Two Whats?! And A Wow! People Who Wow Edition – Guinness World Record Holder David Rush

Summary

Wow in the World – Two Whats?! And A Wow! People Who Wow Edition

Guinness World Record Holder David Rush (May 22, 2026)

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Episode Overview

In this lively People Who Wow Edition of "Two Whats?! And A Wow!", hosts Mindy Thomas and Reg welcome the Guinness World Record breaker David Rush for a game-filled conversation. The show takes listeners—especially curious kids—on a journey through David’s extraordinary record-breaking adventures, his mindset, and his advice for young aspirants. Together, they play "Two Whats?! And A Wow!", challenging listeners to identify the one true fact among entertaining fakes, all while revealing David’s science-friendly approach to conquering goals and the importance of perseverance and fun.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Meet David Rush: Record Breaker and Multifaceted Human (04:27 - 06:36)

• Background: David Rush is a renowned Guinness World Record holder from Idaho. He's also a national park enthusiast, a father of three, and knows his way around grocery store prices.
• Early Math Skills: As a kid, David would guess the total cost of groceries for fun and practice math (04:41).
• Parenting Perspective: His kids aren’t as impressed by his records as others, which keeps him grounded (05:27).

Quote:
"Sometimes their friends might get super excited about it… But if it's just me at home practicing or breaking a world record attempt, they'll often go find their video games… because they're around it so often, it's not novel for them." – David Rush (05:38)

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Game On: Two Whats?! And a Wow! (06:36 - 16:16)

Round 1: Childhood Memories (07:05 - 10:48)

David shares three childhood memories; Mindy and listeners try to find the real one.

• Choices:

  1. Performed with a choir at an outdoor theater in Colorado
  2. Ran from a cougar at his grandparents’ place
  3. Rode the Tower of Terror 22 times in one day as a teen

• True “Wow”: The cougar story—except it turned out the “cougar” was actually a yellow lab, producing a vivid memory and a funny twist (09:30).

Quote:
"And this memory is like one of the most vivid memories of my childhood… And then my brother and cousin start laughing … then it came within 10ft of us and that cougar turned into a yellow lab." – David Rush (09:30)

• Insight: David talks about fear and how he overcomes it: “If I want to overcome a fear, I face that fear.” (10:02)

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Round 2: Personal Challenges (10:58 - 17:56)

• Choices:

  1. Rejected from his dream college three times before getting in
  2. Lost out on a million dollar prize three times
  3. Broke five ribs attempting Guinness titles

• Mindy’s Guess: A (Rejected from college) – Incorrect!

• Truth: Lost out on a million dollar prize three times (16:05).

  • Twice as a contestant on "America’s Got Talent"
  • Once on Fox’s "99 to Beat," losing on a trickier-than-expected pencil-bouncing challenge

Quotes:

• “My full time job is in tech… breaking world records has always been a side gig for me. It’s to show students that if you set your mind to a goal … you can accomplish virtually anything.” – David Rush (12:37)
• "Unfortunately, following that rule made it 100 times harder. And I know this because after I got eliminated, I went back and I broke the Guinness World Records title for the fastest time to bounce 10 pencils into 10 cups… under seven seconds..." – David Rush (17:01)

Notable Moment: Mindy tries a silly physical challenge after guessing incorrectly—balancing and catching a cashew with David’s coaching (15:11-15:45).

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Round 3: Record-Breaking Adventures (18:58 - 22:12)

• Choices: Which of these is NOT a true record David broke?

  1. Landed on the smallest target ever while BASE jumping
  2. Longest time balancing a running chainsaw on his chin
  3. Sliced the most kiwis with a samurai sword while standing on a Swiss exercise ball
  4. Most selfies with different people in three minutes

• Truth (the "What"): He has not landed on the smallest target while BASE jumping—that’s too risky even for him! (22:08)

• Real “Wow” feats:

  • Longest time balancing a running chainsaw on his chin (21:12)
  • Most kiwis sliced with a samurai sword on a Swiss ball (21:33)
  • Most selfies in three minutes; over 200 at an MIT reunion (20:32)

Quote:
"I have also done (the kiwi sword record) multiple times... So balancing on that thing, that's the first hardest risk. I gotta practice that... then someone tosses me kiwis, and I slice them with the samurai sword." – David Rush (21:36)

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Lightning Round – Would You Rather? (23:34 - 24:26)

Quick-fire “would you rather” questions about his record-breaking preferences; David prefers:

• Breaking something over building
• Juggling over balancing
• Throwing contests over eating contests
• Speed over distance
• Deck of card towers to glass towers
• Orange juice over lemon juice
• Chopsticks over Nerf balls
• Paper airplanes over paper animals
• Breaking records with a team over alone

Team Record Example:

• Family broke (pending review) the record for fastest time to clear a Hungry Hungry Hippos game – under 3 seconds! (24:34)

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David Rush’s Advice for Kids (25:18 - 25:54)

Inspiring Challenge:
"If you set your mind to a goal, believe in yourself and pursue it with a passion, you can become better at anything... Go out and find a record you can break yourself. There are ones for under 16s—grab a friend, practice, and try to break it yourself!" – David Rush

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Most Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Overcoming Fear: "If I want to overcome a fear, I face that fear." (10:02)
• Grit and Growth Mindset: "What changed? It wasn’t anything physical. It was my mindset and the thought that I can do this and I will do this." (12:37)
• For the Kids: "Breaking world records has always been a side gig… to show students that… you can accomplish virtually anything with no hard upper limit." (12:37)
• Family Fun: "It was my wife and I and our two boys… we had to clear the 20 balls off that Hungry Hungry Hippos board in sub eight seconds… under three seconds!" (24:34)
• Playful Coaching: "I'd flick it up and then catch it like a seal." (15:35)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Early math skills & grocery store memories: 04:41
• First “Two Whats?! And a Wow!” round (childhood memory): 07:05
• The “cougar” story: 09:30
• David’s mindset and what motivates him: 12:37
• Physical challenge with cashew: 15:11
• Lightning round – would you rather: 23:34
• Advice for kids and under-16 records: 25:18

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

Upbeat, inspiring, and playful—David Rush and Mindy Thomas mix science curiosity with a can-do attitude. The message is clear: Stay curious, have fun, and pursue your “wows” with passion and persistence, even if the world record you set is just for you!

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Action for Listeners

• Try a safe “get to know you” challenge with friends or family.
• Consider breaking a small, fun record—maybe even one in the under-16 age category!
• Call the Wow in the World fact hotline to be part of their listener record attempt.

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Hosts: Mindy Thomas, Reg
Guest: David Rush (Guinness World Record holder, engineer, family man, motivational record breaker)

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For more Wow in the World, visit Tinkercast.com

Transcript

[Mindy Thomas]

Hey, Wowzer fams. Mindy here. And before we start the show, Happy Wow. Birthday. That's right. Wow in the world is officially nine years old. And if I had to guess, a lot of you are nine years old too. Or maybe you were nine. Or maybe you're not quite nine years old yet. Anyhoo, whether you started listening nine years ago or nine days ago, we want to thank you for spending time with us. That's right, Reg. You want to help keep us wowing. Tell your friends and your family about us, or leave us a reviewsie. Grownups, you can also support our show by gifting a membership to the world organization of Wowzers to a kid in your life. Oh, good idea, Reg. We should tell them what it is. So with your wow. Membership, you'll get a birthday card in the mail when it's your birthday. Plus quarterly mailings, exclusive access to members only activities and events. And from now until the end of the month, we'll be adding an extra, extra bonus wow. Surprise in your welcome kit. Just a little something to show how grateful we are that you have chosen to wow with us. Grown ups. To sign up for a membership today, visit Tinkercast.com wow that's Tinkercast.com wow. And now a quick ad break and then we'll get on with the show. Who's that walking through the woods? Wyatt Yoshi. Here to explore a world of curious creatures with you discovered a creature you haven't seen before. Why don't you get Yoshi to see what it tastes like? Hmm, soapy. No wonder this creature blows giant bubbles so big they can carry you. You can even jump from one bubble to another and reach new areas. There are plenty more surprises to disc. Bowser Jr. What are you doing out here? You can jump into adventure with Yoshi and the mysterious book. Available now only on Nintendo Switch 2. Game rated E for everyone. Hey, grown ups Mindy here. And do I have a wow for you. What if I told you that the best kids math program is actually inspired by comic books and it's about monsters. It's called Beast Academy. And the little monsters, like Grog, do the kind of math that gets kids curious enough to see and think and figure things out for themselves. For example, Grog asked his Beast Academy math club, if our school has more than 366 kids in it, is it guaranteed that two of them will have exactly the same birthday? He proved that the answer is yes through problem solving. Wow. That's Beast Academy. Where kids build problem solving skills through interesting problems and Puzzles. It's from the folks at Art of Problem Solving. The same people who train math champions, Grown ups. Head to beastacademy.com and use code BEASTWOW for 10% off the online program. Oh, and tell Grog Mindy says hi. Is it top secret?

[David Rush]

It's not. I mean, it's a little bit top secret, but I'll let you in on the secret.

[Mindy Thomas]

You do some pretty bonkerballs courageous stuff when you're breaking world records. What do I do?

[David Rush]

I would. I'd flick it up and then catch it like a seal.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay. Okay. Welcome to two what's and a wow,

[Reg]

People who wow Edition with your host,

[David Rush]

Mindy, and featuring today's special guest, David Rush.

[Mindy Thomas]

2 what's in a wow. Hello and welcome to 2 what's in a wow? People who wow Edition, the getting to know you game show that separates the wows from the what of some of the world's most interesting people. And today's guest is no exception. He comes to us from Idaho, is a national park enthusiast, has a knack for guessing the prices in grocery stores, is the father of three, and knows a thing or two about world records. Please welcome the one, the only world record breaking, David Rice.

[David Rush]

Thanks for having me.

[Mindy Thomas]

David, we are so excited to talk to you today. But before we get into the game where we're guessing your wows from your whats, I gotta ask, you have a knack for guessing grocery store prices?

[David Rush]

Well, so when I was a kid, probably, you know, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, my mom would take us grocery shopping and what I would do is she to practice our math, I would add up the cost of all of groceries we were putting in the cart and then I would guess the tax and then I'd be say, hey, today I think it's going to be $86.17. And oftentimes I would be, wow.

[Mindy Thomas]

So back when you were a kid, back before cell phones and video games, this is how you got your kicks?

[David Rush]

Oh, we still had video games but no cell phones. And yes, I would entertain myself in the store.

[Mindy Thomas]

And how are you doing this today?

[David Rush]

Pretty good. I might have been better as a kid because I was more focused. Now I'm like trying to chase three kids around while putting stuff in my cart. So I'm sometimes a little surprised when I get to the checkout.

[Mindy Thomas]

That's right, you are a father of three. What do they think of your breaking success? Do they? Are they impressed by this or is this just like what dads do?

[David Rush]

It's. It's more what dad does. Sometimes they're a little bit impressed or when they're talking about with their friends, their friends might get super excited about it and then they'll be like, oh yeah, my dad does this and this and this. But if it's just me at home practicing or breaking a world record attempt, they'll often, you know, go find their video games or go play football outside because they're around it so often, it's not novel for them.

[Mindy Thomas]

Wow. All right, well, we're going to get into all of this here in a second. I want to know about what you were like as a. I want to know how you got to be like this. But before we start the game, I'm going to explain to our viewers and our listeners how this game works. So we're going to play three rounds of two what's in a wow today. And in each round, David Rush is going to give us three weird, interesting, unusual facts about himself. And we have to try to guess which one is the one true. Wow. Now remember, there's only one wow. The other two are just a couple of made up whats. Alright, you ready to play, David?

[David Rush]

Let's play.

[Mindy Thomas]

And if we guess correctly, we get a point. If we guess incorrectly, we must do a ridonkulous physical challenge. All right, here we go. So David, first theme for this first round we are going to do childhood memories. So David, give us three weird, interesting, unusual childhood memories and we're gonna try to guess which one is the one true. Wow.

[David Rush]

Okay, which of these is a true memory from my childhood? Is it A, performing with my choir at an outdoor theater in Colorado? Or is it B, my brother and I running away from a cougar while at my grandparents place? Or is it C, getting my first taste of breaking records as a teen while riding the tower of terror 22 times in one day? Hmm.

[Mindy Thomas]

Wait, let me think here. Hey Reggie, can we get some thinking music here? Thank you. Okay, let me think. So A, performing at your choir at an outdoor theater in Colorado sounds like a pretty typical childhood memory. Is it B, running away from a cougar while visiting your grandparents? I don't know how they would let that happen. Or C, getting a taste of breaking records by riding the tower of terror 22 times as a teenager? I am going to guess. Okay, time is up. David Rush, is your one true? Wow. B, running away from a cougar while visiting your grandparents.

[David Rush]

You have a true memory at that point?

[Mindy Thomas]

Yes, that's the real one.

[David Rush]

So let's caveat that Just a little bit. So there was a cougar at my grandparents place and so my cousin, my brother and I were out whittling spears, talking about how we were going to take on this cougar with our pocket knives. And so the three of us on the side of the hill standing next to a big rock carving the spears. And as we're carving these spears I have this vivid memory, and this is clear vivid memory of that cougar coming over the crest of the hill, coming at us. And at this point I absolutely panic. The limbic system takes over. All of the vibrato I had of taking on this cougar with the spear is completely gone. I am frozen in my tracks, absolutely terrified. And this memory is like one of the most vivid memories of my childhood. And, and it's coming closer and closer and closer. I'm frozen and I'm about to die. And then my brother and my cousin start laughing and I'm like why are you laughing? We're about to die. And then it came within 10ft of us and that cougar turned into yellow lab.

[Mindy Thomas]

You're telling us it was a dog

[David Rush]

the whole time but my memory remembers a cougar half the time and then it turned to a new dog.

[Mindy Thomas]

Yes, your imagination was just simply too good.

[David Rush]

Yep. And there was a cougar on my grandparents property. And so put it all together, that memory is still vivid. Yes.

[Mindy Thomas]

Do you think that that experience wiped out any fear you could possibly have? Because you do some pretty bonker ball courageous stuff when you're breaking world records.

[David Rush]

Yeah, no, I, I, I am scared of many things and what I do if I want to overcome a fear, I face that fear. And, and actually the idea of riding the tower of 22 times in a row would be more scary to me as a teenager than that cougar because I absolutely hated the feeling of weightlessness. It was one of the most terrifying things I can imagine. I wrote it once at a 14 year old and I did not have that experience again until I was in college where I was weightless and, and over time I've come to enjoy that feel. Nine year old. We actually did ride, you know, a 62 mile an hour triple inversion roller coaster 14 times in a row just this last year.

[Mindy Thomas]

How many times did you BARF in those 14 times that you rode it?

[David Rush]

You know, I did get a little bit queasy I think on the 11th time we went on it in a row.

[Mindy Thomas]

All right, round two. Round two. David Rush is all about challenges that you have faced in your life. Are you ready for round two?

[David Rush]

I am. Yes.

[Mindy Thomas]

Let's do it.

[David Rush]

So which of these is a true wow about a challenge I faced? Is it A, I was rejected from my dream college three times before getting in. Is it B, I lost out on a million dollar prize three times? Or is it C, I've broken five ribs while attempting to break different Guinness World records titles.

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, okay. All right, let's get some thinking music up here. So one of these is you were rejected from your dream college three times. I wonder what you would even go to college for. To become a serial record breaker. You lost out on a million dollars more than once. Or C, you've broken five ribs while attempting to break different world. I feel like you would stop if that was starting to happen. I am going to guess. Okay, time is up. I'm gonna guess. The answer is A, you were rejected from your dream college three times.

[David Rush]

That is incorrect. I got into MIT on my very first time where I got my electrical engineering degree.

[Mindy Thomas]

Wait, electrical engineering?

[David Rush]

Yes.

[Mindy Thomas]

Mit, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We talk about that all the time on WOW in the world. I thought you were a world record breaker. I thought that was your job.

[David Rush]

Yeah, my full time job is in tech. I'm a product manager figuring out what new technology do we want to bring out into the world. And so I visit with customers and partners in sales to figure out what to build. And breaking world records has always been a side gig for me. It's to show students that if you set your mind to a goal, believe in yourself and pursue it with a passion, you can accomplish virtually anything with no hard upper limit. And I didn't start breaking world records until I was 30 years old. And at that point, what changed? It wasn't anything physically. It was my mindset and the thought that I can do this and I will do this and pursuing my goals with grit and a growth mindset.

[Reg]

Wow.

[Mindy Thomas]

So this is something that you just do for fun. Breaking world records. This is not your job.

[David Rush]

I mean, it is not my job. And there's different types of fun. There's fun fun, and then there's not fun in the moment, but fun that I accomplished it afterwards.

[Mindy Thomas]

Ah, all right. So it's not that instant gratification, but it comes later knowing that you have pursued something that you put your mind to.

[David Rush]

Yeah. Especially like yesterday I did one of the top 10 workouts of my life, prepping for a record. And I ran 16 miles carrying a 35 pound pack. And today my legs are absolutely in pain. It was no fun while I was doing it, but I am pushing my body to the limit because I know that when I break this world record, it is going to be satisfying.

[Mindy Thomas]

Wait, wait. You did this for. Because you chose to do that. No one was anything. Was there a bear chasing you?

[David Rush]

No, if there's a bear chasing me out, I drop the 35 pound back and run a little faster.

[Mindy Thomas]

So you chose to do this to yourself?

[David Rush]

Yes, because I'm training to break this Guinness World Records title.

[Mindy Thomas]

Can you tell us what the title is that you're trying to break with this one?

[David Rush]

The one I'm trying to break right now?

[Mindy Thomas]

Is it top secret?

[David Rush]

It's not. I mean, it's a little bit top secret, but I'll let you know. You in on the secret here? It's. It's. The record is for the most T shirts worn for a marathon. And the. There is an existing record. It currently stands at 100 T shirts. And you have to put them on before the marathon starts. Keep all 100 of them on for the entire marathon and finish in under six hours.

[Mindy Thomas]

Well, I got that answer incorrect. So that means I must do a rankulous physical challenge. Can we get the challenge we like? What's it gonna be? What's it gonna be? Repair a broken printer? Eat pocket sand? Give a firm handshake? Take a ride on Reggie. All right. I must balance a cashew on my nose and then catch it in my mouth. Any advice? Have you ever done something like this?

[David Rush]

I have, yeah. I've gotten balancing records and nut records.

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh. Is there anything I should do with this little cashew nut? Do you have any other suggestions?

[David Rush]

I would put the loop this way across the nose so it balances without actually having to balance. Balance what?

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay. All right. Okay, here we go. Okay. Like this?

[David Rush]

Yeah, right at the top.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, now. All right. Now I gotta try to get it in my mouth. What do I do?

[David Rush]

I would. I'd flick it up and then catch it like a seal.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay. Okay.

[David Rush]

I was like. Did you catch her? Did it fall? I couldn't tell.

[Mindy Thomas]

I'm kidding. One more time. One more time. Okay, Flick it up. Oh, okay. Okay. One more time. Okay, here we go. Got the cashew on the bridge of my nose and. All right, that's gonna take a little bit of work. All right, which one is the one? True. Wow.

[David Rush]

I have lost out on a million dollar prize three times.

[Mindy Thomas]

The answer is B.

[David Rush]

Yes.

[Mindy Thomas]

You've lost out on a million dollars more than three times.

[David Rush]

Not more than three times. Exactly. Three times.

[Mindy Thomas]

Or three times. Tell us what happened.

[David Rush]

So I was on America's Got Talent twice as a contestant. And if you win America's Got Talent, it comes with a million dollar prize. Yeah. And I got yeses from Simon. I got yes from Howie. Unfortunately, Sofia Fargara was not impressed with what my next act was going to be. And so I got voted off that time, and I lost out on the million dollar prize. They brought me back a couple years later. Didn't get through on that one either. And so I lost out on the million dollars. And then the third time was actually where I was the face. It was on a Fox game show called 99 to Beat. And Ken Jeong called me the upset of the season when I went out in episode seven. But I went out on a surprise challenge and lost out on the million dollar prize.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, so what was that final challenge?

[David Rush]

The final challenge was bouncing a pencil into a cup. And I break world records bouncing stuff into cups. And you have to bounce it off the eraser. But the trick was they had a TV rule in there where the eraser, the pencil must rotate a minimum of 180 degrees, landing the cup. And when that happens, my mind goes, okay, cup here, pencil here. You have to rotate the tip away to bounce it in. That makes it 100 times harder. But if Guinness has a rule like that, you have to follow that rule, otherwise it's disqualified. Unfortunately, following that rule made it 100 times harder. And I know this because after I got eliminated, lost out on the million dollars, I went back and I broke the Guinness World Records title for the fastest time to bounce 10 pencils into 10 cups. And I can do it in under seven seconds. Now, which would mean I could bounce a pencil into every single cup before anybody bounced a single pencil into one cup.

[Mindy Thomas]

And you do it for free.

[David Rush]

Yes. For a Guinness World Records title.

[Mindy Thomas]

Are you going to go back? Are you going to try to go for that million dollars? Are you giving up?

[David Rush]

I would love to if they want to invite me back on the show.

[Mindy Thomas]

You know what, David Rush, maybe you could win a Guinness World Record for the most times of losing out on a million dollars.

[David Rush]

That's possible. Definitely don't want to go after that record.

[Mindy Thomas]

Two once in a while. We'll be right back after this ad break. That's it. Now back to the show. All right. All right. Round three. David Rush, round three. Our final round is all about. It's all about world records. Give us three weird, interesting, unusual facts about yourself involving world records. And we are going to try to guess your one true wow.

[David Rush]

Which of these four is not a true world record I've broken? Is it A, I landed on the smallest target ever while bass jumping. Or is it B, I had the longest time balancing a running chainsaw on my chin. Or is it C, I sliced the most kiwis with the samurai sword while standing on a Swiss exercise ball. Or is it D, I took the most selfies in three minutes with different people.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, that is four. So three of these are. What's. One of them is a wow.

[David Rush]

Three of these are wows. One of them is one I did not.

[Mindy Thomas]

One of them is what? Okay, one of these is one you did not do. I am going to guess that the. The thinking music. Thank you very much. Thinking music. Okay, number one, you landed on the smallest target ever while base jumping. Number two, you had the longest time balancing a chainsaw on your chin. Who would do a thing like that? And number three, I sliced the most kiwis with a samurai sword on a Swiss ball. And taking the most selfies in three minutes. I think that that's the one you did not do.

[David Rush]

That is incorrect.

[Mindy Thomas]

What?

[David Rush]

I have broken that one multiple times.

[Mindy Thomas]

How many selfies in three minutes? What's your current record?

[David Rush]

So I did it. The first time I was successful was at my MIT 10 year reunion. I think I got 172 selfies in three minutes. And I currently have one under review at over 200 selfies with different people in three minutes.

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, your classmates must have loved you. So you're the guy at your own reunion just taking selfies of yourself. Were other people in them?

[David Rush]

Oh, yes. They've got to be with different people. Yeah. So it was all my different classmates that I had to take those pictures with.

[Mindy Thomas]

That's a lot of selfies. Okay, so that. Okay, then I'm gonna guess that the one. The one that's not true is B, the longest time balancing a chainsaw on your chin.

[David Rush]

That one is.

[Mindy Thomas]

That seems dangerous.

[David Rush]

Also a record I currently hold both with the non running and the running chainsaw.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, then I'm going to guess that C is C the one you did not do. Slicing the most kiwis, a samurai knife while standing on a Swiss ball.

[David Rush]

That one I have also done multiple times.

[Mindy Thomas]

What? Tell us more. Tell us about this.

[David Rush]

What is this? A Swiss exercise balls. Those big exercise balls are like, you know, 36 inches. I stand at top that.

[Mindy Thomas]

Yeah.

[David Rush]

So balancing on that thing, that's the first hardest risk. So I'm just. I got to practice that. Get Stable on it.

[Mindy Thomas]

I can't even sit on these things.

[David Rush]

And then I get a samurai sword that has to be razor sharp. And then someone has to toss me kiwis, and I slice those kiwis with the samurai sword while standing atop that Swiss exercise bowl.

[Mindy Thomas]

That's nice. Okay, so that means the one you did not do was land on the smallest target ever while BASE jumping. You have not done.

[David Rush]

That is because I consider that risky.

[Mindy Thomas]

All right, well, I got that wrong three out of the four times. So I am going to have to do a ridonculous physical challenge. Now, let's see here. Could we get our challenge board up here? Our challenge wheel. What's it gonna be? What's it gonna be? Give a firm handshake. Eat a single grape? Perform a kazoo solo? Repair a broken printer? Eat pocket sand? Take a confetti shower. Huh? I have to go meet with my chainsaw. I'll be right back. Hang on a second. Just. I'll be right back. Just. Just bear with me here. I'll be just a second. I'm just gonna. Just revin up my chainsaw here. And I'm just gonna not go near it. I'm just gonna look at it. And that's it. I'm back. Ridonculous physical challenge achieved. I did not do anything with that chainsaw because that would be dangerous. All right, so that's it for our three rounds of two. What's in a wow. And we are going to end with one quick lightning round here. Okay, so the way this works is I am just going to ask you a couple of would you rather questions, and all you have to do is answer the first thing that comes to mind. These are, would you rather questions regarding what you would do for a world record? Are you ready?

[David Rush]

Got it.

[Mindy Thomas]

David Rush. Here we go. Would you rather break a world record Building something or breaking something?

[David Rush]

Breaking something.

[Mindy Thomas]

Balancing or juggling?

[David Rush]

Juggling.

[Mindy Thomas]

Eating contest or throwing contest?

[David Rush]

Throwing. Throwing.

[Mindy Thomas]

Going for speed or going for distance?

[David Rush]

Speed.

[Mindy Thomas]

All right. Building glass towers or deck of card towers?

[David Rush]

Deck of card.

[Mindy Thomas]

Drinking orange juice or drinking lemon juice?

[David Rush]

Orange juice.

[Mindy Thomas]

Being able to see or being able to hear? Throwing chopsticks or throwing nerf balls?

[David Rush]

Chopsticks.

[Mindy Thomas]

Making paper airplanes or paper animals?

[David Rush]

Paper airplanes.

[Mindy Thomas]

Breaking a world record. Alone or with a team?

[David Rush]

With a team.

[Mindy Thomas]

All right, tell us about that. Tell me about a record that you broke with a team. Have you ever broken one with your whole family before?

[David Rush]

We have one under review right now. Which is the fastest time to clear a hungry hungu hippos board team of four. And so it was my wife and I and our two boys and we had to clear the 20 balls off that Hungry Hungry Hippos board in sub eight seconds. And I think we got it in under three seconds.

[Mindy Thomas]

How many Hungry Hungry Hippos boards did you break smashing them in this process?

[David Rush]

We, we have two boards at home because one of them did break. Yes.

[Mindy Thomas]

All right, well, David, before we go, I wanted you to give our listeners give our viewers a little getting to know you challenge that they could maybe do with some friends to get to know them a little bit better. We've had had so much fun getting to know you today.

[David Rush]

Yes, well, thank you. And I'm a true believer that if you set your mind to go believe in yourself and pursue it with a passion, you can become better at anything, whether it become better at math, better at engineering, better at being a better friend, a better listener, or breaking your own world record. And so what I want to challenge you kids to do is go out and find a record you can break yourself. And there's ones you can do with your friends as well. And Guinness recently created a category called the under success. So if you're daunted by, hey, I don't want to go against David. Record breaker Rush. Find a record in the under 16 category, grab a friend, practice it and try to break it yourself.

[Mindy Thomas]

David, thank you so much for joining us. For two what's in a wow People who wow edition, we're going to let you get back to your record breaking ways. And did you know that our podcast wow in the World is attempting to be the record title holder for the most submissions to a fact hotline. That's true. Over the last nine years our fans have called in to share wow facts with us and so far we have over 13,000 kids who have called in. So if you want to be a part of this record breaking attempt, all you've got to do is call us at 1-8 8-8-7 wow wow. With a fact that wows you. That's all the time we have for today. A big, big thanks to all of you for playing and listening and for our very special guest, David Rush for joining us. David, until next time, keep on wow. Keep on wowing. Looking for even more wow. Well, there's more where that came from. Give us a like and subscribe to our WowTube channel. This helps us to deliver more wows to you and it helps other curious kids and their grown ups to find us too.

[Reg]

Before we get into the credits, for today's episode, we want to give some special shout outs and say a huge thank you to some of the wowzers whose families are powering the WOW this year.

[Mindy Thomas]

We broke the names up into two batches and here is our second batch of names. We are so grateful for your support.

[Reg]

DeKayla from California, Avani and Avir also from California, Martin and Matias from Utah Penny, James and Anna Louise from North Carolina Lennox and Langston from Arkansas Fiona,

[Mindy Thomas]

Bram and Callum from Wisconsin Samuel and Victoria from Louisiana Erin and Eden from California Milos from California Jonah and Elijah

[Reg]

from New Jersey Naya, Nuran, Sumitra and Bivash from New York Noah, Hudson and Ella from Pennsylvania Evan and Emma from North Carolina Wesley from Virginia Ashcon and Kayvon from New Mexico Lily and James

[Mindy Thomas]

from Georgia Beckett, Harper, Tim and Annie from Texas Josiah, Elijah and Dad from Texas Ellie and Daniel from Michigan Alex and Eli from Colorado Ethan and Eli

[Reg]

from Wisconsin Kira and Corinne from Illinois Jack and Nick from Florida Odin, Lyra and Newton from California Stella and Molly

[Mindy Thomas]

from Illinois, Carolyn and Theo from Missouri, Owen and Riley from Canada, Clark and Finley from Virginia, Ani and Nia from Massachusetts Orly and Beckon from California, Theo

[Reg]

and Mira from Virginia, Sebastian and Oliver from Michigan, Charlotte and Dean from New York Campbell from Massachusetts, Nate and Sophie

[Mindy Thomas]

from Hawaii, Wevy and a belated happy Birthday to Sanderling from Gilly and Ranger.

[Reg]

From the bottom of our hearts and

[Mindy Thomas]

the tops of our brains, thank you. Hey, thanks for listening to our show. And did you know that you can watch it now too? Yeah. Just visit Tinkercast.com YouTube and click subscribe. There you'll find full video episodes of two what's in a People who Wow Edition podcast, episodes of wow in the World, Science Experiments in My Laboratory of Bad Ideas and more. And to keep the WOW rolling, Visit [e-mail] There you can become a member of the World Organization of wowzers and get year round mailings weekly activities, shop our wow. Shop, get tickets for upcoming live events, find our best selling books and learn all about all of the other amazing podcasts that we have here at Tinkercast Grown Ups. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram owintheworld and our email address is [e-mail] to what's in a People who Wow Edition was created by Meredith Halpern, Ranzer, Guy Raz and me Mindy Thomas and is executive produced by Steph Sosa. Video editing is by Thomas Van Calkin with sound production and design by Jed Anderson, Tyler Thole and Henry Moskal. Special thanks to more people who wow, including Anna Zagorski, Marianne Fernsler, Kristin Yang, Twee Mac, Ally Paxsima, Linda Rothenberg, and all of the other tinkerers at Tinkercast hq. Our theme song was written and composed by the Pop Ups. You can find them at thepopups.com thanks again for listening, watching and just playing along. Meet us back here every Friday for more episodes of two what's in a People who Wow. Edition Saturday and Sunday for wewow, on the Weekend with Dennis, and Mondays for more wow in the World. It's all right here on the wow in the World podcast feed. Until then, keep on wowing. Wow in the World was made by Tinkercast.