Hey there, smarty pants.
Have you ever listened to an episode of Who Smarted and thought, that sounds fun?
I wish I could make a podcast.
Well, guess what?
Now you can.
And here's the coolest part.
I'm going to show you how.
Live, on camera, for real.
And not just me.
I'll be joined by Adam Tex-Davis, the co-creator of Who Smarted, who you might know better as Chet Nickerson.
That's right.
Chet and I are launching the How Smarted Podcast Camp, a four-week online course that will teach you how to create produce record, edit and publish your very own podcast.
We'll help you pick awesome topics, write fun and engaging scripts, record like a pro and get your podcast on the same platforms where you listen to Who Smarted.
Or if you just want to share your podcast with friends and family, that's cool too.
I'll see you next time.
And you'll be part of a private forum where you can ask us questions between sessions and get even more tips.
And if you miss a session or you live in a different time zone, don't worry.
You'll get immediate lifetime access to the sessions as soon as they are done, each day, in your very own personal How Smarted library.
And by the end, you won't just know how to make a podcast.
You'll have a podcast.
Smarty parents, I couldn't be more excited to teach your smarty pants storytelling, communication and critical thinking skills they'll use for the rest of their life.
How Smarted Podcast Camp is $98.
But if you sign up before February 24th, you'll save 20%.
It's just $78.
So take advantage of our early bird sale and save today.
Ready to make your own podcast?
Head to whosmarted.com and click Podcast Camp to get more details and sign up today.
That's whosmarted.com and click Podcast Camp.
Sign up today and save, and I'll see you in camp.
And now it's time for Whosmarted.
Psst, hey.
Smarty Pants, you may or may not be aware, but there is a special holiday coming soon.
It's the one where you might see a lot of hearts and red and pink things.
Aww.
It's a day when we let our friends and family know how much we care about them.
Any idea what holiday I'm talking about?
Go ahead and shout it out.
That's right, Valentine's Day.
Smarty Pants, do you know some of the ways people celebrate Valentine's Day?
How do you celebrate Valentine's Day?
I'm hearing some great answers.
You can give and receive Valentine's Day cards to and from your friends and family.
Or maybe you'll get a box of candy like chocolates, or those little hearts with cute things written on them.
Or you might have a little party in school.
Of course, some of you might not celebrate Valentine's Day at all.
After all, it's not one of the major holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, or even Halloween.
Personally, I enjoy Valentine's Day because I get to throw a Valentine's Day party for my Who Smarted friends.
And every year I order a special heart-shaped pizza from my favorite pizzeria and a heart-shaped cake from my favorite bakery.
Oh, is it a heart-shaped meat cake?
No, chocolate.
Oh.
Sorry, Grandma.
I'm afraid more people prefer chocolate cakes to meat cakes.
Oh, that's okay.
Besides, I brought a box of meat cupcakes for everyone to try.
That sounds delicious.
You can put those in the oven to heat up.
In the meantime, I've invited someone who knows a lot about Valentine's Day to help us learn more about this special day.
Ooh, I think I hear them now.
Greetings, smarty pants.
It is I, Cupid, here to help the trusted narrator learn about my favorite holiday, Valentine's Day.
Smarty pants, you may have seen Cupid on Valentine's Day cards or decorations.
Even though he looks like a baby with wings, no offense.
Cupid is an important symbol of Valentine's Day.
No offense taken, I am a baby with wings who can talk and shoot arrows and play the harp.
Exactly.
And today, you'll be helping us answer questions like, what is the true meaning of Valentine's Day?
When and where did the Valentine's Day traditions we all know come from?
And why is a flying, harp-playing, arrow-shooting baby the mascot of Valentine's Day?
It's time for a big whiff of science, history, but hopefully not Cupid's diaper.
On... Who's smart and...
Who's smarted?
Who's smart?
Is it you?
Is it me?
Is it science?
Or history?
Listen up, everyone.
We make smarting lots of fun on Who's Smarted?
So, Cupid, Valentine's Day is really fun to celebrate.
I love to give and get cards and candy.
But what are we celebrating on this day?
Well, trustee, Valentine's Day is a celebration of friendship and love.
Of course, you can let your friends and family know you love and care about them every day.
But Valentine's Day is a special day to remind you of your loved ones.
Which is why I'm throwing a Who Smarted-themed Valentine's Day party for all my smarty friends.
They've helped me learn about science and history, joined me on fun smarting adventures and have helped make Who Smarted such a fun show to listen to.
By the way, Smarty Pants, do you know where and when some of the Valentine's Day traditions started?
Was it ancient Rome, ancient Greece, or ancient Egypt?
If you said ancient Rome, you're right.
The citizens of ancient Rome had a festival to celebrate the start of spring.
It happened around the time we celebrate Valentine's Day today, and many of our traditions come from this festival.
By the way, did you know that I, Cupid, am the ancient Roman god of love?
You're a god.
Whoops.
Sorry about the diaper joke earlier.
Oh, I didn't hear it.
What was it?
Oh, nothing.
Never mind.
Anyway, you were saying?
At the ancient Roman festival celebrating the start of spring, boys picked the names of girls from an urn to find a partner for festival events.
Sometimes festival partners even fell in love.
If your class at school has a box for Valentine's Day cards, that relates to this tradition.
Of course, today, the Valentine's Day box is about having fun with friends and classmates.
When I was in school, I remember making special Valentines for my friends.
I drew pictures of a heart-shaped pizza and wrote, Valentine, you have a pizza in my heart.
Get it?
Yeah.
Give me a break.
I was eight.
I didn't say anything.
Anyway, back in ancient Rome, the symbol of love was a bird whose name rhymes with love.
Any guess what it is?
A bird that rhymes with love.
Rhymes with love.
Hmm.
It's not a pelican.
Or any seabird, for that matter.
Blue jay, robin, hawk.
Smartypants, I hope you're better at this than me.
Oh!
Wait a second.
I got it.
Dove.
Dove rhymes with love.
There you go.
Doves were a symbol of love.
And some people still use doves or lovebirds as a symbol of love for Valentine's Day today.
Right.
But you can put anything you want on your Valentine's Day card, so pizza is okay, too.
Sure.
Why not?
Now, wait a second.
True or false, smarty pants?
The spring festival was always called Valentine's Day.
The answer is... False.
The ancient Roman festival of health and fertility was called Lupercalia.
Ah, so how did Valentine's Day get its name?
Smarty Pants, is it named after a dog, a king, or a saint?
The answer is a saint.
Saint Valentine lived in Rome, but He lived a long time after the ancient spring festival.
There were a lot of stories about St.
Valentine's life.
One involved an emperor named Claudius II.
Claudius II didn't want people to get married.
He thought single men made better soldiers because they wouldn't have a family to worry about.
Um, that does not sound like a great beginning for a holiday about love.
I'm getting into it.
As you can probably guess, Saint Valentine wasn't too happy about all this.
So he decided to let couples get married in secret.
Ah, now we're talking.
By the way, I wrote a special Valentine's Day poem for all of the smarty pants.
Roses are red, violets are blue.
I don't even like pizza as much as I like you.
Could use a little work, but I guess it's the thought that counts.
Speaking of poems, who was the first person to write Valentine's Day poems?
Was it St.
Valentine, Cupid, or the Duke of Orleans?
While Valentine's Day may be named after St.
Valentine and I Cupid, am the god of love.
The Duke of Orleans, a French nobleman, is believed to have written the first Valentine's Day poems in letters to his wife.
Aw, that's so sweet.
Yeah, that's the good part.
The bad part is he wrote those poems while he was in jail.
Oh, well, at least you had plenty of time to think up some good rhymes.
Say, that rhymes.
You know what else rhymes?
Heart.
And smart.
And something else.
But all kidding aside, why are there so many hearts on Valentine's Day?
What is the central organ in your body that pumps blood have to do with love?
Smarty Pants, do you know?
Well, hearts have been a symbol of love since ancient times, just like me.
Right, except you don't look a day over one year old.
No offense.
None taken.
Anyway, the reason why hearts are a symbol of love and by far the most popular Valentine's Day symbol, is that when you give someone a heart-shaped valentine, it's like telling them that you're giving them your heart.
Aw, and we can't live without our hearts.
So that makes it extra special.
Of course, some valentines have ribbons on the heart.
Wouldn't aortas make more sense?
Scientifically, yes.
But ribbons on valentine hearts is a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages.
When knights competed in jousting tournaments, their loved ones often gave them ribbons.
Why would knights' loved ones give them ribbons?
Is it A, to put bows in their horses' manes?
B, to make their armor look fancy?
Or C, for good luck?
While the answer is C for good luck.
I suppose knights could use a ribbon to decorate their armor or horses.
I've also seen valentines with fancy white lace.
Does that have any special meaning or tradition too, or does it just look nice?
Well, the word lace comes from the Latin word laqueous, which means to snare or to net.
Ah, so giving someone a valentine with lace on it means that you're hoping to capture their heart.
Exactly.
Although I can also help with that.
I was wondering why you were carrying a bow and arrow.
Although, I'm not sure what archery has to do with love.
Or that it's safe letting a baby use a bow and arrow.
Alright, enough with the baby jokes.
The reason I have a bow and arrow is... Coming up right after this quick break.
Let's do this.
From the artists that made K-Pop Demon Hunters and Spider-Verse.
I'm Will Harris.
And I'm the first small to play professional roar ball with the fiercest animals in the most dangerous stadiums.
And producer Stephen Curry.
You don't belong here.
You're too small.
Want to bet?
You're never too small.
Let me show you what I got.
To dream big.
We'll just go.
Night, night.
Goat.
I need to hear it.
Bye.
You goats are weird.
I like you.
Rated PG.
Parental guidance suggested.
Only in theaters Thursday.
Hey there, homeschool parents.
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Now back to Who Smarted.
Hey, easy with that bow and arrow, Cupid.
You almost hit me.
What's wrong, trustee?
You don't want to fall in love?
Huh?
According to the legend, anyone I hit with one of my arrows falls in love.
Whoa, that sounds like a pretty amazing power for Valentine's Day.
It is.
I'm quite the matchmaker.
Of course, many people celebrate Valentine's Day by showing love to friends and family.
Exactly.
I made some fun Valentines for my friends to show I care.
For example, I made one for Chet that says, breaking news, you're a great friend.
Oh, and this one for my niece, Gia, that says, whoa, you're awesome.
Those are great, trusty.
And even though early Valentines usually contain serious messages, it's certainly not alone in sending funny Valentines.
Also, I appreciate that you made your own Valentine's, but lots of people also buy their Valentine's cards and gifts in stores.
In fact, Valentine's Day is sarcastically referred to as a Hallmark holiday because so many people buy and exchange Valentine's Day cards made by companies like Hallmark.
Smarty Pants, true or false?
Hallmark is the largest greeting card company in the world.
The answer is true.
True.
They're also the oldest, as they were founded in 1910.
Yep, but not as old as me.
I gotta say, it's weird talking to a really old baby who's also a god, but it's also pretty sweet.
Oh, and speaking of there's something else we need to talk about that I'm sure a lot of smarty pants look forward to on Valentine's Day.
Go ahead and shout it out.
Meatcake?
No, not that.
I'm talking about candy.
But why is candy, in particular chocolates, such a big part of Valentine's Day?
Is it because A. People need to get rid of leftover Halloween candy.
B. Candy is sweet.
Or C. It would be gross to give out meatcake.
Obviously, the answer is B, candy is sweet.
It's traditional to give something sweet to a sweetheart on Valentine's Day.
And like everything else on Valentine's Day, the heart theme is strong, as chocolates come in heart-shaped boxes.
Or you can get candy hearts with cute messages written on them.
This one says, be mine.
I think I'll give it to the pizza when it gets here.
You, my friend, might have a pizza problem.
Besides candies, giving flowers were also a big part of the Valentine's Day tradition.
Flowers are pretty, smell great, and let someone know you care about them.
Yep, I made a giant 3D heart out of roses that I'm going to give out to all my friends at the party.
But for now, I want to hang it high up on the wall.
Oh, say, Cupid, would you mind flying up and hanging this flower heart for me?
Sure thing, trustee.
That looks great.
I love it.
Well, as you know, love is my specialty.
Ooh, I hope that's the heart-shaped pizza.
This is Chet Nickerson reporting live from the trusty narrator's Valentine's Day party, where a flying baby carrying a bow and arrow can be seen hovering above the living room.
Meatcake?
Um, sorry, this reporter is not a big fan of meatca-
Actually, I'd love some meat cake.
Works every time.
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.
A super shout out to longtime Smarty fan Emi in Yerevan, Armenia.
You wrote to tell us that Who Smarted is the funniest podcast you've ever heard and that you've also watched every episode of our show Brain Child on Netflix.
Wow.
And I know you want an episode on Armenia.
Well, we have something big planned for you.
Stay tuned, Emi.
This episode, Valentine's Day, was written by Sarah Sweetick and voiced by Taya Garland, Adam Tex-Davis and Jerry Kolber.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn.
Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex-Davis.
Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex-Davis and Jerry Kolber.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
Who Smart-ed?
