Hey, smarty pants, trusty narrator here.
I'm in a forest, as these sound effects would have you believe.
Oh, there's even a babbling brook. And then she said, a salad?
I made the salad last time. You make the salad.
So I said, fine, I'll make the salad. You make the dessert.
And she said, I don't know how to make dessert.
I better make that salad. Oh, actually, that's my friend Brooke babbling on her phone.
Here's a babbling Brooke. Now, you might be wondering why I'm wandering around in the middle of a forest.
Well, I'm hunting for mushrooms. You mean we're hunting for mushrooms.
Of course. Smarty pants. When my friend Brooke isn't talking on her mobile phone, she's a mycologist.
They're not going to know what that means.
Right. A mycologist, Smarty Pants, is an expert on mushrooms.
So why exactly are we hunting for mushrooms?
Because they're awesome and fascinating and delicious and healthy.
You've got button mushrooms, carmini mushrooms, portabellas, shiitakes.
Rockies, Chanterelles, and many more. But hey, don't just take my word for it.
1.4 billion people around the planet eat six pounds of mushrooms every year.
Wow. Of course, not all mushrooms are good to eat.
Oh no, no, no, no, no. There are over 10,000 different kinds of mushrooms in the world.
And some are so poisonous, they can make you sick or even kill you.
Right, so you never, ever, ever, ever want to eat mushrooms you find outdoors unless you're with a mycologist like Brooke.
Sorry, more salad drama. Don't need anything until I get back.
Smarty Pants, what percentage of mushrooms do you think are dangerous?
Is it A, one in every 100? B. 1 in every 20.
Or C. 1 in every 5. The answer is 1 in every 5.
Okay, I'm back. What'd I miss? Oh, I was just saying that... Did you tell them one out of every five or 20% of all mushrooms are dangerous to eat?
Oh, in fact, I just... And that there's another 20% you can eat but aren't very tasty.
Blech. Overall, only about 4% of all mushrooms are both edible and tasty.
That's what makes mushroom hunting such a challenge.
Of course, some smarty pants might be thinking, all mushrooms taste yucky. but have you really given them a fair shot?
But hey, before we can even think about eating them, we need to find them first.
And we do that by answering more basic questions like, what exactly are mushrooms?
How and where do they grow? And what are some of the creepiest and craziest ones?
It's time for another whiff of science on...
Who's smarted? Who's 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?
This show is sponsored by Quince. You know, as a trusty narrator, I'd much rather be in my backyard having lunch than pretty much anywhere else. but sometimes duty calls and whether I'm being miniaturized to go inside the human body, traveling 2000 years to ancient Greece or just having chat over for barbecue.
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Smartypants, did you know that ancient Egyptians thought mushrooms were a gift from their god Osiris?
They believed eating mushrooms gave you immortality or the power to live forever.
Whoa. Because of that, only Egyptian royalty were allowed to have them.
Commoners weren't even allowed to touch them.
Hey, mushrooms might be good. But they're not that good.
Speaking of what they are or aren't, Smarty Pants, what exactly are mushrooms?
Are they a plant or an animal? I bet you said a plant, right?
But surprisingly, you'd be wrong. And for those of you who said an animal, well, sorry, that's wrong too.
Brooke, what is a mushroom? A mushroom is a fungus, which is its own thing entirely.
Did you say... Fungus? Like jock itch, athlete's foot, and ringworms?
No. A fungal infection on your body is very different than a fungus or fungi growing in nature.
However, fungi actually do have more similarities with humans. than with plants.
For example, they get their food from organic matter, like, say, dead leaves on the ground. not from sunlight and photosynthesis.
And fungi breathe oxygen like people, unlike plants that breathe carbon dioxide. which is what humans breathe out.
Speaking of people, how would you like to see some mushrooms that are bigger than people?
Oh, I don't think there's any mushrooms as big or bigger than people, Brooke.
Oh, yeah? You still have that time travel app?
Of course. I don't go smarting without it.
Well, set it to go back about 400 million years.
You're the mushroom hunter. Here goes. Whoa, what are those huge things?
You mean the dinosaurs? No, those giant things behind the dinosaurs.
Are those trees? Nope. Those towering stocks that are about 25 feet high with three foot wide trunks?
Those are giant mushrooms. At least most scientists think there's some sort of fungus from looking at their fossils.
Wow. Wow, I'm glad mushrooms didn't stay that big.
I wouldn't have any pots big enough to cook them.
Well, I've got a surprise for you, trusty.
Today's mushrooms are even bigger. What?
Teleport us back to these coordinates in the present day.
What happened? It's really dark. I thought you were taking us back to the forest.
I did. Only now we're underground. Once your eyes adjust to the darkness...
Take a look around. Whoa. What are all those strands of white stuff stretching all over?
They look kind of like a giant spider web.
And they go on even further than I can see.
Those white fibers are part of a fungus called mycelium.
That's the underground part of a mushroom you don't usually see.
And it's humongous. Ah, I see. Hey, Smarty Pants, what do you think's bigger?
A blue whale... or a fungus like this one.
Yeah, yeah, obviously I'm gonna say the fungus, but the shocker is it's not even close.
In fact, the largest living thing on the planet is a honey mushroom fungus Whoa.
And if that's not impressive enough, it's also over 2,000 years old.
So you see, smutty pants, the mushrooms you see growing out of the ground are just a tiny part of the humongous living organism below the surface.
Kind of like the tip of an iceberg. That's a good way to put it.
Okay, so now that we know a little more about what mushrooms are, where do they grow?
Well, the first thing any good mycologist or mushroom studier slash hunter learns is that mushrooms aren't picky when it comes to places to grow.
They don't need any sunlight, and they don't care if the thing they're growing out of is dead or alive.
So you can find them practically... Interesting.
But how do mushrooms spread around? They don't have seeds like plants.
You're right. Want to ask the Smarty Pants if they know what mushrooms have instead of seeds?
Sure. Smarty Pants, is it eggs? or spores?
The answer is spores. One of the main ways mushrooms distribute their spores is letting the wind carry them away to other places.
I see one problem with that, Brooke. It's not too breezy down on the ground of a dense forest like this one.
Excellent observation, trustee. That's why mushrooms make their own wind.
What? Mushrooms make wind? I thought only people make wind.
Yeah, not that kind of wind. What happens is a mushroom ejects its spores from underneath that big round cap on its top.
But instead of falling to the ground, the spores get caught in the tiny wind currents caused by the mushroom cooling the air up. around it.
Those currents lift the spores as high as four inches in the air. where they hitch a ride on natural breezes.
Eventually, they land somewhere and grow a new mushroom fungus.
Another way mushroom spores get spread around is by animals.
Animals? Smarty pants! How do animals spread mushroom spores?
Do they get them caught on their fur? Accidentally carry them to other places? eat them, and later poop them out somewhere else.
Or give them out as gifts when they visit animal friends.
Believe it or not, two of those answers are right.
They carry them on their fur. And poop them out.
That's pretty awesome. And gross. Ah, but the cool mushroom facts don't stop there.
How would you like to see a true mushroom miracle?
Oh, I would. And Smarty Pants, you'll hear all about it right after this quick break.
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Now back to Whosmarted. Okay, smarty pants, over the break, Brooke, my mushroom hunter friend, brought me to a dark cave to see, hmm, actually not much.
It's pitch black in here. Wait a second, are those mushrooms glowing in the dark?
Oh, they sure are. It's a phenomenon called bioluminescence.
And it's not unlike how a firefly lights itself up.
About 80 species of mushrooms have it. Some mushrooms glow so brightly, People use them as flashlights in the woods.
Wow, that's pretty cool. It's also another way for mushrooms to spread their spores.
Really? How? Smarty pants? Any ideas? Insects like moths are naturally attracted to light.
And when an insect lands on a mushroom, There's a good chance it'll take some spores with it as it leaves.
Ah, did you think of that, Smarty Pants?
Sounds like mushrooms are pretty smart, too.
They are. And one type of mushroom is truly an evil genius.
An evil genius? Really? It's a mushroom.
Yeah, but it's not just any mushroom. It's called...
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. Yikes, that sounds like a Harry Potter spell.
So how is it an evil genius? Well, when that mushroom is eaten by an insect, it takes over the bug's brain and makes it fly up towards the top of the forest where it's more likely to be eaten by a bird.
And later... Cooped out. In a brand new neighborhood.
Oh, I gotta say, that's pretty evil. and genius and creepy oh there's even creepier The shaggy ink cap mushroom is known to practice autodigestion.
Auto-digestion? I don't suppose that means eating in a car.
No. The moment you pick up a shaggy ink cap, it sets off its auto-digestive process.
If you don't eat it within 24 hours, forget it.
It will have already devoured itself. Yep, self-cannibal mushroom might be creepier.
Ah, but I've saved the scariest for last.
Take a gander inside that log, trusty. Okay.
I see some regular looking white mushrooms.
No big deal. They might look like normal white mushrooms.
But those are the deadliest, most poisonous mushrooms on Earth.
The Death Cap Mushroom. Eating just half of one is enough to kill a human.
But you won't feel anything until 12 hours after you eat it.
By that time, it's too late. Yowza! That's one terrifying toadstool.
Yeah. Here's a weird one that you can eat.
It's called Chicken of the Woods because it tastes just like fried chicken.
It's a perfect snack for vegetarians. Pretty chickeny.
Anyway, this was great, but I should probably head back now.
Not me. I'm on the hunt for the Yartsu Gunbu mushroom.
It's super rare and grows inside a caterpillar.
Okay, is it super delicious or something?
No, but it's become a status symbol in the country of Nepal.
It sells for $50,000 a pound. Wow. Yeah, sure.
We can look around for that one. Oh, but first, I could use some more of those fried chicken mushrooms.
A great North shout out to Brandon in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
You say who's smart is an interesting way to learn and that you listen every day at bedtime and in the car.
Wow. Talk about round the clock smarting.
Thanks, Brandon. This episode, Mushrooms, was written by Steve Morrell Melcher and voiced by Jenna Portobello-Hoban and Jerry Kolber.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh King Oysterhan.
Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Cromini-Kamasky.
The theme song is by Brian Shitake 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.
Who Smart-ed?
