Hey, Wowzer fams!
Mindy here, and before we start the show, guess what?
The brand new season of Two What's in a Wow People Who Wow Edition begins this Friday!
Cue the confetti, Reg!
In this getting to know you game show, I'll be visited by some of the world's most fascinating people to get the wows and the what's of their lives.
From cartoonist and graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier of the Smile series to everyday extraordinary kids just like you.
And that's not all.
With this new season of Two What's in a Wow, there are now two ways to wow.
What am I talking about?
Well, first, you can listen to episodes right here in our Wow in the World podcast feed.
And this is a big or.
Yeah, you're right, Reg.
That doesn't have the same ring to it.
Okay, now where was I?
Oh, yeah.
As always, you can listen to new episodes in your favorite podcast player, or you can watch these episodes with your eyeballs on YouTube.
I know.
I should comb my hair or something.
We are so excited for you to listen and watch our new season of Two.
What's in a Wow People Who Wow Edition starting this Friday?
So make sure you're subscribed to our podcast feed and our WowTube channel on YouTube so you don't miss out.
That's two What's in a Wow, People Who Wow edition coming this Friday.
But in the meantime, let's get back to the show.
Hey, grownups, Mindy here.
And do I have a wow for you.
What if I told you that the best kids math program is actually inspired by comic books and it's about monsters?
It's called Beast Academy and the little monsters like Grog do the kind of math that gets kids curious enough to stop and think and figure things out for themselves.
For example, Grog asked his Beast Academy math club If our school has more than 366 kids in it, is it guaranteed that two of them will have exactly the same birthday?
He proved that the answer is yes through problem solving.
Wow.
That's Beast Academy, where kids build problem solving skills through interesting problems and puzzles.
It's from the folks at Art of Problem Solving, the same people who train math champions.
Grownups, head to beastacademy.com and use code BEASTWOW for 10% off the online program.
And tell Grog Mindy says hi.
What changed?
Many things changed.
Now I tell the story of my own life in my books.
It's like a spotlight.
I mean, that is what teachers do live at the school.
I'm pretty sure.
No, nobody else in my family is a cartoonist.
I somehow managed to be the only one.
Wow.
I wonder where that comes from.
No clue.
Welcome to two what's and a wow people who wow edition, with your host mindy, and featuring today's special guest, reina telgemeier.
Hello and welcome to Two What's in a Wow People Who Wow Edition, the getting to know you game show that separates the wows from the what's of some of the world's most interesting people.
And our guest today is no exception.
Says here she is an award-winning New York Times best-selling author and cartoonist who loves historical places and says yes to drawing but no to basketball and used to hide behind pianos.
Well, she's not hiding anymore.
Let's give it up for Raina Telgemeier.
Hi, Mindy.
Welcome to Two Huts and a Wow.
Thank you.
Happy to be here.
So about these pianos, hiding behind pianos, what's going on?
You want to talk through some stuff?
I was so shy as a kid and I didn't ever open my mouth when I was in class or when I was in like a group setting and people you know a lot of kids love to raise their hands and answer the questions and talk out of turn.
And I was always in the back, like too shy.
But then I had to take off.
Like a choir class.
It wasn't my choice, but I had to take a choir class when I was in sixth grade.
And so the teacher made us all sing individually.
And I was so scared to do it.
I didn't want anybody looking at me when I did it.
So the only way I would agree to sing out loud by myself was that I went and hid behind a piano so that she wouldn't see my face when I did it.
But then, for some reason, I was able to sing really loudly.
And she was like, good boys, come back out here, Reina.
Like, you should sing. loud on stage with the rest of us.
And I was like, it's fine.
I'll do it with my face showing just as long as I don't have to be the only voice.
You know, it's really interesting that you say this, because you have written so many books that are all about your life.
We're talking smile.
We're talking sisters, ghosts, drama, guts.
These are all books written about your life.
They're autobiographical, meaning they're your business on the page.
I am the star of the show in three of those books, at least.
I know.
And then drama is about kids who were on stage.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
What?
What changed?
Many things changed.
Now I tell the story of my own life in my books.
It's like a spotlight.
So would you encourage any kids who are feeling a little shy right now, a little apprehensive, to hold the microphone for themselves or to be in the spotlight?
Would you encourage them to come out from the piano or wait till they're ready?
I mean, it could be behind the piano.
It could be opening up a sketchbook and letting people see what's on your page.
It could be typing a word and letting somebody read those words.
It could be anything like that.
It's different ways of letting people see you.
There's lots of ways to come out from behind the piano.
Yes.
Got it.
OK, Raina, well, it's time to get into our game.
So before we do, I want to bring our audience up to speed on how this game works.
So in each of our three rounds today, our guest Raina is going to give us three weird interesting, unusual facts about herself.
But, and this is a big but, only one of those statements will be a true wow.
The other two, just a couple of made up what's.
All right, Raina, if I guess correctly, I get a point.
If I guess incorrectly, I must do a redonkulous physical challenge.
So go easy on me here.
Are you ready for round one?
Yes.
All right.
Round one is all about childhood beliefs, something that you believed when you were a kid, but maybe don't so much today.
Okay, Mindy, which of these is something I used to believe as a kid?
Is it A, books grew from the ground like flowers before being picked and put into bookstores?
Or is it B, monsters would sneak into my bedroom at night and were responsible for making me sick?
Or is it C, All of my teachers lived at the school and I was just visiting to take classes.
OK, so one of these is something that you believed when you were a kid.
So believing that books grew from the ground and then were put in bookstores.
I mean, technically, that's not wrong.
I mean, books are made out of paper.
Paper comes from trees.
But something tells me that's not the way you would have been thinking about it.
Let's see.
Monsters sneaking into your bedroom at night, making you sick.
That one smells a little like a wow.
Or that your teachers lived at school and were just visiting to take classes.
And you were just visiting to take classes, like going to your teacher's house.
They lived at the school.
I mean, that is what.
Teachers do live at the school, I'm pretty sure.
So I'm going to guess.
I think that the answer, I think your one true wow is B, that monsters were crawling into your room at night trying to make you sick.
Is that the one true wow?
It is true.
Yes, tell us all about it, reina.
Tell us everything.
It's such a funny memory that I have from when I was like maybe three or four years old.
And it's like a vivid memory that, like little guys, would like open up my window at night, like little kind of like bat-winged creatures, and that they were sharp and pokey and that they would sort of announce themselves.
Yeah.
And that they would climb up on my bed.
They didn't scare me, but they were just like, hi, we're here.
And that they would like shove my mouth open and like jump into my throat.
And that that would like give me a sore throat.
And that's kind of how.
And like start tickling it?
Not really.
Just kind of like that sort of thing.
So you thought that the germs were these little creatures, these little monsters, entering your body while you were asleep.
I mean, I guess.
Yeah.
But you weren't scared.
No, it just it was just kind of matter of fact.
Little monsters.
And then you saw a doctor and the doctor said, no, that is not true.
Are you sure this isn't true?
It was just strep throat, Raina.
You're fine now.
It's almost like you had a wild imagination.
Yeah.
As a kid, which I don't know.
I don't know where that would have come from or how that would have played out in your life.
But it sounds like you might have had a wild imagination that sometimes drove off the rails.
In the best way.
I love it.
So that means that I was correct.
So I get 3000 points.
Can we get 3000 points here?
And teachers do live at school, right?
My mom was a teacher for quite some time.
And as far as I could tell, she lived at home.
She still came home.
Yeah. every day after she was done with her job.
So she lived at home.
I don't know about other teachers.
I think there are a lot of teachers who feel like they live at school, even if they don't.
I think so.
I like the idea that you're going to a teacher's house, though when you're going to class like you just are visiting to take classes.
OK, Reina, it is time for round two.
And round two is all about behind the scenes, Reina.
So I want you to give us three weird, interesting, unusual facts about your life behind the scenes.
Take it away.
OK, this one is about my book drama.
The main character in that book is named Kelly Marin, and she loves theater.
And especially she loves working behind the scenes on set design.
And some people think that she is based on myself, but she's not.
I was always kind of like, I have things in common with her, but she's not based on me.
And I never quite knew who she was.
But I realized a few years ago that she is kind of based on and inspired by somebody that I do know.
So I'm going to have you guess who Callie is based on.
Okay.
So these are three facts.
Only one is a true.
Wow.
The other two, just a couple of made up.
All right.
Let's hear it.
Okay.
Is it a, my best friend from seventh grade who loved theater even more than me?
Is it, B, my cousin who would stay with us over the summer and decorate our bedroom?
Or is it C, my mom who loved creating costumes for me and my siblings?
Oh.
All right.
So I am a Reggie.
Can we get some thinking music here?
Thank you.
I'm going to guess that I think it's not a your best friend from seventh grade who loved theater, because I don't know.
I just feel like seventh grade friendships, they come and go.
I don't even know if this would have been something that you would have written about later.
Let's see your cousin who used to come visit you in the summer, and then you would redecorate your room.
That sounds like someone who might enjoy later on working on sets for theater.
But your mom, your mom used to make all of your costumes.
I think that you loved theater.
Your mom made costumes.
I am going to guess that the answer is C.
The character is based at the character.
Kelly Marin is based off of your mom and your mom as a kid.
Am I correct?
I mean, I think so.
I think that's where she comes from.
I got it right.
I can't believe it.
It's two for two.
All right.
So tell us all about it.
Tell us all about your mom.
Well, my mom, like the question says, she did spend every single Halloween.
Like October 30th, she was up just an all night long getting the costumes ready and sewing them until the last second, so that we would be perfect for the Halloween parade school the next day.
And then that night and, you know, adding last minute flourishes.
And then every time we had a play at school, she would help with the set decorations and she was a stay at home mom.
For my childhood, my siblings' childhoods.
But then she went back to school.
She got her teaching degree.
And then she became an elementary school teacher.
But she was also the director of the Glee Club at her school.
And so she put on musical performances twice a year with all of her students.
But man, the props that she would build to put those performances on.
And we're not just talking like static props.
We're talking like animated props and like lighting displays and things that would just, I mean audiences would come and parents would come and the teachers and everybody would come to see her performances.
They were like, Sue is going to knock this one out.
And just, I mean, it was...
And it was still that thing of like mom's whole house is full of just props from from years worth of Glee Club performances.
And it was I don't know, it's a key part of her personality.
And I didn't I didn't even really see it until after drama was published.
I mean, we're talking 10 years later.
And I went, oh, my gosh, I never realized this.
But Callie's totally my mom.
Was your mom a cartoonist as well, even just as a hobby?
No, nobody else in my family is a cartoonist.
I somehow managed to be the only one.
Wow.
I wonder where that comes from.
No clue.
Two months in a while, we'll be right back after this ad break.
That's it.
Now back to the show.
Okay, Raina, it is time for round three.
And round three is all about hidden talents.
So I want you to give us three weird, interesting, unusual facts about your hidden talents.
And only one of these will be true.
Wow.
The other two, just a couple of made up.
What?
Reina, take it away, okay.
So hidden talents kind of like me, you know, emerging from behind the piano to wow everybody.
Um, is my hidden talent a that i can sing the bass line or the low part in a song because i have a low singing voice, okay.
Or is it B, my secret love of writing fantasy novels on the side, like under a domed plume?
All right.
Or is it C, not to brag, but my friends and family call me the karaoke queen.
Ah.
All right.
We talked about you hiding behind a piano when you were in having to audition for choir.
And eventually you came out from behind the piano and you did sing.
I am going to guess that a monster was created that day.
I am going to guess that in all your free time you are not writing fantasy novels.
You are not singing in a low voice.
I am going to guess.
That you are a soprano and that you are out there pounding the pavement doing karaoke at any place that will let you in.
Reina, are you the karaoke queen?
Is C your one true wow?
No.
What?
That's not correct.
Oh, man.
I thought for sure that would have been correct.
What a full circle moment that would have been.
Let's see here.
You know what?
Then I'm going to guess that your hidden talent, I'm going to knock the singing one out of here.
Just get rid of it.
Just get rid of the singing thing.
I'm going to guess that your true hidden talent when no one is looking and no deadlines are looming is B writing fantasy novels just for fun.
Also not true.
What?
No!
Again?
That's two?
So your hidden talent is that you have a really deep, low singing voice?
Yes, I do, Mindy.
You know what I'm going to ask you to do next, Raina?
If I need to sing the bass line in, say, an a cappella singing group, I can do it.
So if you never need to start a barbershop quartet, say, and you want to sing some...
Uh, Sandman songs.
I can provide the baseline.
No problem.
Uh yeah, I always wanted to join, like I wanted to go to real college instead of art school so that I could join like a college acapella group.
I never got the chance.
But someday, someday, Mindy, I'll go to college again.
Raina, the night is young.
It can happen.
Oh, my gosh.
I'm just I'm looking for the opportunity.
It would be so fun.
Yeah, this this was.
This was actually like like I was in the choir.
I was in, you know, theater and stuff and all that.
But when, when nobody was around and nobody was looking, and everybody would like go into those little, those little rehearsal rooms that they have where, where there's like a piano and stuff.
My friends and I would would sing like the songs from from Disney movies and we'd get some some Simon and Garfunkel sheet music or whatever.
And we would just, we would just sit around like singing in three or four part harmony.
And I was like, give me the bass lines.
Give me the bass lines.
I actually can't sing karaoke because there's not a lot of music for me.
That's low enough.
I have such a deep singing voice.
Raina, before we get into my redonkulous physical challenge here for getting that wrong twice, I have to ask
Bass is your redonkulous challenge?
I'm just kidding.
You probably can't.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, sing bass is my redonkulous physical challenge.
How's that?
Can I be in Reina and the Tenorettes?
Yeah.
Okay, good.
Love it.
And that's all the time we have for today.
But Reina, before we go, I want to flip the script and challenge you to a little lightning round of a game that I like to call.
Let's Ruin the Story.
And the way this works is I'm going to give you a title of a popular book or story and all you have to do is fill in the blank with a whole new word.
In other words, wrong answers only.
The Tortoise and the... The Tortoise and the Muffin.
Where the... Things are.
Where the silly things are.
Charlotte's, charlotte's um ladder.
There we go.
Uh, the very caterpillar, the very, um talented caterpillar, there we go, the little engine that, the little engine, that shouldn't little on the prairie.
All you have to do is be wrong.
I know.
Just be wrong.
Little chair on the prairie.
There we go.
And the club.
Oh, my goodness.
The artist's club.
The artist's club.
30 seconds on the clock.
Time is up.
Raina.
Good job.
It's so hard to be wrong, isn't it?
It's so hard.
All right.
Well, before we go, it is now time to wow.
So Raina, I want you, this has been the getting to know you game show.
It is now time for our listeners to wow.
So for this time to wow challenge, Give our listeners, our viewers, a challenge that will help them find or spread wow to someone else.
OK, I.
So one of the ways that I got better at what I do and practiced and became the cartoonist I am today is that I used to draw a lot of diary comics or journal comics.
I just I made comics about my day and I did this for years starting when I was a kid.
So my challenge to everybody is is to draw a four panel comic about something that happened to you today.
It could be anything.
It could be something interesting that happened to you, something very boring and mundane that happened to you.
But four panels about something that happened today and to make it funny.
And then to share that comic with a friend.
Well, you know, Raina, I am just going to draw a picture of you and me doing this show today.
Because I got to say, this is, this is, this is, wait, this is you.
This is me.
This is you.
Wait, you.
I don't know what's happening here.
Do I have what it takes?
Do I have what it takes?
Let me give you some tips.
Comics are not just pictures.
They also include words and word balloons, they include sound effects, they can include motion lines, they can include um background elements and they can include, you know, like there's, there's all these different elements that you could put into them to make them interesting and to make them funny.
Just something that happened today, boring or interesting.
Your goal is to make it funny.
And then your goal is to share it with somebody else.
Raina, I think I've got another New York Times bestseller on my hands here.
I'm just going to keep on tinkering with it.
But I'm going to take your time to wow challenge and I am going to make a four panel cartoon of my day.
Something special that happened in my day.
And that is talking to you.
Reina, thank you so much for being a person who wows not just my world but the world of so many kids and tweens and teens and even grownups all over the world.
So thank you again for joining us.
If you are watching and you want to know more about Raina.
If you didn't get all of her secrets here today, you can read them in her books or you can find out more at GoRainacom.
Raina, thank you so much for joining us today.
Thank you, Mindy.
This has been so fun.
And remember, if you want more wow, there's a lot more where that came from.
Don't forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
And until next time, keep on wowing.
Before we get into the credits for today's episode, we want to give some special shout-outs and say a huge thank you to some of the Wowzers whose families are powering the Wow this year.
We broke the names up into two batches, and here is our first batch of names.
We are so grateful for your support.
Owen and Aubrey from California.
Saman and Ryan from California.
Aureline and Esther from New York.
Ella from Singapore.
Lacey Elementary from North Carolina.
Teddy, Silas, and Emmett from Arizona.
Jason from Texas.
Eli and Nolan from Texas.
Luke and Noel from North Carolina.
Ilan from California.
Emmett and Adler from Kansas.
John, Katie, Ethan, and Amelia from Pennsylvania.
Nejla and Yakub from Kuwait.
Evelyn, Ramona, and Tabitha from Nevada.
John R. from Wisconsin.
Emery and Isla from California.
Caroline from Massachusetts.
Ian and Declan from Washington.
Elena and Lucia from Maryland.
Parker from Texas, Albert and Lulu from Brighton, England.
Hayden, Hazel and Allie from Pennsylvania.
Magnus from the District of Columbia, William and Allie from Virginia Brendan Jessica, David and Michael from Ohio Bailey, Macy and Hank from South Carolina, James from Washington.
Peter, Teddy, and Leo from Minnesota.
Paul from Rhode Island.
Nuri from Washington.
Violet and Will from California.
Audrey and Ethan from Virginia.
Alex H from Tennessee.
James and Madison from Utah.
And happy birthday to Otis from Minnesota. from the bottom of our hearts and the tops of our brains.
Thank you.
Hey, thanks for listening to our show.
And did you know that you can watch it now too?
Yeah, just visit tinkercast.com slash YouTube and click subscribe.
There you'll find full video episodes of Two What's in a Wow People Who Wow Edition podcast, episodes of Wow in the World, science experiments in my laboratory of bad ideas and more.
And to keep the wow rolling, visit us at Tinkercast.com.
There you can become a member of the World Organization of Wowzers and get year-round mailings, weekly activities, shop our wow shop, get tickets for upcoming live events, find our best-selling books and learn all about all of the other amazing podcasts that we have here at Tinkercast.
Grownups.
You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram at wowintheworld, and our email address is hello at tinkercastcom.
Two.
What's in a Wow People Who Wow Edition was created by Meredith Halpern-Ranzer, Guy Raz and me, Mindy Thomas, and is executive produced by Steph Sosa.
Video editing is by Thomas Van Kalken, with sound production and design by Jed Anderson, Tyler Thull and Henry Moskal.
Special thanks to more people who wow, including Anna Zagorski, Marianne Fernsler, Kristen Yang Twee, Mac Allie Paxima, Linda Rothenberg and all of the other Tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ.
Our theme song was written and composed by The Pop-Ups.
You can find them at thepopups.com.
Thanks again for listening, watching, and just playing along.
Meet us back here every Friday for more episodes of two What's in a Wow People Who Wow edition.
Saturday and Sunday for We Wow on the Weekend with Dennis, and Mondays for more Wow in the World.
It's all right here on the Wow in the World podcast feed.
Until then...
Keep on wowing.
Wow in the World was made by Tinkercast.
