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Hey, Wowzer fans, Mindy here.
And before we start the show, I got to 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!
My name's Ron.
Thanks, Guy Raz, and I'm here to say I like to recycle every day.
A glass bottle here, a glass bottle there.
Planet Earth is a place we share.
Coming!
Good morning, Guy Raz!
Good morning?
Mindy, it's three in the afternoon.
I know, but I haven't slept in days!
You haven't slept in days?
No, I've been too pumped up. excited for your unbirthday.
Mindy, I'm starting to wonder if you even know when my actual birthday is.
Well, I know there's a one in 365 chance that it's not today.
Well, again, it's not, but... Uh-uh, no buts.
Aren't you going to ask me what I got you for a present?
No, because it's not my... I've been working really hard.
Well Mindy, ever since you got me those exploding grapefruits from my unbirthday last month, I've been a little skeptical of your gift-giving skills.
Well, fear not, my friend.
You're not going to have that problem with this gift.
It's 100% fruit and explosive-free.
All right.
Let's see it.
Yes!
Okay, follow me.
It's parked right out front.
Parked out front?
Uh-huh.
Oh!
But I want to be able to surprise you, so let me just put this blindfold over your eyeballs here.
Just stay still.
Just stay still!
Stop wiggling your head so much!
Mindy!
There we go.
Okay, Russ?
Is there a problem?
Mindy?
Yeah?
Why does this blindfold smell like bacon?
That's because the blindfold is bacon.
What?
I ran out of eye masks.
Okay, now just follow me.
Follow the sound of my voice.
Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk.
No, and stop, stop.
Okay.
Guy Raz, are you ready for the big reveal?
No.
Okay.
Uh, Mindy?
Do you like it?
Well, uh... Pretty wow, huh?
Mindy, am I missing something?
I mean, this is just my car.
How is this a present from you to me?
Oh, but it's not just your car, Guy Raz.
I've made some modifications that I think you'll be pretty pleased with.
Mindy, what have you done to my car?
Well, why don't you just... pop the hood there and see for yourself.
Oh, no.
What am I going to find, Mindy?
An engine made out of cheese?
A swarm of bees?
One of your cats?
All great ideas and missed opportunities, but no.
Just pop open the hood and find out.
Oh, boy.
Water?
Surprise!
Mindy, what have you done?
You've Turn the entire front end of my car into a kiddie pool.
And it's not just water, Guy Raz.
The really exciting part is what's in the water.
I... I don't even... I... Do I really want to know?
Shh!
It's electric eels.
What?
It's electric eels.
What in the... Of course it is.
Look at them all zipping and zapping around in your engine compartment.
Hi, electric eels.
How...
So do you like it, Guy Raz?
Mindy, what in the wow convinced you to turn my car into a rolling aquarium full of dangerous animals?
Well?
I can see them all wriggling around in there with their long slimy bodies.
Some of them must be over seven feet long.
Well, you know how you've always wanted to upgrade your hybrid car to a fully electric one?
Uh-huh.
Well, here it is.
Your brand new all 100% eel-powered car.
Mindy, if you wanted to turn my car into an electric vehicle, you should have just replaced my engine with an electric battery, not filled it with live electric eels.
Guy Raz, electric eels are the way of the future.
Do you know that each one of these little babies can discharge up to 860 volts of electricity?
860 volts?
That's enough juice to knock out either one of us about seven times over.
I know.
It's the most powerful electric shock in the entire animal kingdom.
And what made you think they'd be a good substitute for an electric engine, Mindy?
Because they're so good at working in teams.
In what?
See, this is what gave me the whole idea for your automotive makeover, Guy Raz.
I was reading about this scientist from Brazil named Dr. Douglas Bastos.
He's been studying these eels in the Amazon rainforest.
These same eels that are under the hood of my car?
Yep, they're called Electrophorus bulti.
And they're actually a type of knifefish, even though everyone just calls them eels.
Huh.
Classic case of mistaken identity.
Right, slimy little buddy?
Anywho, as I was saying, Dr Bastos was out in the Amazon rainforest when he noticed that these eels were up to something strange.
And what was it, Mindy?
Well as Dr Bastos made his way out of the dense undergrowth, a small lake that was teeming with electric eels.
Over 100 of them all swarmed together.
This was shocking for two reasons.
First, electric eels up until that point were thought to be solitary creatures.
Meaning that they live alone by themselves and not in groups or packs.
Exactly.
And what was the second reason it was so shocking?
The second reason is what happened next.
As Dr Bastos approached the lake, he noticed that these eight-foot-long eels were hunting in a pack by synchronizing and coordinating their electric shocks to stun the other fish in the lake.
Whoa.
And I'm guessing that's pretty unusual behavior.
You got that right.
With mammals like orcas or wolves, hunting in packs is pretty common.
But when it comes to fish, it's much, much more rare.
So let me get this straight, Mindy.
You thought that because these eels were able to work together to hunt fish in some lake in the Amazon rainforest, that they'd also be able to work together to run my car.
Well...
I just know that if they put their slimy little minds to it, they can accomplish anything.
Right, slimy little buddies?
Who's with me?
Hey, don't knock until you try it.
Come on, Guy Raz, hop in, try it out.
Are you sure this is a good idea, Mindy?
Yes, of course I'm not sure this is a good idea, Guy Razzy.
Hey, nice eel.
Nice electric eel.
Just sitting down.
Good.
Putting my key in the ignition.
Uh-huh.
And... Uh... Huh.
Must be something wrong with the wiring of this car.
Useless hunk of junk.
Mindy, don't kick the car with the live eel.
Oh, yeah.
Sorry.
Sorry, Garros.
Where did you even get these animals from, Mindy?
The lake.
The lake?
Which lake?
The lake right next to Thomas Fingerling's knuckle hut.
Wait a minute.
They had Brazilian electric eels in the lake next to Thomas Fingerling's knuckle hut?
I know.
Crazy coincidence, huh?
OK.
Well, let's get these eels back.
Back to their home, Mindy.
I think the best thing we can do for them now is to release them back into the wild.
Yeah, you're probably right.
They don't seem too jazzed about being confined to the engine compartment of your car, that's for sure.
Looks like we're going to have to push it, though.
You know, with the engine being replaced by an aquarium and all.
OK, well, let me just do my stretches first.
All right, Mindy, let's do this.
Okay, so the Lake by Fingerlings Knuckle Hut is just at the end of this road.
Now, on the count of three, we're gonna push.
Ready?
All right.
One, two...
We might need some help getting this thing to the lake.
I know.
I'd take just about anybody's help right now.
Literally anybody's help at all.
Did somebody say anybody?
Hey, Dennis.
What do you two got there?
Another failed invention?
Hey, it's not a failed invention.
It just needs a few tweaks.
I added more eels.
And besides Dennis, it's like I always say, you learn much more from people's mistakes than you do from their successes.
Oh, so wise.
Yeah, I think I heard that on a podcast once.
Those kind of reminded me of you, Guy Ross.
Well, actually, Mindy.
Oh, my gosh.
Mindy, are those eels the electric kind or the slippery non-electric kind?
Oh, they're electric.
Dennis hoping that they might be able to work together to help power Guy Raz's car, but no dice.
Oh, not working as a team, eh?
Uh... Somebody probably needs to give a little pep talk, eh?
Now, as you know, I'm captain of the local indoor tetherball team and under my leadership, we've won nearly 17 third-place trophies.
Uh... So...
I think I may know just a little something about teamwork.
Uh-huh.
OK, listen up, you elongated lightning fish.
It's time to get tetherball tough.
Help!
Someone save me!
It's all right, Dennis.
We're actually trying to take them back to the lake near Thomas Fingerling's knuckle hut.
If you wanted to give us a helping hand, that would be great.
Yeah, Dennis, you love helping.
Don't you love helping, Dennis?
Yes.
I do love helping, Mindy.
Great.
Why don't you push from the back?
Oh, there's pushing involved?
Well, in that case, actually... On three!
Two.
Uh, one.
All right.
Now we're cooking with gas.
Mindy!
Oh, yeah.
So, Mindy...
You said that these eels were working together to help catch their prey?
Uh-huh.
They use their electric charges to hunt these tiny little fish called tetrafish.
Tetrafish, huh?
I think I've heard of them before.
Aren't they really small and really fast?
Yep.
In fact, these little guys only measure up to about one and a half inches in length.
Hold on.
I need a break from pushing.
Me too.
Woohoo!
So, Mindy, these eels all work together to catch these little fish?
That's right.
You see, these tetra fish were way too quick for the eels to catch by themselves.
So, they decided that if they were going to eat, they were going to have to work as a team.
Oh, like how we're working as a team right now?
Yeah, that's right, Dennis.
Wow!
So these teams of eels would surround the schools of tetrafish and launch a joint electric shock through the water.
This electric shock would then launch the fish into the air and, as the tiny little tetrafish splashed back down into the water, the eels would come and gobble them up.
Whoa, so...
How big was this shock that this group of electric eels gave off, Mindy?
Well, the scientists studying them predicted that the charge from 10 of these electric eels would be enough to power 100 light bulbs.
Wow.
And that's not all.
Sometimes Dr. Bastos would spot more than 100 eels hunting like this all at once.
Whoa, that's like 1,000 light bulbs.
Uh-huh.
What do we have here?
Grandma G-Force!
Hugs!
Pass!
Okay, I see you're busy.
So what do you got here?
You broken down?
Need a hand giving it a jump?
Uh... Because I'm unavailable.
Uh, actually, no, Grandma G-Force.
The car isn't broken down.
Not really.
It's just filled with electric eels.
Ah! electric eels, huh?
Well, I don't mind an electric eel, a little bit of barbecue sauce.
Don't mind if I do.
What?
Oh, no, no.
We're not going to eat the electric eels, Grandma G-Force.
Well, huh.
We're going to take them to that lake near Thomas Fingerling's knuckle hut.
Think you could give us a hand?
Need a little bit of muscle, do you?
Well, all right, let's me to just get out my elbow grease here.
I think you got barbecue sauce there, G-Force.
Oh, yeah.
That'll do it.
All right.
Let's roll.
OK, everyone, on three.
One, two, three.
Push!
Come on, come on, come on.
That just made me think of something, Mindy.
How we all just counted down so we all pushed at the same time.
Uh-huh.
How are those electric eels able to synchronize all their electric shocks?
I mean, they can't exactly count down from three.
Well, actually, they kind of can, Guy Raz.
Scientists think that they're able to coordinate their attack by sending out low-level electric pulses as sort of a countdown to when to strike.
Like a countdown without talking to each other?
Exactoritos.
Wow.
Will you blabbermouth, stop blabbermouthing, and push?
Oh, sorry!
Uh, okay.
So, Mindy, what's next?
Dr. Bastos and his research into the... strange animal behavior.
Well, he's already planning his next trip out to the Amazon.
This time, he wants to see if this whole teaming up to hunt thing is kind of a family business.
What do you mean?
Well, he's going to be attaching these radio tracking tags to each of the eels and also doing some genetic testing so that he can see if these eels are related or just strangers with a shared hobby.
Huh.
Are we there yet?
Welcome to the Knuckle Hut.
Adult passes come with a free order of garlic nooks from the food court.
Ham.
Oh, it's just you.
Mr. Fingerling!
We must be close to the lake, Mindy.
Say now, what you got there?
One of them fancy hybrid motor carriages filled with electric eels?
Lucky guess.
That's right, Tommy.
We're trying to get these guys back to their natural habitat in the lake over there.
Oh, yeah.
I like walking to that lake on account it's all downhill.
Did you say downhill?
Uh-oh.
What?
Oh, the car's rolling away.
Mindy, my car!
It's headed straight for the... Oh!
Heavens!
Well, at least the eels made it back home.
Mindy, my car!
Now what?
I'll make a splash.
Looks like I'm going to have to give you a fishing pole for your next unbirthday present tomorrow, Guy Razzi.
In the meantime, you can always borrow my ice cream truck.
No, thanks.
My motor pickle?
Nope.
My sleigh cats?
My flying pigeon?
Oh, choose that one.
And me!
Wow in the World will be right back.
Our Wow in the World toys help your wowzer learn about their world through play. can hear exclusive audio content from me and Guy Raz to help your wowzer discover even more wows grown-ups 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, thanks for calling Wow in the World.
After the beep, get ready to record.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Allie.
I am 10 years old and I live in New Jersey.
My Wow in the World is that dolphins can hold their breath for seven minutes.
Wow, that's a long time.
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
To save you from media Pennsylvania.
My wow in the world is that giraffes can have dark blue, dark purple or black tongues.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Everett.
I am eight years old, and I live in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.
My wow is that beavers' butts smell like vanilla.
Say hi to Grandma Bee Forest for me.
Excuse me?
Dennis.
Howdy.
And Reggie.
Hi, my name is George.
I'm six years old, and I'm from Mill Valley, California.
My world is that there's two tallest mountains in the world.
The one measured above sea level is Mount Everest.
The one measured below sea level is Mauna Kea.
Hi Mindy, Guy Ross.
My name is Leo and I live in Seattle, Washington.
My wow in the world is that peregrine falcons can go 230 miles per hour.
Bye.
Hi Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Reese and I live in Boston, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
My wow in the world is koalas are asleep between 18 to 22 hours of the day because the The eucalyptus leaf that they eat has very low energy.
Say hi to Thomas Fingerling, Grandma G-Force, and Reggie, and Baby B. Bye!
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is Natalie.
I live in Clifton Park, New York.
My wow in the world is that there are four states of matter.
Love your show.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Ben, and I live in Glenny, Illinois.
And I'm five years old.
My wow is that Norwell's tusk is really a tooth.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name's Sophia, and I live in Tucson, Arizona.
And my wow in the world and I'm five and my wow in the world is that horned lizards shoot blood out of their eyes when they need to be protected.
I love your show.
End of messages.
Hey, everyone.
Thanks so much for hanging out with us this week on Wow in the World.
And to keep the wow rolling, consider becoming a member of our World Organization of Wowzers.
Each membership includes episode-specific digital activities, science experiments, book lists and more.
Plus, you'll get a welcome box including a special edition members-only T-shirt and a an autographed picture of us.
Find out more at Tinkercast.com.
There you can also find more info on our upcoming shows.
Shop our shop and find our New York Times bestselling book, The How and Wow of the Human Body.
Wow in the World is written by Mindy Thomas and Tom Van Kalken with help from me.
Our senior producer, Jed Anderson, brings our show to life with sound design and music editing and is also in charge of wrangling Dennis Thomas Fingerling, Reggie and many of the other silly characters you hear.
And Grandma G-Force wrangles Grandma G-Force.
Grandma G-Force, get out of the credits!
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 their music at thepopups.com.
And special thanks to the rest of our Wow in the World team, including Anna Zagorski, Rebecca Caban, Kit Ballinger and Henry Moskal.
Grown-ups, you can follow Wow in the World on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at Wow in the World.
And our email address is hello at tinkercast.com.
And if you're a kid with a big wow to share with us, call us at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW for a chance to be featured at the end of the show or on an upcoming new episode of Two.
What's in a Wow?
Also, be sure to subscribe to Wow in the World wherever you get your podcasts.
And you can also ask your smart speaker to play Wow in the World.
Thanks for listening.
And until next time, keep on wowing.
Keep on wowing.
And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com.
