There’s been a lot to learn in the past 12 months: how to call Twitter X (begrudgingly), that Beyoncé can do country (amazingly), and that a lot of people are thinking about the Roman Empire (apparently). But if you watched Crash Course, you learned way more than that. Thanks to your support, Crash Course recently hit two billion views. According to our calculations, that’s at least two billion perspective shifts, two billion stifled laughs in the library, and two billion reminders that the world is better when we imagine it complexly. Here's a recap of what we worked on in the last year, thanks to your views, shares, comments, and contributions to our Patreon and Crash Course Coin campaign.
What’s Out Now
The Deadliest Infectious Disease of All Time
This March, we launched our first-ever longform Crash Course Lecture, in which John Green finally gets to say everything he’s ever wanted to say about tuberculosis, all in one place. Turns out, the story of TB spans way wider than any of us thought. It takes us back to ancient mummies, across global cultures, and right up to the contemporary moment, where we have a chance to end TB for good. Funds from last year’s Crash Course coin let us experiment with this new documentary-style format and produce something that is not only truly special, but also has the opportunity to change the world.
Art History
This April, we started uploading one of our most highly-requested series of all time: Crash Course Art History, hosted by curator Sarah Urist Green. In this 22-episode series, we’ll explore a wide range of art: ancient cave paintings and pride flags, state-sanctioned monuments and street art, works designed for function and works designed to get your goat. We’ll consider themes like nature, the body, and the divine that are prevalent throughout history and all around the world. We’ll ask how the art history canon was formed and how it’s changing today. And we’ll wade into juicy questions about the future of art, including how AI might influence it.
Crash Course Pods
Also this April, we began releasing the first ever Crash Course podcast series, hosted by John Green and astrophysicist Katie Mack. This season is all about the universe — how it started, how it’s changed, and how it will eventually end. And yeah, that can make your head spin, but we found that uncovering the secrets of the universe is ten times as comforting, beautiful, and connecting, as it is overwhelming*. We are each a part of the big bang that lives on, and that is pretty darn special.
*Note: This is a very scientific calculation.
TikTok
Last fall, we launched a TikTok channel to bring you bite-sized moments of insight, learning, and fun. Some are pulled from Crash Course series, and others are rescued heroically from the cutting room floor. We’ve had such a fun time bringing you even more weird and fascinating stories from across the sciences and the humanities — now in short form.
Biology & Biología
We’ve very nearly wrapped our Biology and Biología series, created in partnership with HHMI Biointeractive. These courses are hosted by science communicator and professor Dr. Sammy Ramsey and neuroscientist Minerva Contreras, respectively. They are chock full of mind-blowing facts about how life works, how technology is changing the game, and how we connect with beautiful symmetry to the world around us. Each of these series are 50 episodes long, and we’ll finish uploading them this summer.
Botany
In late 2023, we wrapped Crash Course Botany, produced in partnership with PBS Digital Studios and PBS Nature. Hosted by Alexis Nikole Nelson, this series explores the wild and wonderful world of plants. How do plants defy gravity? Why do some plant cells die on purpose? And what, actually, is a berry? You’ll have to watch the series to find out.
What’s Next?
Religions
We’re currently hard at work on Crash Course Religions, created in partnership with the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Pew Charitable Trust, and PBS Digital Studios. John Green will host, guiding us through the really hard-hitting questions, like: What happens when we die? Why do bad things happen to good people? And for that matter, why do good things happen to bad people?! In 24 episodes, we’ll unpack the history and culture of religions, considering how they bring meaning and order to people’s lives. We’ll explore cults, magic, and the supernatural; and we’ll dabble in all the places religion is found, including pop culture, politics, and more. This series will launch in late summer.
Political Theory
Also in the works is Crash Course Political Theory, produced in partnership with PBS Digital Studios, and hosted by Ellie Anderson, a philosopher, professor, and podcaster. In this series, we’ll explore concepts everyone agrees on — like freedom, justice, and security. The only problem is… no one agrees on what, exactly, any of them mean or how we should go about achieving them. Over 13 episodes, we’ll consider how thinkers like Socrates, Karl Marx, Hannah Arendt, and bell hooks can shed new light on the most pressing issues of our time. This series will launch in the fall.
Sex Education
Crash Course Sex Ed is also on deck.Over 15 episodes, this series will tour the weird, wondrous, and utterly normal realm of human sexuality. With science and wit — but no shroud of taboo — we’ll do a version of Sex Ed that’s less condom-on-banana demonstration and more “how did the eggplant emoji become the universal symbol for penis?” Less black-and-white film about your changing body and more awe at the literally millions of organisms living happily in your vagina. This series will launch next year.
Native American History
Crash Course Native American History is in the works, with a host search currently underway. This series will explore connections between the past and present, surveying the diverse and ongoing history of Native peoples in North America. We’ll cover events not often taught in high school history classes. And each episode will tell lesser-known stories of people, such as John Herrington (the first enrolled tribal member to go to space, who carried a Chickasaw flute into orbit). This series will launch in 2025.
We couldn’t have done it without you.
It’s been a BIG year since our last coin campaign, and we simply couldn’t have done it without you. Whether you’ve purchased a Crash Course coin, supported us on Patreon, or shared videos with your students, friends, family, or coworkers, you are a part of this team. You are the reason we can keep making high-quality educational materials that support learners where they are.
If you want to, and are able to purchase a Crash Course Coin this year, they're available until June 7th. We have so much more we want to do, and we are so grateful to have the support of those who pay for this content so that it can be free for everyone, forever.