Podcast
5 Good News Stories - happiness and fun
Hosted by Caloroga Shark Media / Happiness Good News Lab · EN
Every day the news feels heavy. 5 Good News Stories is your daily antidote — five short, uplifting stories about human kindness, scientific breakthroughs, unexpected heroes, and moments that remind you the world isn't as broken as the headlines suggest. Hosted by John McDermott, each episode is under 10 minutes and designed to start your morning right or reset your afternoon. If you're looking for a positive news podcast, a feel-good daily listen, or just five minutes of happiness — this is your show. New episode every day. Follow wherever you listen to podcasts.
77episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
German Shepherd drifts out to sea in inflatable kayak
Jul 500:04:49Tap to summarizeJohnny Mac presents five oddball good-news stories: a famed Masterton, New Zealand fernery (dating to 1924 and housing 60+ fern varieties) is temporarily closed for deep cleaning after several incidents of people pooping there despite nearby public toilets; a New Zealand grocery store draws visitors for a rare half-red, half-yellow apple estimated to occur in fewer than one in a million fruits; Guinness regular David Rush sets a record by balancing a running electric chainsaw on his chin for 4 minutes 1.44 seconds; Alicia earns the record for the world’s largest Wonder Woman memorabilia collection with 1,581 items; and a German shepherd drifting out to sea in an inflatable kayak is rescued by Captain Jimmy and crew member Aaron and reunited with its owners.5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media networkJohn also hosts Daily Comedy NewsUnlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! For Apple users, hit the banner which says Uninterrupted Listening on your Apple podcasts app. Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Transcribe →Petition to stop ketchup packets and napkins
Jul 400:05:30Tap to summarizeJohnny Mac shares five good news stories in a July 4th message: two German shepherds, Maya and Liv, sniff out two kittens hidden by a shed, and the kittens are taken to a local caregiver and cleared healthy by a vet; in Argentina’s Iberá National Park, a wild jaguar named Ombú is spotted for the first time in 70 years as conservation work grows the population from zero to 50; Colorado sophomores Erica and Dominic draft a “Skip the Stuff” sustainability bill to stop automatic inclusion of single-use items with food orders; Danville, California fourth and fifth graders campaign to raise $10 million by July 31 to protect Big Bear Valley bald eagles Jackie and Shadow’s hunting area from development; and in British Columbia, volunteers help reunite crash victims with their missing Australian shepherd, Daisy, found unharmed in a pickup truck four days later.5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media networkJohn also hosts Daily Comedy NewsUnlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! For Apple users, hit the banner which says Uninterrupted Listening on your Apple podcasts app. Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Transcribe →Blackie the Anteater escapes!
Jul 200:04:54Tap to summarizeJohnny Mac shares five good news stories ahead of July 4th: YouTuber Carlos “The Malibu Artist” was shocked when a great white bit an underwater camera off Southern California, cracking its dome and producing footage from inside the shark’s mouth. In Denver, the Food Matters Restaurant Challenge helps restaurants cut waste and costs, including Blue Sparrow Cafe re-steeping chai spices to save $2,500 per cafe yearly, Olivia using whole eggs, and Pit Friend Barbecue stopping cucumber coring to save $1,600 a year. Wildlife SOS reunites misplaced leopard cubs in India by using monitored “safe boxes,” reporting over 95% success over 15 years. NPR tested NIO’s automated EV battery swap taking 3:08, with nearly 4,000 stations worldwide. Taipei Zoo’s 11-year-old anteater Blackie escaped for a week before being safely returned.5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media networkJohn also hosts Daily Comedy NewsUnlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! For Apple users, hit the banner which says Uninterrupted Listening on your Apple podcasts app. Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Transcribe →Bear Buffet, Hot Dog Fox, and Five Good News Stories
Jun 3000:04:25Tap to summarizeJohnny Mac shares five good news stories: a black bear in Red River, New Mexico was filmed calmly eating birdseed from a porch, prompting the Red River Marshal’s Office to remind residents to remove wildlife attractants. In Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, police investigated a barbecue-goods “theft” and found the culprit was a red fox with stolen hot dogs. In Portugal, the charity Pangeia has developed Europe’s first large-scale elephant sanctuary on a 1,000-acre former cattle ranch, welcoming Julie, Portugal’s last circus elephant, and Kariba from a Belgian zoo, amid broader concerns about solitary elephants and reduced zoo lifespans. A California study across 1,700 zip codes found that every 200 additional EVs correlated with a 1.1% drop in nitrogen dioxide. In Utah, firefighters misted a broken-down trailer carrying 480 beehives to keep roughly 25 million bees cool, with no stings reported. 00:10 Bear Loves Birdseed00:53 Fox Steals Hot Dogs01:35 Europe Elephant Sanctuary02:52 EVs Cut Air Pollution03:25 Firefighters Save Bees 5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media networkJohn also hosts Daily Comedy NewsUnlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! For Apple users, hit the banner which says Uninterrupted Listening on your Apple podcasts app. Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Transcribe →America’s Most Misspelled Words, a Pay-What-You-Can Restaurant, and More Good News
Jun 2800:05:39Tap to summarizeJohnny Mac shares five good news stories, starting with Unscrambler.com’s analysis of Google searches for spelling help, led by “bougie,” followed by “favorite” and “through,” plus state-by-state examples like Florida searching “school” and Georgia “chihuahua.” He highlights The Long Table, a restaurant with one or two dishes nightly where everyone sits together and pays what they can; it served 38,305 meals last year, about half below cost and 10% free, and its founder Tom hopes others adopt the model. Next is a new Przewalski’s horse foal at the Bronx Zoo and the species’ recovery from extinction in the wild, including 2024 transfers from Prague Zoo to Kazakhstan. He notes a Guinness record as Holly “the Lawn Queen” mows a football-field area in 14:51, and ends with a New Jersey doorbell camera capturing two black bears, including one ringing the bell. 00:11 Most Misspelled Words01:04 State by State Spelling01:34 Pay What You Can Restaurant02:53 Bronx Zoo Wild Foal04:10 Lawn Queen Record04:46 Bear Rings Doorbell 5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media networkJohn also hosts Daily Comedy NewsUnlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! For Apple users, hit the banner which says Uninterrupted Listening on your Apple podcasts app. Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Transcribe →Elephants get cool audio system
Jun 2700:04:49Tap to summarizeJohnny Mac shares five good news stories: RMIT researchers in Australia are adding about 1% cigarette butt material to clay to make bricks that need less kiln energy, are lighter, and insulate better, helping address the over six trillion plastic, toxin-leaching cigarette butts discarded yearly. At Zoo Atlanta, a Georgia Tech PhD student designed an audio enrichment system for elephants—computer vision detects trunks entering a wall’s holes and triggers low-frequency tones that the elephants find stimulating even without food. A 98-year-old WWII veteran became the world’s oldest wing walker, standing atop a biplane for over nine minutes at 1,000+ feet after 11 months of training, fundraising for the Lenox Children’s Cancer Fund. Sunil, 57, set a record with 858 paper cups from 31 countries and is pursuing wedding invitation collecting. In Florida, a backyard rhesus monkey sighting is linked to a wild population living near Silver Springs since 1938.5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media networkJohn also hosts Daily Comedy NewsUnlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! For Apple users, hit the banner which says Uninterrupted Listening on your Apple podcasts app. Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Transcribe →Charlie the Cow Saved, AI Spots Pancreatic Cancer Early, and More
Jun 2500:05:12Tap to summarizeJohnny Mac shares five good news stories: Charlie the Cow, raised in a Florida 4-H program, was at risk after a weigh-in found him too skinny, but animal lover Leslie raised funds (including paying out of pocket) to buy and transport him to Bell Family Farm sanctuary in Polk City with help from donor Sarah; researchers at the Mayo Clinic developed an AI model that detects early signs of pancreatic cancer on CT scans up to three years before typical diagnosis and performed three times better than human radiologists; high school girls on a Duke of Edinburgh Award hike in Australia built an improvised stretcher and carried an injured hiker, Thomas, for hours; a family helped their son Axel set a Guinness record by sending a six-inch rainbow Slinky down 53 stairs; and a live frog found in a bag of lettuce was released into a local dam. 00:11 Saving Charlie the Cow01:33 AI Spots Pancreatic Cancer02:29 Hikers Rescue Injured Man03:48 Slinky Staircase Record04:37 Frog Found in Lettuce 5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media networkJohn also hosts Daily Comedy NewsUnlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! For Apple users, hit the banner which says Uninterrupted Listening on your Apple podcasts app. Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Transcribe →Off Campus Star Kidney Chain Hero, $1.9M for a Veteran, and Pigeons’ Liver Compass
Jun 2300:05:01Tap to summarizeJohnny Mac shares five good news stories: actor Belmont Cameli’s two abdominal scars are from donating a kidney in 2018, triggering a 14-person paired exchange that gave seven patients transplants and eventually helped his childhood friend Brendan after six years waiting; 88-year-old Michigan veteran Ed Bambas, who returned to work as a grocery cashier after his wife died and his pension was cut, received over $1.9 million via a GoFundMe started by creator Samuel, and they’ve launched the “For Your Service” campaign to help 50 veterans in 50 states, raising over $1 million since May 1; scientists found pigeons’ navigation depends on iron-rich immune cells in the liver near nerve fibers; Michigan’s Airport High School held its Tractor Day tradition with about 150 seniors arriving in farm vehicles; and Stoneham, Massachusetts police sought the owner of a 7.5-foot animatronic marionette identified online as Spirit Halloween’s “Bobby Strings.” 00:10 Actor from Off Campus Kidney Donation01:30 Veteran Gets Help02:39 Pigeons Magnetic Compass03:33 Tractor Day Tradition04:10 Creepy Puppet Mystery 5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media networkJohn also hosts Daily Comedy NewsUnlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! For Apple users, hit the banner which says Uninterrupted Listening on your Apple podcasts app. Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Transcribe →Mister Rogers Stamp Returns, Whale-Spotting AI, ALS Drug Progress, Golf Ball Pyramid Record
Jun 2100:05:22Tap to summarizeJohnny Mac shares five good news stories: the USPS is reissuing the 2018 Mister Rogers Neighborhood stamp after it won an encore contest by over 40,000 votes, returning as a Forever stamp with souvenir sheets. In San Francisco Bay, an AI detection system called Whale Spotter uses thermal cameras to spot whales day and night and alert ships to slow down, addressing a rise in gray whale deaths, many from ship strikes. A JAMA study reports tofersen (Qalsody) slowed and sometimes reversed symptoms in a specific form of ALS, with over 20% showing improved strength and function after three years, including a patient who moved from wheelchair use to a cane. In Texas, volunteers set a world record by stacking 19,019 golf balls into a pyramid without adhesives. In Wisconsin, a driver ignored road-closed barricades and drove into wet concrete, prompting a safety reminder.00:00 Five Good News Intro00:10 Mister Rogers Stamp Returns01:28 Whale Spotter Saves Whales02:32 ALS Drug Breakthrough03:56 Golf Ball Pyramid Record04:25 Driver Sinks in Concrete 5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media networkJohn also hosts Daily Comedy NewsUnlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! For Apple users, hit the banner which says Uninterrupted Listening on your Apple podcasts app. Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Transcribe →Cat Adopts Bunny! The World's Largest Blanket Fort!
Jun 2000:04:18Tap to summarizeJohnny Mac shares five good news stories: a Canadian group celebrated the World Cup by setting a Guinness record for human foosball with 254 people attached to giant rods; a Noah Kahan lyric highlights Strafford, Vermont’s Elizabeth Mine cleanup and its 20,000-panel solar farm producing about 8.7 million kWh—powering over 1,300 homes; Southern California’s Wallace Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over all 10 lanes of US 101, under construction since 2022, has already been used by a hummingbird and aims to help mountain lions; an Oklahoma family took in a pregnant stray cat whose litter unexpectedly included a baby rabbit the mother cat accepted; and Las Vegas students built the world’s largest blanket fort at 14,103 square feet to unite the community and support foster and kinship families. 00:11 Human Foosball Record00:43 Noah Kahan Solar Mine01:56 Wildlife Crossing Progress02:35 Cat Adopts Baby Bunny03:24 Worlds Largest Blanket Fort04:12 Wrap Up and Goodbye5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media networkJohn also hosts Daily Comedy NewsUnlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! For Apple users, hit the banner which says Uninterrupted Listening on your Apple podcasts app. Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
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