The Happy Pod: Inviting strangers round for dinner

Summary

The Happy Pod: Inviting Strangers Round for Dinner

Global News Podcast – BBC World Service
Date: July 11, 2026
Host: Holly Gibbs

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Episode Overview

This edition of the Happy Pod focuses on stories that celebrate human connection, kindness, and the creative ways people are building community and finding joy. Highlights include an Indian couple in Belfast inviting strangers for dinner, making football accessible for blind fans, chance reunions with life-changing teachers, the joyous global trend of the cake picnic, and a study on the evolutionary roots of laughter. It closes with the tale of a joke-dispensing DC payphone bringing daily smiles to locals.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

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1. Making Friends by Inviting Strangers to Dinner

[02:05–06:24]

The Story

• Nidhi Pal and Vic Parisher, after relocating from India to Northern Ireland, struggled to make friends in a new country.
• Their solution: host dinner parties for selected groups of 10 strangers, recruited via an online form. The goal—make real, lasting connections.
• Now on their sixth dinner party, they feel deeply integrated and have developed around 60 new friendships.

Insights & Quotes

• On the challenge of starting over:
  “As a mature adult, it becomes even more difficult to make friends...You leave your comfort, your friends, your family behind.”
  — Nidhi Pal [02:48]
• About the dinner tradition:
  “We started as like for friends. Everyone was like praising and they kind of like pushed us to do more.”
  — Vic Parisher [03:22]
• The outcome:
  “I feel that I belong here now, which is what I was looking for." — Nidhi Pal [04:33]
• On future plans:
  “It’s never till the time we have the energy and time and people want to come. We would keep inviting. I want to have the whole world, my friend.”
  — Vic Parisher [05:58, 01:18]

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2. Making the World Cup Accessible for Blind Fans

[06:24–11:12]

The Story

• In Iran, a father found a tactile way to share football matches with his blind son using a homemade board—the son "feels" the match as it unfolds.
• Visually-impaired footballer Jill Sloan describes the impact of new technology—audio description apps and haptic boards—allowing fans to independently experience matches in real-time.

Insights & Quotes

• On inclusivity:
  “I think it was the first time I’ve ever been able to fully independently sit there and experience a game in real time. Like, that’s a big thing.”
  — Jill Sloan [08:57]
• Reflections on technology:
  “The cost to include blind and visually impaired sports fans... the cost comparatively is relatively tiny.”
  — Narrator [10:32]
• On the joy of inclusion:
  “Parents... do everything in their power to give their kids the same experiences as sighted siblings or sighted peers.”
  — Jill Sloan [07:42]

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3. Chance Reunions: Thanking the Teacher Who Changed My Life

[11:12–15:06]

The Story

• Edward Drew encounters his former music teacher Emma Hudson unexpectedly at a theatre in Devon, UK—12 years and 7,000 km after last seeing her in Abu Dhabi.
• Edward expresses gratitude for being invited into the choir, finding belonging and confidence, and having the support to come out as gay.

Insights & Quotes

• On formative moments:
  “If Emma hadn't done that, I don’t think I would have joined that choir... What an amazing teacher.”
  — Edward Drew [13:21]
• Emma’s reaction:
  “That makes me feel really emotional. You forget sometimes that you do have an impact on young people’s lives.”
  — Emma Hudson [14:15]
• The sweetness of reunion:
  “I was just amazed. I’m just so delighted we’ve had the chance to reconnect.”
  — Emma Hudson [14:53]

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4. Cake Picnic: The Dream of Unlimited Cake and Connection

[17:47–22:23]

The Story

• The cake picnic, a joyful global phenomenon, brings together strangers for a communal feast—entry requires you bring a cake to share.
• The event’s founder, Elisa Sunga, started in San Francisco. The latest picnic drew thousands to Greenwich Park in London, with over 250 cakes.

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• The genesis:
  “When I started it two years ago, I wanted to eat a lot of cake. Along the way, I realized a lot of people also want to eat a lot of cake.”
  — Elisa Sunga [18:59]
• On the vibe:
  “Otherwise you will not have crossed each other’s path. But everyone loves cake and you don’t judge anyone who loves cake. So this is actually very lovely.”
  — Stephanie Prentice [21:50]
• Unique cake selections:
  “One of them is rotating, is actually a carousel.”
  — Holly Gibbs [20:01]

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5. Great Apes and the Rhythm of Laughter

[22:23–25:58]

The Story

• Chiara di Gregorio (University of Warwick) discusses a study revealing that humans and great apes share the same rhythmic pattern in laughter, tracing back over 15 million years.
• The rhythm—like "the ticking of a metronome"—may have helped lead to the development of human speech.

Insights & Quotes

• Laughter and speech evolution:
  “When we talk about laugh and laughter, it’s really the same type of signal organized in the same way and used in the same social context.”
  — Chiara di Gregorio [22:54]
• “Rhythmic laughter...dates back about 15 million years old...maybe the first meaningful vocalization was laughter.”
  — Narrator and Chiara di Gregorio [25:16–25:28]

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6. A Payphone for Positivity: The Washington DC Joke Phone

[25:58–28:59]

The Story

• In a DC neighborhood, a retrofitted payphone—created by substitute teacher Don Rutledge—dispenses jokes, Shakespearean insults, and affirmations for free, delighting kids and adults alike.
• Since its installation, it's delivered over 10,000 jokes, forming part of the community’s daily routine.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Origin of the idea:
  “I saw that there was a place where you could get payphones, and I thought, oh, that would be a really fun thing to have.”
  — Don Rutledge [27:20]
• Joke sample:
  “Knock knock.”
  “Who’s there?”
  “Dewey.”
  “Dewey who?”
  “Do we have school today?”
  — Riley Farrell & Don Rutledge [27:49-27:53]
• Why it’s free:
  “Why would I charge for it? I’ve had a lot of people say it brings them a lot of joy... kids tell me they stop by every single day to get their joke.”
  — Don Rutledge [28:35]

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Timestamps for Notable Segments

• Inviting Strangers to Dinner: [02:05–06:24]
• Accessible Football for the Blind: [06:24–11:12]
• Reuniting with a Life-Changing Teacher: [11:12–15:06]
• Cake Picnic in London: [17:47–22:23]
• The Science of Laughter: [22:23–25:58]
• DC Joke Phone: [25:58–28:59]

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Tone & Style

Reflecting the Happy Pod’s spirit, the episode is full of gentle humor, warmth, and optimism, with contributors speaking in an open, sincere, and occasionally playful tone. Each story spotlights joyful pursuits, meaningful connections, and the innate kindness found in communities worldwide.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode will leave you smiling, inspired by small acts of joy and the creativity people use to foster connection—whether over a plate of curry, a vibrating football pitch, a spontaneous musical reunion, or a slice of mirror-glazed cake. Laughter, as it turns out, really is universal.

Transcript

[Narrator/Advertiser]

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[Holly Gibbs]

this is the Happy Pod from the BBC World Service. I'm Holly Gibbs and in this edition, the couple who invited strangers round for dinner.

[Vic Parisher]

So now we have more friends. That's a good feeling. It's a beautiful feeling.

[Don Rutledge]

Yeah.

[Nidhi Pal]

I feel that I belong here now, which is what I was looking for.

[Vic Parisher]

I'm very greedy. I want to have the whole world, my friend.

[Holly Gibbs]

How one father has helped his blind son enjoy the World cup. Plus a cake lover's dream come true.

[Stephanie Prentice]

So I always think of cake picnic as a moment to make magic in a world that needs it. So thank you all for making that dream come true today,

[Holly Gibbs]

a chance encounter that gave a listener the opportunity to thank the teacher who changed his life.

[Don Rutledge]

And I've had a lot of people say that it brings them a lot of joy. I've had kids tell me like they stop by every single day.

[Holly Gibbs]

A payphone with a difference. Making friends when you move to a new place can be difficult. But one couple who relocated from India to Northern Ireland came up with an unusual way to meet new people and create last connections. Nidhi Pal and Vic Parisher decided to invite strangers to their house for dinner. Those who wanted to join them had to fill out an online form and the couple chose groups of 10 people who they thought would mix well. Now the couple say they have 60 new friends. Olivia Copeland joined them at their home as they prepared for their sixth dinner party. Cooking and listening to relaxing music.

[Nidhi Pal]

You move into a new country and you leave your comfort, your friends, your family behind. Someone you know, you've known for years and years. And as a mature adult, it becomes even more difficult to make friends. And then I suddenly realized that, okay, so we have no friends, we have no social life here. And I don't know how to actually make friends. Because how do you walk up to someone and say, I want to be friends with you. It's not easy. So I came up with this idea that this is what we used to do back home in India as well.

[Vic Parisher]

We were just two of us. You should have a social life because as a human, we are social animals. So we didn't have friends, just a couple of friends. It's very difficult to go out and just meet people and make friends, you know. And in a different country where we don't know their culture, how do we have to approach them? They don't speak the same language. It's a different language. So we thought of opening our door. We started as like for friends. Everyone was like praising and they kind of like pushed us to do more.

[Nidhi Pal]

People liked the idea and they felt that started filling in the form and I noticed that, okay, so it's not just us who are feeling that. There are a lot of people who are open to this idea. And here we are on our sixth supper and I cannot be more proud. I'm grateful.

[Emma Hudson]

How has life changed for you six months later?

[Vic Parisher]

You know that when you go outside, there might be someone you know. So it's a good feeling, you know, that's why we started this. No, to have friends Now I think we have accomplished that. So that's. That's a good feeling. It's a beautiful feeling.

[Don Rutledge]

Yeah.

[Nidhi Pal]

It has completely changed. I would say six months ago I knew nobody here. I feel that I connect better. I have someone I can call in need or when I'm happy, when I'm sad. I feel that I belong here now, which is what I was looking for.

[Emma Hudson]

And does it still feel a little bit nerve wracking, even the sixth time, inviting new people, complete strangers to your home?

[Nidhi Pal]

Absolutely. Because you're opening your personal space to someone, you have never seen them, you are going by with what they feel in the form and you're going with your gut. We've been very fortunate. We've made a lot of friends during this tradition. But yes, it is nerve wracking.

[Emma Hudson]

My hands are like shaking right now as well.

[Holly Gibbs]

Some of the people that you've invited tonight are also new to Belfast.

[Nidhi Pal]

Yeah.

[Holly Gibbs]

How do you hope that they feel

[Emma Hudson]

after spending spending time here this evening?

[Nidhi Pal]

I hope they feel at home. That is the only thing that I want them to feel. I hope they feel that they belong here and I hope that I'm able to show the real Belfast. It is beautiful and I hope it reminds them of home. I hope they feel comfortable.

[Emma Hudson]

And what's your plan for these dinners? Do you think you'll just keep inviting 10 people every month? When will you have enough friends?

[Vic Parisher]

It's never till the time we have the energy and time and people want to come. We would keep inviting. We're not doing anything special. We're cooking food. It's our home. So we just ask people to just try. Not just food, just sit with us, listen to us, talk about yourself, share the stories and just laugh together. So that's what we want to do. And I don't have any plans to stop it. So I'm very greedy. I want to have the whole world.

[Holly Gibbs]

My friend Nidipal and Vic Parisha. The World cup continues to grip football fans across the globe. But for one father in Iran, he has been finding a creative way to help his blind son experience the games. He's created a makeshift football pitch and guides his son's hand around to mimic what's happening on screen. The video has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people on social media. Our reporter Gabriel o' Regan has more.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

This is the moment Ardashir helps his blind son Alireza experience the thrill of the World Cup. Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo has just scored a goal in the 50 match against Uzbekistan. Nine year old Alireza is sat with his hand resting on a cardboard football pitch. Plastic straws make up the goalposts and a marble is used as the ball. As his dad watches the match on tv, he guides his son's hand across the cardboard to mirror the game in real time, including his son in the action with a piece of homemade tactile technology.

[Jill Sloan]

Aw, that's so cute.

[Emma Hudson]

He's so excited. That's so cute.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

That's Jill Sloan. She plays for Canada's women's blind soccer team.

[Jill Sloan]

It's very creative of the dad to find a way for his kid to experience the game in a tactile way, for the dad to be able to give his kid that experience in whatever way possible. Like, it's so sweet and so heartwarming and just. And it's really meaningful because a lot of parents who have, like, kids with disabilities, like, they do everything in their power to give their kids those the same experiences as sighted siblings or sighted peers.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Until recently, Jill's experience of following a live match as a fan meant piecing together an audio puzzle.

[Jill Sloan]

I would be sitting there trying to figure it out based off of, let's say, the crowd's reaction or the whistles being blown or I would Just constantly be poking my fiancee like, hey, what's happening now? What's going on now? What just happened? It's kind of annoying for me because I don't get all the information at the same time as everybody else. And then I feel like I'm kind of annoying him.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

FIFA have called this year's World cup the most inclusive tournament in history. There's a dedicated app providing highly detailed audio description for every single match. There are also haptic boards, effectively a high tech version of the cardboard pitch that Alireza and his dad use. Jill recently used one at a match between New Zealand and Egypt in Vancouver. Using FIFA's audio description app and a haptic board together for the first time.

[Jill Sloan]

I think it was the first time I've ever been able to like fully independently sit there and experience a game in real time. Like, that's a big thing.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

The technology translates the geography of the pitch directly into Jill's hands.

[Jill Sloan]

It's like a plastic rectangle shaped board that you would just like rest on your lap. On top is like raised tactile lines that indicate the different areas on the pitch. And then like a, it's like a pulsating vibrating dot comes onto the board and it's representing like the soccer ball. I could also feel it and hear it in real time and be able to track the ball. And half the time like, oh, well, they just got a foul and my fiancee's like, wait, what? What just happened? So like there was times where he didn't even realize what was happening yet. But because I had the description and the haptic board, I, like, I knew before he did and it was so like kind of just a breath of fresh air and so relieving just to get the chance to be a real fan and again not have to miss out on any part of the game.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

But making that fully immersive experience seamless requires a very specific type of broadcasting skill. Standard television or radio comment isn't enough. The audio describer must paint the pitch entirely with words. I'm Dave Rogers. I am a multi sport commentator across television, live streaming, radio. But it all began with audio description. Body language in sport is so important. Think about a goalkeeper and the way they'll shout orders at defenders. What do they look like? Is, you know, their chests are puffed out, their, their mouths are open and barking and unless somebody tells you that, you're not going to know. It's just helping people maximize their experience of sport. There are still hurdles to clear. The haptic boards are currently only available to Ticket holders inside the stadiums and attending a major World cup fixture is an expensive luxury. The cost to include blind and visually impaired sports fans with an audio description or with a haptics board or with an inclusive space, the cost comparatively is relatively tiny. Jill hopes to eventually see this technology trickle down to local clubs or even be made available for fans to borrow and use in their own living rooms. But for now, whether it's a vibrating haptic board in a huge stadium or a marble on a piece of cardboard, blind and low vision fans are finally getting to feel the beautiful game more than ever before.

[Holly Gibbs]

Gabrielle o' Regan reporting. We often talk about chance encounters here on the Happy Pod. And when one of our listeners found himself in that position, he got in touch. Edward Drew was at his local theatre in the southwest of England when he spotted Emma Hudson, who he'd last seen 12 years ago in Abu Dhabi, more than 7,000 kilometers away. It's safe to say Emma has had quite the impact on Edward's life. I caught up with both of them about their emotional chance meeting.

[Edward Drew]

My mum encouraged me to join the school talent competition, which I won. And after that competition, Mrs. Hudson invited me to join the school choir. And then from there, by joining the choir, choir, joining different drama groups in the school, I really found a sense of community and belonging which I had struggled to find at school. I went into some professional acting as an adult and this basically takes me to going to my local theater in Devon and almost like a Mirage, seeing Mrs. Hudson in the foyer and being like, what are you doing here? Like 12 years later, four and a half thousand miles away from Abu Dhabi, just really this amazing encounter, just recognizing that this is the person who really started it all for me. It was such a huge thing. And I've been looking to contact Mrs. Hudson for a few years now just to thank her for everything that I have now.

[Holly Gibbs]

Emma, what did you think when you saw Ed?

[Emma Hudson]

I was absolutely blown away. I just heard this voice say, are you Emma Hudson? And then I turned around and recognized Ed straight away. It was just the most bizarre but fantastic experience and it's so lovely to reconnect with Ed. And we've got plans to meet up as well, which will be lovely and catch up even further still. But, you know, I literally was floored. I had no idea that Ed was living in Devon and I'm sure he was the same. Didn't know I was living here either. And there we were in the same place, same time.

[Holly Gibbs]

Ed, you said that you wanted to reach out to Emma in The years before this chance encounter, what was it that you wanted to say to Emma?

[Edward Drew]

Oh, so much. I mean, I think school is such a formative time for people, and I think a lot of people, a lot of young people struggle to find that sense of belonging, that sense of security and safety. I didn't really know who I was at that point, but really allowing that space of freedom and creativity with other people allowed me to come into myself. If I didn't have music or theater, I don't think I would have come out. I came out as gay when I was 14 in Abu Dhabi, and I felt really, really held and really held in those spaces. And I really just wanted to thank Emma because I think teachers have such a crucial role in spotting musical talent. If Emma hadn't had done that, I don't think I would have joined that choir. I don't think I would have joined that drama production in all the things that followed since. So I really just wanted to thank Emma. What an amazing. What an amazing teacher.

[Holly Gibbs]

Emma, how does that feel, knowing that you had that much of an impact on one of your students?

[Emma Hudson]

That makes me feel really emotional. And I've been teaching for 33 years and I think you forget sometimes that you do have an impact on young people's lives. You know, we do our day to day and do the things that, you know, we routinely do. I run choir rehearsals, orchestra rehearsals, we do shows. And when you meet somebody, you meet them after such a long time and then they sort of tell you that you've made a difference. It's just amazing. I mean, I think that's really everything. When you're a music teacher, if you've managed to inspire one person or however many people, it means a huge amount.

[Holly Gibbs]

How great, how grateful are you that you've bumped into each other very randomly?

[Emma Hudson]

Yeah, I was just amazing. I'm just so delighted that we've had the chance to reconnect and hopefully this is the start of more meetings and collaborations and even if we just get together for coffee, it will be amazing.

[Holly Gibbs]

That was Edward Drew and Emma Hudson. Do you have a story that you want to tell us? We'd love to hear from you. As ever, the address is globalpodcastbc.co.uk. Coming up on the Happy Pod,

[Chiara di Gregorio]

we all share the same rhythm while laughing. So a very regular type of signal. And we all, you know, laugh in the same way. Apparently.

[Holly Gibbs]

A new discovery about our closest animal relatives.

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[Holly Gibbs]

You're listening to the Happy Pod. Now imagine a picnic where the only thing on the menu is unlimited cake. Well, I'm pleased to tell you that such a thing does exist. Over the past two years, thousands of people around the world have been meeting up for cake picnics. They began in the US and have spread to Mexico, Australia, and other countries in Europe. The most recent one was held here in London, and our reporter, Stephanie Prentice, got the very fortunate job of going along.

[Stephanie Prentice]

To all of our new friends, welcome. Can you raise your hand if you brought a cake? Today, we are all about no cake, no entry. So to everyone with your hands up, a round of applause. You guys.

[Advertiser]

Have you ever been lying in bed wishing you could eat a giant cake? Or in fact, lots of pieces of different cakes all at once? Well, Elisa Sunga, a tech worker living in San Francisco, did and felt it was a problem that needed solving. During one morning dreaming Of a cake feast. She posted on Instagram asking if people fancied having a cake picnic where everyone brought cakes along and then shared them.

[Stephanie Prentice]

When I think about cake picnic, when I started it two years ago, I wanted to eat a lot of cake. And along the way, I realized that a lot of people also want to eat a lot of cake. But at the same time, when and why do you ever need to eat hundreds of cake at one time? You don't. But the beauty of it is that we choose to do so because of our free will, and we just choose to have a nice, lovely time together outdoors in the sun, spending it here together.

[Advertiser]

The response was far beyond her wildest sugary dreams. And now she works full time, hosting cake picnics all around the world. In a corner of Greenwich park, colorful bunting marks the spot as guests drop off elaborate cakes on long banqueting tables.

[Stephanie Prentice]

We have over around 250 cakes here today. I don't know if you've ever been around that many cakes, but you guys, you brought it.

[Advertiser]

And these amateur bakers are not messing around. Can you believe the quality of these cakes?

[Holly Gibbs]

One of them is rotating, is actually a carousel.

[Nidhi Pal]

Wow.

[Emma Hudson]

Yeah.

[Advertiser/McDonald's or Grainger]

People, like, really think outside of the box, which is amazing.

[Holly Gibbs]

I made a Ukrainian honey cake which is about eight layers sandwiched with a

[Emma Hudson]

sort of spiced cream.

[Nidhi Pal]

I have a heart shaped strawberry and vanilla cake filled with a homemade strawberry curd.

[Advertiser]

Can we ask you about your cake?

[Edward Drew]

Yeah, sure. But my wife did the entire thing.

[Advertiser]

Next, the systematic business of feasting.

[Stephanie Prentice]

We're going to take turns cutting cakes, so if you have a blue wristband, please slowly make your way up. Grab your cake box.

[Advertiser]

People are excited. I see some people looking quite stressed. Okay, you're doing very well here. What was your strategy?

[Nidhi Pal]

Just panic. Panic moves and hunger.

[Emma Hudson]

I'm gonna start at my cake, Skip the ones I don't like, get as

[Nidhi Pal]

many as I can.

[Stephanie Prentice]

I'm just gonna cut as messily as I can and just move fast.

[Nidhi Pal]

Choose the ones that looks best.

[Holly Gibbs]

Choose the biggest ones that had the most decorations.

[Jill Sloan]

Yummy.

[Advertiser]

I went around the table and found

[Nidhi Pal]

the most exotic fruits and figured out

[Advertiser]

cakes that I'd never tried before. I'm seeing lots of orderly behavior, Everyone following the rules. Does it go down differently in different countries?

[Stephanie Prentice]

No, it's about the same per country. I think the only difference was in Minneapolis at the end, we had so much cake left over because apparently in Minneapolis, everyone wants to leave a lot for the person after them. So this concept of like saving it for the next person 3, 2, 1. Thank you.

[Emma Hudson]

Make your way back to your place.

[Advertiser]

The other groups take turns as Group 1 starts tackling huge boxes of cake and making friends.

[Stephanie Prentice]

Oh, it's just lovely because I think

[Emma Hudson]

otherwise you will not have crossed each other's path.

[Stephanie Prentice]

But everyone loves cake and you don't judge anyone who loves cake. So this is actually very lovely.

[Nidhi Pal]

We just made a friend, Chloe.

[Jill Sloan]

I just made friends with that.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

The rule of the final round is to eat to your heart's content. But that's the rule of every round.

[Emma Hudson]

Always eat.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

You're here for cake, cut to your

[Holly Gibbs]

heart's content and eat even more.

[Stephanie Prentice]

So I always think of cake picnic as a moment to make magic in a world that needs it. So thank you all for making that dream come true.

[Advertiser/McDonald's or Grainger]

Today,

[Holly Gibbs]

Aliza Sunga, the founder of Cake Picnic, ending that report by Stephanie Prentice. Now it's time for a laugh. Great ape style. Scientists have found that human laughter and that of our closest animal relative share similar rhythmic patterns. They say laughter itself dates back to our shared ancestors more than 15 million years ago. My colleague Paul Henley spoke to the lead author of the study, Chiara di Gregorio from the University of Warwick.

[Chiara di Gregorio]

When we talk about laugh and laughter, it's really the same type of signal organized in the same way and also used in the same social context. But something similar is still present in other human animals. And this tell us that this kind of vocal behavior is so important that it's present in many, many mammals.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

But it's the great ape's laughter that can be compared to ours. And I think we've got a clip here of, of a chimpanzee making a laughing sound. So the sound that the chimp makes isn't that similar, but it's about the rhythm, isn't it?

[Chiara di Gregorio]

Yes. So we actually found that we and other non human tapes, or the chimp you just listen to, but also bonobos, orangutans, gorillas, we all share the same rhythm while laughing. And it is like the ticking of a clock or the ticking of a metronome. So a very regular type of sign. And we all, you know, laugh in the same way, apparently.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

And that gives us an insight into the way communication speech evolved. Does it?

[Chiara di Gregorio]

Yeah, in a weird way, actually looking at laughter can tell us something about how we get to, you know, evolve language and speech. Speech is something that only humans have, so it's difficult to understand how it evolved because it's difficult to make comparison of this kind of vocalization since it's not present in other animals. But Actually, laughter, it is so a very important point in the evolution of human language and speech has something to do with the ability to control our mouth and our lips and our tongue. Because actually the vocal tract of other non human primates, it's already speech ready. It could produce speech. What is missing there is the ability to move mouth, lips, tongue. And by looking at laughter, we actually have seen, seen how during evolution, the rhythm and the tempo of laughter accelerated. And this tell us something about the fact that with evolution we got more, you say good at moving our mouth, which it maybe seem very simple, but it really tell us something about we evolve to get to the point where we were able to produce complex sounds as speech.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

But rhythmic laughter, we can now say dates back about 15 million years old. Are we saying that the first meaningful vocalization was laughter? Which is quite a nice discovery?

[Chiara di Gregorio]

Yeah, I would say that maybe the first that we actually really share because of course, the newborn primates can communicate with some very also complex vocal behavior. The more we studied them, the more we actually found that they do crazy things. They use that for different function and purposes than, you know, human speech. But actually, Lasser, that's the same. That's still using the same kind of sound for the same kind of social, you know, situation and social relationship.

[Holly Gibbs]

Chiara D. Gregorio we end with a payphone in Washington D.C. but this isn't any old phone. We sent the happy pods Riley Farrell to make a call.

[Riley Farrell]

In an age of smartphones, stumbling across a payphone is like a blast from the past. And on a residential street in Washington D.C. one hangs on a pole, chrome black steel receiver dangling from a cord. Seemingly standard stuff. So I stroll up to the payphone. Now, I should confess, I did not just happen upon it. I came here with an express purpose. This isn't any ordinary payphone. And to discover why, you must pick up.

[Don Rutledge]

When do you need Chapstick in the garden? When you're planting tulips?

[Nidhi Pal]

Get it?

[Riley Farrell]

This is the jokephone, a local curiosity that's been spreading giggles across Washington D.C. for three years. It's a restored payphone that's been given a second life. It delivers jokes, fun facts, Shakespearean insults, and even the occasional pep talk. The man behind it all is Don Rutledge, a primary school substitute teacher by day who moonlights as the mastermind behind the jokes phone. He told me where his idea began.

[Don Rutledge]

I saw that there was a place where you could get payphones, and I thought, oh, that would be a really fun thing to have. Like, maybe I'll Just fiddle with it and make it into a phone phone for the family to use. And then I started thinking about it. I got the phone and looked inside.

[Edward Drew]

I was like, you know what would

[Don Rutledge]

really be cool is if it could be interactive for other people. And then I thought of jokes. It was a solid Winter's project.

[Riley Farrell]

Press the star key, then choose a number from 1 to 4 and you'll unlock different categories of jokes.

[Don Rutledge]

Knock knock.

[Holly Gibbs]

Who's there?

[Don Rutledge]

Dewey.

[Stephanie Prentice]

Dewey who?

[Don Rutledge]

Do we have school today?

[Riley Farrell]

Preston 5. And you'll hear an insult from a Shakespeare play.

[Don Rutledge]

Well, I guess you asked for it. You are nothing but a white livered, hard haired giglet.

[Riley Farrell]

And if what you need isn't a laugh but a lift, there are affirmations too.

[Nidhi Pal]

It's okay to take a break.

[Holly Gibbs]

You have good friends who love you. You are ready to start the day.

[Riley Farrell]

Since it was installed, the phone has delivered more than 10,000 jokes according to online usage statistics. Best part, the jokes are free.

[Don Rutledge]

Why would I charge for it? I mean, it be kind of ridiculous. I. I've had a lot of people say that it brings them a lot of joy. I've had kids tell me like they stop by every single day to get their joke, which I have to imagine really annoys the parents when they're late for school. I'm glad I'm having such a positive effect for a whimsical project.

[Holly Gibbs]

That was Riley Farrell reporting. And that's all from the happy pod for now. We'd love to hear from you. As ever, the address is globalpodcastbc.co.uk this edition was mixed and produced by Rachel Bulkley. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Holly Gibbs. Until next time. Goodbye.

[Advertiser/McDonald's or Grainger]

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