WeWow on the Weekend (10/12/25)

Summary

Wow in the World: WeWow on the Weekend (10/12/25)

Podcast by Tinkercast | Wondery
Episode Date: October 12, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of "WeWow on the Weekend" blends science, fun, and community engagement, offering listeners a mix of kid-friendly humor, interactive segments, and a deep dive into the positive effects of natural sounds on well-being. Hosted by Dennis (with trusty co-host Reggie), the episode features listener reviews, a quirky Q&A, and a revisit to an earlier "Wow in the World" segment about how nature sounds can help us relax and focus.

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Key Segments and Discussion Points

1. Listener Engagement: Reading "Reviewsies"

(04:31 – 08:51)

• Dennis opens the core segment by reading listener-submitted reviews from Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
• Highlights include enthusiastic comments, creative wordplay, and Dennis's humorous attempts to dissect cryptic messages:
  • "I wow the wow that wows. Wows that can wow a wowzers that gives wow to wowzers that wows. Wows. Wow." (Julie, 05:40)
• A memorable Q&A arises from a listener asking, “Why do we fart?” leading to the surprising fact from Reggie: "Birds don't fart."
  • Dennis quips: "Of course you do. Really? Birds don't fart. Oh, wow. Well, you heard it here first, folks." (07:49)

2. Inside Tinkercast Studios: Science Spotlight

(08:51 – 16:27)

• Dennis introduces a “Tinkercast Classic” by revisiting "Wow in the World" Season 1, Episode 10: "Chill Outside."
• Mindy and Guy Raz explore why the sounds of nature are calming for humans.

Main Points in the Science Segment:

• City vs. Nature Sounds

  • Guy Raz: "Eight out of every 10 people in America live in or near a city, and that means that our lives have become louder and louder without us even realizing it." (11:24)
  • Mindy humorously references causing traffic jams with kazoo concerts—“What's that? You want me to play it louder?” (11:56)

• Scientific Study on Nature Sounds

  • Scientists at Brighton and Sussex Medical School studied how nature sounds affect humans:
    • Participants lay in an MRI machine listening to calming nature sounds, then loud human-made sounds.
    • Results: Nature sounds activated the part of the brain that helps us calm down, lowering heart rate; loud noises had the opposite effect.
  • Guy Raz: "Scientists found that when people heard these loud sounds, the MRI scanner showed that the part of the brain that helps us calm down was not calm at all." (13:34)
  • Mindy: "Wait a minute. My heart rate always speeds up whenever I get worried or I feel like something bad's gonna happen. Yeah, like that one time that I got stuck in a soft serve ice cream machine, and then you had to squeeze me out of it into a cone." (14:02)

• Practical Applications

  • The research can inform architects, city planners, and even car makers to design quieter, more calming environments.
  • Guy Raz: "This information can be used by people in many different types of jobs... to help plan and build neighborhoods with quiet areas." (14:54)
  • Emphasis on the importance of downtime and silence for mental well-being.

• Memorable Funny Moments

  • Mindy gets shushed for interrupting the peace: "You can't shush me. Only I can shush me." (16:13)

3. Closing Thoughts and Return to the Hosts

(16:27 – 17:45)

• Dennis reflects on the calming power of nature, humorously planning to try it with Reggie.
  • "Do you think it really works? Can we just go out into nature and slow down our heart rates and feel calm? Oh, wow. We should totally go try it." (16:27)
• Dennis looks for the quietest snack so he can relax outside with Reggie—a comical showcase of prioritizing snacks over serenity.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dennis (listener review wordplay):

  • "I wow. Therefore I am." (06:25)

• Bird Facts:

  • "You said you wanted to answer the question. Reggie, tell the listeners why we fart. Everyone wants to know. What do you mean you don't fart? Of course you do. Really? Birds don't fart. Oh, wow. Well, you heard it here first, folks." (07:49)

• Scientific Comparison:

  • Guy Raz: "When the scientists played the nature sounds, that same part of the brain became much, much calmer. And the scientists also noticed that the people hearing those sounds, their heart rates also slowed down." (13:48)

• Mindy's Classic Interjection:

  • "You can't shush me. Only I can shush me." (16:13)

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Helpful Timestamps

• 04:31 – Listener reviews & Q&A
• 08:51 – Introduction to “Chill Outside” science segment
• 10:00 – Nature sounds vs city sounds explanation
• 12:25 – MRI study explained
• 14:54 – Real-world applications of the research
• 16:13 – Mindy getting shushed (“Only I can shush me!”)
• 16:27 – Dennis reflects and gets ready to try relaxing with Reggie

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Takeaways

• Quiet and nature sounds really do help humans relax—science proves it!
• Urban noise can stress our bodies and brains, highlighting the importance of calm spaces.
• Laughter, curiosity, and snacks are always vital—just ask Dennis and Reggie.
• Kids and their families can have fun learning about science, one “wow” at a time.

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Perfect for: Parents, educators, and kids seeking an upbeat, informative, and entertaining weekend listen with science you can use every day.

Transcript

[Guy Raz]

Grown Ups Wondery subscribers can listen to wow. In the World early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or Wondery Kids plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Mindy Thomas]

Hey Wowzer fams Mindy and Guy Raz here. And before we start the show, we've got some gigantic epic news to share with you.

[Guy Raz]

That's right, Mindy. Uh, what was that?

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, I'm so glad you asked. Guy Raz, you come on in, Steve.

[Guy Raz]

Mindy, is that a T. Rex in your gingerbread mansion?

[Mindy Thomas]

Sure is, Guy Raz. But look what's in his little hand.

[Guy Raz]

Your door?

[Mindy Thomas]

No, in his other hand.

[Guy Raz]

Oh wait, is that our new book? Dinosaurs Are Wow.

[Mindy Thomas]

Aw, he loves it.

[Guy Raz]

Mindy, how did you find a T. Rex?

[Mindy Thomas]

Don't worry about it. I just wanted to get a real dinosaur Dinosaurs opinion on our new book since you know, they're kind of the main character in this one.

[Guy Raz]

Well, it looks like Steve is giving it two very sharp claws up Grown Ups. If you want to bring the wows of dinosaurs to life with our new book, Dinosaurs Are Wow. Pre order your copy [e-mail] dinosaur there you can shop at your favorite book retailer or support a local indie bookseller near you. Or once again, that's Tinkercast.com dinosaur and.

[Mindy Thomas]

If you pre order before October 28th, you will be invited to a special prehistoric party happening on our book birthday October 28th. Learn [e-mail] dinosaur that's tinkercast.com dinosaur to join us in our virtual prehistoric pre order party on October 28th. I gotta go drop Steve back off in the Jurassic period and you've got an episode to listen to. So without further ado, hit it, Reg.

[Sponsor Voice]

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[Guy Raz]

Wow.

[Sponsor Voice]

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[Dennis]

Wow. Ah ah ah ah. We wow on the weekend. We wow on the weekend. We wow on the weekend. Cause this is what we do on the weekend. Talking, laughing. Me and Reggie singing, laughing. And then we. Oh, wait, no, I said laughing twice. Whatever. We wow on the weekend. Yeah, we wow on the weekend.

[Mindy Thomas]

Laugh, laugh.

[Dennis]

We wow on the weekend. Cause this is what we do on the weekend. Hello and welcome to We Wow on the Weekend. I'm your host, Dennis, and that's Reggie, my co host. Hey, Reggie. If you were a crow, I could call you my crow host. Or if your name was Mo, you'd be my Mo host. Or if you were a giant toe, you'd be my toe host, Reggie. No, I don't know where the rest of the foot would be. Oh, sure, I guess you could paint your giant toenail. No, I'm not gonna paint it. Ew, Reggie.

[Guy Raz]

No.

[Dennis]

Get someone else to paint it. I don't even know how we got here. Whatever. Let's just move on and read some comments from our devoted listeners. That's right, Reggie. It's time for reading reviewsies. I'm reading reviewsies for me and for yousies. We've got us some doozies, so let's read, read reviews. Okay, I've printed out a bunch of comments from Spotify and Apple podcasts, and now it's time to read them aloud and see how many stars we got. All right, this first reviewsy comes from username Tori. The title says, hi, I love your podcast. Thanks, Tori. I love my podcast too. And the message says he he he he he hehehe. Uh, what's so funny, Tori? Reggie, what's so funny? I don't get the joke. Somebody explain what's so funny right now. Oh, yay. Good one, Tori. Next reviewsy. This next reviewsy is from username Julie. The title says wow wow. Oh, and look, Julie gave us five stars. Thanks, Julie. And the message says I wow the wow that wows. Wows that can wow a wowzers that gives wow to wowzers that wows. Wows. Wow. I mean, yikes. That's a lot of wows. What do you think it means? Yeah, probably that they're wowed. Wait, no, they wow the wow. So they're full of wows and not necessarily wowed themselves. But do you have to be wowed to wow others? Huh? That's pretty deep. I wow. Therefore I am. Next reviewsy this next one is from username hrrisb0. The title says amazing and the message says omg so good. Like totes amazeballs. Oh, and they gave us five stars. Thank you. H R R I SB0 I agree. And I give your reviewsy five stars back. Next reviewsy this last reviewz is from username bbcovin. The message says, I have a question, Dennis. Well, you came to the right person, B.B. kovan. No, Reggie, they're writing to me. They didn't say, I have a question, Reggie. They said, I have a question, Dennis, and it's my question and I will answer it. And the message says, why do we fart? Uh, actually, maybe you should take this one, Reggie. You said you wanted to answer the question. Reggie, tell the listeners why we fart. Everyone wants to know. What do you mean you don't fart? Of course you do. Really? Birds don't fart. Frr oh, wow. Well, you heard it here first, folks. Thanks for all your reviewsies, listeners. Keep em coming. If you leave a comment on Apple podcasts or Spotify, I just might read it on WEW on the weekend. Five stars or more, please, Reggie. Of course we should get five stars. Well, one for me, one star for you, one star for all our fun segments. Oh, and another star because every segment has a song. How many stars is that? Okay, we need one more. And the fifth star is for luck. Okay, now it's time for a little segment I like to call Inside Tinkercast Studios. Inside Tinkercast Studios. This is the part where we revisit an episode of one of my favorite Tinkercast shows. Today we're listening to wow in the World, season one, episode 10 called Chill Outside. Well, it's about how the quiet sounds of nature can make us calmer compared to the loud sounds of human civilization. Which is exactly why I started this podcast. Because mother says I have a lovely, calming voice. Reggie. Yes, I do. I mean, yes, I do, Reginald. All right, let's play the episode. Okay, here we go. And play.

[Mindy Thomas]

Wee. Wow. Will be right back.

[Dennis]

Grown ups.

[Mindy Thomas]

This message is for you. That's it. Now back to the show.

[Dennis]

Well, in the world.

[Guy Raz]

Ah, finally some peace and quiet. Just me right here out in nature, enjoying the gentle breeze, the sound of the water, the birds. Just what I need to recharge my.

[Mindy Thomas]

Tacos from out of the sky. Tacos. No need to ask why. Just open your mouth, then close your eyes.

[Guy Raz]

Mindy, what are you doing? What can't you see, I'm trying to enjoy the peaceful serenity and stillness of nature.

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, hang on a sec. I need to stop my music.

[Guy Raz]

Ah, so much better, don't you think?

[Mindy Thomas]

Well, yeah, I guess, if calming down and relaxing is your thing, but why are you laying in the grass in this forest listening to the sounds of nature?

[Guy Raz]

Well, Mindy. Exactly, because I'm trying to calm down and relax.

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, right. Yeah, I knew that.

[Guy Raz]

Mindy, you know when we go on hikes and we don't really talk for hours and hours because we're just enjoying the sounds of the.

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, yeah, I remember a hike like that. Hey, Guy Raz, would you rather fall into a pool of nacho cheese or get stuck in a salad dressing Tsunami?

[Guy Raz]

If I had to pick nacho cheese. Okay, okay.

[Mindy Thomas]

Would.

[Guy Raz]

Okay.

[Mindy Thomas]

Would you rather eat poison ivy or a handful of bumblebees?

[Guy Raz]

Mindy, can we have this discussion later? I'm enjoying the quiet sounds of nature. What?

[Mindy Thomas]

What? I can't hear the quiet. Oh, yeah, I remember that hike.

[Guy Raz]

Well, many of us like taking hikes for that very reason.

[Mindy Thomas]

Yeah, for a little peace and quiet.

[Guy Raz]

Well, not so much for the quiet, but for the sounds we hear in nature, because these are sounds that, for most of us humans, help us relax and chill out.

[Mindy Thomas]

Guy Raz, I've never done either of those things, obviously, so I don't know what you're talking about. I mean, why is relaxing and chilling out such a big deal all day?

[Guy Raz]

Well, Mindy, it could have something to do with the fact that today, more and more of us live in or near cities. In fact, Mindy, eight out of every 10 people in America live in or near a city, and that means that our lives have become louder and louder without us even realizing it.

[Mindy Thomas]

Yeah, so, like, the sounds of cars and traffic and people honking their horns when you're putting on a kazoo concert in the middle of an intersection.

[Dennis]

What are you doing, lady? Get out of the way.

[Mindy Thomas]

What's that? You want me to play it louder?

[Guy Raz]

Okay. Yeah. And that's probably why the sounds in nature make us humans feel calm.

[Mindy Thomas]

Yeah, but, I mean, that's kind of obvious, right?

[Guy Raz]

Well, now, scientists have actually tested out this theory in a laboratory, and they've shown that our bodies and our brains actually respond to nature sounds in different ways than they do to loud noises.

[Mindy Thomas]

I think I hear a scientific experiment.

[Guy Raz]

Well, Mindy, researchers at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School in England in the United Kingdom decided to see if they could prove that quiet noises make our bodies calmer.

[Mindy Thomas]

So what did they do?

[Guy Raz]

So what they did was they took a group of people, normal humans like you and me.

[Mindy Thomas]

Yeah, just normal humans.

[Guy Raz]

And they asked them to lie down in an MRI scanner. And that's basically a human sized tunnel with special cameras that have the ability to look inside our brains and bodies. Wow.

[Mindy Thomas]

That's pretty cool. So then what happened?

[Guy Raz]

And then the scientists started to play sounds just like the ones we're hearing right now. The peaceful, calm sounds of nature.

[Mindy Thomas]

Stop and listen. Okay, that's enough of that.

[Guy Raz]

And then next, Mindy, they tried a different sound. Something more like this. Turn it off.

[Mindy Thomas]

Guy Raz. Wait a minute. Was that me on the kazoo?

[Guy Raz]

Well, interesting you should react that way, Mindy, because the scientists found that when people heard these loud sounds, the MRI scanner showed that the part of the brain that helps us calm down was not calm at all, but chicken.

[Mindy Thomas]

What? What?

[Guy Raz]

But, Mindy.

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, I think I know. It's coming.

[Guy Raz]

When the scientists played the nature sounds, that same part of the brain became much, much calmer. And the scientists also noticed that the people hearing those sounds, their heart rates also slowed down.

[Mindy Thomas]

Wait a minute. My heart rate always speeds up whenever I get worried or I feel like something bad's gonna happen. Yeah, like that one time that I got stuck in a soft serve ice cream machine, and then you had to squeeze me out of it into a cone.

[Dennis]

Come on, just a little bit.

[Guy Raz]

Aw, I wanted chocolate.

[Mindy Thomas]

Man, my heart was freaking out. Guy Raz.

[Guy Raz]

Well, our heart rate or how fast our heart beats is slow or fast, depending on what we're doing and depending on how we're feeling. And we often have a slower heart rate when we're calm and relaxed. And the sounds of nature, for most people, help us feel more calm and relaxed.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, well, now that scientists have proven this with science, what can they do with this information?

[Guy Raz]

Well, this is the coolest thing, Mindy. This information can be used by people in many different types of jobs, even people who are not scientists like you and me. Yeah, so, for example, architects and construction workers who help build our neighborhoods and communities, they could use this research to help plan and build neighborhoods with quiet areas. Maybe, you know, with a forest or a hiking trail close by, places where people can work, walk to for some peace and quiet.

[Mindy Thomas]

Yeah, that would be so good for people.

[Guy Raz]

And it also helps the people who decide when to allow airplanes to land, because, of course, airplanes make a lot of noise. And this kind of research can help car makers work on making cars quieter.

[Mindy Thomas]

But why is all of this quiet so important?

[Guy Raz]

Well, noise. Too much noise causes our bodies to feel stressed. And over time, too much stress is. Isn't good for us. It makes it hard for us to sleep and to think clearly. So we need to have time during the day when our bodies and our brains can recharge. And one of the best ways to do that is to be in a quiet place.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, so now I understand why you're hanging out alone here in this forest.

[Guy Raz]

All right. I guess it's time to enjoy the silence. Wow.

[Mindy Thomas]

Guy Raz. I had no idea that silence was gonna be this quiet. What are you. Are you shushing me? You can't shush me. Only I can shush me. Can it, Mindy. What?

[Dennis]

Hooray. That was so cool. Oh, sorry. I mean, that was so cool and calming and relaxing. So, Reggie, do you think it really works? Can we just go out into nature and slow down our heart rates and feel calm? Oh, wow. We should totally go try it. I'm feeling a little high strung for my morning coffee. Good idea. Let's wrap this up.

[Mindy Thomas]

Ahem.

[Dennis]

Thanks to all you listeners out there for tuning in to Wee Wow on the weekend. Remember, if you have a question for me, call and leave me a message at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW. That's 1-8887-WOW-WOW. I just might answer your question on Wee Wow on the weekend. Alright, Reggie, let's go outside. Yeah, let's go Right now. I'm anxious. Hey, Reggie, can we bring snacks? I want potato chips. Nuh. They're not too noisy. I can eat them super quiet. Okay, fine. How about popcorn? Fine. Pretzels then. Reggie, how am I supposed to keep calm if I can't have.

[Mindy Thomas]

Grownups? If you like wow in the world, you can listen early and ad free right now on Wondery.

[Guy Raz]

Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Wondery Kids on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

[Mindy Thomas]

And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] thanks for joining us for this edition of Wewow on the Weeknd. Our show is written by Ruth Morrison and Jed Anderson. Original sound design and production is done by Henry Moskal and Marion Lozano with help from Jed Anderson and Tyler Thole. Original music for We Wow on the Weeknd is composed and performed by Tyler Tholes.

[Guy Raz]

Special thanks to Steph Sosa, Rebecca Caban and all of the other tinkerers at Tinkercast hq.

[Mindy Thomas]

There's still time to share your Wee Wow Crafternoon challenges with us grown ups. You can upload pictures and videos of your projects to [e-mail] share or call us at 1-888-7-WWOW.

[Guy Raz]

Our website is tinkercast.com there you can learn more more about becoming an official member of the World Organization of wowzers, learn about upcoming events, shop our shop and pick up a copy of the latest edition of our number one New York Times best selling book series, wow. In the Wild.

[Mindy Thomas]

Thanks again for thinking, tinkering, experimenting and exploring with us this week. Meet us back here on Monday for Wow in the World. And remember who wows we wow.

[Dennis]

Wow in the World was made by.

[Mindy Thomas]

Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.