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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!
Mindy, Mindy, where are you?
Mindy, we're going to be late.
Where is she?
She knows we have two tickets to the hot pickle and pepper eating championships.
Mindy, can you hear me?
Sheesh, she must be in the shower.
We're going to be late.
Mindy, hurry up.
Hey, hang on.
Right there, I'm just giving my new pet baby shark a bath.
Yes, I am.
Pet baby shark?
What the?
Good morning, Guy Raz.
Why do you always do that whenever I'm holding a killer animal?
It's gonna scare him.
Calm down, Guy Raz.
Baby Lockjaw here is not gonna eat you.
Pretty sure.
Baby lockjaw?
Mindy, why are you cradling a baby shark in your arms?
Um, you mean, why am I cradling a baby rescue shark in my arms?
Huh?
Guy Raz, I rescued him from babysharkrescue.com.
A rescue shark?
Oh, yeah.
Ever since that baby shark song came out, all these celebrities have been buying baby sharks as pets.
But after they realize how much responsibility they take, well, then...
Well, what?
Well, they just dump them on the stairs in front of the Babysharkrescue.com office downtown.
But why did you decide to adopt one?
You mean Rescue One?
Yeah, Rescue One.
I mean, don't you think Lockjaw would be better off in, say, the ocean?
Huh.
The ocean.
The ocean, yeah.
Nope.
Never even considered it.
Anywho, I was just about to put on my Anaheim chili pepper slippers so that we can take off for the hot pickle and pepper championships.
You ready?
Ready.
I've been trying to tell you we're going to be late for the last five minutes.
Well, then let's go.
What's taking you so long?
Reggie!
Hey there, Mindy.
Hey there, Guy.
Hey there, little carcarodon carcarius.
Carcarodon carcarius?
Yeah, it's the Latin name for a great white shark.
Oh.
So, what are you up to today?
Well, Dennis, we were just about to leave.
See you later.
Ooh, leaving.
That sounds like fun.
I'll leave, too.
Hang on.
Let me get my wetsuit.
Wetsuit?
Hang on, but you don't even know where we're going.
That's why I'm grabbing the wetsuit.
Gotta be prepared.
Mindy?
Well, I did install a sidecar on the motor pickle, so there's not not room for Dennis.
Oh.
Hey, Dennis, you ever ride a motor pickle?
No, but once I had a bicycle with a banana seat.
Does that count?
We're taking the motor pickle?
That thing is dangerous.
Dangerous?
Yes, and it's also perfect.
Guy Raz, we're going to the Hot Pickle and Pepper Championships.
Come on.
Yeah, Guy, come on.
Okay, I'll be ready to go in just a sec, but first I gotta go put baby Lockjaw back in the bathtub.
Be right back.
Run, run, run, run.
So, guy, what's new?
Uh... Rent, rent, rent, rent.
Okay, all ready to go.
Now, to the Motor Pickle.
Yeah, to the Motor Pickle.
To the Motor Pickle.
Hop on that guy, Roz.
And hop in the sidecar, Dennis.
Guys, look.
I'm literally and figuratively a third wheel.
Isn't this fun?
Well...
I guess this means here we go.
That was awesome.
How's that for a parking job?
Parking job?
Mindy, you've screeched into a vegetable garden.
Well, where else would you park a giant pickle that doubles as a motorcycle?
That is an excellent point.
Attention.
Please have your event tickets ready.
This is a sold-out show.
Tickets purchased in advance only.
Oh, man.
I only have two tickets.
Sorry, Dennis.
I didn't know you were coming until you invited yourself today.
Well, that's okay, Mindy.
You know, it's like my mother always says.
Don't invite Dennis if you don't want... Ah, Dennis!
What are you doing here?
You scared me!
Ah, mother.
So wise.
Anyway, I'll just stay back and clean the motor pickle.
I mean, look at this thing.
It's filthy.
Good idea.
Here, catch.
Oh, wow.
Apple cider vinegar.
This will be perfect.
And you know what?
Maybe I should check the air filter and then clean the spark plugs.
Thanks, Dennis.
Bye.
You're the best, Dennis.
It looks like a 76.
My dad had a 77.
Come on, Guy Raz.
We better hurry up.
Grandma G-Force is competing in the first round.
She's the defending champ.
Tickets, please.
Here you go.
Thank you.
You two are seated in section 105, row T. Got it.
Thanks.
Come on, girls.
Let's go.
Wait for me, Mindy.
Excuse us.
Excuse us.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Squeezing through.
Thank you.
I didn't realize how long it would take to get to our seats.
Just in time.
The competition is about to begin.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 13th Annual Hot Pickle and Pepper Championships.
Iranian capsaicin champions will face off in the ultimate battle of the taste buds.
Capsaicin, capsaicin.
I know I've heard that word before.
Oh yeah, capsaicin is that natural chemical that gives hot peppers their burn.
Oh right, and the way they score how hot a pepper is, is by using the Scoville heat unit scale.
Exactoritos, Guy Raz.
In fact that lowly little jalapeno pepper that you can just get at the grocery store, that measures in at around 4000 on the Scoville heat scale.
But the peppers that these competitors will eat.
Today, these babies are measuring in at closer to 2 million on the heat scale.
2 million?
Man, someone's going to get hurt.
Oh, go Grandma G-Force!
In the left corner, the Queen of Capsaicin, the Princess of Pain, the First Lady of Fire, Grandma G-Force.
And in the right corner, the upstart, the nobody, the small potato who clawed his way to the top of Habanero Mountain.
Please welcome Nelson the Naked Mole Rat.
Nelson the Naked Mole Rat?
I didn't even know mole rats were eligible for this contest.
Oh, yeah, Mindy.
Several years ago, a scientist named Gary Lewin discovered that mole rats are not sensitive to capsaicin.
Wait a minute.
Are you telling me that... Yup.
You can literally roll Nelson around in a pool of Carolina Reapers and he won't feel a thing.
What?
But how?
Well, naked mole rats just don't have the neurons in their brains that tell them a hot pepper is well, painfully uncomfortable.
Ah, so it's all about the neurons, those teeny, tiny cells in the brain that pass information to other cells and to parts of our bodies.
Exactly.
So you know what this means, Skyroz?
What?
That Grandma G-Force is doomed.
There's no way she'll be able to defeat Nelson the Naked Mole Rat.
What?
These two fire-eating competitors have mastered the hottest peppers known to humankind.
The Carolina Reaper, the Dragon's Breath, the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, the Komodo Dragon Chili, and on and on, and on, and so forth.
But today, we've got a different kind of heat.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Wasabi!
Wasabi?!
!
Wow, they're going to make him eat wasabi.
Is he talking about the Japanese horseradish that they serve at sushi places?
Well, that's what it sounds like.
But you know, Mindy, wasabi doesn't have the same chemical compounds of chilies.
It actually has a different chemical called allyl isothiocyanate, or AITC.
Wait a minute.
Isn't that the chemical in some plants that burns your sinuses or those areas right under your face, above your eyebrows and in your cheeks?
Yeah, and unlike peppers, wasabi doesn't usually burn your tongue.
But, man, oh, man, it can really make your head feel like it's going to explode.
Competitors, are you ready?
Didn't your mama teach you to read?
Even my unicorn says, ah!
Bring on the heat!
Nelson, are you ready?
On the count of three, both of you will eat a spoonful of wasabi!
One, two, three!
I think Grandma G-Force and Nelson, the Naked Mole Rat, aren't reacting well to the AITC chemical in the wasabi.
The wasabi has defeated our competitors.
I guess the winner of round one is the wasabi.
It's okay, Grandma G-Force.
You'll get that wasabi next time.
Is there anyone in the crowd who thinks they can conquer the mighty power of wasabi?
What's this?
A volunteer?
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the arena, Carol!
What is that?
I'm not sure.
Can I borrow your magnifying goggles?
Oh, yeah.
Let me just get them out of my tool kit here.
Kitchen sink.
Get that out of there.
Alice, your cat.
Youp.
Kiki, your new dog.
Nope.
You have Atlas and Kiki inside your toolkit?
My kombucha starter.
Nope.
That's my kombucha starter.
Um, iron anvil.
Nope.
Um, oh, there are my magnifying goggles.
Here you go, Guyron.
May take a closer look.
What is it?
What do you see?
Yup, just as I thought, Mindy.
I think Harold is a high-veiled mole rat.
You mean the mole rat species that's found in South Africa?
Exactly.
Well, why would Harold the Highveld Mole Rat think that he could do what Grandma G-Force and his cousin Nelson the Naked Mole Rat, couldn't do?
Well, I think it might have something to do with the way Harold's neurons handle pain.
Harold, are you ready for some wasabi?
On the count of three.
Harold the Highveld Mole Rat will put this spoonful of green Japanese horseradish into his mouth.
One, two, and three!
Well, Harold, anything?
Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like Harold the high-veiled mole rat has dethroned Grandma G-Force and Nelson, the naked mole rat, as this year's hot pickle and pepper champion.
Hey, you!
And I think the reason why is because Harold's brain is designed to block the sensation or feeling that most of the rest of us get when we eat wasabi.
Wait a minute.
I think I heard about this.
Are you talking about a recent study done by that same scientist, Dr. Gary Lewin?
That's the one, Mindy!
Gary Lewin works at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin, Germany, and he knew that naked mole rats didn't feel pain when they ate things with capsaicin, like peppers.
But he also knew that naked mole rats couldn't eat things with AITC, like wasabi.
So we wanted to find out if there were creatures who didn't feel anything when they ate plants with AITC, like wasabi.
And I have a sneaking suspicion that he discovered that high-veiled mole rats like Harold here don't feel that wasabi burn.
Mindy, not only that, But the scientists in Germany actually gave these high-veiled mole rats a shot of pure AITC.
The same chemical found in wasabi.
Exactly.
And it was such a high amount of AITC that the scientists actually had to wear gas masks in the lab.
Whoa.
And guess what?
I'm guessing that the high-veiled mole rats didn't feel a thing?
Not one bit.
Why?
I mean, how is that even possible?
Well, the scientists in Germany found that the neurons in their brains have an escape hatch.
What?
An escape hatch in their brains?
Like the one we have in the wow machine?
Well, yeah.
And that escape hatch allows all of those AITC chemicals to escape or to leak out before they're able to send a signal to the rat's body that it should feel pain.
Did the scientists come up with a theory for rats?
Why?
Well, it turns out, the high-veiled mole rats live underground, and they happen to share their homes with an ant species called natal drop tails.
Natal drop tails?
Oh, you mean those ants that have that nasty sting?
Those are the ones!
And these scientists believe that over millions of years the high-veiled mole rats naturally developed a way to defend themselves against the pain of those stings, because the sting in those ants contains a chemical that is very similar to the chemical in wasabi.
So what you're telling me is that the high-veiled mole rats' bodies evolved or changed over time to make them resistant to those painful ant stings?
Exactly.
And today, high-veiled mole rats don't feel any pain when they're exposed to those chemicals.
Oh, man.
So what could all of this even mean?
Well, what's really cool is that the scientists believe that rats like Harold could help us humans understand how to deal with our own pain.
You mean maybe we could figure out how to trick the neurons in our brains to not notice certain types of pain?
That's right, especially for people who are in the hospital or have to have surgery.
Man, that's bunker balls, Guy Raz.
And you know, even though Harold might be the new reigning champ...
I gotta say, Grandma G-Force did put up a pretty impressive fight, didn't she?
Did somebody say sushi?
Tell you what, I could throw down some sushi right now.
Grandma G-Force, you did so great out there.
And you know what?
No matter what happened in that rink today, you're still the spiciest little pepper I know.
Spicy pepper nothing getting spiced out by a mole.
Let's go to that sushi place.
I'm gonna throw down a California roll and get my wasabi on.
Okay.
Start training for next year.
That's a great idea.
Yeah.
Oh, wait.
We left Dennis with a motor pickle.
We better tell him we're going for sushi.
Oh, boy!
Sushi!
Dennis!
How'd you get into the stadium?
Well...
I went to the ticket booth to ask if they had any standing room only tickets available and, wouldn't you know it, they said Sir, stop trying to put your face in through the ticket slot.
We can hear you just fine where you are.
But they weren't going to get rid of me that easily.
I might not be the quickest bunny in the forest, but... Dennis!
Oh, sorry, sushi.
Is it dinner time already?
Yes, please. of like a training thing than a dinner.
We're just trying to, you know, get Grandma Jeep for us ready to take on more wasabi.
Wasabi?
Ugh, no thank you.
This one time, I mistook a bowl of wasabi for mint ice cream.
I ate a big spoonful.
And then I screamed and sneezed at the same time and wasabi flew out of my nose.
And the librarian said... Wait, did I mention this was in the library?
Anyway, the librarian said, Gross!
Is this wasabi or boogers?
Right back.
Grownups, this message is for you.
Hey, grownups.
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 Wow kit 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.
Grownups.
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.
Hi, thanks for calling Wow in the World.
After the beep, get ready to record.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Lena and I live in Denver, Colorado.
And I'm excited to see you on my birthday at the pop-up party on July 14th.
And my Wow in the World is that Tigers are the largest cat species in the world and no two tigers have the same stripes and tigers are good swimmers.
I love your show.
Hi, Mindy.
Hi, Guy Raz.
This is McKenna, and this is Kyron, my sister.
We are from Richmond, Virginia.
Did you know the first dinosaur discovered was a Megalosaurus in India?
Love your show.
Love your show.
Bye.
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Raz.
My name is George, and I'm from Golden Valley, Minnesota.
And my wow in the world is that earthworms don't need lungs to breathe.
They absorb oxygen through their skin.
Love your podcast.
Hi, my name is Leva.
I'm nine years old, and I live in San Mateo, California.
And my wow in my world is that you know more about outer space than the deepest depths of the ocean.
Bye, Mindy and Guy Ross.
I love your show and all your funny characters.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Kennedy and my wow in the world is that if you eat too many carrots, your skin will turn orange.
Say hi to Grandma G-Force.
No!
Reggie, and even the annoying dentist for me.
Ahoy there.
Bye.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross and Reggie.
My name is Alexander.
I lived in Denver, Colorado, but now I live in France.
My wow in the world is that the blue whale's heart is the size of two cars.
Oh, and Reggie.
My name is Chaya.
I live in Ojai, California.
And my little sister, Truly.
Hi.
Loves your show.
Our wow in the world is that there are 13 different types of finches on the Galapagos Islands.
And they all came from one species on the mainland.
Thanks, guys.
Bye.
Hi, Daddy.
End of messages.
Thank you so much for hanging out with us this week on wow in the world and to keep the wow rolling, check out this week's scientific conversation starters at our website, wow in the worldcom and grown-ups.
There you can find more info on how your kids can become members of the world organization of wowsers shop, our wow shop.
Upload photos and videos to us and check dates for our upcoming live events.
That's wowintheworldcom.
Our show is produced by Jed Anderson.
Who provides the bells, whistles, and silly characters.
Say hello, Jed.
Hello.
Our show is written by me, Guy Raz, and Thomas Van Kalken, who also provides silly characters.
Tom?
Hello there.
Thanks also to Jessica Bode, Casey Koffer, Rebecca Caban, Kit Ballinger, and Alex Curley.
Meredith Halpern-Ranzer powers the wow at Tinkercast.
Our theme song was composed and performed by The Pop-Ups.
For more info on their two-time Grammy-nominated all-ages music, find them at thepopups.com.
And grown-ups, you can follow Wow in the World on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at wowintheworld.
And our email address is hello at wowintheworld.com.
And if you're a kid with a big wow to share with us, call us at 1-888-WOW for a chance to be featured at the end of the show.
Also, if you haven't already done so, please subscribe to Wow in the World on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Yeah, leave us a few stars, a review, or just tell a friend about the show.
Thanks again for listening and until next time, keep on wowing.
Jinx!
And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
