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Hey, Wowser fams. Mindy here.
And before we start the show, did you know that you could receive pigeon mail from Reggie?
That's right. Reggie has been very hard at work in his new position as ambassador to the World Organization of Wowzers, the not -so -secret organization for wow seekers and superfans everywhere.
Grownups, when you sign up for a membership, your wowzer receives a package in the mail with Wow in the World gear and top -secret missions to complete all year long.
That's right, Reg, but, and this is a big but, there's more.
You'll receive quarterly messages that we sometimes times called pigeon droppings, and a birthday card delivered directly to your mailbox by Reggie.
So what are you waiting for?
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That's Tinkercast .com slash membership.
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Wow in the world! Wow in the world!
Wow in the world! Wow in the world!
Wow in the world! Wow in the world!
We're flying Monday.
That's right away, Houston.
I'm going to get the mayo.
Mayo. Mayo. Going to get the mayo.
Doo, doo, doo, doo.
OK. Let's see what we've got here.
My Quarterly Bean catalog.
Ooh. Ooh, an invitation to an elevator concert downtown.
That looks interesting.
Hmm, let's see. An advertisement for tickle yourself training?
Hmm, tickle training.
Gonna get you! What was that?
Coochie -coochie -coo!
What's happening? Who's there?
It's gone What was that?
It just came out of nowhere And tickled me behind the knees And now it's gone I need to tell Mindy about this Mindy!
Mindy! Mindy! Mindy!
Are you home? Mindy?
Guy Raz? You're never going to believe this.
Are you okay? Did the tiny mass tickling bandit get you?
What? How did you know?
Here, quick, get inside.
It's on the news. I didn't know you watched the news.
Yeah, of course I watched the news, Guy Raz.
Gail Richard Simmons and I both wear the same shoe size.
What? Anywho, the news is on a commercial break, but it'll be back in a sec.
Have you or someone you love been the victim of a tickle attack?
Yes! Tickled without consent?
Yes! Well, unwanted tickling is a violation of your personal rights.
Call the law offices of Tammy Tickman today, because tickling should be fun, not forced.
Wow, glad someone's out there fighting for our personal space and justice.
I'll say. It's time to tickle.
It's time to play. Tickle time Tammy giggles all day.
Wow, she really can't stop giggling.
That's right. Tickle time Tammy is the doll that just won't stop giggling.
And when she giggles, so do you.
I'm giggling. I'm giggling.
Get your tickle time Tammy doll today.
Giggles sold separately.
Man, that doll's been around forever.
Oh, turn it up, Guy Raz.
No, uh, sure. Welcome back to WOW News.
I'm Gail Richard Simmons, and tonight's tough story, a tiny, masked, tickling bandit wreaking havoc upon the town.
I wonder who the tiny, masked, tickling bandit is.
Well, I guess it's somebody tiny.
We now go live to our reporter in the field, Bob Ralph Macchio.
Bob, what are you seeing out there?
Thanks, Gail. I'm standing here with two of the latest victims of this tiny -town tickler, Thomas Fingerling and Grandma G -Force.
Is that really your name?
Oh, no. Can you tell us what you think might be going on?
I'll take that microphone.
Oh, hey. Listen up, everybody.
There's a tricky -fingered little baby on the loose, And somebody better catch it before it tickles the whole town to death.
Yeah, I was just minding my own business on account of I'm an entrepreneur when some weird little baby wearing a brown bag over its head pops up right up out of the nowheres.
Yep, right out of the nowheres.
And then it's all coochy, coochy coo right here in the ol' armpit.
Hey, camera boy, get a close up of the pit.
Oh, good idea. You see my name?
Wow. Fascinating. Let me just ask you...
Listen here, you little baby.
If you're out there, you better quit tickling everybody or else Grandma G -Force, that's me, is gonna snatch you up by those little curled can shrimp you call toes, and I'm gonna...
Okay, I think that's all the time we have. Thanks, Bob.
When we come back, hot tubs.
Are they or aren't they just human soup?
What in the... A baby?
On the loose? Launching tickle attacks on everybody in the town?
Including me! I didn't even see it coming.
Or going. That tiny tickler has really mastered the art of the sneak attack.
I think we need to call a neighborhood meeting, Mindy.
The only way we're going to stop this town tickler is if we all work together to find this individual and get them to stop.
Good idea, Guy Raz.
I'll call the meeting.
Opening the window.
Man, it's jammed. That's because you installed it with jam.
Okay, going to have to punch it out.
So much for my sugar glass window.
Uh, hey, excuse me, everyone.
Uh, emergency neighborhood meeting.
Mindy's gingerbread mansion.
Now o 'clock. Yay! Okay, fine.
There we go, Guy Raz.
Alright. Upcoming! Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk.
Welcome. Please, everyone, have a single file, one at a time.
Hi, Dennis. Hi, Mindy.
Hi, guys. Baby Dennis.
Hi, Big Mindy. I need guys.
No, no. It's just guys.
Reggie, how are you?
Grandma G -Force! What?
Oh, we just saw you on the news.
No autographs. Respect my privacy.
I'm a public figure now.
Yeah, stand back. We're famous.
Okay, well, go ahead and sit down.
Okay. Yeah, whatever.
All right, let's start this meeting.
What's this meeting about, you two?
Well, as some of you may have heard or experienced, there is a tiny, masked, tickling bandit on the loose, and it's wreaking havoc on the town.
Havoc? Wreaking? Yeah, it got me when I was out getting my mail.
Something snuck up and tickled me right behind the knees.
Yeah, that little stinker got me, too.
Right here, under my little chin muffin.
My gosh! And you didn't even see it coming, Reg?
It got me twice. The first time I was attacked, I was just eating my soup in the pool at my water aerobics class.
And then this nubby little hand came up through the water and booped me right in the belly button.
I laughed so hard I peed right there in my swim trunks.
It's true, he did. I sawed it.
It was right there in the pool.
Ew. What about you, Dennis?
Did you get tickled?
Yeah, Dennis, what about you?
Well, I saw the tiny mask tickling bandit, and it tried to tickle me, but it didn't make me laugh.
So technically, no, it didn't tickle me.
Really? You didn't laugh?
No, it was like I couldn't laugh, you know?
Huh. Interesting. This is starting to sound like a job for Detective Mindy and Inspector Guy Private Eye.
Tickle Tickle Tickle No, I figured it out.
What? I know who the tiny, mass -tickling bandit is.
You do? Yep, it's Baby Dennis.
No, that can't be true.
Say it's not true, Baby Dennis.
It's true, Big Dennis.
Baby Dennis is the Tickle Tickler.
How did you know, Mindy?
Yeah, Mandy, how'd you correct the case?
Would you use to uncover the truth, Mandy?
Spill it. Well, science.
Science? Yep. So hear me out.
Science says it's basically impossible to tickle yourself.
Uh -huh. And since Dennis got tickled but couldn't laugh, baby Dennis must be the culprit.
That's right, because baby Dennis is a dummy.
Good day. A ventriloquist dummy.
Oh, yeah, now, right.
I think what Mindy is trying to say is that Baby Dennis is just a doll puppet and his voice and movements are all controlled by Big Dennis.
So, if Baby Dennis tried to tickle Big Dennis, he'd basically just be trying to tickle himself.
Well, how about that?
Busted by scientific logic.
Baby Dennis is a little stinker.
You certainly are. I mean, I've always known that you can't tickle yourself, but Mindy, you're saying science can explain why?
Yeah. In fact, a group of scientists from the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience in Berlin, they did a whole study on it.
A study on why we can't tickle ourselves?
Yep. They wanted to find out once and for all why it doesn't work.
So what did they find out?
Well, first of all, they did what any good scientist would do, Guy Raz.
they conducted an experiment.
Yay! Experiments! Mother says I was an experiment.
I do not think that was a compliment.
So for this experiment, the first thing they did was gather a group of volunteers.
People volunteering to be tickled?
Well, now I heard everything.
And the researchers did two things.
First, they had the volunteers be tickled by another person.
Then they asked the volunteers to tickle themselves again Again, while being tickled by another person.
And I'm guessing that afterward, they compared how ticklish people felt in both situations.
You got it, Guy Raz.
And then what happened next, I need to know.
Well, it turns out they had a rather surprising result.
Yes! The researchers discovered that when people were trying to tickle themselves, even while being tickled by another person, they didn't feel ticklish.
Or at least not as much. Amazing!
This must have something to do with the signals that a tickling sensation or feeling sends to the brain.
Yeah, exactly. So when we get tickled, millions of little teeny tiny sensors send messages to two main sections in our brains.
First, there's the somatosensory cortex. And that's the part of the brain that helps us to feel touch. Like when someone tickles you!
Exactly. Exactly. And then there's another part of the brain called the anterior cingulated cortex. That's really just a fancy name for the part of the brain that controls how we feel pleasure.
Like when we laugh because it feels good.
Exactoritos, Guy Raz.
And when someone else is tickling us, these two parts of the brain work together and our body begins to react.
In the first 300 milliseconds, we might start to smile or squirm.
And after 500 milliseconds, we start giggling.
But when we try to tickle ourselves?
Well, when we try to tickle ourselves, we don't really laugh or squirm at all.
It all comes down to something called prediction.
Our brains can predict when we're going to tickle ourselves so it doesn't react the same way.
Uh -huh. But when someone else tickles us, it's unpredictable.
Our brain gets surprised, which causes our bodies to squirm and laugh and feel ticklish.
You got it. Well, that's a very nice story, Mandy, but I don't want to know that.
I want to know why that talking baby was running around tickling the whole town ceiling.
That's a very good question, Grandma G -Force.
Baby Dennis, why would you do something like this?
For weeks, the whole town's been on high alert.
Tell them, Baby Dennis.
Tell them why you did this.
Tell them why you decided to make yourself the town tickler.
Well, Baby Dennis supposes...
Yes? Baby Dennis was thinking...
Yes? Baby Dennis thinks that...
That's it, I'm taking the batteries out of you talking, baby.
It's all Tickle Time Tammy's fault!
Tickle Time Tammy? What?
You mean that doll from the commercials?
The one that giggles when you stab her with your finger?
What? Yeah, that's the one.
I mean, I guess that Tickle Time Tammy is a pretty famous figure in the world of tickling, But how did this doll lead you to become the Town Tickler Baby Dennis?
Well, Baby Dennis wasn't always Baby Dennis.
Tell the story, Big Dennis.
Okay. You see, before Baby Dennis was the confident, sassy...
Handsome. Yes, handsome baby ventriloquist dummy you know today.
Today, he was a simple but experimental doll known as Baby Poops's Pants.
Little Baby Poops's Pants.
Poopsie. Huh, I don't remember that toy.
Of course you don't.
Nobody does. Baby Poops's Pants sat on the toy shelf right next to Tickle Time Tammy.
People would come from far and wide to get their hands on the Tickle Time Tammy doll.
and poor little baby poops' pants just sat there on the shelf with his pants and his poop day after day, month after month, with no child wishing to call him their own.
Oh, this is so sad!
Color me choked up.
all baby poopsy's pants ever wanted was to laugh with everyone like tickle time tammy did and so that's why baby dennis tickled the town baby dennis wanted to be like tickle time tammy and make people laugh well there are so many other ways you could make people laugh besides Besides just tickling them.
Yeah, Baby Dennis, you can tell jokes.
But nobody laughs at Baby Dennis's jokes.
That's true. Maybe you just need better jokes?
No, Baby Dennis knows the easiest way to get a laugh is to tickle.
Well, I guess a laugh is a laugh.
Not exactly, Dennis.
You see, a laugh from tickling is really just a reflex. It's something you can't control.
Yeah, whereas a laugh caused by a reaction to a funny joke is more of a thinking laugh.
In other words, your brain has more time to process and respond to what you just experienced.
You know, I actually just read a study about this in the science journal Biology Letters.
And according to a new scientific study from researchers at the University of Amsterdam, The laughter we produce when we're being tickled is special and different from all of the other types of laughter.
Whoa, so you're saying that tickling has its own distinct or specific sound?
How did they discover this, Skyraz?
Well, these researchers had a group of 200 people listen to recordings of around 900 real -life laughs.
Laughs for science.
Of course, anything for science.
Well, naturally. Anyway, these 900 laughs were caused by all sorts of things, like people hearing funny jokes or watching funny things, and of course… Being tickled?
You got it! And what they found was that 60%, or more than half of the time, the group was able to correctly recognize the sounds of tickle laughter.
Whoa, that's bonker balls!
Right? And this evidence suggests that our brains recognize tickle laughter as something unique.
Wow, so laughter from being tickled and laughter from hearing a funny joke are two completely different types of laughter?
That's what the researchers found.
In studying the laughter, they noticed that laughter caused by being tickled was faster, higher -pitched, and generally just more chaotic than the laughter caused by anything else.
Oh, boy! Baby Dennis wants to recreate the experiment!
Baby Dennis, no! Coochie, coochie, coo!
Baby Dennis, stop tickling Reggie!
Pearson, you're tickling me with your feathers!
Tickle! Everyone is tickling each other and everyone is laughing, but no one seems to be enjoying it!
Hey, Roz, quick! Do something!
That's it! Everybody stop!
Oh, nice! I can't believe that worked.
Okay, um, well, now I think it's time that we put an end to unwanted tickle attacks once and for all.
Yeah, because that baby's been sneaking up on everybody and coochie -coochie -cooing the deadlights out of us, and I'm sick of it.
So, from this moment on, these are the tickling ground rules.
Number one, there will be no tickling of any sort without getting consent or permission from the other person.
Yeah! Okay. Number two, stop means stop.
If the person being tickled yells stop, even if they gave permission to be tickled, the tickler must immediately stop.
Yeah! Okay, baby goodness will stop.
And ground rule number three, keep it fun.
If the tickling is terrorizing the person being tickled, it's too much. Tickling should be happy laughs, not tears.
That's what I'm saying.
Keep your little curled can shrimp fingers away from me, baby D.
Well, now that we've laid down the rules of tickling, Does anyone have any questions?
Yeah, I got a question for Fingerling.
Yeah? What is it, G -Force?
Fingerling, may I have the honor of tickling your armpit?
Why, yes, G -Force. You may.
Coochie, coochie, coo!
Okay, anywhere else have a question about the science of tickling?
I have a question. Yes, Dennis?
Reggie. I would like to make you laugh.
May I please have your permission to...
What? Reggie, what do you mean no?
Okay, fine. Grandma G -Force...
Don't even think about it, boy.
Uh, Tommy? Not a chance, bro.
Well, who am I supposed to tickle then?
Tickle Baby Dennis, Big Dennis!
Oh, okay. Coochie, coochie, coo!
Tickle, tickle, tickle!
It's time to tickle It's time to play Tickle time, baby Dennis Tickles all day Wow in the World will be right back.
Grown -ups, this message is for you.
Today's episode is presented by Samsung.
Hey, grown -ups. If you've been looking for the right smartwatch to get your kids connected, We'll see you next time.
You are so excited about the Samsung Galaxy Watch for kids here at Tinkercast that we teamed up with them to make one of our first apps ever.
That's right. Wow In The World fans can now play a new round of Two What's In A Wow every day on their wrist with the Two What's In A Wow game for WatchOS.
Guess the real wow from the made -up what's to earn prizes, unlock badges, and enjoy special seasonal games.
And they can take Guy, Mindy, and Reggie on all of their adventures with the Wow in the World watch face.
See the Wow crew come to life with motion -activated animation that mirrors the watch's motion.
Choose from an outer space theme or seasonal scenes, tap to uncover hidden surprises, and pick a background color to really personalize it.
Kids can find these awesome Wow in the World features and tons more age -appropriate content on Google Play.
And when playtime is over, You can always put the watch in do not disturb mode.
Let your kids keep the wows rolling wherever they go with the Samsung Galaxy Watch for kids.
Get Galaxy Watch 7 on T -Mobile.
Now kid ready with a new paired line.
Visit T -Mobile .com to order yours today.
Parent and child must have a Samsung account and Google account with family link.
Requires initial pairing with a compatible Samsung smartphone and qualifying wireless plan with LTE service activated.
Please check with your carrier for more information.
Trusted contact applies to compatible apps.
It does not restrict communication through third -party or other communication apps.
Emergency services and contacts remain accessible.
Location sharing is dependent on network connectivity and device being recently active.
Supervised Google account required.
Kids can still access limited features like calling and texting emergency contacts.
That's it. Back to the show.
Hi, thanks for Calling WoW in the World After the beep, get ready to record Hi Mindy Hi Guy Ra, my name is Devin, I live in Los Angeles California.
My WoW Is tarantulas can shoot their Pears, but hedgehogs and porcupines Can't shoot their quills Say hi to Reggie and Dennis for me Bye Love your show Hi Mindy and Guy -Roz This is Ella from Portland And I'm 7 My wow in the world is that Banana slugs have more than 27 ,000 teeth Say hi to Grandma Chief Voice for me Oh yeah Bye Hi Mindy and Guy -Roz My wow in the world is that A barn owl can hear a mouse From over 65 feet away Hi Reggie Hi Guy -Roz My name is Jan I live in Seoul, Korea.
My wild world is that if you shot a laser from Earth to moon, it would take this much time.
Bye. I love your show.
Hi. My name's Sam. I live in Woodlands, Texas.
And my wild world, that is a shrimp's heart, is located in its head.
Say hi to Reggie for me.
And Dennis, mind your own beeswax.
Bye, I love your show.
Hi, my name is Simone.
I live in Brooklyn, New York.
My wow in the world is that bald eagles can see six times better than people.
Bye, love your show.
Hi, my name is Yodam.
I live in San Diego, California.
and my wow in the world is that Reggie might be related to the Victoria Crown Pigeon, the largest pigeon in the world.
Say hi to Reggie for me.
Bye. End of messages.
Grownups, if you like wow in the world, you can listen early and ad -free right now on Wondery+.
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 listening to this episode of Wow in the World.
If you're a kid with a big wow to share with us, call our wow hotline at 1 -888 -7 -WOW -WOW for a chance to be featured at the end of the show or an upcoming episode of Two What's in a Wow.
And while you're at it, why don't you head over to Apple Podcasts and tell us what wows you about our show by leaving a review.
You just might hear your reviewsy read by Dennis on WeWow on the weekend.
Oh, and don't forget to visit us at tinkercast .com and become a member of the World Organization of Wowsers.
With that, you'll get year -round mailings, weekly activities, birthday cards and more.
On Tinkercast .com, you can also shop our WOW shop, get tickets for upcoming live events, find our books and learn about all the other amazing podcasts from Tinkercast. Once again, that's Tinkercast .com.
Wow in the World is written by Mindy Thomas and Tom Van Kelken with contributions from me, Guy Raz.
Original sound design and music editing is done by Tyler Thole with help from our Senior Production Director, Jed Anderson.
You can also hear Jed Anderson in the voices of Dennis, Thomas Fingerling, Reggie, and many of the other silly characters you hear on our show.
Jessica Bode keeps our facts straight as our fact checker, and Meredith Halpern -Ranzer powers the wow at Tinkercast. Our theme song was composed and performed by three -time Grammy nominees, the Pop -Ups.
Find them at thepopups .com.
Special thanks to our team, including Kit Ballinger, Rebecca Caban, Dr. Natasha Crandall, Kenny Curtis, Kristen Yang, Tui Mack, Erica Medina, Henry Moskal, Jodi Nussbaum, Ali Paksima, Linda Rothenberg, Steph Sosa, Anna Zagorski, and all of the other tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ.
Grown -ups, you can follow Wow in the World on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at Wow in the World, and our email address is hello at Tinkercast .com.
Thanks for listening.
Find episodes of Wow in the World every Monday, two What's in a Wow every Friday, and We Wow on the Weekends with Dennis every Saturday and Sunday right here in the Wow in the World podcast feed.
Until then, keep on wowing.
Wow in the World was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.
Today's episode is presented by Samsung Hey grown -ups!
Looking for a kid -friendly smartwatch that's parent -approved?
Samsung Galaxy Watch for Kids lets you manage their contacts and see their locations and lets them call, text, and play games like the Two What's in a Wow daily game show app Get Galaxy Watch 7 on T -Mobile Now kid -ready with a new paired line Visit T -Mobile .com to order yours today Trusted contact applies to compatible apps It does not restrict communication through third -party or other communication apps.
Emergency services and contacts remain accessible.
Location sharing is dependent on network connectivity and device being recently active.