Author John Green Stops By the Wharton School to Talk about Life, Creativity and Compassion
What’s your favorite novel by author and YouTuber John Green? Looking for Alaska? Turtles All the Way Down? An Abundance of Katherines? Or maybe The Fault in Our Stars, one of the best-selling books ever? Green’s books, with more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, often feature young adult characters and explore themes like love, loss and identity.
His latest non-fiction work, Everything Is Tuberculosis, focuses on the world’s deadliest disease, which has existed for millennia without a cure because, Green believes, “We simply have systems that don’t value all human lives equally.”
It was the jumping-off point for Green’s intimate conversation in March 2025 with Adam Grant, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an organizational psychologist who hosts the Authors@Wharton series.
Grant praised Green’s latest work as “beautifully written” and said that he felt “a tremendous amount of moral outrage reading this book, because it seems wrong that over a million people are going to die from this disease and we know exactly what we can do to save them, and it’s not happening.”
Beyond Books
More than an exploration of stellar writing, Grant’s Authors@Wharton conversation with Green was a celebration of life — weaving together themes of collaboration, activism, perseverance in the face of adversity, and following your passion.
Said Green: “We are incredibly rare and precious, and every single one of us is amazing, worthy of all of the care in the world, and deserving of loving and being understood. The point of life is to be here with each other in true solidarity and trying to ease each other’s journeys.”
Here are some powerful themes and John Greenisms that emerged from the conversation, which took place in the Penn Museum:
- Mental health and self-acceptance. John Green’s candid discussion about living with OCD and depression showed that success is possible while managing mental health challenges. “I’ve lived with very serious illness for most of my adult life, and yet I also have a really wonderful life. And those things aren’t mutually exclusive at all. Obviously, you have to treat your chronic illness like a chronic illness, and there are times when it’s disabling and debilitating, and that’s very frustrating. And I wish that I could have the kind of wildly productive life that always seems to me just out of reach. But I have a really wonderful life and I have a serious mental illness. They’re both true at the same time.”
- Valuing creativity from within. Green’s advice to “just start” and be willing to be bad at something new was a reminder to pursue your passion without fear of perfection. “You have to find value in making the thing. That’s true whether it’s creative work or a marketing campaign, because you have to find a little bit of the intrinsic value in doing the work. Otherwise, you become entirely reliant upon exterior feedback and validation. If you’re only looking for external validation, my experience is it will never be enough. There will always be a hole inside of you that all the validation in the world simply cannot fill. That has to come from within. You have to find meaning in the making of the thing, not just meaning in the way the thing is received.”
- Social justice and systemic change. Green’s deep research into tuberculosis and global health inequities for his book has fueled his activism in the face of injustices. “My brother had cancer, and it cost about 150 times more to cure my brother’s cancer than it cost to cure Henry’s tuberculosis [the main character in his latest book]. At no point did anyone say to my brother, ‘I’m just not sure this is cost-effective. We have a better use of resources.’ They offered him the kind of personalized, tailored treatment that all of us would expect and that all of us deserve. I think about that a lot in the context of tuberculosis survivors, because it’s a similarly hard disease to cure… but it’s very curable. And the short answer to why we don’t cure it is that we simply have systems that don’t value all human lives equally.”
- Sometimes careers are built on unexpected opportunities. Green pivoted often in his career, from student chaplain to novelist, to blogger, to YouTube educator, to non-fiction writer, to activist. His non-linear path shows that there’s no single “right” way to build a career – and he also believes in the power of creativity. “I think just starting something is the hardest thing. Just start and be bad… Regular people engage in all kinds of creative work, and they do it in all sorts of different ways. They may not do it as their entire living. It may be a side hustle, it may be a passion project, it may be something that you choose not to monetize, but regular people do creative work in all sorts of ways. And if there’s one thing that you take from listening to me, I hope that it’s if that doofus can do it, why can’t I?”
- Shared projects (with siblings!) can enrich your life. Success does not have to be a solitary pursuit; in fact, Green encourages collaboration — which, in his case, has often involved his brother, Hank Green. In 2012, the two began producing educational video content with the YouTube channels Crash Course and SciShow and have continued their partnership. “Make stuff together. You don’t have to make it for anybody else…Do a carpentry project together. When you visit each other, do a jigsaw puzzle together…My brother is my closest collaborator. He is my oldest friend. He is one of the dearest people in my life. That is such a blessing, and it is so rare. In adulthood, it’s very difficult to remain close to your siblings… Hank is the most amazing person I’ve ever known. I really am the tail to Hank Green’s comet. That’s been my role ever since we started working together, because he’s so relentless. He has so much more energy than I do, and being the tail to his comet is a great privilege.”
Conversation Starters
Are you a John Green fan? Which of his books is your favorite? Did you learn something new in this interview about the author? What surprised you and why?
John Green believes that we have health care systems worldwide that “don’t value all human lives equally.” What does he mean by this? Do you agree or disagree? How might you confront this issue?
John Green encourages all of us to “make stuff together.” Do you collaborate creatively and entrepreneurially with someone who is close to you — a parent, friend or sibling? Share your story in the comment section of this article.
Hero image photo shot by: Larissa Inex, Pexels.com
I recently became a John Green fan after reading (and loving) his novel, Turtles All the Way Down, and I am now starting one of his more recent works, An Abundance of Katherines. While I was initially surprised to learn that he suffered from depression, as his novels employ a comical tone (while also dealing with serious themes), I realize now that he has written characters with similar mental illnesses as him (like Aza Holmes, who suffers from OCD, in Turtles All the Way Down), which both raises awareness on these issues and helps other people who suffer from the same problems relate to others and feel less alone.
While reading about John Green’s new book, Everything is Tuberculosis, what truly resonated with me was his statement that we don’t value all human lives equally. Although most of us enjoy putting on a facade of benevolence and compassion, we offer help selectively and intentionally, to those who we are familiar with and deem “worthy” based on prejudice. For example, while sharing his own experience with his brother’s cancer treatment, Green recalls that while his brother’s medical care was much more costly than that of a tuberculosis patient like Henry, no one ever questioned the cost-efficiency of his treatment. However, patients living in poverty who suffer from diseases that might be cheaper and easier to cure often do not receive the same treatment (or treatment at all) since they are viewed as lower class and less deserving of care than their wealthier counterparts. Thus, the issue does not lie simply in the medical system but within society as a whole, that poverty itself is viewed as an incurable disease, and those who fall victim to it cannot be helped and must be left to struggle and eventually meet their fate. This then leads to the true question: is poverty really an untreatable disease, or is it just a symptom, worsened by the plague of egocentrism in society?
To solve this complex issue, I believe changes must be made in institutions, a major one being the healthcare system. One of the biggest changes that I think needs to be made is universal healthcare: in many countries (especially European countries), health care systems are state-funded and much more need-blind than in the United States, physical status taking priority above financial status. While putting in place such a major change would certainly cause conflict and disagreement, I believe it is vital to instill not only equal care for all but values of justice and compassion within society.
John Green’s novels speak to everyone, his writing inspires and gives people something to relate to. I have been inspired by numerous John Green books, most notably “Paper Towns.” This book is one of self discovery and embracing imperfections. With reading this article, I see how relevant these themes of the book are with his advice mentioned in the article. In this article John Green tells readers to accept themselves for who they are and to also find meaning in your creations. Even though Green has books that mainly focus on mental health challenges in everyday life (like Turtles All The Way Down), his advice is for everyone no matter what’s going on in their life. Everyone should be able to find true meaning in their creations like Green has. You need to create something to inspire, you need to create something that you can be proud of, and most importantly, you need to find meaning in the actual process of creating. For example, let’s say you are writing a comment like this one. Why are you writing it? What are you learning from this process? Well for me, I’m writing this comment because I feel as though the amount of inspiration and real life advice that stems from Green and his writing needs to be brought to attention. Also, from this process I’m learning that the best way to get your voice heard, is to go out and get your voice heard. Okay, I know that sounds a bit obvious, but I mean to go out and do something. If you want to advocate, advocate. John Green has advocated for various diseases and mental illnesses, and now he has written tons of books that have given people comfort and strength. I, myself , struggle with various mental health challenges and when I first read “Turtles All The Way Down” I felt like John Green was in my head. I want to inspire and advocate like John Green has for years. I found meaning in the creation of this comment through just really thinking about the factors that brought me to sitting down and writing this. One, not really complex, factor is that I saw John Green’s name and wanted to see what this article was about. I now know. It’s an article full of inspiration, no matter who you are you can take his advice and implement it into your every day life.
Green’s genuine advice to “just start” is extremely relatable and I can see parallels to my own experiences.
I’ve never found pleasure in being a goalie or an outfielder. As a kid, I dreaded slipping on my cleats and I whined about practicing. I was the one who crossed my fingers whenever it started drizzling, praying for a game cancellation. In contrast, my friends would rush off to practice after school. I felt unathletic and out of place. I carried that attitude into high school, feeling hesitant and closed off to the sports world.
But out of curiosity I started cross country. At the first practice, I was quickly humbled. The varsity girls pushed the pace, immediately disappearing into the distance. The only indication they had been there was a gust of wind. I felt mediocre as the sun beat down and my pace slowed. The sweat dripping down my face seemed to mimic how my self-confidence was melting. I made up my mind that I would not be coming back. Then, my coach delivered an inspirational speech voicing that our team is special because we do things that are hard. If it was easy, then everyone would do it. I knew he was right. They said we had to “embrace the suck.”
So that’s exactly what I did. By the end of the season, I was grateful to have found a sport that mattered so much to me and became such an integral part of my life. I learned to appreciate all the imperfect moments. The treacherous hill workouts, sore legs, and sweltering summer practices served as a reminder to persevere. It was in these moments where I ran and improved for myself. I found satisfaction in my progress, no matter how small.
John Green points out that perfection is exactly like it sounds: unreachable. Striving for perfection won’t bring happiness. It will only bring disappointment. You have to let yourself be human and grow by taking that first step.
If I’m being honest, I think that one of the biggest issues with youth today is the lack of a good level of awareness for problems that are so common today. John Green takes these problems and transforms them into something that can be experienced by a reader in a way that’s more personal and real. His books offer a window into a life that many of us never have and potentially never will experience. For instance, cancer. I know that for me, I can fail to remember the absolutely devastating importance that cancer has in so many people lives. It’s both embarrassing and terrible, but it’s true. It become something that seems distant and eventually almost unimportant, even though I know that it’s something that is so deeply important and affects so many people today. However, with his book The Fault in Our Stars, John Green reached through the pages of the book, grabbed my hand, and took me right into the life of someone who experiences cancer, and loses the love of her life to the disease as well. Cancer became something I could see up close, even through the limited lens of a book – something poignant, incredibly important, and deeply devastating. It offered a close up perspective that I’d never been able to experience in real life, and brought a sense of more realness to the issue of cancer. Another example can be seen through his book Turtles All the Way Down, which addresses the struggles of OCD and the anxiety that comes with it. As someone who struggles with anxiety, I was shocked by how John Green perfectly encapsulated the spiral and grip that anxiety has on people. I feel like anxiety is another thing that the significance of has been watered down due to the large capacity in which it occurs nowadays. It’s important, of course, but to those who don’t directly struggle with it, it seems very far-off and hard to sympathize with. As Green mentioned in this article, one of his goals in writing is to bring awareness to different topics, like mental health struggles that he himself faced in his own life. Turtles All the Way Down did an extraordinary job addressing the struggles of anxiety in a shockingly accurate way that can be both relatable and eye-opening. And ultimately, that’s what John Green does so well in his writing and what makes his books so important – they magnify the importance in common issues, offering a perspective shift and insight that is incredibly necessary in order to gain more deeper awareness about struggles that so many people face today.