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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!
Those sloppy Gs coming along.
Hmm, not sloppy enough, huh?
Okay, well, why don't we just add a cup of bad posture.
Two scoops of horrendous table manners.
That should do it.
And a little pinch of clumsy.
Okay, let's have a taste now. used to make it.
OK, let's see if the old PA system on this truck still works.
Whoops!
Now we'll just sit back, put our talons up, and wait for the customers to roll in.
See?
What'd I say, Reg?
Howdy there, partner!
What can I... Hey, Mindy!
Guy Razzi!
Hey!
Look at you, all dressed up, top hat on, elbow patches buffed.
Locally sourced avocado dripping down your face?
Well, it's not every day that you get to visit the NPR Food Truck Festival.
You've got to make the most of it.
Wow, you are really pumped up about this.
So, what food trucks have you tried so far?
Small bites, Guy Raz.
Oh, where to begin?
Mindy, I've been going for hours.
I just got some kale chips from...
Please don't kale my vibe.
Oh, I got some organic legumes from Bean There Ate That.
I feel like my stomach's about to burst.
Oh, by the way, what are you guys doing out here?
Well, I'm so glad you asked, Guy Raz.
Cue the dinner bell, Reg!
Uh... Welcome to Grandma G-Force's old-fashioned southern-style BBBQ.
See?
Says so right there on the truck.
The extra B is for...
Yes, sir.
Been cooking these sloppy G's for over 15 minutes.
Mindy, Mindy, I had no idea you had a food truck.
Oh, yeah.
I've had this bad boy since before it was even cool to have your own food truck.
Isn't that right, Raj?
Oh, excuse me.
It'll just be a second.
Okay.
All right.
All right.
Everything's fine.
Wait a minute, Mindy.
Isn't this just your ice cream truck with a new paint job?
No.
Yes.
Uh-huh.
So how's it been going?
Not great.
How many burgers have you sold today?
Well, let's see here.
Including this morning, um, zero.
Zero?
Zilch.
Nada?
Nothing.
I don't know what the problem is, Guy Raz.
Well, have you been following the food truck checklist?
The food truck checklist?
Yeah, let me see here.
I think they sent it out in last week's newsletter.
Let me just check.
Newsletter?
Yeah, the Daily Hip.
It's all about what's hip and happening at the moment.
Last week's email was all about food trucks, and if I'm not mistaken... Ah, yes, here we are.
The four things you need to start your own food truck company.
Ooh!
Number one, cool name.
Uh, check.
Outrageous prices.
$400 a burger.
Check.
Long wait times.
Well, I've been waiting all day for my first customer, so check.
Yeah, Mindy, it looks like you have everything checked off.
Oh, except for one.
Uh, which is?
Well, it says you've got to have some sort of novelty health ingredient.
Like a gimmicky health ingredient?
You know, kale, goji berries, quinoa.
Oh, wait, I have that.
You do?
Sure do.
Well, what is it, Mindy?
Crickets.
Crickets?
Yeah, crickets.
You see, Guy Raz, the cricket is an insect closely related to the grasshopper.
Uh, Male crickets produce a characteristic rhythmic chirping sound that I know what a cricket is, Mindy.
I just thought you were making...
Burgers, as in sloppy G's, not sloppy crickets.
Well, what do you think the B-B-B-Q stands for?
I thought you said the extra B was for barbecue.
Yeah, barbecue bug burgers quickly.
Uh... B-B-B-Q.
Good, right?
So you're making your burgers out of crickets?
No, I'm not making my sloppy G burgers out of crickets.
Crickets, Guy Raz.
I'm making them out of cricket powder.
Cricket powder?
Mindy, what in the wow is cricket powder?
Guy Raz, cricket powder is basically just dried out crickets, with all of the juice sucked out of them, that have been crushed into a fine powder and then sprinkled all over your food.
I think I just lost my appetite forever.
I got a spare bag lying around here somewhere.
Okay, let's see.
It says here on the bag, a carbon-friendly alternative to flour or protein powder.
Ooh la la.
A carbon-friendly alternative, huh?
Do you mind if I have a look at that package, Mindy?
Yeah, of course.
Here, catch.
Mindy, I'm covered in cricket powder.
Ah! and it's in my mouth.
What does it taste like?
Well, if I had to put it into words, I'd say it's got a slightly nutty, earthy quality to it.
Yeah, just a hint of raw cocoa.
Interesting.
And you know what, Guy Raz?
You're not freaking out nearly as much as I thought you'd be.
Well, Mindy, now that I think about it, eating bugs isn't nearly as weird as it sounds.
I mean, many people around the world have been eating insects for thousands of years.
For fun?
Well, maybe in some cases for fun, but also for nutritional and cultural and even environmental reasons.
Environmental reasons, huh?
Well, I guess that would make sense.
Yeah, yeah.
And look, it says right here on this packaging that cricket powder is more sustainable or better for the planet than most other forms of protein, like beef, for example.
I know.
Did you know that it takes something like 450 gallons of water just to make one quarter pound hamburger?
Huh.
That's like $4.50. of water just to make one burger.
That's crazy.
I didn't realize cows were so thirsty.
Wait, what?
Uh... No, it's not because the cows are thirsty, Guy Raz.
It's because of the water it takes to grow the food that we feed them.
Huh.
And that food that we feed them takes more water to grow than, say, a bag of cricket powder.
Guy Raz, did you know that one-third of all the food grown on Earth isn't even actually for us.
What?
It's for all of the cows and the chickens and the pigs that we eat.
Wow.
And it says here Mindy, that this cricket powder is rich in vitamins and minerals like iron calcium, even vitamin B12.
Exact Doritos.
Well, Mindy, it looks like you've got all these boxes ticked.
Yep.
Name.
Check.
Price.
Check.
Wait times.
Check.
And a healthy food novelty.
Oh, that's not all, Guy Raz.
According to a study by Tiffany Weir from Colorado State University, these sloppy G's could also improve your gut health.
Improve my gut health?
You know, the millions of little bacteria that live in your gut and help to keep you healthy.
How?
Well, Guy Raz, I could tell you.
Yes?
But I'd rather show you.
Why do I always get a bad feeling when you say that?
I don't know, maybe something you ate?
Uh-huh.
Anywho, I think there's another bug food truck down the road that used the same scientific study as I did for their bug recipes.
Maybe we should go check them out.
Okay.
Let me just hang up my apron here.
Hey, Reg, can you guard the truck for a few minutes while we're gone?
Thanks, buddy.
One second, Guy Raz.
I'll be right down.
Mindy, you've got to stop kicking these doors down.
What's the matter, Guy Raz?
Can't you...
Handle it?
No, Mindy, you're the one that can't handle it.
I don't think I've seen you use a door handle the whole time I've known you.
I guess using a door handle would help me to cut down on these steel-toed sneakers.
Excuse me, is this organic?
How many GMOs are in this?
So you've heard of pink Himalayan rock salt, right?
Well, this is pink Himalayan zucchini.
This food truck festival has really taken off since the last time I was here.
I remember when it was just Ira Glass selling those curries out of the back of his pickup truck.
Welcome to This American Rice.
Thanks again for joining us.
Dish one, the Penang, is mightier.
You know, when I first came across this curry in 1999... It sure has, Mindy.
Look, all the heavy hitters are here.
There's Terry Groves.
Ooh, I wonder what she's growing this week.
Oh, and look over there.
It's Sarah Koenig's cereal bar.
Ooh.
It's so good.
Yeah, everyone keeps telling me about it.
It's on my list.
Ooh, is this it, Mindy?
It's a bug's life.
Yep, this looks like the one guy, Roz.
Okay, let's see what they've got on the menu here.
Hmm.
Ooh, pumpkin spice muffins and...
My fourth favorite kind of milkshake!
Should we each get one?
Or two, or three, or four, or all of them?
Uh, excuse me, sir.
Yeah, what'll it be?
Um, I was just hoping to get a... We got bog juice, bog bread, bog chocolate.
Uh, no, that's fine, thanks.
Um, sorry, what's your name?
Name's Dog.
People call me Bog Dog.
Bog Dog digs his own bogs.
I've been cooking bog grub for close to 30 years.
When I started...
Bugs was just slugs.
And snails.
Wow, that's actually kind of gross.
Oh, no.
Terry Gross is just over there behind you.
No, I was just... Oh, never mind.
Could I just get one of those pumpkin spice muffins and a malt milkshake, please?
Yeah, dog will get your grub.
Well, technically it's crickets, but this product was produced in a facility that also has grubs.
I'm so excited.
They're coming right up.
So was the sloppy G I ate for breakfast this morning.
So Mindy, you were saying that this guy used the same scientific study to craft his food truck menu?
Yeah, and in fact I'm pretty sure we just ordered the exact same food items that were used in the scientific study.
The muffin and the milkshake?
Exact Doritos.
So what was this study about anyway, Mindy?
Okay, so this study was conducted by Colorado State University with the goal to find out whether insect protein, and in particular, cricket powder, made a difference in the eater's gut health.
Okay.
The researchers took a group of people and put them on a diet that included...
Pumpkin spice muffin and a malt milkshake for Guy Raz.
Order up.
Pumpkin spice muffins and malt milkshakes made using cricket powder.
There you go.
Enjoy.
Oh, thanks very much.
Did you want to take these to go, Mindy?
Yeah, let's walk and talk, Guy Raz.
Reggie's probably going to need me back at the truck soon.
Did you want the milkshake or the muffin?
Um, the milkshake?
Do you even know who I am, Guy Raz?
Here, just stick it in my drinking cap.
That way I can drink it while I talk to you.
I just need to attach one end to my milkshake and the other to my mouth hole.
Oh yeah, that seems to be working.
Now, let me just stick it on my head here.
Sorry, I got a big nog.
You got it.
There we go.
Now we can talk and slurp on the go.
Great.
Oh, so by the way, what happened to the people who ate a bug-balanced diet?
Right.
So the researchers had them stay on this food plan, where they picked out specifically what they would eat for six weeks.
Mmm, that's good.
And at the end of the six weeks, they gave them a full medical checkup, doctor style.
And what did they find, Mindy?
They found that the people who were chowing down and slurping up those bugs...
They had more bifidobacteria than they had before.
Huh.
Bifidobacteria.
Bifidobacteria.
Bifidobacteria.
Where have I heard that before?
Oh, I know.
I'll check my bacteria app.
Wait, you have a bacteria app?
Oh, yeah.
It's called B-C-T-R.
You get it?
Like bacteria but with none of the vowels.
Isn't that cool?
I... Oh, it's so cool, Mindy.
For just $40 a month... $40 a month?
For just $40 a month, I have access to an entire encyclopedic knowledge of gut bacteria.
Yeah, well, I have like 67 different kinds of bacteria in my belly button.
Care to identify those?
Uh, I think I'll pass.
Okay, let's see here.
Ah, here it is.
Bifidobacteria.
A type of bacteria that lives in our guts and helps break down our food and suck out the nutrients from them.
That's right.
But not only that, Guy Raz.
The researchers also found that this bug food plan had also helped to reduce the inflammation in their bodies.
Right.
Right.
And inflammation is when part of your body gets swollen.
Uh-huh.
Huh.
So it turns out that the bug protein is an all-around winner when it comes to a healthy meal.
Yeah, which makes it even more confusing as to why I haven't sold a single sloppy G. Oh, wait!
I have an idea for you, Mindy.
What?
Why don't you get Reggie to fry one up for me when we get back to the truck and I can give you some feedback?
Aw, you'd do that for me?
Anything for science, Mindy.
Anything for best friendship, Guy Razzi.
Oh, look!
We're back at the food truck.
Hey, Reg!
Can I get a sloppy G for this guy?
Roz?
OK, here it comes by, Roz.
You ready?
As I'll ever be.
All right, here's your bun.
And just make sure to keep it wide open and facing Reggie at all times.
Wait, what?
And remember to track the sloppy G with your eyes.
Mindy, what are you?
Fire away, Reg!
Whoa.
There you go, Guy Raz, your very own cricket powder infused sloppy G.
Mindy, half of that sloppy G went all over my please don't kale my vibe sweatshirt.
It's everywhere.
Oh good, so you can have it as a snack for later.
I'm a mess.
Okay, I think I see what the problem is here.
What?
Well Mindy, do you notice anything different about your food truck and all the other food trucks here?
Uh, well, as far as I can tell, mine's the only one where a pigeon cooks the food.
Mindy, your food is the only one that's airborne.
I know.
Look at all these foodies here, Mindy.
Are you serious?
These eggs are sourced from the foothills of the Andes?
Yes, the chickens are actually massaged for like three days weeks before being asked to lay their eggs.
They want kale chips and organically grown Brussels sprouts.
Yeah, I'm picking up what you're putting down, Guy Raz.
What you're saying is that I need a rebrand.
Exactly, Mindy.
You want to tinker with the way that you're presenting your food to the public.
Yeah, I get it.
Perfect.
I mean, this is how you build it.
Yeah, okay.
So what you're really saying is that I should serve my sloppy Gs in waffle cones.
What?
No, no, Mindy.
I'm saying that you need to... Fear not, Guy Raz.
I have just the thing we need in my adventure toolkit.
Let me see here.
No, not there.
Hot, hot!
No, that's not it.
Oh, here it is.
Uh, Mindy, is that a spray paint can?
Yep, it's a four-color spray paint can.
Kind of like those four-color pens...
I invented it myself.
Uh-huh.
Hey, Reg, I need a wing.
Reggie is an amazing graffiti artist.
You know that mural of the pigeon in cargo shorts that appeared on the side of my gingerbread mansion last week.
You mean the one that made Dennis afraid to come out of his house?
Yeah, all Reggie's handiwork.
Whoa.
All right, Reg, let's put that liberal arts degree to work.
I'm going to rebrand this truck.
I want you to think health nut.
Yeah, kind of like Guy Raz.
Hey, I'm not a health nut, but I am nuts about health.
You got this, Reg.
And done.
Whoa.
Nice work, Reg.
Wow.
Says ethically sourced... carbon-neutral cricket burgers.
Yep, just like Grandma G-Force used to make them.
Hmm, oh, Mindy, are you sure this is gonna... Excuse me, how much for one?
That'll be $400.
What?
That's a bargain!
Everyone, there's a bargain over here!
Bargain!
Uh, hello.
I have a question about the calorie content of these crickets.
Oh, boy.
Looks like we got a little bit of a rush out here, Reg.
Hey, Karaz, what are you doing for the rest of the day?
Uh, helping you cook cricket powder sloppy cheese.
I was hoping you'd say that.
Morgan!
Who's hungry?
Wow in the World will be right back.
Grown-ups, 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.
My name is Isabel.
I live in Washington, D.C., Maryland.
And my wow is that Atlantic puffins can hold their breath underwater up to one minute.
Love your show.
Bye, Reggie.
Hi, my name is Lauren, and I live in the state of New Hampshire.
My wow is that some trees in the rainforest can grow up to 200 feet tall.
Hi, Mindy and Kyron.
My name is Madison from Bowie, Maryland.
And my wow in the world is ampersand used to be the 27th letter in that alphabet.
Hi, I'm Indiana Guy Ross.
My name is Eleanor.
I live in Rochester, New York.
My wow in the world is that the neurons in your brain get stronger and stronger every time you practice something, getting better and better at it.
For example, your neurons are really strong with science because you guys, I'm Eden from Westminster, Colorado.
My wow in the world is that daddy penguins stay on the ice with no food and water with their eggs for two months.
My name is Reese and my name is Luke.
We live in Columbia Missouri, and our Horned lizards shoot blood out of their eyes when they feel threatened.
Bye.
We love your show.
And bye, Reggie.
Hi, Mindy and Guy Ross.
My name is Isabella.
And I live in Moore, Oklahoma.
And my wow in the world is that every second 100 lightning will hit the ground.
Thanks.
I love you so.
Bye.
End of messages.
Hey, everyone.
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 wowintheworldcom.
And grownups.
There you can find more info on how your kids can become members of the World Organization of Wowzers shop, our wow shop.
Upload photos and videos to us and check dates for our upcoming live events.
That's wowintheworld.com.
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 1-888-7-WOW-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.
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