Hey, Wowser fans, Mindy here.
And before we start the show, did you know that you could be part of our attempt to set a Guinness World Record?
That's right, Reg.
We are attempting to be the record title holder for the most submissions to a fact, And it's all thanks to you, Wowzers.
So many of you have already called to share your wows with us.
And since we started our wow hotline back in 2017, we've received calls from over 14,000 Wowzers.
And now we're just a few thousand callers away from reaching our goal.
So we need your help.
Wowzers to be part of our Guinness World Record.
Attempt, ask your grown-ups to call us at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW so that you can share a wow fact with us.
If you're looking for some inspiration, we asked our special guest this week Elmo, to share his wow.
Here, take a listen.
Hi, thanks for calling Wow in the World.
After the beep, get ready to record.
To share a special wow in the world about laughter.
Did you know that little babies can laugh before they can talk?
Yeah, that means baby Elmo was giggling before he could say mama and dada.
You know, laughing makes Elmo really happy.
And Elmo hopes that his wow in the world made you happy too.
Bye-bye.
Elmo loves you.
End of messages.
Thanks for sharing your wow, Elmo.
To join Elmo and to be part of our Guinness World Record attempt.
Just ask your grown-ups to give us a call at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW and share your wow fact with us.
Once again, that's 1-888-7-WOW-WOW.
That's it.
And now let's get back to the show.
Ah, nature.
Feel good to be out here in nature, Guy Raz?
Uh, I guess.
You guess?
Guy Raz, you love nature!
Well, yeah, I do love nature, Mindy, but, uh... Did that bird just... Use you as a potty?
Yeah, it did.
Ugh, gross!
Okay, here, let me help you wipe it off there, Guy Raz.
There we go.
You know, Mindy, I've been having a bad day since the minute I woke up this morning.
Which is why I wanted to get you out here in nature to help you feel better.
Is it working yet?
Ugh, maybe you should ask the chewed gum I just stepped in.
Ooh, what flavor?
Mindy!
What?
I'm not going to eat it.
Good, because eating it could make you sick.
Okay, so tell me what's going on with this bad day.
Just start from the beginning.
Okay, well, it all started this morning when I went to pour my dried breakfast cereal into a bowl.
Ah!
Discovered that someone had eaten all of the dried blueberries in the box.
I mean, who would do such a thing?
Uh, that might have been me.
Mindy!
I'm sorry.
I promise to replace all of your dried blueberries when we get home.
Okay, thanks.
So, what else you got?
Well then, I wrote a letter to the author of my favorite vegetarian cookbook and, instead of signing it best regards, I wrote
Beef regards instead.
Ooh, yeah, that's not good.
No.
Yikes.
And as soon as I got out on this trail with you... Ah, nature.
Doesn't it feel good to be out here in nature, Guy Raz?
My socks started slipping off my heels and are now under my feet, feet all bunched up.
And did I mention that when I went to eat my cereal I could only find a fork?
Do you know how hard it is to eat cereal with a fork?
Oh, and you'll never believe what I found in my jar of lima beans.
Why did the banana go to the doctor?
Why?
Because it wasn't peeling very well.
Oh and Mindy, I just remembered someone put a red crayon in the pocket of my pants and they went through the washer and the dryer and now all my clothes are all.
Mindy, why are you laughing at me?
It wasn't peeling well.
Mindy!
Oh, sorry.
What were you saying, Guy Raz?
Mindy, I'm trying to tell you all the reasons that this is the worst day of my life and you're laughing.
Oh, I'm not laughing at you, Guy Raz.
I'm laughing at a joke that that monster over there just said.
Wait, is that Elmo?
Elmo?
This monster just cracks me up.
But who is he?
This one is Elmo's favorite.
What do you call a dancing lamb?
What?
A ballerina.
Just ballerina.
Elmo loves that one.
Elmo, tell us another one.
What is going on over there, Mindy?
I don't know, but whatever it is, I want to be part of it.
Come on, Guy Raz.
Let's go see.
Wait up, Mindy.
Yo, that funny monster?
Okay, everybody.
Elmo will be right back with more jokes.
Mindy, look.
He's walking over here now.
Okay, be cool, Guy Raz.
Oh, hi, Elmo.
What a great surprise.
I'm so happy to see you.
Oh, Elmo's happy to see you, too.
Oh, hey, who's Mindy's friend?
Oh, this is my buddy, Guy Raz.
Guy Raz, meet Elmo.
Hi, Elmo.
Oh, hello, Guy Raz.
So, uh, what are you doing here in the park?
We heard you and your friends all laughing.
Because it's Funny Friday.
Oh, that's when Elmo and his friends get together to tell jokes.
Funny Fridays.
I love it.
Yeah, your jokes even got me to laughing.
I've been having the worst day.
Oh, well, Elmo's happy that his jokes made your bad day a little better.
Hey, why don't you join Elmo for Funny Friday?
We've got lots more jokes.
Yes.
Yes, a thousand times yes.
I don't know, Elmo.
I'm only halfway through telling Mindy about all the things that are making this the worst day of my life.
You see, I'm pretty busy feeling stressed out by all this and I just don't know if I have the time to break for jokes.
Well, you did take a little break to laugh at the school buzz joke, Guy Raz, so maybe more funny Friday is just what you need to turn your frown upside down.
Hey, Elmo, are you ready to tell more funny Friday jokes?
Elmo's ready.
Mindy?
Guy Raz, are you coming?
Come on, Guy Raz.
It'll be good for you.
Good for me?
Elmo, you're on.
Coming.
Elmo hopes to see you there, Guy Raz.
See you, Mindy.
See you, Elmo.
Wait, Mindy, what do you mean when you said going to Funny Friday would be good for me?
Okay, so, Guy Raz, what if I told you that there were actually some scientific benefits to laughing?
Scientific benefits?
Yeah, like scientific reasons, that what Elmo and I are saying is true, that joining in for jokes and laughter would be good for me.
Exactly.
I don't know, Mindy.
Guy Raz, have you ever considered what is happening inside your body when you laugh at something funny?
Well, I guess not.
I mean, I know that sometimes I produce a loud high-pitched, uncontrollable sound on the outside, but on the inside,
Well, according to a recent study in the scientific journal Current Biology, on the inside, when we laugh, our brains release these feel-good chemicals called endorphins, sort of like a cannon of good feelings.
Interesting.
A confetti cannon of feel-good chemicals releasing inside my body.
And at the same time, when you laugh, your feelings of stress go down because your body makes less cortisol.
Cortisol is known as the stress chemical.
Well, I have been feeling pretty stressed today because of everything going wrong.
I mean, did I mention that when I reached for my tennis ball, I discovered that someone had replaced it with a ball of bright yellow yarn?
Ah, so that's where I put my bright yellow yarn.
I was looking for that.
Thanks, buddy.
Indeed.
Okay, now back to the scientific benefits of laughter.
Right.
Where were we?
Well, did you know that laughing is a really great exercise for your heart and your lungs?
I never thought about it before, but I suppose that would happen from having to breathe harder to catch my breath when something is really making me laugh.
You got it.
And on top of making your body feel good, sharing laughter can also make you feel closer to the other people you're laughing with.
Tell me more.
Okay, so think about it.
When you laugh with friends, like me, you feel closer to them, right?
Yeah, I guess I do.
Well, scientists have discovered that when people share laughter, it helps them to build stronger friendships and relationships.
In other words, laughter is kind of like a glue that helps to hold friendships together.
Oh, like that time you glued our shirts together so we wouldn't get separated at the baseball game?
Uh... But when I wanted to go grab a veggie dog, you would fall asleep in your seat.
And because we were glued together, I couldn't get up until you woke up from your nap.
And by that time, the game was over and the veggie dogs were all sold out.
Is it like that kind of glue?
Exactly.
See, that was actual glue, Guy Raz.
But what's really important here is that there are real scientific benefits to allowing a little more laughter into your life.
Okay, okay.
So what you're telling me is that, according to science, laughter can help us to feel less stressed and more joyful.
Yep.
And laughter is also good exercise for our hearts and lungs?
You know it.
And laughter can also make us feel closer to the people we laugh with?
Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Well, okay, I'm sold.
Hooray!
Thank you, thank you.
You've been a great crowd.
Okay, who's next?
Let's keep the laughs going.
Um, not me.
Oh, no.
Elmo needs someone to go up and say something to keep everyone laughing.
Does anybody out there have a funny story to make Elmo laugh?
Oh, no.
Who's going to do it?
Oh, I do.
Pick me.
Guy Raz?
Guy Raz?
Yes, I have a funny story to share.
You do?
Guy Raz, come on up here and tell us your funny story.
Guy Raz, what are you doing?
Well, it's Funny Friday, Mindy.
I'm going to make the people laugh.
I don't know what you're planning to say when you get up there, but...
Good luck, Guy Raz.
You got this, buddy.
Okay, everybody clap your hands for Elmo's new friend, Guy Raz.
Thank you, thank you very much.
And let's give it up for our funny Friday host, Elmo.
We love you, Elmo.
Elmo knows your tale.
Take it away, Guy.
Okay, so the funny story I'm about to tell it didn't start out funny funny at all, at least not for me anyway.
It's the story of a day where everything, and I mean everything, seemed to go wrong.
It was a really, really bad day.
But Guy, Elmo doesn't understand.
How are bad days funny?
Well, Elmo, that's what I thought too.
But I learned from a friend that finding things to laugh about even on a really bad day might actually help to make it not so bad after all.
Really?
Yeah, I mean, we all have bad days, right?
Yeah, that's true.
We do.
And sometimes finding ways to laugh about all the things that go wrong can actually make it all feel a little better, especially when we can laugh together.
Yeah, Guy Ross, you're right.
It does.
So with that, I would like to invite...
All of you to laugh with me as I tell you all about my horrible disastrous upside-down, terrible day where everything, and I mean everything, went wrong until now.
You ever wake up in the morning and think today's going to be a great day, and then the universe is like that's what you think.
Well, that's exactly what happened to me today.
A day so bad that even my socks wanted to run away.
That is a bad day.
I'll say.
It started off fine, of course.
Bad days often do.
And that's because a bad day likes to jump out at you just when you least expect it, like a bird in a ninja suit.
And before you know it, your head is covered in sneak attack bird poop.
That really did happen.
And you want to run away from that bird as fast as you can, but instead you find yourself stuck in place by the big wad of chewing gum you just stepped in while wearing your new sneakers.
And at this point you realize that the gum you stepped in is the least of your worries, because your socks have slipped off your heels and are now hiding under your feet.
It's like...
Socks, this is not the time for a game of hide and seek.
Oh, Socks, come out, come out, wherever you are.
You're doing great, Guy Raz.
And just when you think it can't get any worse, you sit down with a bowl of your favorite blueberry cereal, only to discover that all of your spoons have gone missing and you have to eat it with a fork.
Have you ever tried scooping up milk with a fork?
And on top of that, all of the blueberries in your cereal have disappeared.
Poof!
Vanished.
Into your best friend's belly.
That's me.
I'm the best friend.
So you decide that maybe what you need is to meet a friend for a game of tennis.
But then you reach for your tennis ball and you discover that someone has replaced it with a ball of yarn.
Which is completely fine.
Fine, if you're a tennis-playing cat.
And it's in that moment that you realize that somehow someway, this day has gone from horribly bad to hilarious.
So now it's the end of the day and you're standing in front of a crowd of new friends with a few leftover bird droppings on your head, gum on your shoe and an unraveling tennis ball being chased by a cat.
And all you can do is laugh and invite new friends to join you.
And suddenly you stop and realize that, wow, this might just be the best day ever.
Aww.
And thank you my friend Mindy here, who showed me the science of laughter, and my new friend Elmo for helping me to find something to laugh about, even on what I thought was going to be the worst day ever.
Aw, thanks for the laughs, Guy Raz and Elmo.
Elmo, that's one last joke before we go.
Oh, sure, Elmo.
What is it?
Okay, okay.
Bye bye, Elmo.
Now get out there and make jokes and make new friends.
And give them all something to laugh about.
Wow in the World will be right back.
Grownups, this message is for you.
Hey, grownups.
It's Mindy and Guy Raz here from Wow in the World.
Mindy and I have some brand new Wow in the World Out in the world just in time for the holidays.
Made for the kids who love science and for the ones who don't yet.
From our 100 experiments that wow kit to the telescope and astronomy kit.
Our Wow in the World toys help your wowzer learn about their world through play.
Plus, you can hear exclusive audio content from me and Guy Raz to help your wowzer discover even more wows.
Grownups.
Give the gift of wow and wonder this holiday season with our latest Wow in the World toys designed with your curious wowzer in mind.
You can shop our Wow in the World toys at Tinkercast.com slash toys.
That's Tinkercast.com slash toys. and I live in Denver, Colorado.
My wow in the world is that hummingbirds can fly forwards, backwards, and upside down.
Isn't that bonker balls?
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Ellis, and I live in Nashville, Tennessee.
My wow in the world is that you can fit over one million planet Earth inside of our sun.
That's a pretty bonker balls wow. say hi to Reggie, Dennis, and the Sleigh Catch County.
Have a brain-tastic day.
Bye!
Hi, Mindy and Guy was.
My name is Lake, and I am six years old.
And my round the world is that the world record for flying upside down was four and 38 minutes.
With that drama g-force.
Say hi to dennis and reggie too.
Oh, hi there dennis, i know your status, man.
Hi, my name is eleanor, i live in berlin maryland, and my wow in the world is that pandas have a special thumb.
That is a wrist bone that grew longer and bigger so that it helps them handle bamboo like a thumb.
Say hi to Reggie Dennis, Thomas Fingerling and Grandma.
G-Force for me.
Bye.
Hi there.
Oh, yeah.
Hello, my name is Jackson.
I live in Colorado and my lie in the world is that Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, not Mercury.
Despite that, Mercury is the closest to the sun.
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
I'm Donners from Dunsalem.
And did you know that the border between the U.S. and Canada is the biggest border in the world?
That's bunker balls.
Say hi to Reggie, Dennis, Tom Sinkerling, and Dramafee G-Force.
Oh, snap.
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Sophia.
I live in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, and I am eight years old.
My wow in the world is that Jupiter is named after the Roman king of gods.
He was also the god of sky and thunder.
Say hi to Grandma G-Force for me.
Booyah!
Dennis.
Howdy.
Thomas Finkerling.
Ooh, cool, dude.
And Retchie.
Love your show.
Bye-bye.
Hi, my name's Moira, and I'm six years old, and I live in Miami.
My wow There's water.
Isn't that wow-mazing?
Say hi to everybody for me.
Huzzah!
And Dennis, this is something for you.
I know you're Static Man.
What?
No, I'm not Static Man.
We just look alike and sound alike.
Bye.
End of messages.
Hey, Wowzers.
Just want to throw a big shoutout to our friends at Sesame Workshop and our very special guest Elmo for joining us on today's episode.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Wow in the World.
If you're a kid with a big wow to share with us, call our wow hotline at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW for a chance to be featured at the end of the show or an upcoming episode of Two.
What's in a Wow?
And while you're at it, why don't you head over to Apple Podcasts and tell us what wows you about our show by leaving a review?
You just might hear your reviewsy read by Dennis on WeWow on the weekend.
Oh, and don't forget to visit us at Tinkercastcom and become a member of the World Organization of Wowsers.
With that, you'll get year-round mailings, weekly activities, birthday cards, and more.
On Tinkercastcom.
You can also shop our Wow Shop, get tickets for upcoming live events, find our books and learn about all the other amazing podcasts from Tinkercast.
Once again, that's Tinkercast.com.
Wow in the World is written by Mindy Thomas and Tom Van Kalken with contributions from me, Guy Raz.
Original sound design and music editing is done by Tyler Thole, with help from our senior production director, Jed Anderson.
You can also hear Jed Anderson in the voices of Dennis Thomas Fingerling, Reggie and many of the other silly characters you hear on our show.
Jessica Bode keeps our facts straight as our fact checker and Meredith Halpern-Ranzer powers the wow at Tinkercast.
Our theme song was composed and performed by three-time Grammy nominees, the Pop-Ups.
Find them at thepopups.com.
Special thanks to our team, including Kit Ballinger, Rebecca Caban, Dr Natasha Crandall, Kenny Curtis, Kristen Yang, Thuy Mac, Erica Medina, Henry Moskal, Jodi Nussbaum, Ali Paksima, Linda Rothenberg, Steph Sosa, Anna Zagorski and all of the other tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ.
Grownups, you can follow Wow in the World on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at Wow in the World.
And our email address is hello.
Thanks for listening.
Find episodes of Wow in the World every Monday, Two What's in a Wow every Friday, and We Wow on the Weekends with Dennis every Saturday and Sunday, right here in the Wow in the World podcast feed.
Until then, keep on wowing!
Wow in the World was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.
Grownups, if you like Wow in the World, you can listen early and ad-free right now on Wondery Plus.
Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Wondery Kids Plus on Apple Podcasts.
Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
