John Green On What He's Dying To Vlog About

If you only know author John Green for the literary content he produces — like The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns — you're missing out. A self-proclaimed super nerd, the author has opinions — and a vast quantity of knowledge — on just about everything. Utilizing his super smarts along with brother Hank, Green is one half of vlogbrothers, a Youtube channel where the siblings discuss issues they find important. This includes interviews with the casts of Green's adapted novels, critiques of government projects like Obamacare, listacles of jokes for nerds, and tips for young girls on how to boost self esteem. They've covered a lot of ground, so what topics is John Green still aching to ramble on about? "All the vlogs I really want to make that I haven't made are because they require a lot of research and I'm only half way done doing the research," Green says.

"They're all about really nerdy things. I really want to make a vlog about the fascinating last five years of history in Myanmar, or Burma," he says. "What's changed, how and why, in Burma. There's a really interesting, promising but still worrisome change in Myanmar. I just think it would be an interesting topic for a video, but I've got to do the research first. It's a video I'm desperate to make."

It's less sensationalized, but equally — if not more so — important topics the Green brothers hope to shed light on. "Hank and I like to make videos about contemporary events that aren't well-covered by mainstream news sources," he says. "Slow change that isn't revolutionary often goes under reported because it's incremental."

One thing regular viewers of vlogbrothers might notice is Green's nervous habit. You'd be hard-pressed to find a video where the glasses-clad enthusiast isn't grabbing at his hair. When I ask Green about this silly tendency, he bursts out laughing. "It's a nervous habit. When I'm in videos I do it all the time because I'm looking at my hair, and worrying about my hair. I feel very anxious about my hair," he says. "My anxiety always finds a focal point, and for whatever reason when I'm making videos it's my hair."

Well there you have it. Paper Towns, the latest of John Green's YA novels to be adapted for the big screen hits theaters July 24.

Watch the trailer below, and check out our favorite vlogbrother videos here.