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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 on the weekend.
We wow on the weekend because this is what we do on the weekend talking laughing, me and reggie singing, laughing.
And then we oh wait no, i said laughing twice uh whatever, we wow on the weekend.
We wow on the weekend.
We wow on the weekend because this is what we do.
Welcome to WeeWow on the Weekend.
I'm your host, Dennis!
And that's my co-host, Reggie the Giant Pigeon!
Reggie, I think it's time you stepped it up as co-host a little bit.
You know like sometimes I start the show by asking you questions, so how about you ask me some questions?
Oh, that's a good question!
And my answer to that is...
England, 1846.
Another great question.
I'm going to say yellow.
No, no, no, no, blue.
Okay, so see now, that would be a tie between blobfish makeovers and Mesopotamia's Got Talent.
Wow, good questions, Reggie.
You are an excellent conversationalist.
Okay, let's get into our first segment, Dishing It Up with Dennis.
Ahem.
Dish it up on a dish, anything that you wish.
Take a bite, that's delish.
Dishing it up with Dennis and Reggie.
Today on Dishing It Up with Dennis and Reggie, we'll be making a charcuterie board.
A charcuterie board is a fancy way of saying a plate full of meats.
Step one, get a board.
Yeah, I think we have a board around here somewhere.
Let me look.
Um, let's see.
Oh, here are some board games.
Maybe one of these will work.
Let's see, what's this one?
Snakes and ladders?
Ew, no.
I told mother to sell that at the yard sale last year.
Ew, I hate snakes.
What else we got?
Um, okay, here's one that doesn't have snakes on it.
Just a bunch of squares.
Ah, right, it's a checkerboard.
Or a chessboard, whatever.
Well, I lost all the game pieces, so it doesn't matter.
Okay, so we have our board, so now it's on to step two.
Add the meat.
I have a whole bag of bologna here, and I'm just gonna arrange it in a little festive pile.
There we go.
Sprinkle on a little beef jerky.
And then I'll put on one of these pepperoni that I picked off last night's pizza because they're too spicy.
You can eat those, Reggie.
Fine, don't eat it, whatever.
And done.
Yay, charcuterie board.
I know, it's so fancy.
Let's try some.
Mmm, warm bologna.
Oh, I can really taste the bag I had it in.
Oh, hang on.
There's a card here stuck from some other game to the board.
Let's see.
What does it say?
Acquire bonus value point.
I don't know what that means, but hooray, bonus value points.
Okay, that's enough charcuterie.
Let's move on to a little segment I like to call Inside Tinkercast Studios.
Inside Tinkercast Studios.
This is the part where we revisit an episode of one of my favorite Tinkercast shows.
And today we're listening to Wow in the World Season 2 Episode 6 called Totally Spiced Out.
Oh, I is the one where Grandma G-Force eats all those hot peppers.
Yeah, I'm sweating just thinking about it.
Quick, Reggie, hand me the fake money from that board game over there.
No, Reggie, all of it.
I need to make a fan.
Okay, give me that.
Okay.
Okay, that's better.
Alright, let's listen to the episode.
Here we go.
And play.
Loud in the World will be right messages for you.
Hey grown-ups, it's Mindy and Guy Raz here from Wow in the World.
Mindy and I have some brand new 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 WowKid has 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.
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.
That's it.
Back to the show.
Hang on.
I'll be right there.
Guys, pause.
Hurry up.
We're going to be late for the Super Bowl of Spice Smackdown.
Oh, hi, Mindy.
Are you ready yet?
Mindy, what are you wearing?
Isn't it awesome?
It's my red hot Silly Peppers t-shirt, and I made it just for this occasion.
Uh... Oh, and here, I made one for you, too.
Only yours says... Ta-da!
Spice, spice, baby?
Mindy, I'm not, And I got us both a pair of shiny spandex tights that will make our legs look like a bunch of banana peppers.
Uh, no.
And last but not least, try this baby on for size.
A hat shaped like a giant chili pepper?
Come on!
Where's your spicy spirit, man?
OK, but just be careful with my hair.
I had to wax it down extra tight this morning.
I'm just going to shove your head into this hot hair.
Tight squeeze.
There.
That's never coming off because I glued it.
What?
Now you look like a party pepper.
I think it's squeezing my brain.
Oh, that's OK.
It'll bounce back.
Mindy.
Reggie!
Reggie, we need you to take us to the Super Bowl of Spice Smackdown.
You know?
On second thought, why don't we just hang out here and organize my collection of Hold on to your hot tamales, Guy Raz?
Because here we go.
There were actual flames coming out of Reggie's talons.
Reggie, bring in the heat.
I think that means you landed us in the right place.
Where are we?
Guy Raz, look over there.
Wow, what's that?
It looks like a giant stadium-sized bowl of chili with steam coming off the top.
Oh, that's because it is a giant stadium-sized bowl of chili with steam coming off the top.
What in the... Guy Raz...
Welcome to the Super Bowl of Spice Smackdown World Championship face-off.
You know, my grandma G-Force used to take me here when I was a baby.
In fact, she was once crowned world champion.
But then she burned her tongue and she never competed again.
Oh, well, that's kind of sad, I guess.
So what exactly is this thing?
Oh, so it's when all of the hottest peppers from all over the world come together and try to spice out their human opponents.
So, kind of like a professional wrestling match, except with peppers?
Well, yeah, sort of.
I mean, peppers and people.
Come on, let's go inside so you can see for yourself.
Okay.
What?
Check it out.
Ladies and gentlemen in this corner...
We have the 2013 Guinness World Record winner, the Carolina Reaper!
And in this corner, the self-proclaimed world's hottest Grandma G-Force!
Hot and spicy!
Whoa, is that hot?
Mindy, Mindy, that's your Grandma G-Force.
Guess her tongue must have finally healed after all these years.
Years?
Go, Grandma!
You show that Carolina Reaper who's boss!
Mindy, look.
She's circling that pepper like she's about to go in for the kill.
Oh, man, Guy Raz.
You know, just a few years ago, the Carolina Reaper, a cross between a ghost pepper and a red Savina habanero, was the hottest chili pepper in the whole world, coming in at a peak of 22 million SHU.
Wait, SHU?
2.2 million?
What are you talking about?
Oh, so SHU stands for Scoville Heat Units.
Ah, of course.
Of course named after Wilbur Scoville, the American pharmacist who came up with the Scoville heat scale.
Wait, you know about the Scoville heat scale?
Would I be wearing a spice spice baby t-shirt with elbow patches if I didn't?
Elbow patches on your t-shirt?
Wait.
Mindy Wilbur Scoville created the Scoville scale as a way to measure the heat or spiciness of a hot chili pepper.
Right.
And speaking of hot peppers, did you know that peppers are actually a fruit?
Huh.
I've always thought of them as vegetables.
Well, not all fruits are sweet, Guy Raz.
There are a bunch of fruits that we normally think of as veggies, like um tomatoes and eggplants, and even cucumbers.
Wait, cucumbers are fruits too, technically and botanically speaking.
Yes ah, of course it's the seeds.
Well yeah, that and the fact that they all come from flowering plants huh, you know, As strange as it seems Mindy, it makes total sense.
I guess I just tend to think of fruits as more sweet than spicy.
So you're saying that you would not dump slices of jalapeno peppers on your oatmeal in the morning?
Uh, no.
You sure?
It'd give you a little kick to start your day.
I'm pretty sure, Mindy.
So... you were saying about the Scoville scale?
Oh yeah.
So, as you were saying, the Scoville scale is a measure of the hotness of a pepper and other spicy foods.
And it ranges from zero to 16 million Scoville heat units.
But how exactly does it work?
Well, first I should start by saying that chili peppers contain something called And capsaicin.
Is this colorless odorless, oil-like chemical compound?
Interesting.
I mean basically, capsaicin is the stuff in the pepper that makes your mouth feel like it's on fire after you eat a really hot one.
And so I'm guessing that to figure out where a pepper falls on the Scoville heat scale, a scientist would have to squeeze out some of that oil-like capsaicin from a pepper.
Yeah.
Yep, and back in the day scientists would mix that capsaicin with a little bit of sugar water and then they would hand it to a professional taste tester to take a sip to see if it still had its hotness.
And if it did, they would keep adding more and more sugar water until the taste tester could no longer taste sugar.
So they would water down the capsaicin, or the stuff that makes peppers hot, until it was no longer detectable.
Exactoritos, Kairos.
It's called diluting, which is a scientific term that means water. watering something down.
Kind of like what you do to my orange juice, when you pour me a tiny bit and fill the rest of the glass with water when you think I'm not looking.
Mindy, I dilute your orange juice with water because there's so much sugar in a 24-ounce glass of just orange juice.
I know there is, Guy Raz.
That's what makes it so delicious.
Okay, back to the Scoville scale.
Right.
So the amount of dilution or the amount of sugar water it takes to snuff out the heat of a pepper's capsaicin is what gives the pepper its rating or measure on the Scoville heat scale.
So, for example, if a taste tester could no longer taste the heat after one cup, it might be a pretty mild pepper.
But if it took say, 100 cups of sugar water to kill the heat, then you might be dealing with a crazy hot pepper.
Yeah, and about those professional taste testers you mentioned?
Yeah.
Well, it seems like what might be spicy to one person might not be so spicy to another.
I mean...
How do you get an accurate rating if all human tongues taste things differently?
Yeah, so that was actually one problem with the original Scoville scale.
So ever since the 1980s, scientists have left the spice measuring to a fancy machine instead of relying on other people's tongues.
Okay, so...
Just to get an idea of where a pepper would fall on the Scoville scale, let's take a sweet pepper, for instance.
Okay, so a sweet pepper, hence the name contains almost no capsaicin at all, which means that it rates in at a big fat zero on the Scoville scale.
Here, watch me take a bite.
See?
No heat at all.
And what about a jalapeno pepper?
I mean, those are pretty hot.
Guerra's jalapeno peppers which I dump all over my nachos and pancakes, rates in at 2500 to 8000 Scoville heat units.
Blah!
Here, watch me take a bite.
Wait.
Ah!
Ah!
Hand me the milk!
Hand me the milk!
Ah!
I'm breathing fire!
Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh.
Okay.
So if a sweet pepper is a wimpy zero and a jalapeno pepper can reach up to 8000, what about something that's record-breaking hot like say, the Carolina Reaper that your grandma G-Force is about to take on in the wrestling ring?
Oh, man, look at her.
She's circling the pepper.
She's got her milk ready.
It's not going to be long now before she makes her move.
Mindy, you mentioned earlier that this pepper had a rating of up to 2.2 million Scoville heat units.
Yep.
Oh, man, it would take a lot of sugar water to dilute all of that capsaicin heat.
What we're looking at right now is one of the hottest peppers in the universe.
That's a menacing-looking pepper.
Bright red and wrinkly texture and pointy little stinger-like texture.
I know.
I'm getting kind of worried that maybe Grandma G-Force has finally met her match.
And now Grandma G-Force 1949 Super Bowl Spice Smackdown World Champion has pulled out her knife and fork.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
Calm down.
The Carolina Reaper is a hot pepper, but Grandma G-Force, she's a tough cookie.
She's putting on her best.
She's going for it.
Her knife is hitting the pepper.
She's cutting its head off.
It has a head?
Shh, I think he means the stem.
She stabs it with her fork.
Poor little Carolina Reaper.
What?
It's food, Guy Raz.
You're supposed to stab it with a fork.
She brings the pepper up to her mouth.
Did your grandma have her teeth sharpened for this?
Nah, those vampire fangs run in our family.
See?
And it's in!
It's in!
G-Force chews up the Carolina Reaper and spits it out!
Okay!
I can't look!
I can't look!
Mindy, what's happening?
Yes!
Grandma G-Force, I knew you could do it!
The original Spice Girl!
Woo!
Is it over?
The referees are handing her antacids and she is refusing!
I've never seen anything like this!
Did I win a million dollars?
Oh, man, I am so spiced out right now, Guy Raz.
I can't believe she did it.
Wow, your Grandma G-Force is really incredible, Mindy.
I know, right?
Oh, man, that was intense.
Okay, you ready for round two?
Wait, there's more?
Yeah.
Is she gonna shoot herself from a cannon or something?
What?
No!
Oh, phew.
They don't do that until they crown a new champion at the end.
Oh, right.
And the reigning world champion is up now.
His name is Peter Piper.
Huh, why do I think I know that name?
Well, the rumor is that Peter Piper once picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Yeah, yeah, I know the back story.
Wait, he's here?
In the flesh.
Oh, look, he's coming out to the ring now.
Wow, he's so much...
Bigger than Mother Goose made him out to be.
Wait, shh, shh, listen, he's up.
Next up, reigning world champion Peter Butler will pick a peck of Pepper X.
Wait, did he just say Pepper X?
Yeah, it says right here on the program, a peck of Pepper X pepper.
Peter Piper Pick.
Guy Raz, do you know anything about Pepper X?
Uh, that it's a pepper looking for a name?
Pepper X is a brand new pepper developed by a guy named Smokin' Ed Curry.
Wait.
The same guy who developed the Carolina Reaper and took it to Guinness World Record stardom in 2013.
And I'm almost afraid to ask, but how hot is Pepper X?
Guy Raz, Hold on to your habaneros, because this pepper is so hot and spicy it makes the Carolina Reaper look like baby food.
And just to be clear, you should never, ever, ever, ever, ever feed a hot pepper to a baby or to me.
Wait.
Are you a baby?
What?
Never mind.
Guy Raz, on the Scoville heat scale, the Carolina Reaper can reach up to 2.2 million units.
Yeah?
And another pepper called the Dragon's Breath Chili, which was accidentally invented earlier this year by a farmer in the country Wales.
That pepper came in at 2.5 million units.
Whoa.
And now Pepper X.
The latest, most blisteringly hot pepper known to man rates in at Uh, Wait for it.
Okay.
Wait for it.
Okay.
Wait for it.
Okay, I can't wait anymore.
Okay, 3.1...
In the... Gairos, did you just eat one that I'm not aware of?
What is happening?
Gairos, are you sweating?
No, no, I'm just imagining what that would feel like on my tongue and sliding down my esophagus.
Ah!
Mindy, I just don't understand how anyone would eat something that hot and spicy.
Okay, so here's the deal.
In our mouths and our throats and even our eyes.
We all have these teeny tiny capsaicin-detecting spice detectors right.
Yeah.
And when we eat something spicy, it's their job to send a message up to our brains, to let our brains know that we have just been properly spiced spicy.
So this must be why our mouths feel that tingly burning sensation or our eyes start to water.
Exact Doritos.
And some people are born with more or less of these capsaicin receptors than others.
They're just born that way.
So people with less spice receptors may not experience the hot sensation in spicy foods the way that others like me would.
You got it.
In fact, Some researchers from the University of Helsinki in Finland conducted an experiment with a bunch of twins.
And from that experiment they were able to figure out that genes play a big role in how much spice we can handle.
So genes, we were just talking about that, weren't we?
The teeny microscopic bits inside of us that were passed down from our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents and great-great-great-great-great-grandparents and great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents.
Yeah, I think you got it.
So basically if say, your mom likes spicy food, then you could be more likely to like it too as you get older.
Even if you don't now.
But if your mom is easily spiced out by even the wimpiest pepper in the world, Oh then there's probably no hope for you.
Pack your bags and don't let the door hit you on the way out of this spicy smackdown.
Ouch!
Hey!
Make up the genetic code, Guy Raz.
Well, but what about other countries and cultures?
Like I have a friend from Chile in South America, and even though the country is called Chile, they don't really eat spicy foods.
But then I have a friend from India who's been eating hot chilies since he was a little kid, so liking spicy food.
It can't just be about our genes, can it?
Well, yeah, and that's not at all surprising.
I mean in some parts of the world like India and Mexico, people are used to eating spicy food as a regular part of their breakfast, lunch and dinner.
That's fascinating.
I mean that would suggest that people can develop or build a tolerance or the ability to handle very, very spicy food, depending on the kind of foods they ate in their countries.
You got it.
Oh, wow, look, it looks like Peter Piper is up.
Oh man, if he successfully crushes this Pepper X, he'll be crowned the world champion two years in a row.
And what happens if he doesn't?
And if he doesn't?
Well, it looks like Grandma G-Force might be toning up for a little victory dance.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous.
I'm so nervous. and gentlemen, stepping into the ring is Peter Piper!
And a face-off against the one, the only, Pepper X!
Rating in at a whopping 3.18 on the Scoville scale.
I can't look!
I can't look away!
Peter Piper wearing his pickled pack circles the infamous Pepper X!
He's clearly got his eye on the prize.
Woof!
Is it hot in here or is it just me?
Peter Piper, he picks up the pepper.
He places it into his mouth.
He fights down.
Man, look at him.
His hands are flapping.
His face is turning red.
He's sweating through his pickled peppered pants.
In order for Peter Piper to win this championship, he must hold on to this pepper for three more seconds.
Three, two, one.
Pepper, oh, G-Force is officially this year's Super Bowl of Spice world champion.
She's won?
Your grandma G-Force won?
If you can't stand the heat, then give me the pepper.
Oh, no.
She's going to bite into the Pepper X. And what's this?
A turn of events, it seems.
G-Force now attempting to take on the blisteringly hot Pepper X.
Mindy, this is crazy!
Oh my goodness, she's doing it!
She chews!
She swallows!
She breathes fire!
She's breathing fire?
Where's my golden tiara?
Wow, Mindy.
You know, knowing that your genes were passed down from Grandma G-Force, You know you might be just like her in the future, accepting the title one day soon.
Wow, I guess I never really even considered it.
You think I've really got it in me?
Oh, yes, I do.
But first, we have to get you on a strict training regime.
Start with a simple bell pepper, then work your way up to a... Oh, boy.
Not to be jalapeno business, but how do you like your chicken wings?
Mild, medium, or hot?
Because I...
Reggie, did you really have flames shooting out of your feathers when you flew to the arena?
Oh, wow.
You know what, Reggie?
I think I'm going to do it.
I'm going to eat a hot pepper.
Reggie, I am so tough.
I'm rough and tough.
I'm tetherball tough.
I have a mouth made of the stuff they make spaceships out of.
Okay, well...
How about I just start with the pepperoni from the charcuterie board?
I know before I said I couldn't handle it, but Guy Raz said people can build a tolerance to spicy food and I'm a very tolerant person kind of.
Okay, here I go.
It's getting... It's getting... Actually, it's not that spicy.
Yay!
I ate a pepperoni.
I ate a pepperoni.
I ate a pepperoni and I am fine.
Yeah.
You know what?
I bet I could eat something spicier.
Yeah.
Let's wrap up the show and go find some spicy stuff.
Thanks to all you listeners out there for tuning in to Wee Wow on the weekend.
If you have a question for me, call and leave me a message at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW.
That's 1-888-7-WOW-WOW.
I just might answer your question on Wee Wow on the weekend.
Okay, let's go.
Reggie, what should we try first?
Maybe some ground black pepper?
Yeah, it's spicy.
Trust me.
Oh, and then maybe some tartar sauce.
Yes, it is.
It's so spicy.
One time mother made fish for dinner and I put with contributions from Jed Anderson and Tyler Tholl.
Original music for WeWOW is composed and performed by Tyler Tholl.
Special thanks to... And all of the other Tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ.
Be sure to visit Tinkercastcom, where you can become an official member of the World Organization of Wowzers.
Learn about upcoming events, shop our wow shop, find our best-selling books and learn about all the other amazing podcasts from Tinkercast.
Thanks again for hanging out in the basement this weekend.
Be sure to check out episodes of Wow in the World every Monday.
And remember, who wows?
I wow!
No, baby Dennis, we wow!
It was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.
