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Hola, soy Carly. That's Spanish for, What's up listeners?
It's ya girl Carly with another episode of your favorite secret podcast.
Roughly. In case you couldn't tell, I got a new app on my H -Dad device to help me learn Spanish.
Did you know Spanish is spoken in more than 20 countries?
I love the way they put the question mark in front of the sentence.
I love getting a heads up that a question is coming my way.
Ooh, that's my reminder to start today's lesson.
And here's your reminder that I'm Carly Q and this is Who and Wow Mystery Edition.
It's been compiled, some important details have slipped away.
In our spectacular shared existence, we consider it a business to recognize a few vogs you may not know.
Who and Wow made important inventions.
Who and Wow asked all the right questions.
History will never be the same.
When I arrived at Butt -Head HQ that morning, I had just completed a five day street on my new language learning app.
So I was pretty much fluent in Spanish.
The app's mantra was, understand everything.
And I was starting to feel it.
Even if some people weren't.
Hey Carly Q. Wow Carly Q, you've finally done it.
Now you can say weird things in another language.
We all love melon Carly Q.
Look, management needs you to file those events from the Byzantine Empire.
Do you think you can handle that?
I mean, yes Lewis, I'll do it straight after my morning lesson.
En espanol. Don't wait too long Carly Q.
They need it for the meeting later today and you know how particular they are about these things.
And I'm very particular about these things because naturally I belong here.
Lewis didn't understand a word I was saying, so I decided to take a couple of extra lessons on pronunciation before lunch.
I was working on my pronunciation of marine animals when something made me drop my perfect score.
It was a time sealed event.
Untranslatable. England 1912.
Untranslatable? Like a whole manuscript nobody can understand.
Time for a new lesson.
Understand everything.
Sounds like a challenge.
Start lesson now. One more can't hurt.
The potato has escaped the enclosure.
La patata se a escapado de rocinto.
Hm, okay let me try.
Sometimes when you're studying a language you can get so quick enough that you lose track of time.
And before I knew it...
Attention, buddy head of voice.
Gotta run. Happy fun time.
Today's happy year officials are...
The ice cream and vanilla sushi.
Whoa, easy there basement companion.
You almost made me drop my cine gang.
The what? My lunch.
It smells... delicious.
What even is it? It's like a sour soup.
Odie, I love soup too.
We are the same. You're a little late.
Where were you? I was practicing my Spanish.
Estas aprendiendo espanol.
Uh, see. It's this new app.
I'm totally obsessed with it.
I missed my bus stop this morning because I was so into it.
You've got to be careful with that, CarleQ.
You don't want to get so invested in your screen that you forget to look up and see the world around you.
Someone might spill their soup.
Sorry, what were you saying, Odie?
I was just completing a lesson.
Booyah, 95%. Okay, 95%.
And how are the lessons going?
Well, I am on a five day streak, so I'm on the hunt for a new challenge.
And guess what? You found one.
Bingo! A new time sealed event.
Voynich manuscripts.
Untranslatable. What is this?
A challenge. The app says that it'll help you understand everything.
I'm hoping that everything includes this Voynich manuscript thingy.
Huh. England, 1912.
Oh, that's a tough spot to get to at this time of day.
Closest I can probably get you is 1922.
Ugh, really? Hey, don't blame me.
It's that interdimensional highway traffic.
Alright, fine. Will you even have time to get back?
How much lunch break do you have left?
Well, let me check.
Lunch break concludes in nine minutes and forty -two seconds.
Yeah, you know what?
It'll be fine. In and out.
Nine minute adventure.
If you say so. Carly Kew!
Where are those Byzantine Empire files?
You were supposed to get them to management before lunch.
Mumblecrest. Let me guess.
Distracted by your new little toy?
It is not a toy, Louis.
It is a language learning app.
It's a distraction.
It's fun! It's not your job!
Come on, in the elevator.
You don't have much time today.
What? Where are we going?
Lunchtime's almost over.
England, 1922. We still have almost nine minutes before lunch is over.
Plenty of time for an adventure.
Carly, I really don't think this is a good idea.
No time for arguing now.
Come on, tell me the rules.
No altering the past.
Be back by the end of lunch, which is now at about eight minutes.
And remember, don't get so lost in what you're doing that you lose track of where you're going.
The next time you be goes somewhere that I can chase down my Spanish.
Hey grownups, Mindy here from Wow in the World.
And let me tell you, Carly Kew and I are so excited to make it Wow in New York City.
I mean, New York and San Francisco with our new live show, Make It Wow, presented by Audible.
There's more to imagine when you listen.
And apparently you're excited, too, because our San Francisco performance is filling up and our New York City performance is almost sold out.
So we're adding even more wow with a second show for New York City.
Grownups, get your tickets today at Tinkercast .com slash events.
That's Tinkercast .com slash events.
That's it. We'll see you there.
OK, this is it. London, 1922.
Time to start translating.
Well, as soon as we find the thing we're supposed to translate.
Hmm. Good point, Lewis.
If you were a Voynich manuscript, where would you be maybe in a store called Voynich's Rare Books and Antiquities?
Well, that would be convenient.
But where would you find you, Carly?
Huh? Voynich's Rare Books and Antiquities.
Well, you'll look at that.
Come on, let's check it out.
Hello. Uh, it doesn't look like this place has been cleaned in years.
And you afraid of a few cobwebs and dust bunnies?
No. Ooh. Oh, what's that smell?
Hmm. Oh, did we fall into a damn sewer again?
Nibbles, I didn't know you were in my backpack.
Oh, great. The talking rat is here.
Play nice, you two.
Seriously. Ooh. Hmm.
What is that smell?
Ooh, yeah. It's books, Nibbles.
Lots and lots of very, very old books.
And what are we doing in the creepy abandoned bookstore again?
Looking for a manuscript.
The Voynich manuscript.
Apparently, it's untranslatable.
By mere mortals, anyway.
Well, good luck finding it, Carly Q.
This place is messier than my aunt Linda's place, and she lives in a trash can.
Ooh. Oh, let me have a look around.
What a loose papers line around here, huh?
Yeah, looks like the scrawlings of a madman.
Whom are you calling mad, sir?
Are you quite done?
We're done. Can I help you?
Are you Voynich? I'm afraid not.
Mumblecrest. He's my employer.
My name is William Newbold.
Mr. Voynich employed me to decode a rather challenging manuscript he purchased in 1912.
Some say it's untranslatable.
This wouldn't happen to be the Voynich manuscript, would it?
Well, the manuscript has had many, many owners over the centuries.
But yes, he is the current owner, and that is what it is known as to some people.
Bingo. Good detective work, Lewis.
We are making a great time.
Uh -huh. I do believe it's around here somewhere.
Excuse me. Ah, here it is.
Whoa. It's so weird.
What language is that?
Well, I am 90 % sure it is not Spanish.
Certainly not Spanish, my friends.
And perhaps not even a language at all.
Here, take this magnifying glass.
All right. Now take a look at these ink smudges here and here.
Uh, okay. My hypothesis is that these smudges are in fact an anagrammed micro -graphic shorthand code.
Yeah. That's what I was gonna say.
Wait, what are you saying?
I believe that there is a code hidden in these smudges and that that is the secret to decoding this thing once and for all.
You sure it's not just, you know, ink smudges?
I'm fairly certain, and I'll be able to prove it in a few months.
I'm on the verge of a breakthrough.
I can feel it. I have to be.
I've dedicated a decade of my life to this project.
It can't all be for not...
Well, I didn't find anything in this pile.
How'd you guys do? Hey, who's the old guy?
Rat. Was it something I said?
Well, it looks like it's all up to Carly Q to decode this bad boy now.
You don't really think you can translate this manuscript just because you learned a couple of phrases in Spanish, do you?
Uh, Lewis, the app says you can understand everything.
Last time I checked, creepy old manuscripts were included in everything.
Okay. Let me see here.
I was locked in. I felt my translating skills bubbling up to the surface.
It was as if the rest of the world melted away.
Look at this. Doesn't that look like an e?
Ah, sorry, that was me.
I think I stepped in an inkwell or something.
Sorry, kid. Okay, Carly Q.
Wrap it up. We gotta get back.
You're the one this smudge could...
Uh, hello, Earth to Carly Q.
That's no use, kid.
She's locked in. Carly Q.
And right then, I had a brainwave.
I got it! You solved it?
Not exactly, but I have an idea.
H -Dad, I'll read...
Hey, hey, that's G.
Shh, H -Dad, analyze and translate the text in this book.
Translating. Rating emoji.
Detective emoji. Carly Q, we don't have time for this.
We're already late.
Thanks for your obsession with this book.
This will only take a second, Lewis.
H -Dad has loaded up with every single written language that's ever existed.
This will be a piece of cake for H -Dad.
What? The following text does not match any language on file.
Sad face emoji. No entry emoji.
Crying emoji. Okay, great.
Mystery solved. It's still untranslatable.
Can we go now? How is that even possible?
What part of untranslatable do you not understand, Carly Q?
But Newbold said he was on the verge of a breakthrough.
Additional information found on Newbold.
Professor William Newbold, born in 1865, died in...
1926. Attempting to translate the Voynich manuscript.
What? His work with translation and cryptography became obsessive.
Hmm, well, that checks out.
Dark lighting conditions impede his eyesight.
Newbold became wholly occupied by the singular task of translating the Voynich manuscript.
Stressed face emoji.
Writing emoji. Frost eyes emoji.
Yikes! Looks like this guy got a little obsessed, huh?
Blocking out the world like that?
No good. But fascinating.
Remind you of anyone?
Hey, maybe that's what Odie was trying to say this morning about my language learning app.
Yeah, that's what I've been trying to say.
Now, can we please get out of here?
We're going to get Odie in trouble if we're not bad.
But what about Newbold?
Oh, please. That dude is three blocks away from here by now.
Alright, fine. Let's get out of here.
Come on. Alright, alright, alright.
Dibbles, pick it up!
How many times do I have to tell you my life's that short?
Alright, everybody hop in!
Right behind you, Carly Q!
Whoo! Nice of you to finally show up?
What took you so long?
Lunch ended two minutes and fourteen seconds ago!
Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen.
Ask your basement companion.
Carly? Okay, yes, I got a little carried away with my translation challenge.
I apologize. Did you at least solve the mystery?
What did the manuscript say?
No luck. Turns out that text really is untranslatable.
Even H -Dad couldn't crack it.
Hm. That is surprising.
We even met this guy who's been trying to crack it for like ten years.
It consumed his whole life.
It was like looking into Carly's future.
It's like you said.
Don't get so lost in what you're doing that you lose track of where you're going.
Yes, Carly, take a look around.
Don't forget about the real world.
I hear that. I wish Newbold was able to figure out that lesson.
So does this mean you're finally going to get those files for me in management?
New Spanish lesson available.
Vocabulary, lampshades and light mixtures.
Ooh! Carly! Oh, I know, I know, I know.
I was able to get Lewis those files in the end.
And not only that, I caught up on all the other work that I'd let pile up over the last five days.
Turns out I'd gotten pretty far behind.
So I decided to limit my Spanish lessons to my bus ride home.
The only place I can afford to get sucked into my conquest of the Spanish language.
This is your stop. This is your stop.
No, really. You need to exit the bus.
No, it's not. This is Carly Q signing off another episode of Who and Wow.
It's a mystery! You have missed your stop.
Asperdido, tupará. Oh, wait, what?
What was I trying to tell you?
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HDAD Initiating End Credits Mode Who and Wow Mystery Edition is an original Tinkercast production with help from GZM shows.
Handshake emoji, high -five emoji.
For Tinkercast, the executive producers are Guy Ross, Mindy Thomas, and Meredith Halpern -Ranzer.
The shows are written by Aaron Weissman, Susan Mowaty -Deraj, and Tom Van Kalken.
The head writer for Tinkercast is Kenny Curtis, and Carly Shiraki is a producing consultant.
Big shout -outs to the rest of the Tinkercast team, including Jed Anderson, Jessica Bodhi, Rebecca Cabon, Natasha Crandall, Lizzie Freilich, Kristin Jang, Tuy Mac, Erika Medina, Henry Moskal, Jodie Nussbaum, Ali Poxima, Linda Rothenberg, Steph Sosa, Tyler Thall, Joanna Weber, and Anna Zegorski.
Megaphone emoji, applause emoji.
The Who and Wow theme song was composed and performed by The Pop -Ups.
For more information on their three -time Grammy -nominated all -ages music, find them at ThePopups .com.
Producers for GZM shows are David Kreisman, Ben Strauss, Chris Terry, Amy Cervini, and Claire McClanahan.
The production manager is Sharon Michaels.
Sound design and editing for Who and Wow Mystery Edition is done by Chris Terry and Oded Levaree.
Headphones emoji, microphone emoji, thumbs up emoji.
Original music was created by Jennifer Rokamp.
Voice editing is by Yoni Rehkham.
And voice direction is handled by David Kreisman and Amy Cervini.
Could you give me another one on that, please?
And voice direction is handled by David Kreisman and Amy Cervini.
Our main cast features Carly Schiraki as Carly Q, Brandon Salerno as Louis, Melissa Vanderschiff as Nibbles the Rat, Kenny Curtis as H -Dad, and Angel Desai as Odie.
Help support Who and Wow by becoming a member of the World Organization of Wowzers and discover wow's all year long.
Sign up today at Tinkercast .com slash membership.
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel at Tinkercast .com slash YouTube for full length episodes of Who and Wow Mystery Edition.
And reach out to us at Hello at Tinkercast .com if you have a mystery you would like butthead to investigate.
H -Dad, powering off.
Peace sign emoji. Who and Wow was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.
Shh it's starting. GZM shows imagination amplified.