Grownups, Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Wow in the World early and ad-free right now.
Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Wondery Kids Plus on Apple Podcasts.
Hey grown-ups, Mindy here.
And did you hear that we have a brand new book coming out?
That's right.
Dinosaurs Are Wow.
A roaring thunder.
A prehistoric wonder.
And it's coming to a bookshelf near you on October 28th.
And to celebrate...
I'm throwing a little virtual prehistoric pre-order party for Wowzer fans like you.
Together, we'll read from the new book, play some games, and answer some fan questions live.
So what are you waiting for?
Grownups to get an invite to our prehistoric pre-order party.
Just pre-order your copy of Dinosaurs Are Wow at your favorite book retailer.
Then visit Tinkercast.com slash dinosaur to upload a copy of your receipt and sign up for the event.
We can't wait to see you there.
Once again, visit Tinkercast.com slash dinosaur to learn more.
That's it.
And now let's get back to the show.
Wee wow on the weekend.
Wee wow on the weekend.
Wee wow on the weekend, Cause this is what we do on the weekend laughing.
And then we oh wait no, i said laughing twice.
Uh whatever, we wow on the weekend.
Yeah, we wow on the weekend clap, clap.
We wow on the weekend because this is what we do on the weekend.
Hello and welcome to WeWow on the Weekend.
I'm your host, Dennis!
And that's Reggie, my co-host!
Hey Reggie, have you heard any good gossip lately?
You have?
Well, what are you waiting for?
Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!
Yeah?
Oh no, that is disgusting!
Wow, so interesting.
I can't believe you just said that in front of everyone.
Okay, should we answer some more questions with a Q&A segment?
Yay, let's do it.
The Q&A segment.
All right, let's just get the old answering machine pulled up here.
Okay, here we go.
Hi, you've reached Dennis from WeWow on the weekend.
That's me.
Do you have a question?
Well, I do too.
Lots of them.
And who's going to answer all my questions?
You?
Probably not.
But I guess I can answer yours.
Leave me a message.
Hi, Dennis.
My question for you is, has baby Dennis ever gone fishing?
Bye.
Wow, what a great question.
And the answer is, I have no idea.
Next question.
What do you mean why don't we ask baby Dennis?
I don't know where he is.
Reggie, he could be anywhere.
He just got his driver's license.
Okay, fine.
I'll go look on the shelf where I keep baby Dennis.
Hold on.
Hey, Big Dennis.
Oh, there you are, Baby Dennis.
Would you mind coming on the show today?
Why?
Because someone called in with a question for you.
Hooray!
Baby Dennis is famous!
Let's go!
Your ego is out of control.
Come on!
Famous!
Famous!
Famous!
Okay.
Now, what was the question, Reggie?
Right, has baby dennis ever gone fishing?
Well yes no, what baby dennis has never been fishing because big dennis has never taken him.
But i don't like fishing me neither.
It's boring.
I love you, baby Dennis.
Tee hee.
Next question.
Hi, Dennis.
I'm Sophie.
Hi, Sophie.
Hi, Sophie.
Quiet.
I'm trying to hear the message.
Oh.
Sorry.
What has four wheels and flies?
What?
What kind of question is that?
Baby Dennis thinks it's a riddle.
Oh, a riddle.
I love riddles.
Baby Dennis, too.
Okay, what has four wheels and flies?
Um, oh, a four-wheeler.
Big Dennis, those don't fly.
Oh, sure, right.
So maybe it's some kind of prototype flying car of the future?
Big Dennis is too high concept.
Okay, fine.
Let's hear the answer.
What is it, Sophie?
What has four wheels and flies?
A garbage truck.
A garbage truck?
Baby Dennis gets it.
Ah, flies like the insect.
Like the garbage attracts a bunch of flies.
Good one, Sophie.
Bye, Dennis.
Say hi to Reggie for me.
Sophie says hi, Reggie.
Next question.
Hi, Dennis.
I was wondering, can baby Dennis play the piano?
What?
Another baby Dennis question?
Reggie, are you responsible for this?
Big Dennis, go get Baby Dennis' piano, please.
Oh, no, it's heavy.
Reggie, will you help Baby Dennis?
Reggie!
Thank you, Reggie!
You're the biggest, strongest, fastest pigeon in the whole world!
Okay, Baby Dennis, what are you gonna play for everyone?
Pachelbel?
Mozart?
Beethoven?
Baby Dennis wrote a song!
Oh no.
Ahem, ahem, ahem.
Baby Dennis is the best at piano.
The best at piano.
Better than Baby Dennis.
Baby Dennis is the best at singing.
Oh, come on.
The best at singing.
And playing the piano.
Okay, okay.
Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.
That's enough.
Oh.
Why?
You can't sing songs that aren't true, Baby Dennis.
It's a rule.
Fine.
And besides, we need to move on to the next segment.
Ahem.
Thanks for your calls, everyone.
If you've got a question for me, call and leave me a message.
The number is 1-888-7-WOW-WOW.
I just might answer your question on WeWOW on the weekend.
Okay, that takes care of that.
All right, moving on.
Next up is a little segment I like to call Inside Tinkercast Studios.
Wait, what?
Can baby Dennis sing the song?
Okay, go ahead.
Hooray!
Ahem.
Inside Tinkercast Studios.
That's not how the song goes.
Okay, well, this is the part where we revisit an episode of one of my favorite Tinkercast shows.
Hooray!
And today we're listening to Wow in the World, Season 1, Episode 22, called If You're Happy, and You Know It.
Clap your hands.
Clap, clap.
Maybe Dennis quit it.
That's not the title of the episode.
And Reggie.
Didn't we listen to this one already?
Ouch.
Right, that episode was about laughing yoga.
This one is about the Happiness Museum.
What's the Happiness Museum?
The Happiness Museum is a place where you can learn about the history, current science and the future of happiness.
Oh, boy!
Okay, here we go.
And play.
WeWow will be right back.
Grownups, this message is for you.
Hey, grown-ups, what happens when you bring a great white shark and a baby octopus to your house?
A whole lot of wow.
Hey, it's me Mindy from Wow in the World, the number one science podcast for curious kids and their grown-ups.
And we are so excited to bring the wows of sharks and sea creatures to your home without having to turn your house into an aquarium.
Our jumbo great white shark is 24 inches long and comes with an exclusive wow fact card.
Our baby ocean animals are perfect for the little ones in your life, featuring exclusive audio that will leave the whole family saying aww, wow.
These Wow in the World toys make for fantastic gifts for the kids in your life who love science and even the ones who don't yet.
Grownups, visit Tinkercast.com slash toys to shop the wow now.
That's Tinkercast.com slash toys.
That's it.
Now back to the show.
See you later, ironing board I never use.
You can take the iron too.
Whoa, whoa, hey, Mindy.
Why are you throwing all your stuff out the window?
Oh, hey, Guy Raz.
I'm just getting rid of everything I own that doesn't bring me joy.
Like your electric bill?
Yeah, it really bums me out. to air condition a life-size gingerbread house?
It's crazy!
Uh, no, I never really considered it.
Here, catch!
Whose teeth are these?
You can keep them if you want.
They no longer bring me joy.
Mindy, I do not want any of your gross old stuff except for Hey, is that the bottle of homemade almond milk I gave you?
Yes.
Sorry, Guy Raz.
It was just sitting in my refrigerator stressing me out.
Mindy, I don't understand.
I mean, why the sudden urge to purge all of these things?
Well, I do have a good explanation, so hang on.
I'll come down and give you the scoop.
Speaking of scoops, why is her ice cream all over the lawn?
Oh, right.
She doesn't like pistachio.
OK.
Are you okay?
Yeah.
It's just that the stairs are made out of cookies and they crumbled under my weight.
I'm fine.
What?
Okay.
So, you were wondering why I was tossing everything out the window that didn't bring me joy, right?
Yeah.
Well, I was inspired by the news of the world's first museum of happiness that's set to open in London this fall.
Happiness, huh?
I mean, I've been to museums of ancient history and art, air and space, natural history.
I've even been to the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., but...
A museum of happiness?
Kairos, the museum of happiness in the United Kingdom, will celebrate the one thing that most, all of us want more than anything else in the world.
You mean the power of time travel?
No, then it would be called the Museum of the Power of Time Travel.
Oh, uh... Eras, the answer is happiness.
Happiness is the one thing that we all want the most.
Oh, uh, right, of course.
Sure, so what happens at the Museum of Happiness?
Well, for one, they'll have awesome workshops on things like mindfulness, origami and ukulele lessons, plus dancing and art, and even something that we were talking about just a couple of days ago laughing yoga.
Oh boy, here we go again.
Guy Raz, you okay, buddy?
Oh yeah, I'm good.
Okay.
So after we discovered how laughter can spread from one person to the next, I decided to dig a little deeper into the science of laughter.
What did you find?
Well, for starters, it turns out that laughter really is good for our bodies and our brains.
So is that why there's that old saying, laughter is the best medicine?
Yep.
Laughter helps to boost our immune system so that we don't get sick as easily.
Plus, it helps us to relieve stress when we're freaking out.
And it even releases all of these feel-good chemicals in our body.
Right, we learned about those chemicals a few days ago.
Things like dopamine and serotonin, right?
You got it.
So what happens in the laughing yoga class at the museum?
Well, besides laughing, there is a lot of eye contact and playing around and jokes.
I know, right?
Can you believe this is a form of exercise?
So, Mindy, tell me more about the Museum of Happiness.
Okay, so according to the museum team, the whole purpose of the museum is to create sort of a one-of-a-kind sanctuary where people of all ages and backgrounds can come together to feel safe and peaceful.
And happy.
And maybe learn how to carry those feelings into their lives outside of the museum.
You know it.
So what kinds of things are going to be on display at the Museum of Happiness?
Well, they're putting in a lot of interactive exhibits, so things that you can actually touch with your sticky little fingers and not get in trouble, or things that you can experience instead of just look at.
Interesting.
And this museum focuses on the science of happiness.
Well, you know how much I love science.
Oh, yeah.
And I will test you on that, love, in just a couple of minutes.
But first you should know that the science of happiness is all about studying what makes us humans flourish.
So what are some of the findings?
Oh, like all those times I surprised you by fixing the roof on your melting gingerbread house.
Exactly.
So these scientific studies show that doing nice things for other people makes us a lot happier than just doing nice things for ourselves.
Yeah, and my friend Professor Robert Waldinger at Harvard University.
He oversees a team of researchers that just completed a study on happiness Mindy.
What?
And they found that the happiest people are people who spend more time with friends and loved ones.
Yes, which is why I took the liberty of handcuffing our ankles together in a pair of buddy bracelets, so that we can hang out all the time.
Also, I threw away the key.
Anyhoo, there's also a World Happiness Report, where scientists and researchers get together to measure the levels of happiness and well-being from all across the globe.
Wow.
Can you guess which country was crowned 2017's Happiest Country on Earth?
Oh, is it, uh, is it, uh, is it... I'll tell you!
What?
And the winner is...
Let's give it up for Norway.
Isn't she lovely, folks?
Let's give her a big round of applause.
Norway.
Yep.
And the runners-up are Denmark, Iceland, and Switzerland.
And what are some of the things that happen in these happiest countries?
Well, one of the main things that all of these countries have in common are higher levels of income.
So the ability for the people who live there to earn enough money to live on, buy things that they need and maybe even a little extra.
Huh.
Oh, also in Norway and these other happy countries.
Their citizens are generally living long, healthy lives.
Interesting.
And they also ranked high in terms of having someone to count on when things aren't going so well.
So close friends and family.
And what about kindness?
Oh, glad you asked.
So the studies that led to these happiness rankings found that the people living in these countries are really pretty generous.
They share well with others.
These countries sound like they're on to something big.
I know, right?
And the final thing that these top four happy countries have in common is that the people living there feel a sense of freedom and they have trust in their businesses and governments.
So Mindy, if we go to London and we want to visit the Museum of Happiness, where will we find it?
Oh, so that's actually one of the most interesting parts about it.
So the Museum of Happiness is being put in a place called Arlington House, which is in Camden London.
And Arlington House is the UK's largest...
Homeless shelter.
You mean a place where people who don't have homes can spend the night and get a warm meal?
I mean, I never thought of shelters as particularly happy places.
That's kind of the point, Guy Raz.
The founders of the Museum of Happiness want to bring joy to the places that need it the most.
And the people building the museum want to inspire other people around the world to think of homeless shelters or hospitals or nursing homes for older people as places where people can find happiness.
Places where you could open a museum of happiness.
Yeah, and just imagine if little mini museums of happiness started popping up in schools or youth centers.
I mean the idea is to spread joy, to bring people together and to help everyone find the tools that they need to create their own happiness in their own lives.
Mindy, does this possibly have anything to do with why you were tossing all that stuff out the window?
You know it, because there are also studies that show that a simpler life is a happier life.
So, like, having fewer things?
Yeah, well, I'm just trying to focus on the few things that I really love or need.
Huh.
Which reminds me now that I've cleared out my entire gingerbread house.
There's a ton of room for laughing yoga classes.
You ready, Guy Raz?
Well, I am wearing my pink flamingo suit under my tweed suit.
So Okay, now let's begin with a little lion laughter, warm up, okay.
Now just stick your tongue all the way out and keep your mouth wide open.
Beautiful, you look like a little newborn lion cub.
Now, stretch your hands out like the paws of a lion and roar.
Yeah, now give me a big roar.
Come on, you can do it.
You're a little lion, Guy Raz.
Now laugh from your belly.
You're doing great, Guy Raz.
You should start to feel a nice stretch in your facial muscles.
Feel it in your tongue.
Feel it in your throat.
Amazing!
Now just keep on laughing until you feel as good as Norway!
Oh, Reggie.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Exactly.
There's so much junk down here.
We need to get rid of it immediately.
Why, Big Dennis?
Because it's making me so unhappy!
Oh, no!
Okay, what's this junk?
Oh, it's my old comic books.
No, Reggie, we're keeping these.
They bring me joy.
What else we got?
Oh, what about this old doll?
Ah, no!
That's Baby...
Dennis!
Whoops, sorry, baby Dennis.
We gotta keep you.
Hooray!
But we're throwing out your piano.
No!
Kidding, I'm kidding.
Not funny, Big Dennis.
Not funny.
Oh, good idea, Reggie.
Let's go upstairs and look for stuff.
There's no junk down here.
Maybe we could throw out Mother's old gossip magazines.
Or Big Dennis' gossip magazines?
No, I'm still reading those.
How about we go out to the garage and then...
Grownups, if you like Wow in the World, you can listen early and ad-free right now on Wondery Plus.
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 joining us for this edition of WeWow on the Weekend.
Our show is written by Ruth Morrison and Jed Anderson.
Original sound design and production is done by Henry Moskal and Marion Lozano, with help from Jed Anderson and Tyler Thull.
Original music for WeWow on the Weekend is composed and performed by Tyler Thull.
Special thanks to Steph Sosa, Rebecca Caban, and all of the other tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ.
There's still time to share your WeWow Crafternoon challenges with us.
Grownups.
You can upload pictures and videos of your projects to us at tinkercastcom.
Slash, share or call us at 1-888-7WOW-WOW.
Our website is Tinkercast.com.
There you can learn more about becoming an official member of the World Organization of Wowzers.
Learn about upcoming events, shop our shop and pick up a copy of the latest edition of our number one New York Times bestselling book series.
Wow in the Wild.
Thanks again for thinking, tinkering, experimenting, and exploring with us this week.
Meet us back here on Monday for Wow in the World.
And remember, who wows?
We wow!
Wow in the World was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.