The Anthropocene Reviewed

Background

The premise for the podcast was born from a number of sources. Green worked for the book review journal Booklist in the early 2000s, where he reviewed hundreds of books over five years, sparking his interest in reviews as a literary format.[4][5]

In October 2017, after the release of Green's novel Turtles All the Way Down, he and his brother Hank Green went on a book tour. As they traveled the country, they passed time by finding Google user reviews for the places they were passing that they considered absurd, such as a one-star review for Badlands National Park.[1] While reflecting on the increased prevalence of reviews and the five-star scale in modern life, John told Hank he had once had an idea to write a review of Canada geese, to which Hank responded, "The Anthropocene... reviewed!"[5][1]

A few months later, John shared some reviews he had written in 2014 on Canada geese and Diet Dr Pepper with his wife, Sarah Urist Green. After noting that John wrote the reviews in a nonfiction form of third-person omniscient narration, Sarah pointed out that reviews often act as a form of memoir, saying, "in the Anthropocene, there are no disinterested observers; there are only participants."[5] John cited this as a major reason he chose to put more of himself into the reviews.[5][6]

In the introduction to The Anthropocene Reviewed book, Green also revealed that he had begun to have trouble writing fiction because of the ways readers were conflating his protagonists' views with his own. Green specifically referenced a 2017 Allegra Goodman quote; Goodman was asked who she would like to have write her life story, to which she responded, "I seem to be writing it myself, but since I'm a novelist, it's all in code."[5][4] In a 2021 interview with The New York Times, Green elaborated, saying, "I didn't want to write in code anymore. I wanted to try to write as myself because I've never done that in any formal way."[4]

Post-debut

The podcast's first episode was published on January 29, 2018.[1][7] In a November 2018 interview with Vulture, Green said, "The Anthropocene Reviewed is an opportunity for me to get back to my roots. With the podcast, I want to pay careful and sustained attention to the world around me, and that's something I often feel like I don't do, especially when I'm on the internet."[8]

In June 2019, Roman Mars interviewed Green about his show in an episode of 99% Invisible that also featured the reviews from episodes six and nine.[9] The Lascaux Paintings essay from episode six was also adapted into an animated visualization by the German YouTube channel Kurzgesagt in May 2020.[10]

In August 2019, John and Hank performed live versions of their podcasts on stage, with John presenting a new episode of The Anthropocene Reviewed, as well as a live episode of their shared podcast Dear Hank & John.[11] The live performances returned in March 2020 with a planned three-city tour including stops in Columbus, Ohio and Carmel, Indiana, with a third performance set for Ann Arbor, Michigan that was canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.[11][12]

On the August 2020 episode "The Anthropocene Reviewed, Reviewed", Green announced he would be taking a hiatus from the podcast after the next episode in part to work on a book adaptation of the podcast.[13] In April 2021, the podcast returned for a four-episode season coinciding with the book's release.[14] The fourth episode was released on August 26, 2021, with Green commenting the day before in a video posted to his Vlogbrothers YouTube channel that he believed the episode would be his last: "Working on The Anthropocene Reviewed has been an incredible experience, but I think I'm ready to go back to writing fiction—maybe?"[15]

Reception

The book received positive reviews and sold well, with more than 57,000 copies purchased during its first week. It debuted as a number one New York Times Best Seller in the Combined Print & E-books Nonfiction and Hardcover Nonfiction categories, staying on the latter list for nine weeks.[37][38][39] It was subsequently listed at number six on the American Booksellers Association's Year-End 2021 Bestseller List in the category of hardcover nonfiction.[40] Booklist, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness all gave starred reviews, with the last stating that "each of the 44 entries [...] is a small gem, polished to near perfection."[22][41][42][43] For NPR, Adam Frank wrote that each essay "is a web of salient and unexpected connections."[20] Elizabeth Greenwood from The San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "The Anthropocene Reviewed is the perfect book to read over lunch or to keep on your nightstand, whenever you need a reminder of what it is to feel small and human, in the best possible way."[44] Scott Neumyer of Shondaland wrote, "Green may have made his name by writing fiction (and for good reason), but this first foray into nonfiction is his most mature, compelling, and beautifully written book yet."[45]

In November 2021, the book was named to the longlist for the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction.[46] The book also won the 2021 Goodreads Choice Award in the category of Best Nonfiction.[47][32]

Podcast episodes

Ratings are presented in the order that topics are listed in the title, regardless of order presented within the episode.

Text-based reviews

Reviews in The Anthropocene Reviewed book originally from the podcast are excluded from the table below.