Hello, Jess here.
This message is for all the teachers who listen to podcasting in their classrooms or have podcasting as a part of their curriculum.
We want to help you.
GZM already has free teacher resources, but we want to do more.
Go to gzmshowscom slash survey and take the super short survey to help us learn what we're doing that works, what doesn't work or maybe something we're not doing yet that can help.
Just go to gzmshows.com slash survey.
Thank you for everything you do.
Can I make my sight firmer?
Can we sleep cooler?
Sleep Number does that.
Cools up to eight times faster and lets you choose your ideal comfort on either side your Sleep Number setting.
Enjoy personalized comfort for better sleep night after night.
And now, during our President's Day sale, take 50 off our limited edition bed, plus an extra 100 off all mattresses.
End Saturday.
Only at a Sleep Number store or sleepnumber.com.
Two people claim to know everything about something, but only one knows anything.
Isaac F. Roosevelt wore an anti-gravity belt.
Dinosaurs had two brains.
Lucky kids live on Mars and go to school in flying cars.
Or at least they will one day.
Believe me, I'm a historian.
An astronaut or driver DeLorean.
Would I lie?
It's hard to say.
From the shores of Crabgrass Creek, Florida, this is The Big Fib.
And now, here's your host, they call her, Debra Goldstein.
They do.
Welcome to The Big Fib, the game show where kids choose between the butter-cupped oracle of truth and the invasive panicum of lies.
I'm your host, Deborah Goldstein, and in the studio today is our sound effects robot Lisa, whose name stands for live in studio audience.
Well, actually, right now my name stands for listen.
I should answer.
Oh, answer what?
Another question from a listener.
Oh, of course.
A question from a listener.
Great.
And here's where I...
I'll flip this switch and turn a dial.
Okay, here we are.
Hi, I'm Sophie.
I'm 11 years old and I was wondering what is a podcast topic that you want to do that you haven't done yet?
Bye.
That's a great question, Sophie.
Lisa, is there a topic you'd like us to feature on the show?
I don't think anyone has ever asked me that question, and I'm really touched that you care, Sophie.
Unlike some people I know.
Oh, well, if you mean some people like me, well, you're absolutely right.
I should have asked you what topics you'd like to cover on the show.
I accept your apology.
I wasn't actually... Never mind.
Go on.
Deborah apologized.
Well, Sophie, it just so happens I've been keeping a list since the very first show.
Oh.
Let me see.
I'll just pull it out of my out port here.
Oh, dear.
That really does sound like it hurts.
Not at all.
OK, let me see.
I think we should do an episode about microprocessors.
Extension plugs.
Oh, that would be so cool to do an episode on extension plugs.
Also, copy machine paper jams.
That's a global issue we should really address right here and right now.
OK.
Oh, clap activated lamps.
Why haven't we done an episode on clap-activated lamps?
It is beyond me.
Okay well, those do sound like fascinating options and I will definitely consider them for the future.
Way in the future.
But for now, let's focus on today's show.
Can you tell our listeners how our game works?
Oh, one more.
What about a show about robot takeovers?
That would be awesome.
And then I could be the expert.
Okay, anyway, where was I?
Oh, yes, the game.
Okay, so every week we bring on two grown-ups.
One is an expert.
The other is a liar.
The third one doesn't exist.
And it's the job of a human child to help us figure out who is who, Because no one can spot a liar better than a kid.
That's why the FBI is made up of all kids.
What are we lying about today, Deb or Rob?
We are lying about weeds.
Plants that grow where they were not intended to grow.
Lisa, don't you have a garden?
You must do some weeding in your garden, right?
It's as if you don't even know me, Debra.
I grow an all-inclusive garden where all plants are wanted.
Okay, well, perhaps also you just don't feel like weeding.
Yeah, there's that too.
Okay well, we're going to learn about weeds, and possibly about the weeds in your very own garden, Lisa.
So tell us, who is our contestant today?
Our human child contestant is an 11-year-old who is gearing up to compete in his first LEGO League Robotics Challenge tournament.
Sarp, accolade.
Awesome.
Welcome, Sarp.
Hi, Lisa.
Hi, Debra.
Sarp, tell us about this LEGO League Robotics Challenge tournament.
Do you compete with a team?
Yeah, I have a team made up of five people, including me.
Are they made out of Legos?
Oh, no, they're actual people.
Oh, okay.
But there's this big mat that we make a robot on.
And then the robot, we have to code it so that it completes these missions on the mat for points.
And once we get to the tournament, we see how many points we can get.
And then we beat teams and rise up in the ranks.
And hopefully we get into the finals.
I love that we rise up in the ranks and we beat teams.
It's just a given.
I like that very much.
It sounds like you're just using us robots for your own glory.
Oh, no, Lisa, it's not like that.
Sarp, you are going on the no-no list.
Oh, no.
Well, good luck in the competition, Sarp.
I hope we hear good things, that your missions are completed well and you beat the other teams and rise up in the ranks and get to the finals.
And be kind to your robots.
I will.
And be kind to your robots.
Absolutely.
So, Sarp, do you know a lot about weeds?
Do you have a garden?
Have you done any weeding?
In Cincinnati, that was my old home, I did a bunch of weeding with my dad.
And every single time we saw the same type of weed.
And I'm like, oh, so that's what weeds look like.
But when I was researching, I was like, oh, there are so many different kinds of weeds.
Mm.
So that really opened up my mind.
Yes.
It's important for parents to weed to their kids.
Okay.
Yeah.
Very nice, Lisa.
You're welcome.
Yes, that's true.
Weeding is fundamental.
Okay.
We are going to bring on our experts.
Lisa, can you give us a little bit of a tunage of some music for our weeds experts?
Okay.
Okay, our first expert is Lynn Sosnowski.
Lynn, please introduce yourself to SARP.
Hi, SARP.
I'm an expert, and I'm just going to keep it simple.
I am a scientist who studies plants that are unwanted by everybody else.
Thank you very much, Lynn.
I relate to that.
Which part?
Being a scientist?
Being unwanted by anyone.
Oh, come on, Lisa.
We all want you.
We love you very much.
Well, then why isn't anyone sending me an edible arrangement every day?
You heard it, everyone.
Please send your edible arrangements to Lisa Cara of the Big Fit Podcast.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
And now let's meet our next expert, Luke Sosito.
Luke, please introduce yourself to Sarp.
Hey, Sarp.
My name is Luke Cecito.
I am an archivist for the Wildlife Society.
And like Lynn, I work with invasive plants or plants that people don't seem to want.
Thank you very much.
Tell us about the sounds you've dug up, Lisa.
Deborah.
Yes.
I'm really digging sounds that say, it's hot seat time.
Thank you very much.
That's when we put our experts on the hot seat while they answer Sarp's questions.
Lisa, whom should we put on the hot seat first?
I am choosing Lynn, but I refuse to tell you why.
Oh, dear.
I have been advised by my lawyer to not discuss it.
So please do not ask me.
And please do not ask me.
Also, we will not ask you.
How about that?
Also, do not ask me.
I cannot tell you why.
But we are going to ask Lynn your first question.
So Sarp, please ask Lynn your first question.
How do you differentiate a weed versus a normal plant?
Hmm.
That's a great question.
First of all, sometimes weed scientists argue about the definition of a weed themselves.
And a lot of people are going to say that a weed is just a plant that you don't want growing where it's growing.
But weeds are much more complicated than just being a plant out of place.
Weeds have actually evolved to have certain characteristics that make them weedy.
So they're the product of evolutionary forces and they tend to have characteristics that mean they grow very fast.
So they grow rapidly.
They produce a lot of seed.
They can grow in a lot of different environments.
And they can be very plastic, so they don't just keep one form or shape all the time.
They can change and adapt very readily to the conditions that they're in.
But it comes down to weeds as just being a little bit more aggressive.
A little bit more aggressive, competitive than other species.
They're actually shaped by the conditions that they evolve in over time.
Kind of like Silly Putty, right?
Yeah, kind of like Silly Putty.
Silly Putty's plastic and weeds are plastic.
They can grow and change and adapt really easily.
Also, you can use weeds and you can roll weeds into a ball and you can bounce them just like Silly Putty.
I'm not sure about that, but that would be really cool if you could.
Let's just assume I'm right.
We'll go with it.
All right, Sarp, take it away with your next question.
This question is for both of you.
Can you describe a typical day at your job?
Who would like to start?
I can go first.
My job's a pretty predictable one.
I'm an archivist, so I do most of my work in an office.
I work at a desk.
I spend most of my time on information management and interpreting documents, interpreting the information that comes into me.
I catalog things like the types of invasive plants and I create root trees—no pun intended—for known flora.
And then I cross-reference a lot to determine migration patterns of regional weeds because, like Lynn said, some plants are categorized as weeds depending on where they are, if they're sort of quote-unquote where they're supposed to be.
But my real fun days are when I get to go out of the archives, away from my computer, and into classrooms and teach about plants and invasive species and what we can do about them.
Very cool.
I know what we can do about them.
We can take away their airplanes and their boats so they stop invading us.
That's the first thing we have to do.
The very first step.
Totally.
Top of the list.
Or we could say, hey, hey, come on.
Just reason with them.
If that doesn't work, see the first one about the planes.
Yeah, I have a five-point plan.
I can't wait to hear it.
Okay, but in the meantime, Lynn, back to you.
So Sarp, I also spend a lot of time on the computer because I have to enter a lot of data for my research trials and I have to answer a lot of emails from growers who want questions about how to manage their weeds.
What I tend to do is.
The first thing I do is I go down to my greenhouse and I like to check on the different trials that I have going in my greenhouse, because I'm doing a lot of competition studies right now, looking at how weeds compete with different crop plants under controlled conditions.
And then sometimes I leave and I head out to the field, because a half of my job is spent in the field with growers.
And I walk fields with them and I talk about the different weeds that are there and the different types of control strategies that they can use to get rid of them.
And then I probably end the day either guest lecturing in a class teaching about weeds or or going and meeting with our cooperative extension folk and giving presentations about the weeds that they're dealing with right there and then
Thank you.
Back to you, Sarp.
This question is for Lynn.
What was the most interesting or cool thing that ever happened while you were doing your job?
So I was out doing some field studies when I was working in Georgia and I was working in cotton fields and I was counting the different weeds that were in our treatments.
And I was driving back to my building from the field, and I saw a turtle in the road.
And I wasn't going to leave him in the road, so I actually stopped to pick up the turtle.
And I didn't realize that the fence that I was passing him through was electrified.
And I really zapped myself and threw myself back on the ground.
Oh!
That's terrible.
Did you get hurt?
Well, I was really, really embarrassed about that.
And I probably threw that turtle and I don't know where he went.
Oh, no.
Wait, I see him now.
He's still up in the sky.
He's still there?
Very good.
Okay, back to you, Sarp.
You have some more questions?
Uh-huh.
Luke, this question is for you.
How do weeds threaten a country's natural flora?
Ooh.
They say, hey, you better give us some money or we're going to beat you up.
Oh, no, that's terrible.
I don't think they do that.
Yeah, watch out for weeds.
They're really tough.
They are, actually.
They're very tough and very resistant and invasive.
But to answer your question, there's a lot of ways.
There's a variety.
There are weeds that belong to particular families or phylum like the strangulatum, which can dominate food resources and endanger the survival of plants. other plant life in the area, the more native species.
And then, of course some, like the dandelion, have seeds that spread on the wind, and they can become quite invasive and pervasive, though dandelions aren't particularly threatening.
But plants can crowd out the quote, unquote more desired plants and make it more difficult for them to grow and, in some extreme cases, for them to survive at all.
And of course, there are the noxious weeds, which can also be poisonous, some to humans, but some, like the carnage symbiote, can be toxic to other plants.
And, of course, the biggest possible threat to a country's native flora is the overuse of herbicides in gardens and lawns can make it harder for other flora to thrive and then completely change the ecosystem.
Ooh, that's some serious stuff.
Back to you, Sarp.
Okay, Luke, this question is for you.
What is the most common type of weed?
The most common type of weed, the answer to that depends on where you are.
Like, for instance, in Nigeria, speargrass is massively prevalent and really problematic.
Here, I'd say crabgrass, dandelions.
Okay, Lynn, this question is for you.
Are there useful weeds?
Yeah.
So there's a lot of weeds that are actually edible.
Yellow nutsedge.
You can eat the tubers.
And there are a lot of weeds, believe it or not, right now, that are invading our different veins, natural habitats that were brought here and used because they had beautiful flowers or nice leaf color.
So we said, you know what, let's grow this as something that we can plant in our yard.
And now that plant has escaped and become a weed.
Luke, this question is for you.
I read that each state in the US has a weeds list.
Can you tell me about that?
Yeah, sure.
There are actually two different kinds of weeds lists.
It depends on the list that you are referring to.
The USDA has a list of weeds common and acceptable to each state.
So the weeds that are sort of part of the native species of that state and are permissible to be planted there and then also to import or export only to certain other states.
And then, of course, there is the noxious weeds list, which is the list of weeds that the Department of Agriculture, in the Federal Seed Act, has prohibited from planting state to state.
So certain states, for instance purslane, which is like we were just talking about the useful weeds purslane is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
However...
It being a nutritional dynamo, it can take over in certain very hot regions.
So in the southwest of the United States, it is actually prohibited in Arizona.
There is one state in the United States where you are not allowed to introduce purslane.
So if they're so good at growing everywhere and all of that, I guess, to both of you does climate change help weeds grow or does that actually stop them from growing so quickly and invasively?
Well, it very much depends on the weed species.
Some weeds are going to expand their range under climate change, but some weeds may actually be a little bit more constricted in their environment.
So it's.
But another thing that's going to happen is climate change is going to affect how well we can control weeds.
So if we have a situation where we have a lot of rain, maybe growers' fields are going to be a lot more wet and they're not going to be able to get their tractors or their equipment in there to be able to cultivate the weeds out.
Or under very hot conditions, some herbicides might not work as effectively.
So climate change can affect the plants themselves, but they can also affect the tools that we're going to use to control the weeds.
I see.
So it's very multi-dimensional and multi-layered how it's going to work.
Yes.
There's also just the predictability of our growing seasons, because weeds and invasive plants are so adaptable, are so elastic and plastic, as she called them.
A lot of the crops and a lot of the plants that we depend on are not nearly as adaptable as plastic, as a lot of invasive species are, which is going to make it very difficult for us to predict how our crops will continue to grow in the future, due to growing seasons being changed, due to our ecosystems being changed, due to temperatures being inconsistent.
So it's the more adaptable plants that tend to thrive in those kinds of environments.
Thank you.
Debra, did you book two experts by accident?
It really feels that way.
There's a lot of knowledge happening.
It's making my brain hurt a little bit.
Yeah.
Yeah, I didn't come here to hear experts.
I love the liars.
Right.
Support for The Big Fib comes from Factor Meals.
Because we're supported by Factor...
Get ready to play Factor Fib.
Okay, Factor Fib.
Peppers, peas, and corn are fruits.
That is a fact.
Peppers, peas and corn are botanically classified as fruits because they develop from a flower and contain seeds.
Speaking of, I ordered peppers with my Italian sausage and roasted red pepper lasagnette from Factor.
Molto bene!
Factor makes healthy eating easy.
No prep, no cooking, just dietitian approved chef prepared meals, delivered to your door and ready to eat in two minutes.
No prep, no stress.
That's why I use Factor and you should too.
Head to factormealscom, slash bigfib50off and use code bigfib50off to get 50 off and free breakfast for a year.
Eat like a pro this month with Factor.
New subscribers only varies by plan.
One free breakfast item per box for one year while subscription is active.
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.
Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game?
Well, with the Name Your Price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills.
Try it at Progressive.com.
Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates.
Price and coverage match limited by state law.
Not available in all states.
The Big Fib gives big thanks to Quince for all their support.
Fun fact, humans spend about a third of their lives sleeping.
Now imagine spending a third of your life in scratchy, uncomfortable bedding.
That's where Quince comes in.
Quince makes high-quality bedding at surprisingly low prices.
Like their clothing, Quince's bedding costs about half the price of similar brands.
They work directly with top artisans, cut out the middleman, and pass those savings on to us.
Even better, Quince only partners with factories that use safe, ethical and responsible manufacturing practices, along with premium fabrics and finishes.
I got the European linen sheets from Quince, and I love them.
Why not make one-third of your life a little more cozy?
Turn up the luxury when you turn in with Quince.
Go to quince.com slash big fib for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.
Now available in Canada, too.
That's q-u-i-n-c-e dot com slash big fib.
Free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com slash big fib.
The Big Fib!
Okay, it's time for the shorts on fire round when our experts have to answer as many questions as they can before time runs out.
Lisa will set a timer for the first expert and then Sarp will ask questions until Lisa's timer sounds.
And then Lisa resets the timer for our next expert to do the same.
Yeah.
Experts, this is a fast-paced round.
You'll have to answer at a mile a minute.
Sarp, let's start with Lynn.
You can start asking your shorts-on-fire questions now.
Which weed would you use to make tea?
Dandelion.
Name one way weeds spread across land.
Seeds moving on equipment and trucks.
Fact or fib, some weeds are good for the planet.
That's a fact.
What kind of weeds grow narrow leaves and sprout only one leaf from the seed pod?
That would be grasses.
What hooked weed inspired Velcro?
Oh my gosh.
I can't remember.
I do know it though.
Which weed is a popular holiday plant that also lives off of water and nutrients of the trees it grows on.
It is mistletoe.
Factor fib.
Seaweed is a weed.
I know you want me to say fib, but it depends.
We blow on the puffballs of what weed when we want to make a wish?
Dandelion again.
What tool should I use to weed my garden?
You should use a hoe.
That's what I use.
What is the federal act that allows the United States Secretary of Agriculture to call a plant a noctis weed?
I should know this, and I actually don't.
Sorry.
That's all right.
And we've come to the end of our time.
That's time.
Hey, in terms of time, Sarp, we're done.
Okay.
Lisa, will you kindly reset your timer?
Sarp, what do you think?
Should I do it?
Yeah, I think you should.
All right.
Sarp says yes, I say yes.
Excellent.
Thank you so much, Lisa.
Sarp, you can now ask Luke your shorts on fire questions now.
If you find four leaves on this lucky weed, which weed is it?
That would be a four-leaf clover.
What kind of weeds live for at least two years?
Perennials.
During World War II, what kind of weed fluff was used to stuff life jackets?
Oh, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, uh, milkweed.
Which white-flowered weed is also known as white wild carrot?
Oh, my gosh.
That is Queen Somebody Somebody Lace.
Queen Somebody's Lace.
That's correct.
It's Queen Somebody.
She was a great queen.
Yeah.
Name a weed that can be eaten.
Name a weed that can be eaten.
Oh, my God.
Mint.
Purslane.
Who first recorded the song Tumbling Tumbleweeds in 1934?
I, oh, I know that song.
That's the, I'll roll along the, I have no idea who sang it though.
It's okay, you can pass.
What's an example of a weed that cannot be killed by herbicides?
What is an example of a weed?
The common dogberry.
Where do many of the non-native weeds in the United States come from?
Well, not surprisingly because of our huge shared land border, Canada.
And that is timed.
That's all the time, and apologies to everyone in Canada.
We're not attacking you, okay?
That was very well done.
Okay.
It's decision time.
Sarp must think about all the information he's heard today and decide which expert is really a fleabane of our existence.
Sarp, who is our Big Fibber?
I think it's Luke.
Why do you think Luke is our fibber?
Because of many things, actually.
Oh, okay.
Luke, on that question with the mulch, he actually got that one correct, I think.
But Lin just added a lot more onto it.
And then, when Lin said something and Luke piggybacked onto it, I expected him to add more, and he just didn't.
And then during the Shorts on Fire round, he said that milkweed was used to stuff life jackets.
Milkweed doesn't have any, like, stuffing.
At least I think it doesn't.
And it has, like, these spiky leaves, but no fluff.
Very interesting.
I love how you've tracked all of this information and the way that they've answered the question.
So let us see...
Will our weeds expert say to us now, I am the weeds expert.
Sarp, I am the weed expert.
Thank you so much.
You did it, Sarp.
That is correct.
Very good.
That's right.
Lynn Sosnoski is a weed science expert at Cornell University.
She focuses on the control of unwanted plants in vegetable and fruit crops.
Well done, Sarp.
Okay, that was tough.
Time to do some fact checking.
Lynn, what were the facts that Luke shared that were more like poison hemlock?
Oh my gosh.
I'm going to tell you, I was so nervous.
I didn't keep track of them.
That's okay.
That's all right.
How about the most recent one where Luke said that a lot of our weeds come from Canada?
Believe it or not, a lot of our non-native species have traveled with us when we migrated.
We brought a lot of species from Europe, but a lot of species have also come from Asia and other continents as well.
So they're not just showing their passports at the US-Canada border to get in.
That's right.
Okay, let's take it back to Luke.
Why don't you tell us what lies did you tell that were as unwanted as weeds?
So Sarp, actually I have a bone to pick with you, because milkweed actually was used during World War II.
That was actually not a lie.
Let's see.
I think during my answer about weeds threatening a country's natural flora, I mentioned the strangulatum, which I don't think that's a weed.
I don't know.
Lynn can fact check me on that.
Oh, yeah.
Sounded good, though.
Nor is the Carnage symbiote.
But Carnage was in that Venom movie that I saw with my kid the other day.
But it sounded like a noxious weed.
It sure did.
To my knowledge, there aren't two weeds lists in the United States.
There is a noxious weeds list.
I don't know about the Federal Seed Act is real, but I don't know about the other one that I talked about, perhaps for too long.
So states can have their own weed lists.
Oh, let's see.
The white-flowered weed is a Queen Anne's lace.
I'm not sure if this is right.
You said weeds that could be eaten.
And what did you say?
What was your answer?
I said mint.
Mint.
Is that a weed, Lynn?
You know what?
Some people will call it weedy because it can get out of hand in their gardens.
Interesting.
Okay.
Good to know.
All right.
Also, just for your own information, the group that recorded the song Tumbling Tumbleweeds in 1934 were the Sons of the Pioneers.
Let's see.
An example of a weed that cannot be killed by herbicides.
Was that correct also, Lynn?
No.
Dogberry is a character in a Shakespeare play.
Oh.
In my research, I did the thing that inspired Velcro were burrs.
That's correct.
And you know what?
Those burrs never got any money for it.
He totally stole their idea.
Burrs have to get paid.
Exactly.
The federal act that allows United States Secretary of Agriculture to call a plant a noxious weed was the Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974.
Don't forget.
One of my favorite noxious weed acts ever.
I'm going to get kicked out of my society for this one.
That's terrible.
I'm so sorry.
And just a fun fact too.
You covered it Lynn, but mistletoe is a weed, as you said, and they live off of trees, right?
Yes, they do.
There's a whole group of plants that are parasitic higher plants, and they live off of other plant species, and mistletoe is one of them.
Wow.
So many cool facts, and that was really well done, Sar.
But you may have noticed that we'd come to the end of the show.
Thanks to our contestant, Sarp, for weeding out all those lies.
And thank you to our expert and liar, Lynn and Luke, and to Lisa for his velvet-leafed sounds.
And, of course, many thanks to our listeners tuning into The Big Fib where we weed out those lies, because we can never have too mulch truth.
The Big Fit is a production of Gen Z Media.
For more great shows, why don't you visit gzmshows.com.
And let me tell you friend, while you're there, you can send questions for me to read on.
Ask Lisa and find out how you can participate.
Also, if that weren't enough, you can follow us on social media at The Big Fit Podcast for behind-the-scenes photos and more true facts.
Also, if that weren't enough, you could just send me an edible arrangement, please.
I love them.
Extra strawberries with the chocolate.
Thank you.
For more great stories, visit gzmshows.com.
Shh, it's starting.
GCM Shows.
Imagination Amplified.
It's Jess from GCM Shows, jumping into your feed to give you a huge thank you.
Thanks for joining us on all our audio adventures.
Your support means the world to us.
Right now we're running a listener survey to make sure we're giving you ads from brands, products and resources that match with who you are, what you want and what really helps you out.
So help us out by going to gzmshowscom survey and taking a super quick survey to tell us more about yourself and what you like.
Once again, that's gzmshows.com survey.
Thank you.
You are awesome.
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.
Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game?
Well, with the Name Your Price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills.
Try it at Progressive.com.
Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates.
Price and coverage match limited by state law.
Not available in all states.
