Re-air: Competitive Eating and Pyrotechnics! 🎆

Summary

The Ten News: "Re-air: Competitive Eating and Pyrotechnics! 🎆"

Release Date: July 4, 2025
Host: Bethany Van Zelft, with contributors Jacob & Olivia Rosenzweig (Curious Kid Podcast) and Ryan Nurs
Main Theme:
A kid-friendly exploration of spectacular Fourth of July traditions—fireworks and competitive eating—with a dash of science, history, and fun trivia. The episode mixes fireworks science, hot dog–eating insights, festive foods, fun headlines, and wacky holiday facts.

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Fireworks Science & Pyrotechnics

Segment Start: [00:06]

Key Discussion Points & Insights:

• Fireworks as Science, Not Magic
  • Olivia: Fireworks are a beloved fourth of July tradition, alongside barbecues and wearing festive red, white, and blue outfits.
  • Jacob: “They might seem like magic, but fireworks involve lots of science.” [01:17]
• Parts of a Firework
  • Shells contain a stick (directional), fuse, explosive, and “stars" (colorful pellets).
  • Fireworks are launched from ground-based cylinders, each holding one shell.
• How Fireworks Work
  • “When the fuse hits the explosive inside the shell, the shell explodes. The explosion lights up the stars that were inside the shell and sends them soaring in different directions.” — Olivia [02:00]
  • Chemistry of Colors: Copper = blue, sodium = yellow.
• Role of Pyrotechnicians
  • Pyrotechnicians design each shell to achieve the desired colors and patterns.
  • The Macy’s Fourth of July show uses about 65,000 shells in 25 minutes, managed by ~60 pyrotechnicians!
    • “That’s more than 2,500 shells a minute.” — Olivia [03:04]
• Memorable Quote:
  • “Learning how fireworks work gives me a new appreciation for this beautiful Fourth of July tradition.” — Olivia [03:18]

Notable Moment:

• Jacob wishes everyone a happy Fourth of July. [03:23]

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Competitive Eating: The Hot Dog Showdown

Segment Start: [03:58]
Contributor: Ryan Nurs

Key Discussion Points & Insights:

• Food as a Core July 4th Tradition
  • Ryan humorously prioritizes food over historical celebrations, spotlighting hot dogs as the ultimate July 4th fare.
• Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest
  • Ryan: As a former announcer, shares the scale; Joey “Jaws” Chestnut can eat 25 times as many hot dogs as an average person in 10 minutes.
• Science & Strategy of Speed Eating
  • Training the Jaw:
    • “The jaw, particularly a muscle in your cheek called the masseter, is one of the strongest muscles in the body. But it still gets tired.”
    • Eaters chew gum to strengthen their jaws—up to five pieces at once!
  • Swallowing Skills:
    • “Your body has what’s called a gag reflex…it’s actually a good thing.” [05:30]
    • Pros train throat muscles and practice swallowing water to override this reflex.
  • Stomach Stretching:
    • Pros drink gallons of water to stretch their stomachs for more food capacity.
  • Shimmies and the Kobe Shake:
    • Pro tip: Jumping or wiggling helps push food down.
    • Kobayashi’s “Kobe Shake” is legendary and led him to six titles.
  • Chipmunking:
    • Final seconds: Filling cheeks for extra points—just like chipmunks, whose cheeks can hold food three times their head size!
      • “Whatever you fit into your cheeks counts toward your total.” [07:50]
      • You have 30 seconds post-whistle to swallow it all.
  • Safety Reminder:
    • “Don’t try any of these techniques at home. Just relax and enjoy your Fourth of July cookout.” [08:19]

Memorable Quote:

• “I’d much rather be at the neighborhood barbecue than in Coney Island competing against the world’s greatest speed eaters.” — Ryan Nurs [05:03]

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Fun Headlines & Newsworthy Oddities

Segment Start: [08:26]
Host: Bethany Van Zelft, Jacob, & Olivia

Key Highlights:

• Canada Day (July 1)
  • Celebrated with parades, food, fireworks; this year, cities offer take-home s’mores and hot dog kits due to the pandemic.
• Daredevil Tightrope Walkers
  • Two brothers set a state and national record in Yosemite by walking a half-mile highline with a 1,600-foot drop.
• Wild Animal Encounters
  • A lobster diver off Cape Cod was accidentally swallowed and then spit back out by a humpback whale—“a whale of a time!”
• Message in a Bottle
  • A boy in Rhode Island sends a message; three years later it’s found in Portugal. The teens connect after the story goes viral.

Memorable Quote:

• Jacob: “Awesome.” [09:03]
• Bethany: “Life imitates art.” [10:54]

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Trivia Time: Quirky 4th of July Foods

Segment Start: [11:02]
Host: Bethany Van Zelft

Trivia Q&A:

• Question: Which unusual Independence Day treat is a New England tradition?
  • a) Salmon and peas
  • b) Beets with blueberries
  • c) Strawberries with cheese
• Answer: Salmon and peas.
  • “The pink fish has been an Independence Day tradition in New England for centuries and a staple on plates since before the country was founded.” — Bethany [11:04]
  • Salmon’s migration in July and the pea harvest made them a natural pairing.

Memorable Quote:

• Olivia: “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.” [11:58]

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “They might seem like magic, but fireworks involve lots of science.” — Jacob Rosenzweig [01:17]
• “Pyrotechnicians know exactly how to get the amazing colors and sounds you see in a beautiful fireworks show.” — Jacob [02:31]
• “Learning how fireworks work gives me a new appreciation for this beautiful Fourth of July tradition.” — Olivia [03:18]
• “As a former announcer of the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, I know that even if I stuff my face with three hot dogs, the reigning champion, Joey Jaws Chestnut, will eat 25 times that in 10 minutes.” — Ryan Nurs [04:42]
• “The jaw, particularly a muscle in your cheek called the masseter, is one of the strongest muscles in the body.” — Ryan [04:56]
• “At the end of the contest, whatever you fit into your cheeks counts toward your total. So the technique of chipmunking…gives you a competitive advantage.” — Ryan [07:52]
• “Don’t try any of these techniques at home. Just relax and enjoy your Fourth of July cookout.” — Ryan [08:19]
• Jacob reacting to the chipmunk fact: “No way.” [07:49]

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Episode Tone and Takeaways

• Playful, Engaging, and Informative: The tone is lively and accessible—full of cool facts, friendly banter, and clear explanations.
• Curiosity-Driven: Encourages kids to look at traditions through the lens of science and history.
• Safety–First Message: The fast-eating segment ends with a strong reminder NOT to try competitive eating at home.
• Celebration of Tradition: Explores how classic Fourth of July customs mix fun, community, and a bit of wackiness.

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Perfect For: Curious kids, family listening, and anyone looking for fun, bite-sized July 4th facts and science!

Transcript

[Ryan Nurs]

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

[Bethany Van Zelft]

I'm Bethany Van Zelft, and this is the 10 News where we get the lowdown on what's up in the world. It's Thursday, July 1st. American flags are flying and fireworks are fizzling as the country gets ready for Independence Day. So let's dive in and explore some fun fourth of July traditions. After many events were canceled last year, some Fourth of July fireworks celebrations are back in cities and communities around the country. Fireworks are loud and colorful, but what is it that makes them so explosively cool? Jacob and Olivia Rosenzweig from the Curious Kid Podcast are here to tell us all about the science behind fantastic fireworks.

[Olivia Rosenzweig]

When I think about the fourth of July, I think about so many wonderful traditions and including barbecues with family and friends and wearing red, white and blue. There is another spectacular fourth of July tradition that I look forward to every year. I love watching a beautiful fireworks display on the night of July 4th. Fireworks are magical.

[Jacob Rosenzweig]

They might seem like magic, but fireworks involve lots of science. Cool.

[Olivia Rosenzweig]

In order to understand how fireworks work, it helps to know the different parts of a firework.

[Jacob Rosenzweig]

There's a stick, a fuse, an explosive, and little colorful pellets called stars. The explosive and stars are located inside a spherical shell.

[Olivia Rosenzweig]

If you've ever had the chance to see fireworks live, you may have noticed that the firework shells are launched from cylinders on the ground. Each cylinder holds a single shell.

[Jacob Rosenzweig]

Sticking out of the bottom of each shell is a stick. It points the shell in the right direction up.

[Olivia Rosenzweig]

When the shell is launched from the cylinder, the fuse is lit. When the fuse hits the explosive inside the shell, the shell explodes.

[Jacob Rosenzweig]

The explosion lights up the stars that were inside the shell and sends them soaring in different directions.

[Olivia Rosenzweig]

And different colors are formed by different chemicals inside the stars. For example, copper forms blue and sodium forms yellow. All the work of putting the fireworks together is done by pyrotechnicians.

[Jacob Rosenzweig]

What does that mean? Pyrotechnicians know exactly how to get the amazing colors and sounds you see in a beautiful fireworks show. They customize each shell to create the colors and designs you see when fireworks explode.

[Olivia Rosenzweig]

That's amazing. Pyrotechnicians work so hard to plan incredible fireworks displays. For example, the world famous Macy's 4th of July fireworks show this year will feature the explosion of 65,000 shells during the 25 minute show.

[Ryan Nurs]

Whoa.

[Olivia Rosenzweig]

That's more than 2,500 shells a minute. The planning of the Macy's fireworks show is done by about 60 licensed pyrotechnicians that plan every detail of the show and for months before the big day. Learning how fireworks work gives me a new appreciation for this beautiful fourth of July tradition.

[Jacob Rosenzweig]

Happy fourth of July everybody.

[Bethany Van Zelft]

Thanks, Jacob and Olivia. It'll be super exciting to see how these pyrotechnic pros light up the night. Fireworks and food are two main ingredients for a July 4th fun, but some people take eating to the extreme. On July 4th, our correspondent Ryan Nurs has more on the competitive eating scene and how the now famous fourth of July tradition got its start.

[Ryan Nurs]

For many people, the fourth of July celebrates such lofty things as America's independence from England, the founding of a nation built on freedom and democracy, the bursting of fireworks in the sky. But for me, it's mainly about food. Creamy potato salad, sizzling spicy barbecued chicken, hamburgers and their tastier cousins, cheeseburgers. And of course, the most 4th of July EST of foods. Hot dogs Delicious. No matter how many hot dogs I eat on Independence Day, I take comfort in the fact that someone will be eating more. A lot more. As a former announcer of the Nathan's Famous fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, I know that even if I stuff my face with three hot dogs, the reigning champion, Joey Jaws chestnut, will eat 25 times that in 10 minutes.

[Jacob Rosenzweig]

What?

[Ryan Nurs]

And as the author of Eat this book, A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating circuit, I know that I'd much rather be at the neighborhood barbecue than than in Coney island competing against the world's greatest speed eaters. How do I know this, you ask? Because of two things, training and science. See, the hardest part of competitive eating happens before the hot dogs ever hit your belly. Let's start at the beginning with chewing the jaw, particularly a muscle in your cheek called the masseter is one of the strongest muscles in the body. But it still gets tired. That's why competitive eaters train the jaw by chewing up to five pieces of gum at once. Some competitive eaters, or gurgitators, as they're called, have a bite strength of 280 pounds of force, which is more than that of a German shepherd. And what comes next after chewing? If you said swallowing high five. And the reason that's less fun as a pro gurgitator is is because your body has what's called a gag reflex, which is actually a good thing. The gag reflex is what helps your body get rid of food that might be unsafe to swallow. So it's that thing you do if you're trying to swallow too much food. At once, or what you're swallowing is just flat out gross. To push past the gag reflex, competitive eaters train muscles near the throat called esophageal sphincters in order to swallow entire mouthfuls of water all at once. Some of them do this repeatedly with up to 2 gallons of water. This stretches their stomach muscles, you know, to make space for more hot dogs. When the food is on its way down, sometimes it needs a little help. That's why you see progrgitators jumping and shimmying to help push food down toward the stomach. The famous Japanese eater Takeru the Tsunami Kobayashi uses his patented Kobe Shake, a wiggling dance that helped lead him to six straight titles on the 4th of July. But the very last thing competitive eaters do in a contest right before the final whistle is something they borrowed from a tiny striped rodent. Here's a little the rodent makes this sound. If you said chipmunk, well, extra credit. See, at the end of the contest, whatever you fit into your cheeks counts toward your total. So the technique of chipmunking or stretching out your cheeks to store food gives you a competitive advantage. Also, fun fact, a chipmunk's cheeks can stretch to be three times larger than its head.

[Jacob Rosenzweig]

No way.

[Ryan Nurs]

But anyway, there's a catch. Whatever you can't swallow in the competition in 30 seconds after the whistle doesn't count. There you have it, the science behind training for the 4th of July Hot Dog eating contest. And now you know why it's more fun to be an amateur eater chewing slowly and just savoring the deliciousness of your food. Needless to say, don't try any of these techniques at home. Just relax and enjoy your fourth of July cookout. And leave the chipmunking and stomach stretching exercises to the pros.

[Bethany Van Zelft]

Thanks, Ryan. Now I'm getting hungry. Now let's check in on some headlines. Today, Canadians everywhere are celebrating Canada Day. The holiday celebrates when provinces were joined into one country. Cities around the country celebrate with parades, food and fireworks too. This year, because of the pandemic, some cities are offering to go s' mores and hot dog kits for families to enjoy at home.

[Jacob Rosenzweig]

Awesome.

[Bethany Van Zelft]

Ever wanted to walk across a tightrope really high in the air? Me neither. But two brothers recently set a record for the longest highline ever walked in both Yosemite national park and in the state of California. It took them a week to set up the half mile long line, which they walked across successfully with nothing but a 1600 foot drop below them. One lobster diver recently had a whale of a time. While he was fishing off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, he was accidentally swallowed by a humpback whale and and then spit back out. The man had some bruises, but otherwise was okay. I wonder if his name was Pinocchio. And speaking of ocean adventures, a message in a bottle has united two teenagers across the Atlantic. While on vacation in Rhode Island, a boy sent the bottle but eventually forgot about it. It wasn't until three years later that it was picked up by a boy on a beach in Portugal. Steve Kubine and Nan McNamara's podcast From.

[Olivia Rosenzweig]

Beneath the Hollywood Sign, wife pulls out a box and gives McAllister a ring.

[Bethany Van Zelft]

Saying, here's something to remember me by Daryl Zanuck Hit the roof. Mary Astor has been keeping a diary.

[Ryan Nurs]

This torrid affair with George S. Kaufman.

[Bethany Van Zelft]

Is chronicled on a daily basis, talking about the actors and actresses who won an Oscar on their very first film. Get your fix of old Hollywood on the podcast. First from beneath the Hollywood sign, The two teenagers, now 16 and 17, connected after a picture of the message went viral.

[Jacob Rosenzweig]

Excellent.

[Bethany Van Zelft]

Life imitates art. Coming up next. What What?

[Ryan Nurs]

What's the big idea?

[Bethany Van Zelft]

Trivia on the 10 speaking of food on the 4th, New England has an interesting, offbeat holiday treat. What is it? Is it a salmon and peas, b beets with blueberries, or c strawberries with cheese? Did you guess it? The answer is a salmon and peas. The pink fish has been an Independence Day tradition in New England for centuries and a staple on plates since before the country was founded. Salmon was a source of food for the area's people since hundreds of thousands of fish made their annual migration up the region's rivers during this time.

[Olivia Rosenzweig]

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.

[Bethany Van Zelft]

Peas also ripened in late June, so the veggie became the perfect pairing. Time is up, but before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and extras on Saturdays. You can go deeper into today's stories by visiting theten.news.com. the 10News is a co production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter podcast and is distributed by iHeartradio. The 10News creative team is craving salmon and includes Kate Hale, Tracy Crooks, Pete Musto, Jennifer Pasqua and Sarah Olender. Ryan Nurs and Jacob and Olivia Rosenzweig contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to the 10 news.