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.
Hello, Wowzers!
It's me, Dennis!
And before we start the show, this month, for our new members, you can have Reggie in your pocket!
No, Reggie, not for real.
You're too huge.
You can't fit in pockets.
I'm talking about our exclusive VIP new member T-shirt!
Grown-ups for a limited time.
Only new members to the World Organization of Wowzers can get this T-shirt.
Featuring Reggie!
Yeah, Reggie, see?
It's a red shirt with a shirt pocket and your little head is poking out, so it looks like you're in the pocket.
Every membership helps support our podcasts and Tinkercast's mission to spread wow to families and teachers around the world.
That's right, Reggie!
Our members also get birthday cards from Mindy and Guy, quarterly mailings from you Reggie, and so much more.
Grown-ups For access to this t-shirt visit Tinkercastcom.
Slash membership and sign up your wowser today.
That's Tinkercast.com slash membership.
That's it.
Now let's get back to my show.
I mean, our show.
I mean, the show.
Hey grownups, as your family gears up to go back to school, make sure that you're preparing both minds and bodies.
Try Oli, the number one kids supplement brand that makes your family's health and wellness a breeze.
Oli offers a range of vitamins and supplements for kids and adults, so you can trust them for your whole family's needs.
Kids Multi Plus Probiotic is a tasty essential that kids love and Kids Sleep offers gentle supports to help them rest.
And for the parents, Ollie has your back, too.
Try multivitamins for immune support and more, and sleep gummies to help you get your best rest.
Shop at Ollie.com or retailers nationwide.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Wee-wow on the weekend.
Wee-wow on the weekend.
Wee-wow on the weekend.
Cause 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.
Wee-wow on the weekend.
Yeah! on the weekend, because this is what we do on the weekend.
Hello, and welcome to WeWow on the Weekend.
I'm your host, Dennis.
And that's my co-host, Reggie.
We're here in my mother's basement chilling out, hanging loose and straight up, just like vibing, you know.
Vibing, Reggie, vibing.
It's slang so that the cool kids think I'm cool.
Reggie, no, I'm cool.
I mean, I'm cool.
Okay, let's get rolling and answer some questions with the Q&A segment.
The Q&A segment.
All right, let's just get the old answering machine pulled up here.
Okay, here we go.
Hi, you've reached Dennis from WeWow on the weekend.
That's me.
Do you have a question?
Well, I do, too.
Lots of them.
And who's going to answer all my questions?
You?
Probably not.
But I guess I can answer yours.
Leave me a message.
Hi, my name is Hazel and I live in St.
Louis, Missouri.
Oh, hi, Hazel.
I have a question for Dennis.
Are there fires on our planet?
Oh, good question.
Question that I have no idea what the answer might be.
Reggie, do you know?
Are there fires on other planets or fires on moons or fires on asteroids or comets?
No.
What do you mean no?
There aren't fires on any other planets that we know of?
Well, that's no fun.
Well, what about the sun?
Ah, right, that's not a planet.
But it is on fire, right?
Plasma?
Okay, this is getting too complicated.
Next question.
Hey, Dennis, what's up?
My name is Stefan, and I'm from Seattle, Washington.
My wow question is, how do pianos work?
Wow, great question, Stefan.
I have no idea how pianos work because I don't have a piano.
But I do have a keyboard, which is very similar to a piano, and I wrote a song about how they work.
And it goes a little something like this.
Ahem.
Keyboards have no tree boards, but they make chords just for me to sing.
Yeah!
Keyboards give me rewards that I put towards my bills and mortgage.
Keyboards, I decree boards.
I'm for free boards, and they make the best voices, keyboards, and the... Reggie, what?
No, I have another 14 verses to go.
Fine, but I'm playing you the whole song later and you can't leave until the end.
Next question.
Hi, Dennis.
My name is Juliana, and I'm from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Hi, Juliana.
I do not have a question, but I do have a riddle.
Oh, yes.
Let's hear it.
We know seven is an odd number.
Uh-huh.
So how do we make seven an even number without subtracting, adding, multiplying, or dividing?
Oh, no.
A math riddle?
I'm not good at these.
Okay, no adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Are there any other math operations left we can use?
Exponentiation and square roots?
Reggie, no, those are too advanced.
Oh boy, this is a real toughie.
Okay, Juliana, I give up.
The answer is, you take the S away.
What?
What S?
Ah.
Wow, the letter S. So then it spells even.
I get it.
But wait, is it taking an S away technically subtraction?
I said technically, Reggie.
Next question.
I get it.
My name's Charlie, and I'm nine years old, and I'm from Barnabas, Wisconsin.
My question is, what's your 38th favorite country?
Wow, Charlie, great question.
My 38th favorite country is Tajikistan, because it's fun to say.
Next question.
Hi, Dennis.
This is Evan from California.
And I have a riddle for you.
Oh, boy!
Two riddles in one day!
What do you got, Evan?
Throw away the outside and cook the inside.
Then eat the outside and throw away the inside.
What is it?
Oh, uh, it's, it's, it's, uh, let's see.
Um, it's, uh, oh, yeah.
It's like a food that comes in a package, probably.
Like, uh, uh, pizza rolls.
Hmm.
Oh, that's not right.
Um, it's, uh... Oh, yeah, good thinking.
It's a banana.
No, wait, you don't cook the inside.
Banana bread?
Do you give up?
Yes, Evan, I give up.
What is it?
What is it?
Tell me.
It's corn on the cob.
You throw away the husk, cook and eat the kernels, and throw away the cob.
Bye.
Oh, corn on the cob.
Of course.
Well, I didn't guess it because I don't throw away the cob.
I eat them.
What?
Reggie, you don't eat your cobs.
Well, you're missing out.
Lots of fiber in corn cobs.
Thanks for your calls, everyone.
If you've got a question for me, call and leave me a message.
The number is 1-888-7-WOW-WOW.
I just might answer your question on WeWOW on the weekend.
Okay, that takes care of that.
All right, what's next?
What's next?
Oh yeah, let's listen to an episode.
Thanks, co-host.
Next up is 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 1, Episode 21, called A Case for the Giggles.
Yeah, it's a story about why laughter is good for us.
I know.
I love laughing.
Okay, fine.
I'll hold my laughter until the end of the show.
Let's play the episode.
All right, here we go.
And play.
Wow in the World will be right back.
Grown-ups, this message is for you.
That's it.
Back to the show.
Watch out for that pile of breakable stuff at the end of the driveway.
Oh, going inside.
Hey, hey, what in the world?
K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-
Oh, hey, Mindy.
You caught me in the middle of my new morning exercise routine.
This is not exercise.
You're just standing here laughing to yourself like you've gone bonker balls.
What in the... This is not funny, Guy Rod.
It's getting weird.
Okay, well, maybe this will help.
Here, come watch this video.
Man, I've been trying to be all eyes up, screens down.
Okay, what's the video about?
Oh, it's a video of the laughing yogi.
His name is Ramesh Padney and he lives in India, where he's known as the world's greatest laugh teacher.
A laugh teacher.
Guy Raz, who needs to be taught how to laugh?
Well, grumpy people for one thing, Mindy.
Well, I'm not grumpy, but I'm also not in a laughing mood, because I came over here to tell you about this serious science story that I learned.
And you're just acting like life is one big joke, laughing and giggling all over the place.
I don't even know what's going on anymore.
Well, Mindy, let's make a bet.
You want to make a bet?
Yeah, a bet.
I will bet you... that this video of Yogi Ramesh Padme will make you laugh within 30 seconds.
And Mindy, if I'm wrong, I will fill up your swimming pool with gummy bears.
Okay, first of all, that's not a swimming pool.
That's a tunnel that I'm digging to China.
But second of all, I'm intrigued.
What happens if I lose?
Well, if this video makes you laugh, you have to clean up my cat Alice's litter box for a whole week.
Oh, man, I've been using that as a tiny sandbox.
You mean she popes in there?
Well, so what do you say?
You want to shake on it?
Your video of some guy trying to get me to laugh on command?
Good luck with that, Guy Raz.
You sure about that?
I am so sure I'll win this bet that I've already sent out a telegram to all of the gummy bears in the world instructing them to march toward my house.
Well, then, it's a bet.
You ready?
Lay it on me.
Okay, okay, so here goes.
Here is Yogi Ramesh Padme doing his laughing exercises.
Laughing exercise for the heart and mind.
Very easy.
I'm not going to laugh.
And I'm happy I'm the next.
I'm happy I'm the next.
I'm happy I'm the next.
Now you can do full laughter.
Mindy, if we don't stop laughing, we're not going to be able to get on with our lives.
Okay.
Mindy, Mindy, we just experienced a phenomenon known as contagion.
Contagion?
Wait, contagion?
Everyone, quick, cover your mouths, put on your germ masks.
Mindy, Mindy, don't worry.
There's nothing to worry about.
Oh, nothing to worry about?
I happen to know that the dictionary definition of contagion is the communication or spread of a disease by a direct or indirect contact.
I mean, did you even see the movie Contagion?
I did it.
Too scary.
But Mindy, you're right.
That is one definition of contagion.
But there's also another one and a little less scary.
Well, I'm not taking this mask off until you can convince me it's safe.
Mindy, the contagion I'm talking about is also about the spread of something, and in this case the spread of an emotion or a behavior or an action.
Wait a minute.
So you're saying that when you were laughing, it spread to me and made me laugh?
Yes, contagion.
Laughter is one of those things humans do that spreads to other humans.
It's contagious.
Oh, so that explains why when I go to the movies I always wind up laughing, a lot more than when I watch a movie at home by myself.
Right, because when you hear other people laughing around you like you do at the movies, it triggers something in your brain that makes you want to laugh too.
Wait a minute.
So there are other things that we humans do that are contagious, too, like when we yawn.
Yeah.
Okay, that's enough.
How does it work?
If you see someone else yawn, there's a good chance you will yawn as well.
Pretty sure we just experienced that guy, Roz.
But you know what?
I think that smiling might be contagious too.
Yep.
See my pearly whites?
Ooh, you are smiling with teeth I didn't even know you had.
But yeah, your smile kind of makes me want to smile too.
And amazingly, Mindy...
When you see another person shiver from the cold, even if you see them through a window, like you know, say inside your warm house just seeing someone else shiver can make you feel colder.
Wow, that is some serious contagion.
It's all called mirroring behavior.
Okay, so like when you look in a mirror and you see your own reflection.
Or when you see someone laughing or yawning or shivering and your body wants to mirror their behavior or copy it.
Yes, isn't it incredible?
Yeah, it really is.
And even more amazing is that these behaviors, especially laughter, can spread from one person to the next, to the next, to the next.
Almost like a cold or the flu.
Oh, all right.
So this reminds me of this crazy video that I saw once, where all of these people were stuck together on a train and then one person started laughing, and then another person started laughing, and another, and another.
Until before you knew it, the entire train was laughing their brains out.
I thought the whole thing was going to fly off the rails.
Yes, I love that video.
It's hilarious.
And you know, Mindy?
No, what?
There's a cognitive neuroscientist from the University of London named Sophie Scott who Time out!
A cognitive neuroscientist is a person who studies the brain and thinking.
And Sophie, well, she's one of the world's experts on laughter.
You know, why we do it and why it spreads.
And what she does is she takes groups of people into her lab and, well, she asks them to laugh.
What?
For science?
This is my kind of experiment.
And what she's trying to figure out is how our laughter spreads and how laughter affects us.
Well, I know I always feel a lot better after I laugh.
Me too.
Ha ha ha.
And Mindy.
What's so cool is that when we laugh, our bodies release natural chemicals, happy chemicals called neurotransmitters, with silly names like dopamine and serotonin.
Sorry.
And these neurotransmitters help keep us smiling and also focused.
So now I'm starting to understand those weirdo laughing exercises you were doing, Guy Raz.
Well Mindy, I was inspired by some research that was done by a team of scientists at Georgia State University.
And they wanted to find out if laughing while exercising could actually be even better for certain people than just exercising alone.
And guess what?
Well, Mindy what these scientists found?
It helps their memory.
No way.
How does that work?
Well Mindy, for six weeks, a group of older adults so maybe even older than some grandparents listening exercised for 40 minutes.
And during that time, they were told to laugh for up to 60 seconds 10 different times.
And whatever exercise they were doing, they had to laugh while doing that.
What?
That's nuts.
So what happened?
Well, laughter forces the muscles in your body to strengthen and relax, strengthen and relax.
And by repeating this, the researchers found that it actually helped this group of older adults become healthier.
Wait, so this worked?
Like they were healthier and stronger afterwards?
Yes, and not only stronger, but the researchers found that the laughter helped this group remember things longer and stay happier.
And the most interesting thing Mindy, is that it didn't matter if it was real laughter or fake laughter.
What?
Our bodies can't really tell the difference, so all laughter is good.
Wait, so they were just tricking their bodies into laughing?
Yes!
And the more they laughed, the more others around them laughed.
Contagion!
Yes!
Oh boy, here we go again.
Okay, Roz, I am not going to fall for it.
No, I know what you're trying to do.
I know that I lost the bet and I'm going to have to clean your cat Alice's litter box, but I will not start laughing just because you're trying to.
I can't hold it in anymore.
Oh, boy.
Reggie!
Help!
I can't stop!
Weren't you listening?
It's contagion!
Hurry!
Hurry!
Say something sad!
Oh, that is sad.
Oh, Reggie.
No, it's okay.
It's okay.
I needed to stop laughing.
Thank you.
Well, yeah, now I'm too sad.
Okay, we got to balance back out and get a little happier than this.
Um, huh.
Oh, good idea.
Let's go out in the backyard and give new names to all my azaleas.
Okay, let's think of some names quick.
How about Francis?
Well, what's your favorite name?
No, your favorite name can't be Reggie.
Because that's your name, and I don't want you getting confused when I water the garden in the...
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 slash survey.
Thanks for joining us for this edition of WeWow on the Weekend.
Our show is written by Ruth Morrison and Jed Anderson.
Original sound design and production is done by Henry Moskal and Marion Lozano, with help from Jed Anderson and Tyler Thull.
Original music for WeWow on the Weekend is composed and performed by Tyler Thull.
Special thanks to Steph Sosa, Rebecca Caban, and all of the other tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ.
There's still time to share your WeWow Crafternoon challenges with us.
Grownups.
You can upload pictures and videos of your projects to us at tinkercastcom.
Slash, share or call us at 1-888-7WOW-WOW.
Website is Tinkercastcom.
There you can learn more about becoming an official member of the World Organization of Wowzers.
Learn about upcoming events, shop our shop and pick up a copy of the latest edition of our number one New York Times bestselling book series.
Wow in the Wild.
Thanks again for thinking, tinkering, experimenting, and exploring with us this week.
Meet us back here on Monday for Wow in the World.
And remember, who wows?
We wow!
Wow in the World was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.
