Grownups, Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Wow in the World early and ad-free right now.
Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Wondery Kids Plus on Apple Podcasts.
Hey, Wowzer fans, Mindy here.
And before we start the show, I gotta let you know that this November, with a special new episode featuring our friends at Circle Round and Terrestrials on Radiolab for Kids,
And don't miss when Elmo from Sesame Street stops by Wow in the World to make us all belly laugh on November 24th.
Oh, but that's not all, Reg.
On December 1st, we are sharing our 250th episode of Wow in the World with all of you.
We think this one is going to be music to your ears.
Literally.
Did I mention it's a musical?
And if you're a member of the World Organization of Wowzers...
Oh boy, do I have a surprise for you.
You can listen to our 250th episode early with me and other members from around the world on Saturday, November 22nd, at 7 pm.
Eastern.
That's right, we are throwing another listening party.
Join us as we dance along to our new songs.
React to the episode with other members in the chat and more.
Grownups.
If you want your wowzer to join this members-only listening party, you can sign up to become a member today at Tinkercastcom.
Slash wow.
Already a member?
Well, you can find the link and password to join the event when you sign in at Tinkercastcom.
Slash wow.
That's it.
It's going to be a November to remember.
But for now, let's get on with the show.
Woo!
Welcome to Wow Dental, where we put the ow in wow.
Okay, you were supposed to say who's there, but anywho, I'm here to see the dentist.
Do you have an appointment?
Yeah, no.
I'm sorry, in that case, the dentist won't be able to see you today.
All patients must call first to make an appointment.
Yeah well, I tried to call and make an appointment, but the hold time was like a million hours, so I gave up.
I'll see what I can do.
And what brings you in today?
Oh, um, my teeth are marshmallows.
I'm sorry?
See, the last time I was here, Dr Russo warned me that if I kept eating so many marshmallows that eventually I would turn into one.
And it happened.
Basically, all of my teeth are now mini marshmallows.
See?
Ugh.
Well, it...
It does appear that you have several small marshmallows stuck to your back molars.
Yep, I call it marshmallow mouth.
Well, why don't you take a seat, fill out these forms and bring them back up to the desk when you're done?
I'll see if Dr. Russo can fit you in this morning.
Yeah, about that.
There are like 90 billion forms here and I just don't really like filling them out and my patience tank is running on empty.
I'm sorry, your patience tank?
Yeah, I ordered it from Whamazon, but it took like two days to get here, which would have been fine had I had any patience to begin with.
And what exactly is a patience tank?
Oh, right, yeah.
Let me just turn around and I'll show you.
Huh?
Yeah?
Huh?
What do you think?
Oh, big fire bolt.
There's a plant fire.
Ah!
See?
It's this tank I wear on my back, and it comes pre-loaded with patience.
But judging by how low it is at this time of the morning, I think I probably should have ordered a bigger tank.
Right.
Patience.
Please take a seat and fill out the forms.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Okay.
I've got my forms.
And walking through the waiting room...
Hello, everyone.
Good morning.
Marshmallow mouth coming through.
Excuse me.
Oh, hi.
Excuse me.
Good morning.
Oh, hi.
Excuse me.
Is this seat taken?
Nope.
Thanks.
So, what are you in for?
None of your business.
Oh, hi.
I'm here to pick up my friend.
Could you describe your friend for me?
Uh, yeah.
Medium height.
Easily excited.
Ah, she loves tacos.
Oh, ah, and she claims to be allergic to waiting rooms.
Right over there.
The one making paper airplanes out of her medical forms.
Duck and cover, everyone.
Crop duster coming through.
Hey, Mindy.
Here to pick you up.
You ready to go?
Hey, Guy Raz.
Sorry, I'm not even close to being ready to be picked up.
I thought I'd be done by now, but first I have to fill in all these forms and then I have to wait for the dentist to even come see me.
Wait, does he look familiar to you?
Does he sound familiar to you?
Ha!
Mindy, I think that's Thomas Fingerling from the knuckle hut.
Oh, yeah, from that one time we took a tour of that giant hand to learn what causes knuckles to pop.
Mr. Fingerling!
Mr. Fingerling!
Mr. Fingerling!
Speak up, by golly.
I can't hear what you're saying, mister.
Yep, that's him, all right.
Hey, Mr. Fingerling, remember us?
No.
What a funny coincidence meeting you here.
Yeah.
The last time we saw you, you were showing off your signature pop and neck check moves at the knuckle hut.
How have you been?
Oh, well, you know.
Wow.
That's bonger balls.
Yeah, thank you.
It's a whole new routine.
I've been told that I need to turn it into a computer virus which will infect the teeny boppers, and then they'll come to the knuckle hut.
Uh-oh.
Sorry, did you just say?
I think what you mean to say is that you're trying to turn your knuckle-cracking performance into a viral internet sensation that spreads among teens and gets them off their phones and into the knuckle hut.
What?
Is there an echo in here?
Oh, maybe there is an echo in here.
That's strange.
Hey, Roz, let me see your phone.
Oh, but it just uh.
Okay, Mr Fingerling, now do that weird knuckle thing again so I can record it and upload it to FaceSpace, MeTV and InstaSpam.
Ooh, I love spam.
Spamming eggs, spamming taters, Hawaiian pizza, spam meatballs.
Okay, here we go.
Excuse me, miss.
How are those forms coming along?
Fantastic!
Oh, yeah, this is gonna get the teenagers to the knuckle-hut for sure.
Now, just hang on for one second, Mr. Fingerling, while I tag you.
Tag?
Well, you'll never tag me.
I'm as quick as a cricket.
What?
You know, I invented the game of tag back in 1952.
You invented tag?
You calling me a liar, young lady?
Of course I invented it.
I originally called it touch-and-go. and then some young nincompoop came by and abbreviated it.
Tag.
Bunch of nonsense.
What?
Oh, no, not that kind of tag.
I'm going to tag you in this video that I just took so that everyone on FaceSpace and MeTV can see that it's you and before you know it, you'll be a viral knuckle-cracking sensation.
Why, that sounds as easy as falling off a log.
Which I suppose can be a little difficult these days on account of logs being so scarce and all.
Mindy, are you sure they haven't called your name yet?
We've been here for a while now.
And I can feel the mini marshmallows hardening on my teeth with every passing minute.
Wait, you're here because you have marshmallows stuck to the... Just be patient, young lady.
My gosh, kids with their 4Gs and their microwave ovens gotta have everything right here.
Right now, lickety-split.
Well, actually, Mr. Fingerling... Oh, where did you come from, young lady?
Huh?
I've been here the whole time.
Hmm, I don't know about that.
Well anyway, I was just reading a recent study from the American Psychological Association that shows kids these days are actually better at waiting than kids were 30 or even 50 years ago.
Hmm?
Oh, sorry.
What were you saying?
I was watching this internet video of a sneezing panda bear.
Oh, click on that one.
The one that says keyboard cat.
This one's going to be good.
Sorry, Guy Raz.
You were just saying something about how researchers recently discovered that kids these days have better attention spans than they did, like 30 or 50 years ago.
Oh, you were listening.
Of course I was listening.
So how did they find out?
Well, this might surprise you Mindy, but they made the discovery with a little help from marshmallows.
Back in my day, we called them fluffy sugar cane bums.
Uh, hold the phone, Guy Raz.
What exactly do marshmallows have to do with kids and their attention spans?
Well, Mindy, I could show you.
Or?
Or I could... Feed me?
What?
No, no.
Well, yes, but... but for science.
Oh well, in that case, I guess, if it's for science, then maybe I could stand to eat a few marshmallows.
I don't know.
Anything for science.
Yes, anything for science.
Hey, Fingerling!
What?
You want to bust out of here and go eat some marshmallow?
I mean, perform some stringent and very serious scientific experiments with us?
You two go ahead.
I got a Go show the dentist this tusk I got growing up through my gums.
Look.
But Mindy, shouldn't we wait until you're called in to see the dentist?
Guy Raz, we could come back next week and I'd still be waiting.
Come on, let's get to the lab so we can eat some marshmallows for science.
But... Come on!
See you on the flip side, Mr. Fingerling!
But the devil is a flip side.
Ah, feels good to be back at the laboratory of Bad ideas.
So, you ready to roast some marshmallows or what?
Mindy, we're not going to roast marshmallows.
We're performing a psychological assessment as to the effects of delayed gratification.
Right, of course.
But that psychological assessment in the effects of delayed gratification still involves eating marshmallows, right?
Yes.
Where are those fluffy little sugar bombs anyway?
Not so fast, Mindy.
First, we have to suit up.
You know, science experiments must be taken very seriously.
Oh, about that suiting up business.
Um, I accidentally melted our old suits three weeks ago when I was experimenting with how fast I would have to ride your bike before flames burst out of the tires.
You what?
But, good news for you, I got us a pair of backup suits on sale.
In fact, I think I've got them in my adventure tool bag here.
Oh, here they are.
Mindy, these are banana suits.
They were on sale.
Uh, okay.
Well, help me climb into this thing.
Okay, just step in one foot at a time.
And just kind of squeeze yourself in.
Come on, you got it, you got it.
And zip!
Ah!
Sorry, there were a bunch of one-star reviews complaining about the pinchy zippers.
Forgot to mention that.
Well, put yours on so we can finally get to this experiment, okay?
Okay, okay.
Hey, Guy Raz, how does a banana answer the phone?
I don't know.
Yo!
Why do I feel like I've heard that before?
Okay, I'll suit it up.
Got my graham crackers, got my chocolate, and ready to get down to some scientific business.
Give me those graham crackers and chocolate.
This is a serious experiment.
And Mindy, weren't you just at the dentist with a bad case of mini marshmallow teeth?
Hey Roz, how exactly are these marshmallows going to show us how kids today are more patient and have longer attention spans than grown-ups did when they were kids?
Well, to find out, I...
I think we better start the experiment.
OK, let's get this party started.
For step one, I am going to place one marshmallow in front of you.
And you can have it now.
Don't mind if I do.
Wait, wait.
You didn't let me finish.
Go on.
OK, you could eat it now.
Or if you wait 10 minutes, you can have two marshmallows.
Two marshmallows?
That's right.
OK, are you ready? ready for this.
OK.
Three, two, one, go.
Oh, man.
That marshmallow sure is looking good.
Remember, though, Mindy, if you wait a whole 10 minutes, you could have two of those marshmallows.
No, but it just looks so delicious.
Ah!
Well done, Mindy.
You lasted a whole 30 seconds.
That was better than I expected.
So what is this all meaning anyway?
Well Mindy, this is the exact same experiment that scientists have used for decades to judge children and their attention spans, or the length of time they were able to spend focusing on just one thing.
Huh?
The longer that the child was able to avoid the marshmallow and delay his or her gratification And gratification is just a fancy pants word for a rewarding feeling.
Exactly, like the rewarding feeling you get from eating a marshmallow.
And the longer they were able to delay gratification, the more patient the kid.
Exactly.
Huh, so turns out I'm not all that patient after all, am I?
Well, are you surprised?
Hmm.
What?
It says here on the package that if I want to cook these spaghetti noodles I have to wait for the water to boil.
Ain't nobody got time for that.
Mm, funky.
Anyway, this experiment is actually really old and it's one of the most famous experiments in psychological history.
Really?
Yeah, it was first conducted in the year 1960 by two Stanford University scientists whose names were Walter Mischel and Eb Ebison.
And what exactly did they find?
Well, they found that some of the kids ate the marshmallow almost immediately...
And that only one-third, or 33, of participants were able to wait the whole 10 minutes in order to get their second marshmallow.
Huh.
Not only that, but they also found that Those kids who were able to delay gratification were more likely to, later in life, perform better at school and deal better with stress and even lead a healthier lifestyle.
Okay, but you said that this experiment also proved that kids today are more patient than they were back when say, Thomas Fingerling was a kid.
Well, that's true, Mindy.
And that's because they redid this experiment in the 1980s and then again in the mid 2000s.
Huh.
And then I guess they compared the results from those two experiments with the original study.
That was done back in 1960.
Exactly.
And they found that kids in the most recent study were able to resist the temptation of the marshmallow longer than the kids back in 1980 and 1960.
That's right.
These scientists found out that kids these days were, on average, able to put off eating the marshmallow for two minutes longer than those kids in 1960.
And one minute longer than the kids in 1980.
Hmm.
So what does this even mean?
Kids just don't like marshmallows anymore?
Because if they're not going to eat them, I know someone who would gladly take on that task.
I'm pointing to myself.
No, I don't think it's that, Mindy.
I think kids are just as into marshmallows today as they were 50 years ago.
Well, then what could it be?
I mean, why are kids today better at waiting than their parents or grandparents were when they were kids?
Well, some of the researchers believe that it might have to do with more kids being in preschool.
Huh.
So, in general, more kids are learning things earlier in life now.
Correctamundo.
And by learning things earlier in life, these kids are able to understand that it's better to wait.
Because they'll get more marshmallows in the end.
Anything for marshmallows.
Hmm.
The researchers also think that these same kids' interactions with screens, Like when you play with your phone or a tablet,
Exactly.
The researchers think that these interactions are actually helping kids understand reward systems better.
Oh.
So like how in Crazy Monkey Ninja, if I save up all his bananas, I can get a power boost.
But to do that, I have to put off getting all those sweet ninja costumes.
Uh, I think?
So basically, when it comes to patience and delayed gratification and waiting and attention spans, it might just mean that practice makes perfect, huh.
Yeah, kids these days have already had a ton of practice waiting long before taking the marshmallow experiment.
Huh.
Well, speaking of marshmallows, I should probably get back to the waiting room of the dentist's office.
It's been a few hours, and they're probably getting ready to call my name.
Well, why don't you just call first and set up a new appointment?
Here, you can use my phone.
Hey, while I got your phone, you want to watch this crazy MeTV video about this orange with human teeth and eyes that says things like What's up?
No, no, Mindy.
Focus on one task at a time.
Fine.
Dialing Dr. Dentist.
Dial, dial, dial, dial, dial.
We're sorry.
All of our associates are busy with other clients.
The approximate wait time is...
One million hours.
What?
One million hours?
Just hang up and I'll drive you.
Ugh, thanks, buddy.
Well, in that case, I better go get some marshmallow patients for the road.
No.
Run, run, run, run.
Don't leave without me.
Wow in the World will be right back.
Grown-ups, this message is for you.
Hey, grown-ups.
It's Mindy and Guy Raz here from Wow in the World.
Mindy and I have some Wow in the World toys 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.
Play?
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.
Hi, this is Maddie, and I'm six years old.
From Oceanside, California, my wow is that the tallest tree in the world is Hyperion.
It's 379 feet tall.
They're glowing.
They're six stories taller than the Statue of Liberty.
Bye!
Hi, Mindy and Garoaz and Reggie.
My name is Ozzy, and I'm six years old.
I live in Brooklyn Massachusetts, and my wow in the world is that hydrangeas can change colors depending on what's in their soil.
I can't wait to see you in New York at the pop-up party today. because I'm a big fan of you.
I love your show.
Bye.
Hi, my name's Ellie, and I'm from Kensington, Maryland, and I'm eight years old.
Hi, I'm Rhea from Northampton, Pennsylvania, and I'm 14.
We're cousins, and our wow in the world is about trees.
When you cut down a tree and you see its trunk, you can count the rings and it tells you how old it is.
Thank you, Mindy and Guy Ross.
By the way, I love Reggie. name is Bev and I'm from Skokie, Illinois.
My wow in the world is that whales sleep by resting half of their brain and using the other half to surface for air.
Love your show.
Bye.
I'm Indian Guy Raz.
My name's Amar.
I'm 10 years old and I live in Irvine, California.
And my wow in the world is that the letter J does not appear anywhere in the periodic table.
Love your show.
Bye.
I'm Indian Guy Raz.
My name is Oscar, and I am seven years old, and I live in Charlottesville, Virginia.
My wow in the world is that pigeons spit up milk for their babies.
Bye.
I love your show.
A white or albino lobster.
The chances of finding one in the wild are 1 in 100 million.
Bye!
See you next time!
Can we hear it this time?
End of messages.
Hey, everyone.
Thank you so much for joining us this week on Wow in the World.
And if you want to keep the conversation going, check out some of the questions we posted on this episode at our website, wowintheworldcom.
And grownups.
There you can find more details on how your kids can become part of the World Organization of Wowzers.
Lots of cool perks, exclusive t-shirts, autographed pictures of us and a bunch of other cool stuff wowintheworldcom.
Our show is produced by Jed Anderson.
Say hello, Jed.
Hello.
With help from Thomas Van Kalken, Chelsea Erson, and Jessica Bode.
Also, big thanks to Sharon Peterson for lending her voice to this episode.
Meredith Halpern-Ranzer is the big boss.
Our theme song was composed and performed by The Pop-Ups can find more of their awesome all ages music at the pop-upscom and parents and teachers.
If you want to send us an email, our address is hello.
At wow in the worldcom grown-ups.
You can also find us on facebook, twitter and instagram at wow in the world.
And if you want to be featured at the end of the show, call us up and tell us your wow in the world.
Our phone number is 1-888-.
And parents.
If you want to upload any photos or videos or messages to us, please visit wowintheworldcom and find a link where you can do just that.
And if you haven't already done so, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or however you get your podcasts.
Leave us a few stars and a review and be sure to tell a friend about the show.
Until next time.
Keep on wowing.
Wow in the World is made by Tinkercast.
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.
