this next weekend?

Yeah, yeah. I can't, I mean, I can't. I can't. What showings and what theaters? I am. I am going to go to the theater with, um, with my wife and some of our friends and, you know, sit in the back and just, uh, just, just, just enjoy that, that magic moment of, um, that, that, you know, we've been building toward for the last almost three years since this book came out. And then I'm going to go on vacation with my kids to a place with no cell phone service and no Wi-Fi. Undisclosed cave. Yeah, exactly. What's your disguise going to be in the theater? Because everyone in that theater is going to, I'm not going to have a disguise. I figure if you walk in like a minute after the movie

starts and you sit in the back row, no one's going to notice. You're a tall, tall drink of water. I don't know, maybe. My wife is always telling me to wear a hat. Like, whenever we leave the house now, she's like, she's like, why don't you put on your hat? And I'm like, because it's not like the hat is magical. Like, I still look like myself.

People would just be like, oh, hey, that's John Green in a hat. And that's a new meme is born. Right, yeah, yeah, like hat me or whatever. I don't want, yeah, I don't really like the way I look in a hat. I'm too old to, like, regularly wear a baseball cap. I mean, are you the kind of guy that thinks about career in terms of, like, where you're going to be in five years? Because, I mean, is it, do you see yourself primarily now, like, if, you know, on an immigration form or something, do you write writer? I mean, what do you, you know what I mean?

I always write novelist and video blogger, which I'm sure is the most pretentious answer on the, yeah, on your immigration form when you're visiting Canada. And they're like, oh, thank you for way too much information about your life, man. Yeah. But I think of, I like both. I love making video. The educational work that we do with the art assignment and with crash course is so important to me. And I think it's important to, you know, millions of young people around the world. And that's not something that I could ever give up. And I love writing books. And I'm going to keep writing books, partly because I don't have another good source of income, but also because I do genuinely love it. I love it. I love the process of writing books. And I'm going to keep writing books, partly because I don't have another good source of income, but also because I do I do genuinely love it. I love it. I love it. I love the process of writing. I love I love being inside the world of a book. I miss it and I'm really looking forward to getting back to that. Like all of this stuff is fun, but at my core I'm a person who wants to sit in a basement and write all there. That being said, and maybe you can deny this all you want.

You're really good with a crowd, with people. Thanks, man. As nervous as you may be inside, you command an audience. Were you ever like an aspiring performer growing up? Did you want to act? I was in a sketch comedy group in college, and I quite enjoyed it. I was terrible. Unfortunately, I am not a good actor.

We were to discuss the cut cameo that's already, it's been in touch to death, and people move on. My cameo was cut. It wasn't cut because I was bad. It was cut because the scene didn't work in the movie. I thought you were about to blame the kid in the scene. No, the kid was amazing. The kid was so good. That's the only sad thing about it is that I played girl's father, and girl was amazing.

She was adorable Her end Oh no she did a great job I apologize to Sophie But But you weren't sketch comedy It just didn't take Yeah I mean I loved I loved writing

I loved writing sketches And I loved like hanging out with my friends But the actual acting part I wasn't very good at at all Gotcha What about would you want to Try your hand again at screenwriting I know you tried to adapt

No I'm so bad I'm so oh I'm epically bad What was just Screenwriting requires a lot of understanding of structure which it turned I realize when I was writing the screenplay for Paper Towns that I don't actually know anything about plot

and none of my books really have plots as such it's just that they have a series of things that happen and then they end but they're not like structurally sound as stories and I thought maybe that was just because I wasn't that interested in it but it turns out that even when I try to devote myself to it I still suck at it So that's a good thing to know about yourself.

It's important. Yeah. I mean, do you outline the books before you? I don't. I mean, sometimes I outline a little, but first drafts premier are sort of an outline, which is why I delete almost all of them at the end. Again, not to, like, put a dark cloud over your amazing career, but have you also thought about the fact that, like, what if the fault in our stars is the one?

Yeah, what if? Let's not kid ourselves. It's the one. No, but I mean. No, it's the one. And however you wanted to define that. Yeah, it's the one. Is it the one?

Yeah, of course. This doesn't happen twice, you know? I'm not like Terry McMillan or John Grisham or something. Like, I'm not going to be someone who goes on and has this kind of success over and over again. And nor, to be fair, do I really, is that really my ambition? Like, it seems hard, frankly. One could argue the people that repeat are the ones that don't court it anyway. So you're sounding like the person that will repeat.

Oh, great. Because if you said that you were, then you would not. maybe maybe i don't know i mean but like to me to me the um you know i i i just i can't worry about it that much i i i've got to write i've got to write you know the next book and and let it be its own thing you know not let it be um a follow-up to the fault in our stars because that's not going to happen i feel very very lucky that that this is happening but i also feel like um to be honest with you that i'm proud of the book i like the book i i still like it um i mean i think it has some weaknesses for sure and like there's a lot of insufficiencies that I spend a lot

of them thinking about but like I also understand that the real story of this book is is not about me or even about the book it's about the generosity that many readers have shown it and then the amazing good luck to have a good movie made we know your voracious reader also consume a lot of TV movies I watch I watch more TV than I used to but still very little I'm a binge watcher of certain programs. I love Orange is the New Black. I enjoy homeland. That might be it.

Oh, deadliest catch. Really? Sometimes. Sometimes. That's a wild card. Well, my dad was a fisherman in Alaska, and I have always admired him. He is, like, tough in all the ways that my brother and I aren't. He's hiked the Appalachian Trail.

He's, you know, almost lost an eye, and, you know, he's got stories about bears. and I'm like, you know, I mowed the lawn once. And it got hot. Yeah, it was so hot. And then halfway through, I just called someone to finish it. But, yeah, I like that show a little bit. But, yeah, I love Orange is the New Black. I'm very excited for the new season.

Yeah, June 6th. But first go see the fault in our stars, then go binge watch Orange is the New Black. That's my plan. Right. No, that's a perfect day. Yeah, exactly. Maybe start with Fault. Go watch.

What is it? 10 new episodes or something. Yeah. And then bridge it with a little more fault. Yeah, maybe they can go to the 10 o'clock showing of fault. And find some food somewhere in there. Oh, you can eat at the movie theater. Twice.

I've just gotten you two great meals of popcorn. You're welcome, America, nay, the world. In our remaining minutes, I've got this bizarre weird Indiana Jones Fedora. I love it. Obviously has random questions in there because what else would you fill it with? Yeah. Would you care to take a few and take a stab? I'm very excited.

I know. I can tell you. All right. So I'm going to just. I'm going to grab one here. Did you write these? If they're good, yes. Favorite cartoon character.

Ferb on Phineas and Ferb, a wonderful program. I have a child, so that's why I know that show. But also, even if I didn't have kids, I would still watch it. Have you ever seen it? I'm aware, but I have not. Oh, it's a game changer. Your life is about to get so much better. I'm so excited. Thank you, John, in advance.

First concert. I don't want to brag. I don't think you are in a second. Oh, I am going to brag because my first concert was an amazingly cool concert. They might be Giants. Winner.

Still love them. Still go to their shows all the time. Is that true? I do. I'm a huge. They Might Be Giants fan. And I saw them when I was 13. My brother was 10.

Even more impressive. And, yeah. The most interesting person in the world is, that's a difficult call because my heart says Beyonce. Is that true? Is your heart saying? that or is your mind saying that? I don't know. Everything inside of me is saying Beyonce. So maybe

I should just give up and say it's Beyonce. Listener should know he's now doing the single ladies dance. I am. I am. It's a wireless mic so I can do it while I talk to you guys. And I don't lose my breath because I'm so fit. All right. When was the last time I cried? Oh God. That's like made for you. Yeah. I mean, when was the last time I went through a day without crying. I am a cryer. I am a notorious

cryer. I cried every day on the set of the Fall and our Stars movie. Even in very funny scenes, Nat or Ansel

or Shea would come back and they would be like, why are you crying? That was all jokes. And I was like, I'm crying because you guys have been so kind to my story

and it just means so much to me. I cried yesterday. Thinking about, as my family, my parents came in for the movie and they said nice things to me and they were proud of me and I cried.

I can't. My dad can't say he's proud of me without him and I both crying before he gets to the Puh in proud. Is it ugly cry? I mean, is it kind of like... No, I am a beautiful crier. I am. Dignity. Dignity.

Full dignity. I never sob. It's just like the last of the Mohican style, single tear dripping down the cheek. I never let it get to sobbing. Occasionally I let it get to sobbing. That makes it special. Yeah, but that's very rare. The last day of shooting, I wept in.

to Shailene's shoulder and, like, heaved sobs, but she was also heaving sobs. And that feeds on each other. Once, like, you know, so people are... Oh, yeah, once one person gets going. It's over. One or two more, maybe?

When was the last time you threw up? Also recently... Is that connected to crying? Well, I mean, insofar as it's connected to anxiety. But, yeah, it was a couple days ago. Just feeling a little anxious going into this stuff and blah. And for the record, he just actually vomited in my office. I did.

Sorry, John. It was just now. It was just now. I assume, yeah, but you know, this carpet isn't that nice. It's no big deal. No, we were going to re-apulter anyway. I would hope so, you know. Now I was associated MTV with being so hip and cool and young.

Oh, please, there's so much throwing up on the floor at MTV News. Good, good. Sway vomits here every week. That's crazy. That's wonderful. In 20 years, I will be, oh, God, 56 years old. What will I be doing? Literally.

Yeah, okay. Oh, yeah. I've answered the question. Yeah, I have no idea. I mean, my kids will be in college. Oh, I mean, I hope that I'm, I hope that Sarah and I are traveling a lot and seeing the world and that I'm still writing

and Sarah's still curating and we get to do stuff that we love. That would be awesome. That would be awesome. And then that'll be the fault in our stars reboot too. Well, yeah, I'll be also writing, I'll be like really hard up for money and I'll be trying to figure out a way to write a sequel

to the fault in our stars, you know, the way that you do when things go. sour. You spent all your gave all your money to Bernie Madoff and here you are. If you still give your money to Bernie Madoff, you are a very unwise man. He's just writing me from prison. It's so compelling.

What is a pyramid scheme by the way? Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, it's going to be called Fult and our Stars 2, Electric Bugaloo. I've already decided on the title. I just don't know the plot yet. I think most of it's going to take place in heaven. But then there might be some earth stuff too.

And they'll be dancing. Well, it's a musical. It has to be. Duh. Yeah, exactly. I think that's the place to end it. Unless you like this next question, what do you think, John? I want you dictate the end. This is a good last question.

Okay, let's do it. Zombies or vampires, which is one of the central questions of our time. I am a longtime supporter of zombies. I also enjoy a good vampire. I love a good vampire book. I love vampires and books, but in actual real life, I like zombies. And I want to ask you a question, which is, what is your zombie apocalypse survival plan? and then I will tell you mine.

Honestly, there is no survival plan. Whether it's zombies or a hurricane or the floods coming, I'm just going to cower in a corner and just like eat a cinnabon and check out of society. That is very similar to my plan. We are such kindred spirits. We are such kindred spirits. My plan is if there's an actual zombie apocalypse, as soon as possible, run head first into the zombies.

I don't want to go through. I don't want to see people I love be destroyed by zombieism. I want them to watch me be destroyed by zombieism. I want out as quickly as possible. Most disturbing aspect is you really put a lot of time and effort. Oh, yeah, no, I am ready. I am ready. If there are even three zombies out there, I shall be the fourth.

Zombies, he's your first victim. John Green, master of the zombie apocalypse, amazing author of the fault in our stars. Congratulations on the book. We're so excited for the film and enjoy this crazy week. Enjoy this moment, man. It's good to see you. Thank you, Josh. So good to see you.

That was a pleasure. That was so fun. God, that was genuinely enjoyable. Wait, that's not supposed to happen on a press tour. No, I know. It was a huge relief because nothing else has been enjoyable today. Thank you. That was so fun. Goodbye, summer movies, hello fall.

I'm Anthony Devaney. And I'm his twin brother, James. We host Raiders of the Lost Podcast, the Ultimate Movie Podcast, and we are ecstatic to break down late summer and early fall releases. We have Leonardo DiCaprio leading a reverend. in one battle after another, Timothy Chalemay playing power ping pong in Marty Supreme. Let's not forget

Emma Stone and Jorgos Lanthamos's Bugonia. Dwayne Johnson, he's coming for that Oscar in the Smashing Machine, Spike Lee and Denzel teaming up again, plus Daniel DeLuis's return from retirement. There will be plenty of blockbusters to chat about two. Tron Ares looks exceptional

plus Mortal Kombat 2, and Edgar writes, The Running Man starring Glenn Powell. Search for Raiders of the Lost Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. and YouTube.