Hey, smarty pants and smarty families.
So today I was supposed to bring you the sad news that this would be the last day of our special happy birthday.
50 off Who Smarted Plus subscription.
But guess what?
With Thanksgiving and Black Friday coming up, I just had to extend it another couple of weeks.
So now you have until the end of November to sign up for Who Smarted Plus and get an entire year of smarting ad free, including a brand new subscriber only bonus episode every single week.
That's right.
For just 166 a month, you'll be supporting the show and giving the gift of smarting to the smarty pants in your life, just in time for the holidays.
You can't even get a decent slice of pizza for $1.66.
So what do you say?
Go to our website, whosmarted.com, and click birthday subscribe today.
That's whosmarted.com, click birthday subscribe.
This is only available on our website at whosmarted.com.
You are smart.
And I and all your friends at Who Smarted will be glad you did.
Thanks and happy holidays.
And now it's time for Who Smarted.
Good morning, smarty pants, as you can probably tell.
Oh, I just woke up.
Luckily I just keep my microphone rolling at all times, so I can just start smarting before I'm even out of bed.
First, let's take a little look-see out the window to see what kind of day it's going to be.
Ah, we're in luck.
It's a beautiful spring day.
Unless you're listening to this episode in the summer, then it's a beautiful summer day.
Yep, it sure is perfect outside.
The sun is shining, the trees are swaying in a nice cool breeze and the birds as always around my house are chirping.
Ooh!
Ooh!
And what's this outside my window?
Why, it's a bird's nest, and not an empty one.
There's a strange but cute-looking bird inside who looks like they just woke up, too.
Good morning, birdie.
Sure is.
How are you this fine spring, summer, or fall morning?
I'm doing great.
Can't beat this weather, am I right?
You're telling me.
I've been waiting all week. winter to be able to spread these wings and soar into the sunshine.
But alas, you can't have the spring and summer without the fall and winter.
So true.
So true.
Speaking of your wings, I must say, you have the most beautifully unique wings I ever did see.
One black wing with a white spot, and one white wing with a black spot.
Your wings kind of remind me of something, but I just can't put my finger on it.
You don't say.
Hey, Smarty Pants, perhaps you can help me figure this one out.
Can you think of a symbol where one side is black with a white spot inside of it and the other side is white with a black spot inside of it?
It's usually in a circle shape and each half kind of looks like a swoosh with a rounded side and a pointy side.
And if you can picture that symbol, do you have any idea what it's called?
Oh, I love guessing games.
Can I help play?
Sure.
Okay.
Is this symbol known...
As A, the circle of life.
B, a sideways smiley frowny face.
Or C, yin and yang.
If you said C, yin and yang, you're correct.
That's right.
The black and white swooshes with dots of the opposite colors is called yin and yang.
While yin is spelled Y-A-N and is pronounced yin. which rhymes with tin.
The second word is spelled Y-A-N-G, but it's actually pronounced yang, which rhymes with tong.
Go ahead, say it with me, trusty and all you smarty pants listening.
Yin and yang.
Yin and yang.
Nice.
You got it.
Well done, smarties.
But what exactly is yin and yang?
What is its symbolic meaning?
Where did yin and yang originate from?
And what exactly does it represent?
Get ready for another symbolic whiff of science and history on Who Smarted?
Who Smarted?
Who's smart?
Is it you?
Is it me?
Is it science?
Or history?
Listen up, everyone!
We make smarting lots of fun on Who Smarted?
All right, trusty.
Are you ready to travel with me through time and space?
Uh, sure, birdie.
But just making sure.
This is to learn about yin and yang, right?
Absolutely.
But first, I need to explain how I got my yin and yang wings.
Oh, well, I'm sure the smarty pants would like to know that too.
Right, smarty?
Whoa!
Wow, that was crazy.
Did we just travel through time and space?
No, more like space and time.
I see.
Actually, do I?
Anyway, go ahead, Birdie.
Tell us about how you got your yin and yang wings.
It's obviously pretty important to you.
Absolutely.
You see, once upon a time, there was a bird who was born without any wings.
You mean like a flightless bird?
No, a flightless bird.
Like ostriches and emus still have wings.
I'm talking about a bird with no wings at all.
Can you imagine that?
Yeah, I'm picturing my cat.
No, it's not a cat.
It's a bird with no wings, which means it can't fly.
Gotcha.
I'm sure my cat would love to come across one of those.
Can you stop thinking about your cat?
Sorry.
Continue.
Anyway, one day, this wingless bird set out on a journey to find some wings.
Four wingless birds searched everywhere.
Near and far.
Far and wide.
Wide and high.
High and low.
All right, we get it.
The bird looked all over.
He sure did.
And by everywhere, I mean everywhere.
Okay, we get it.
Can we just get to the inn and Until one day, after all, hope of ever finding wings seemed lost, that little birdie came across, black wing.
Aha!
He thought, this must be my missing wing.
But when the birdie tried to fly with just the black wing, it didn't work.
It was too heavy and didn't give the bird the lift it needed.
Yep, and there's a reason for that.
You see, birds require balance and symmetry for flight and... Um, not to cut you off, narrator...
That's not the point of the story.
Oh, sorry.
So what happened next?
That was it.
The bird gave up and went home.
Wait, really?
That's it?
That's the story?
No, I was just kidding.
Anyway, the bird kept searching.
Phew, that's better.
And searching.
I know for a fact that the smarty pants prefer stories that are encouraging.
And searching.
And...
Until finally, they happened upon another wing.
Only this time, it was a beautiful white wing.
And?
And that's it.
The end.
Really?
That's it?
Is there a moral to this story?
There sure is.
If you put your mind to something, smarty pants, you can do anything.
And with a whole lot of hard work, determination...
And some luck, you can conquer the world.
Okay, so the bird was able to fly.
Not really.
The bird tried and tried to fly with just the white wing.
But it didn't work.
The bird couldn't balance itself and kept spinning in circles.
I gotta ask, what kind of story is this?
Hang on, I left out one small detail.
After finding both the black and the white wings... bird got an idea.
What if they put both wings together?
Maybe something good will happen.
So, the bird flapped both wings and this time it worked.
The bird soared through the air, perfectly balanced, thanks to its two opposite wings.
The end.
This time for real.
Wow.
I'm sure nobody saw that ending coming.
Did you, Smarty Pants?
And that's the story of the Yin and Yang bird.
But that's not all.
Drumroll, please.
That little birdie was me!
We know!
Oh.
Okay, but what exactly is the idea behind Yin and Yang?
Smarty Pants, do you know?
Yin and Yang are two opposite forces that are constantly interacting with each other.
They are like the two sides of a coin or the two halves of an apple.
Yin is the dark, passive or reactive feminine force, while yang is the bright, active masculine force.
The concept of yin and yang is an important part of Chinese philosophy and culture.
True or false, smarty pants?
Did the yin and yang originate over 3,000 years ago during the Zhu dynasty?
The answer is true.
In Chinese and Eastern medicine, the belief is that the world is made up of five elements or phases.
Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
And each element has a corresponding yin or yang quality.
The concepts of yin and yang in the five phases were developed by an ancient Chinese agrarian society.
Ooh, smarty pants.
Do you know what agrarian means?
Does it remind you of another word?
How about agriculture, which has to do with farming and gardening and growing things?
Exactly.
These ancient people lived by the natural cycles of the season.
The weather, crops, herds, moon and sun and nature itself.
Using their five senses, intuition and creative brains, they developed a system of images and symbols to explain everything from nature to the human body.
This system was fundamental to all natural sciences.
I take it the symbol for yin and yang is also very important.
That is correct, trustee.
A circle with two interlocking halves.
One black and one white.
Smarty Pants, based on what we said earlier, do you know which is yin and which is yang?
Did you say the black half represents yin while the white half represents yang?
That's right.
Great job if you got that, Smarty Pants.
Ah, but did you know there's a little bit of yin in yang and a little bit of yang in yin?
Ah, you must mean the dots you see in the yin and yang symbols.
There's a white dot in the yin and a black dot in the yang.
But why is that so?
The answer is right after this quick break.
Hey, Trusty here.
You know what's cool?
Having your own smartwatch that lets you call and text your friends and family, play awesome games and even use KidSafe Chat to get answers to the kinds of questions I know you love, like how do birds fly?
Or
Why is the sky blue?
That's what Pinwheel SmartWatch does.
It's designed just for kids so you can call your parents when you need a ride, text your best friend about weekend plans, play fun games and use the Kids Save chat to learn cool new things without any of the stuff you don't need.
Parents, you'll love this part.
You control who your kid can contact.
No strangers, no spam.
You can set screen time schedules for school and homework, check messages remotely and track their location with built-in GPS.
Plus, you decide what apps they can access.
As your kid grows, Pinwheel grows with them.
Start simple, then unlock more features when they're ready.
It's why Pinwheel was named the number one kid's phone by Parents Magazine.
This holiday, get up to 50 off with a quarterly or annual subscription, plus free shipping and 30-day returns.
Visit pinwheel.com slash smarted.
That's P-I-N w-h-e-e-l dot com slash smarted.
Now back to Who Smarted?
Okay, smarty pants.
Bernie was about to enlighten us on why there's a bit of white in the black and black in the white of both his wings and the yin and yang symbol.
This is to represent that each side is always interacting with each other and can never truly exist without the other.
Let me show you.
Grab onto my wings.
Here we are in present-day China.
In present-day China, yin and yang are still important concepts in Chinese culture.
They're used in traditional medicine, martial arts, and even cooking.
Yum!
That smells delicious!
Two jian dui, please.
Yin and yang foods are all about balancing flavors like salty and sweet or spicy and mild.
Here, trusty, enjoy this traditional Chinese street food treat, the sesame seed ball.
Oh, boy.
I see what you're saying.
The sesame seed ball is savory and doughy on the outside, with the sweetness of the sesame paste on the inside.
Two more, please.
Yin and yang exist to remind us that every element in the world has its opposite and that harmony can be found when those opposites are balanced.
Now let's return home so you can enjoy this fine spring day and practice the methods of yin and yang in your everyday life.
Well, Smarty Pants, I had a feeling this would be a great day, but I didn't think it was going to be this great for teaching me and the smarty pants all about yin and yang.
Birdie, my pleasure.
Trusty and smarty pants, don't forget the next time you notice anything in your life that seems to have two opposite forces at work, like the darkness and light of a day, or blowing cold air from your mouth onto something that's too hot to eat or drink, or feeling sleepy while you're still awake.
Just remember the story Of the bird with one black and one white wing.
And remember that balance is key to living a happy and harmonious life.
Nice.
That reminds me.
I have some sweet and sour gummy worms to snack on.
The early bird got your gummy worms.
I love and hate this guy.
A long-distance shout-out to our smarty friend Fabienne in Etaniac, France.
We hear you love listening on your school journeys because it's fun, makes you laugh and keeps you from being bored when school feels too easy.
You say who's smarted sparks conversations and deeper explorations into the topics.
Merci, Fabienne.
This episode Yin Yang was written by Taryn Elise Schneider and voiced by Alan Winter and Jerry Kolber.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn.
Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex-Davis.
Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex-Davis and Jerry Kolber.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
