Grown -ups, 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 grown -ups, Mindy here.
And before we start the show, it's prime time!
Sorry, I meant prime day.
And you know what that means.
Wow in the World toys are 20 % off.
That's right. From July 8th through July 11th, you can get 20 % off select Wow!
in the World toys, like the Everlasting Volcano or the Ultimate High -Flying Air Rocket that toots.
And while they may be 20 % off for Prime Days, our toys are 100 % full of wow, featuring exclusive audio from me and Guy Raz, plus collectible STEM tools to help your wowzers keep tinkering after playing.
surprise the wowsers in your world with a wow in the world stem toy today or on their birthday or their unbirthday or a sunny day or a rainy day or maybe a windy day yeah yeah yeah okay they get it shop the wow now at tinkercast .com slash toys that's tinkercast .com slash toys that's it and now let's get back to the show Woof, woof, woof, woof!
universe, Smurfs features a star -studded cast including Rihanna, John Goodman, Nick Offerman, Amy Sedaris, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, and many more familiar voices.
Smurfs is filled with original new music from Tyla, DJ Khaled, Cardi B, and Rihanna with her chart -topping hit from the movie Friend of Mine.
With a unique new animation style, all -star cast, and rocking soundtrack, Smurfs is the must -see family movie of the summer.
Don't miss Smurfs. Only in theaters starting July 18th.
Hey, grown -ups. Ever feel like everyone's glued to their own screen?
Want to actually feel good about your family's screen time?
Next, Playground flips the script with games that get the whole family moving, laughing, and playing together.
It's a motion -powered game system.
No controllers or wearables.
Just your body and a little wiggle.
Explore wild adventures with How to Train Your Dragon.
Dance with Barbie. Pop bubbles in Gabby's dollhouse.
Or kick it with Kung Fu Panda.
It's 100 % fun, 0 % ads or in -app nonsense.
Safe, silly screen time that you'll actually feel good about.
Ready to play? Visit NexPlayground .com.
That's nexplaygrounds .com to bring the fun home.
hey yeah it's summertime no homework no school yeah it's the hottest season me and reggie i keep it in cool but dennis is cooler than reggie school's out sun's out time for fun hanging with my friends and everyone no i got it i'm good i'm good i'm good two three four Wee Wow Summer Summer, summer, forever and ever Wee Wow Summer Chill and have a collection and do cool stuff, yeah Wee Wow Summer I don't know what kind of stuff but we'll figure it out Wee Wow Summer, yeah Hello and welcome to Wee Wow Summer Week Summer fun forever and ever!
This week, we're taking the show where we've never taken it before, outside!
Isn't this fun, Reggie?
With the air and the sun and the birds?
And the bugs? Ew! Reggie, no!
Keep the bugs away from me, please!
Okay, thank you. Now, on today's Wee Well Summer Week Summer Fun Forever and Ever, we're going to go snoop around and find someone in the neighborhood to talk about summer fun.
Ready? Okay, let's go.
Walk, walk, walk, walk.
Snooping, snooping.
Badger, walk. Oh, would you look at that.
There's Guy Raz tending his garden.
Let's go talk to him.
When it's fully grown, it's a cue.
It's a cute cucumber Hi, Guy Rod!
Whatcha doing? Oh, hi, Dennis.
Hi, Reggie. I'm just working in my vegetable garden.
Ooh, can we watch? Uh, sure.
I was just about to give my cherry tomatoes a drink.
Here you go, my lovelies.
Oh, Guy, no. Tomatoes aren't vegetables.
They're fruits. Technically, they belong in a fruit garden.
Well, yeah, I suppose that's true.
Hey, Guy Raz, can I water some of your garden?
Uh, sure, here. Hooray!
Okay, garden, here you go.
Spray. Whoops! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.
Dennis, you watered me!
It was an accident, Guy Raz.
Here, take the house back.
You do it. Okay, I'm just going to give my herbs a light misting.
Careful, Guy Raz, not too much. I know, Dennis.
But also not not too much. Dennis!
Just the right amount of not too much. Hey, Guy Raz, what kind of fertilizer do you use?
Is it compost? Is it manure?
Is it Dolomitic lime?
I recommend compost. Dennis, stop backseat gardening.
Oh, and Guy Raz, do you know you have to sing to your plants?
Oh, actually, I was singing to them, Dennis.
Well, yeah, but not that song.
Plants want show tunes, Skyraz.
Show tunes! Oh, boy.
There's no business like grow.
Business like grow.
All right, this is where I draw the line.
I will not be told what to sing to my plants in my own garden.
It's a cue, it's a cue, cucumber, yeah.
Don't believe me, look at my Azaleas.
And they will tell you that they love a shoe.
You know, Guy Raz, you don't have to water your garden if it's raining.
Thanks for the tip, Dennis.
Oh, good idea, Reggie.
Guy Raz, can we go inside your house and have tea?
Yeah, I could use some tea.
Hooray! What kind of tea do you like, Dennis?
I like chocolate tea with milk and sugar.
You mean hot chocolate?
Oh boy, hot chocolate.
Yeah, let's do that.
Dennis. Okay, devoted listeners.
Guy Raz and I are going to go inside and have hot chocolate tea.
But in the meantime, we want to hear your summertime wows.
That's right. Like maybe a vacation you went on in the past. Or a summer experience you're having right now.
Like standing in the summer rain.
Exactly! If you have a Wow summer memory you'd like to share with us, call us at 1 -888 -7 -WOW -WOW.
That's 1 -888 -7 -WOW -WOW.
You might just hear your Summer of Wow moment featured on Wow in the World this summer.
Oh, good idea, Reggie.
Let's listen to an episode of Wow in the World right now.
Well, I was thinking in the spirit of gardening that we'd listen to this one.
Ooh, it's Wow in the World Season 7, Episode 9, called Googly -Eyed Guy.
Oh yeah, that's an episode about me and my garden.
Right you are, Guy Raz.
Okay, here we go. And play.
WeeWOW will be right back.
Grownups, this message is for you.
That's it. Now back to the show.
Wow in the World Okay, Reg, let's just double check that invite that Guy Raz sent us.
Let's see here. What does it say?
Oh, okay. Dear Mindy and Reggie, please join me for a potluck dinner at my micro house tonight.
I will be preparing a kale salad with quinoa?
Quinoa? Hmm, sounds delicious.
If you could bring a dessert to the dinner, you would be my hero.
Okay, fine, he didn't say that last part, but he did say to bring a dessert.
Oh, and it sounds like my caviar tart pops are just about done.
Opening the toaster.
Oh, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.
Okay, let me just get all my stuff together here.
Uh, adventure toolkit.
Dessert. And an open mind.
Okay, Reg, all ready to go?
Oh, I think you can get the door, Reg.
My hands are kind of full.
Thanks, buddy. Reggie, I told you.
We're going to Guy Raz's house.
We're going to knock on the front door, ring the doorbell seven times, and then let ourselves in without waiting for him to answer.
What do you mean he's not in his house?
Where is he? Working in his vegetable garden?
Oh, yeah, there he is!
Hey, Guy Raz -y! Over here!
Huh, that's weird. Maybe he's singing to his tomato plants again and can't hear me.
Guy Raz? Raz -y! What are you doing out here in your veggie patch?
I thought you'd be neck deep in salad prep by now.
Guy Raz, are you even listening to me?
Guy Raz! Hello? Still ignoring me, huh?
Well, two can play at this game, buddy.
See how you like it.
Come on, Guy Raz, talk to me.
Talk to me, talk to me, talk to me, talk to me, talk to me.
Uh, Mindy? I'm fine.
Guy Razzi? Were you just talking to my scarecrow?
Scarecrow what? No?
Maybe? Yes? Uh -huh.
It's not my fault, Guy Raz.
Your scarecrow looks just like you.
Well, I had to dress him up in my own clothes and glasses because that's all I had.
Well, you sure fooled me.
Well, it's not you I'm trying to fool, Mindy.
It's those pesky birds that keep eating all my vegetables.
There are other birds besides Reggie?
Well, it all started last week when I came out here to harvest my crops.
Oh, boy, I can't wait to harvest my crops.
I'd spent months planting, watering, and singing to these plants to get them ready for eating.
But then, just when I came out to pick them...
My plants! They've been eaten!
No! Some birds had swooped in and eaten all of my vegetables before I had a chance to pick them.
Ah! So, you decided to place a life -sized replica of yourself in your vegetable garden.
Well, I know I'm not personally scary, but I thought maybe a scarecrow of me could keep those pesky birds away from my crops.
And, uh, how's that working out?
Well, just take a look around, Mindy.
This whole vegetable patch is a disaster zone.
Yeah, this vegetable garden is looking like a half -eaten salad.
I just don't know what to do.
Hold the phone, Guy Raz.
I think I might have just the thing.
Really? Uh -huh. And I've got it right here in my adventure tool kit.
Oh, here. Can you hold my Tart Pops?
Okay. Okay. All right, let's see here.
Not that, not that either.
More cats, we gotta get more cats.
Mindy, why did you even bring your adventure toolkit in the first place?
Oh, you know, Guyras, with the kind of stuff that you eat, every dinner's an adventure.
Gotta be prepared. Now, where did I put those eyes?
Eyes? I know I had them in here somewhere.
Oh, here they are. Look, they rattle, just like mine.
Wait a minute, Mindy.
Are those googly eyes?
Uh -huh. And these ones are extra googly.
Just what you're going to need if you want to keep those birds away from your salad garden.
Really? Uh -huh. How?
Well, I'll show you.
So I'm just going to take the Guy Raz -y glasses off your scarecrow here.
Will you hold onto these, please, Guy Raz?
Yes. Now, I'm just going to place one extra large googly eye on the right side of the glasses.
OK. And one extra large googly eye on the left side of the glasses.
There we go. Now let's put these glasses back on the scarecrow.
And ta -da. I'm not following you here, Mindy.
All you've done is make my scarecrow look ridiculous.
How is this supposed to keep my crops safe?
OK. Okay, first of all, I've only made your scarecrow look more ridiculous.
And second of all, according to science, these googly eyes are the best way to keep those pesky birds away.
These googly eyes? How?
Okay, so it's not just your salad garden that has the bird problem, Guy Raz.
Every single year, fisheries all over the world are just pillaged by pesky seabirds.
Oh, I've read about this.
And fisheries are kind of like the farms of the ocean, right?
Yeah, exactly. So instead of raising cows or chickens, they raise different kinds of fish.
And these fish keep getting eaten by the seabirds?
Oh, yeah. It's a big problem.
And not only that, but a lot of these seabirds also end up getting caught up in the nets that the fisherfolk use to herd their fish.
Huh, so it sounds like it's not only bad because these birds are eating all the fisher folks' fish, but it's also bad for the birds themselves.
You got it. But here's the thing, Guy Raz.
You can't exactly just put up a bunch of scarecrows in the middle of the ocean to keep the birds away.
Yeah, that would be pretty ridiculous, Mindy.
Ridiculous? How about redonkulous?
So here's the thing.
These researchers from a conservation group called Bird Life International, they came up with a different idea.
And not just a different idea, but a better idea.
Which was? Googly eyes!
Sorry. Googly eyes?
Yep, the idea was that these googly eyes would make the buoys look like terrifying predators and scare the birds away.
And did it work? Did it work?
Well, why don't we set up this scarecrow over here and do a little experimenting of our own?
Well, what do you mean?
I mean, let's set up this googly -eyed scarecrow in your salad garden and then go hide in that bush over there and see if it works.
What about the potluck dinner?
Guy Raz, does a potluck dinner taste as good as a science experiment?
No, it doesn't. So, come on!
Anything for science?
Anything for science?
Yes! Okay, let's get this googly -eyed Guy Raz scarecrow stuck in the ground here.
Anyone? Can you help me out here?
Okay, now come on, let's go hide in that bush over there Come on, Guy Raz Stop, stop dragging me along, Mindy And...
Dive! Mindy And... Hide Ow, Mindy, ow This bush is so prickly Well, stop wiggling around so much Okay, fine.
Well, how exactly is this supposed to work, Mindy?
Okay, so as I was saying before, when those researchers attached the googly eyes to their buoys in the water, they were hoping that they would mimic the eyes of a predator and scare the birds away.
Right, and I imagine if the birds see large eyes bobbing up and down in the ocean, they think it's a predator, and then probably go looking for food somewhere else.
Exact Doritos. Oh, oh, hold on.
I think I see one coming.
Oh, hey, Guy Raz. What you up to?
He thinks it's you.
Are you singing to your tomato plants again?
Seriously? That was just like one time.
Huh. Something seems different about you, Guy Raz.
Did you get a new haircut or something?
No, that's not it. Wait a minute.
Is it new glasses? Guy Raz, I'm talking to you.
Did you get new glasses?
Guy, what is wrong with you?
He totally fell for it.
Wait a minute. You're not breathing.
Oh, no. You're not breathing.
What? Help, help. Medical emergency.
Don't worry, Guy Raz.
I'll save you by running away and finding someone who knows how to save you.
Dennis. Medic! Medic!
Does anyone know CPR?
That was unexpected.
At least the googly eyes seem to be effective at keeping Dennis away.
Yeah, but the real question is, did these googly eyes keep the birds away from those fishing nets?
Okay, so the researchers from Bird Life Conservation, you know, the ones that were trying to keep the seabirds from getting caught up in the Fisherfolk's nets?
Uh -huh. Yeah, well, they attached these massive googly eyes to a handful of buoys in a bay off the coast of Estonia.
And Estonia is a country in Eastern Europe right next to Finland and Russia, right?
That's the one. And what did they find?
Well, they set them all up and then they basically did what we're doing right now.
They headed back to shore and started observing what the birds did.
Go on. And after observing these googly -eyed buoys for about 250 hours...
Which, if my math serves me right, is about ten and a half days.
Yeah, so after about ten days of observations, they made a startling discovery.
What was it? Hold on, Guy Raz.
I think someone else is coming.
Huh? Shh. Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr. Ross staring at his vegetables again.
It's Grandma G -Force.
I said, Mr. Ross staring at his vegetables.
What is that? Oh, ignoring me, huh?
Well, I don't like being ignored.
If you're not careful, you're going to get one of these.
Oh, G -Force just head -butted my heirloom tomato plants.
Ooh, and a body slam to the Brussels sprouts.
Oh, that's cold. I call that one the G -Force special.
Let that be a lesson to you, boy.
You don't ignore a three -time pepper -eating wrestling champ.
That's my Grandma G -Force.
Yikes! Remind me never to ignore Grandma G -Force.
Ah, she's just grumpy because she hasn't had her afternoon nap yet.
Uh -huh. Anywho, where were we?
Oh yeah, so these researchers observed these googly -eyed buoys for around ten days and then they calculated how much of an effect they were having at keeping the seabirds away from the fishing nets.
And what did they find?
Well, they found that the buoys with the googly eyes on them reduced the number of birds in the area by 20 to 30 percent, meaning that the googly -eyed buoys were scaring the birds away, therefore protecting the fish.
Wow, that's pretty significant, Mindy.
Yeah, and not only that, but they found that when the eyes were removed from the buoys, that the birds, well, they just flocked right back.
Meaning that it wasn't just an accident and that the googly eyes really were scaring off the birds.
You know it. That's pretty incredible, Mindy, keeping all those fish and birds safe and all it took was a pair of googly eyes?
Who knew? Oh, hold on, Mindy.
Someone else is coming.
Thomas, are you free?
Oh, hey there, Mr. Ozzie.
You scared me. What you doing out here?
Oh, I see. Silence.
Just contemplating life, huh?
Shh. Wow. You are Zen.
I wish I were like you.
My mind's always clickety -clacking away.
Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap, yap, yap.
And I'm always like, hey, mind, be quiet.
But it don't ever listen.
I can't put my finger on what's different about you today, Guy Razzi, but I like this new you.
It's peaceful. Couldn't have said it better myself.
Well, that's about as much silence as I need for one day.
See you later. Well, looks like Thomas Fingerling is a pretty big fan of googly -eyed Guy Raz.
Looks like it! So what's the next step for these googly -eyed buoys, Mindy?
Well, after the successful trial experiment in Estonia, the researchers now want to take these googly -eyed sea crows international.
As in, they want to see if this experiment can be replicated elsewhere?
That's right, a world tour!
In fact, the next place that they'll be deploying their googly eyes is in Iceland.
Iceland? You mean that island country way up north that's halfway between America and Europe?
That's the one! Iceland is super big into fishing, and so they also have a problem with seabirds and fishnets.
And these researchers want to see if it will work on a bigger scale?
Yeah, so they're planning on tinkering with the design of these googly -eyed buoys and then setting them up at a large lumpfish fishery.
Well, it's good to know that these googly eyes are having an effect on seabirds, but I wish we could find out whether they're also going to keep those pesky birds away from my crops.
Yeah, me too. I mean, all we've learned so far is that these googly eyes seem to make our neighbors very emotional.
Wait, that was. Over there.
Look. What? A flock of crows.
Actually, Mindy, a group of crows is called a...
Look, Guy Raz, they're perching on top of your micro house.
And it looks like they're eyeing up my vegetables again.
Wait a minute, Guy Raz.
Wow, Mindy, did you see that?
They all just flew away.
Yeah, looks like that googly idea really did work after all.
Wow! It did, Mindy!
Thank you so much for helping me out with my pest problem!
I'm coming, Guy! I'm coming!
I'm gonna save you!
I think you might have spoken too soon!
Guy Ross! I'm back!
I couldn't find a doctor, but I did find the next best thing!
Tommy! Hurry up! Don't boss me!
Also, what are we doing here?
Why are you looking at me?
I don't know. OK, I think the fun's over.
Dennis, that's not Guy Raz.
Ah, what was that? Is that bush talking to us?
Ugh, Dennis? Oh, better poke it with a stick to be sure.
It's not. It's not the bush.
Dennis, it's us. Hi.
Rajay, Manday, and another Guy Raz?
Another one? Well, I'm seeing double.
No, there's not. There's one gyros and one scarecrow.
Well, I thought scarecrows were supposed to be scary.
Yeah. And what are you doing in that bush?
Snooping? Looks to me like they were sleuthing.
Sleuthing? That's even worse.
We weren't sleuthing, Dennis.
We were observing. Oh, that's just a fancy science word for sleuthing.
That's not a bad point.
Anyway, Mindy and I were just about to head inside for some dinner, and since you're all here, would any of you like to join us?
Oh, I'd love to, except I'm still full from all the tomatoes I ate earlier.
Tomatoes? What tomatoes?
You know, the tomatoes.
The free ones from this free garden.
They're free. Oh, no. Free garden?
This is my vegetable patch. And I haven't been able to eat anything ever since I had that bushel of peppers I picked out of here.
My peppers? Well, I ain't been eating your vegetables, Mr. Rossi.
Well, that's a relief.
But I did carve all your pumpkins into boo -boo beanie boppers.
Okay! Isn't that nice?
So wait a minute. All of you have been the ones ransacking my vegetable garden?
Well, yeah. Looks like you were worried about the wrong kind of pest, Guy Raz.
Oh, if I were a pest, I'd be called the Dennis Beetle.
I'd be a stink bug.
Excuse me? Tommy! You!
from me Guy Raz 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 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 the rest of our team of tinkerers, including Anna Zagorski, Rebecca Caban, Kit Ballinger, Henry Moskal, and Tyler Thole.
To keep the wows rolling, visit us at tinkercast .com.
There, you can learn more about becoming an official member of the World Organization of Wowsers.
Learn more about upcoming events, shop our shop, and pick up a copy of our new number one New York Times bestselling book, the how and wow of the human body.
Grownups, 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 our show or an upcoming episode of Two What's and a Wow.
Thanks again for listening and until next time, 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+.
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.
