Pssst. Hey, smarty pants, it's almost New Year's Eve.
Hmmm. So what are you up to?
Are you eating grapes, wearing red pajamas?
Did you sprinkle salt on your doorstep?
Huh? Yeah, I know it sounds crazy.
But is it any crazier than this?
Happy New Year! Hmmm.
As it turns out, different cultures around the world celebrate New Year's Eve with different traditions.
Hola. In Spain we eat 12 grapes.
One for each strike of the midnight clock.
Hopefully it will bring us prosperity and good fortune in the new year.
In Brazil, citizens head to the beach setting candles and flowers afloat.
A gift to an ocean deity known as Yemozha.
Ooh! They wish for this mother of all deities and give her of life to bestow her blessings upon them in the year to come.
Ah, in Italy we wear red undies for a lock and success next year.
Feliz Ano Nuevo. Eh!
Citizens of Chile gather in cemeteries.
Hello! This way they can include their ancestors in the New Year's Eve festivities.
And the Greeks promote growth and renewal by hanging onions on their doors?
Oh, I'm not sad. It's the onions.
Happy New Year. In Turkey, they sprinkle salt on their doorsteps at midnight to promote peace and prosperity.
While in Denmark, people smash plates against their neighbor's doors.
Whoa! As a way to leave aggression, frustration, and other angry feelings behind.
Some say the bigger the pile of broken dishes the more luck will come their way.
But please do not try this at home.
Whoa! Put down the cereal bowl.
So, what about you, Smarty Pants?
What's your favorite New Year's Eve tradition?
Shout them out. I heard watching fireworks.
Cool. Watching the ball drop in New York's Times Square.
Making resolutions.
Staying up late and making noise with noisemakers.
All fun ideas. But why do we celebrate New Year's Eve?
What makes New Year's such an important landmark date around the world?
And what's with all the crazy traditions?
This New Year's Eve, let's resolve to take a big whiff of science and history on...
Who's smarted? Who's smarted?
Who's smart? Is it you?
Is it me? Is it science?
Or history? Listen up!
Everyone, we make Smarty lots of fun on who's smarted.
Psst. Hey, Smarty families.
In particular, the parents and adults listening.
If there's one thing we all have in common, it's navigating the world of money.
I hate to say it, but money is the number one thing that people in relationships argue over.
Yet, money is also something most people have a hard time communicating about.
Which is why I'm so happy to recommend the Money for Couples podcast hosted by Ramit Sethi.
In each episode, Ramit helps couples stop fighting over money, improve communication, simplify budgeting, manage debt, and start building a shared financial future.
Money for Couples offers real, actionable advice with stories from real couples facing the same financial challenges you might be dealing with.
Like a recent episode I heard about a couple that was constantly in debt because one of them couldn't stop spending money and avoided talking about it.
Ramit approaches each situation without judgment, but rather with good, solid advice on how to educate yourself about money and build better financial habits.
Oh, and Ramit even offers amazing tips on how to educate your kids about healthy money habits.
So search for Money for Couples wherever you're listening to Who Smarted and start building your rich life today.
Recycle and be more eco -friendly.
Good stuff. Me, personally, I resolve to eat less pizza and more broccoli.
But whatever you decide, making a new year's resolution is a great way to motivate yourself towards a helpful goal.
Ah, but keeping your resolution can be hard.
Facts. 90 % of people break their New Year's resolution at some point during the year.
And more people break their resolution on February 1st than any other day.
Adios mio. But wait, there's hope for your New Year's resolutions.
The first step is to make your resolution smart.
Hey, are you saying getting better at soccer isn't a smart resolution?
No, no, no. I didn't mean your resolution wasn't smart.
I meant smart as in an acronym S -M -A -R -T.
It goes like this. S for specific, M for measurable, A attainable, R relevant, and T time -bound.
Oh, how does that work?
Well, for example, you want to improve your soccer playing, right?
Si. Instead of resolving to just get better at soccer, which is very broad, you could say, I resolve to practice my soccer shooting every Wednesday for a half an hour until the season starts.
Ah, that's very specific.
Yes, it is. And specific is the S in smart.
Next, you can measure your progress.
Is your soccer shot getting harder and more accurate?
It's attainable, meaning you can fit a half hour of practice into your schedule.
It's relevant to improving your overall soccer playing.
And you have an end time set for soccer season.
Best of all, you can adjust as needed.
If you miss a Wednesday, that's OK.
Just make it up or do it the following week.
You don't have to be perfect.
The important thing is putting a plan in place.
Goal! So, why do people wait until New Year's to make resolutions?
Good question. The tradition of making New Year's resolutions dates way back to 153 B .C.
The month of January was named for the Roman god Janus, a god with two faces.
One looking forward towards the future and one looking backwards towards the past.
I sure hope Janus will forgive me for all the not so good things I did last year.
Like when I stole gaiasis toga or when I put vinegar in the grape juice or when I cheated at chariot racing.
Perhaps if I promise to be better and offer some gifts, Janus will bless me with luck next year.
Since Janus represented resolving past wrongs and setting intentions for the future, the tradition of the New Year's resolution was born.
Of course, while most countries go by the solar calendar beginning January 1st and ending December 31st, there are many cultures that celebrate other New Year's dates.
Can you think of any smarty pants?
Did you say Rosh Hashanah?
Rosh Hashanah means head of the year in Hebrew, and it is known as the Jewish New Year.
It's based on a historical, lunar solar calendar utilizing both sun and moon cycles.
This New Year tradition lasts ten days and usually falls sometime in September.
There's also the Chinese New Year.
Chinese New Year is determined by the Chinese lunar calendar and always begins on a new moon, which is when the moon appears to be dark, usually at the end of January or the beginning of February.
The observation of this tradition lasts fifteen days until the next full moon when the moon is brightest, with celebratory highlights including eating sweet dumplings, firework displays, dragon dances, and a lantern festival.
Each New Year is represented by a different animal in the Chinese zodiac.
2022 will be the year of the tiger.
Other Asian countries also celebrate the Lunar New Year like the Festival of Tet in Vietnam, Solol in Korea, and Saigon Sar in Mongolia.
In fact, you could travel the world and celebrate New Year's all year long.
At the end of February, early March, you could celebrate the Tibetan New Year, Losar.
During March, you could celebrate Nauruz, the beginning of the Iranian -Persian calendar.
You could celebrate in Nepal in April, Senegal in June, and India in October, where many observed the Hindu New Year, Diwali, also called the Festival of Lights.
Wow! Why so many different cultural calendars?
You have to remember, all those calendars were created throughout history, before people from different regions, countries, or continents could easily communicate.
You mean the Dark Ages?
Before the Internet?
Archaeologists have discovered evidence of New Year's festivities dating back to around 2000 BC.
In ancient Babylonia, citizens celebrated on the first new moon following the Vernal Equinox, a day towards the end of March, with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness.
I guess we got about as much light as dark yesterday.
I can't see the moon now.
Time to party? You know it.
The religious festival, called Utiku, celebrated the mythical victory of the sky god, Marduk, over the evil sea goddess, Tiamat.
Aaaaah! Many New Year's celebrations began with different groups basing their celebration around whatever deities or gods or political or cultural traditions they had.
In the first few decades of the Roman Empire, the start of the year was largely at the whim of the Emperor.
Happy New Year! But Caesar, how do you know it's New Year's?
I just decided. Just now?
Yup. I better order the noisemakers.
In theory, the Roman calendar was 304 days, divided into 10 months.
But hey, I'm not really keeping track.
I'm Caesar! One year we had 355 days.
Once it was 485 days.
Phew, that was a long one.
What if you adopt the Egyptian solar calendar?
Great for agriculture.
My astronomers are maintaining accurate dates.
365 days every year works like a charm.
I love it, Cleopatra.
I'll call it the Julian calendar after me, Julius Caesar.
Or you could call it the Cleopatran calendar after me, seeing as I suggested it.
Makes sense. But my ego is too big.
Sorry. Thus, in 46 BC, the Julian calendar was adopted, and each year was a standard 365 days and 12 months.
Happy New Year! There's been many changes throughout the 4 ,000 years of celebrating New Years.
But how did America get its traditions, like watching a giant ball drop?
The answer is right after this quick break.
Hi guys, it's Trusty.
Today's episode is brought to you by Squarespace, and I need to tell you about their new design intelligence feature because it's a game changer for anyone who's been putting off creating a website.
Look, I know how intimidating tech can feel, but Squarespace's AI -powered design system literally transforms your basic ideas into a beautiful professional website.
We've used Squarespace to build websites here at Atomic, and what I love is that it combines AI tech with their decades of design expertise.
You answer a few simple questions, and it creates a fully customized site that actually looks good.
No more staring at a blank screen wondering where to start, and no need to spend thousands of dollars getting a site designed for a passion project or experimental idea.
Plus, their payment system makes it super easy to get paid for your services, whether you're selling courses, booking consulting sessions, or offering downloads.
They've got all the popular payment options like Apple Pay and Klarna built right in.
Head to squarespace .com slash smarted for a free trial and use code smarted to save 10 % off your first purchase of a website or domain.
Today's episode is brought to you by IXL Learning.
You know how every child learns differently?
That's exactly what makes IXL special for every family.
IXL is an incredibly flexible online learning program that enriches your child's classroom or home school curriculum with math, language arts, science, and social studies.
What I love most is how it adapts to each child's level.
If your child races ahead in math but needs extra practice in reading comprehension, IXL adjusts perfectly to both situations.
And here's what's really cool.
Kids can explore any topic at any grade level, so they're never stuck in a one -size -fits -all program.
Plus, they get instant feedback as they learn, which makes it fun.
That's why parents of kids in traditional schools and home schools have fallen in love with IXL.
With IXL, you will make a real research -backed difference in your child's learning journey.
Our listeners can get an exclusive 20 % off their IXL membership when you sign up today at IXL .com slash smarted.
Visit IXL .com slash smarted to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.
Now back to who smarted.
Happy New Year! The first New Year's Eve party ever hosted in Times Square, New York City, ended in a fireworks show.
However, two years later, fireworks were banned for safety reasons.
Fireworks are too dangerous.
Let's drop a 700 -pound iron and wood ball down a pole instead.
Hey, yo, won't that be dangerous, too?
Nah, don't worry. We'll deck it out with 125 -watt light bulbs and lower it slowly.
In the last moments of 1907, the first ball dropped in Times Square.
We didn't invent the idea of dropping a ball, see?
We just made it fancy.
It's true. The first time ball was installed in Greenwich, England, a town known for its maritime history and the spot by which we all set our clocks.
Greenwich, meantime.
The time ball was installed atop England's Royal Observatory and would drop at 1 p .m.
every afternoon, allowing ship captains to accurately set their navigational chronometers for fancy watches.
About 150 time balls were installed around the world.
Though as technology improved, they fell out of use.
But a few survived, see?
Like the one at the U .S.
Naval Observatory in Washington, D .C.
and ours in Times Square.
The Times Square ball has undergone several technological updates over the decades, but it has dropped every year with the exception of 1942 and 1943 when wartime lighting restrictions kept New York in the dark for New Years.
Still, crowds gathered in Times Square and celebrated with a minute of silence, followed by the ringing of large chimes located in trucks parked at the base of the ball tower.
You know, ring out the old, ring in the new.
In fact, ringing church bells are often part of the New Year's celebration, along with counting down the last 10 seconds before midnight and making lots of noise.
And then there's the official New Year's Eve song.
Have you heard this one before?
Do you know what this song is called?
Is it Odd Lang Sign, Odd Sang Line, or Old Song Sang?
Of course, some of you may know it as the Old Aquaintance Song, but it's actually called Odd Lang Sign.
The melody comes from an old Scottish folk song, and the lyrics were written in the 18th century by famed poet Robert Burns.
Odd Lang Sign means times long past.
And while the lyrics seem nonsensical, it's played on New Year's Eve all around the world, from the USA to Russia to China.
Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot and days of old lang sign?
Happy New Year, everyone!
Happy New Year! A triple shout out to Super Smarty fans Sophia, Juliet and August in Oak Forest, Illinois.
Thanks so much for listening to Who's Smarty, and I'm so happy to teach you something new each and every day.
Hope you had a Super Smarty New Year's and keep on smarting for the rest of the year!
This episode, New Year's Eve, was written by Libby, Luchador Mysward, and voiced by Sophie Plitt, Brandon Bayles, Jenna Hoban, Kim Davis, Adam Tex Davis, Max Kamaski and Jerry Colker.
Technical Direction and Sound Design by Josh Hahn.
Who's 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's Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colker.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment Production.
