Wow in the World – WeWow on the Weekend
Date: March 28, 2026
Podcast: Wow in the World
Hosts: Mindy Thomas, Guy Raz, Dennis, Reggie
Episode Theme: Weekend fun, listener Q&A, and a behind-the-scenes science episode relisten featuring the neuroscience of singing mice.
Episode Overview
In this lively weekend edition, "WeWow on the Weekend," Dennis and Reggie (the giant pigeon) host a show packed with comedy, listener questions, musical antics, and a special relisten to a science-packed episode of "Wow in the World." This weekend, Mindy and Guy Raz join to explore an extraordinary discovery about singing mice and the brain science behind conversational turn-taking—paralleling human communication.
Key Sections & Highlights
1. April Fools’ Day Gag & Science Toy Promo
[00:07–01:51]
- Opening Joke: Mindy, Guy Raz, and Reggie introduce a "revolutionary" Jar of Farts—an elaborate April Fools’ prank.
- Mindy: “Do you or a loved one enjoy the smell of a fresh toot?” [00:23]
- Guy Raz: “No one’s gonna wanna buy this.” [00:45]
- Reggie: “That’s exactly what market research said.” [00:47]
- The reveal: it’s an April Fools' joke, but real science toys that “toot” are available.
- Guy Raz: “We do have some STEM toys that toot.” [01:03]
- Mindy: “Not to toot our own horn here, but we’ve got lots of STEM toys that will wow the kids in your life who love science and the ones who don’t… yet.” [01:28]
2. WeWow on the Weekend: Dennis & Reggie’s Variety Show
[01:52–05:15]
- Theme Song & Show Setup: Dennis and Reggie kick off the variety show with singing, laughter, and magic.
- Dennis: “Hello and welcome to WeWow on the Weekend. I’m your host, Dennis, and that’s my co-host, Reggie the giant pigeon, who’s wearing a top hat for some reason.” [02:25]
- Magic Trick Segment: Reggie, as "Reggie the Stupenda Pigeon," performs a hat trick, producing "Baby Dennis" (comic skit).
- Dennis: “Baby Dennis will never disappear. Baby Dennis is eternal.” [04:20]
- Chaos ensues as pigeons disrupt the segment.
3. Listener Call-In Q&A
[05:15–08:46]
- Haiku Compliments & Rebuttal:
- Caller Sawyer shares a hilarious haiku praising Reggie and (playfully) calling Dennis a "big whiner."
- Caller (Sawyer): “Reggie is so cool. Dennis is a big whiner. Together they rock.” [05:56]
- Dennis (defensive): “I think you meant to say winner. Dennis is a big winner.” [06:07]
- Caller Sawyer shares a hilarious haiku praising Reggie and (playfully) calling Dennis a "big whiner."
- Fun Science Question: Grace asks, “Why do guinea pigs sleep with their eyes open?”
- Dennis invents an answer about “sleep snooping” while jokingly ignoring the real science. [06:40–07:12]
- Behind-the-Scenes Banter: Evelyn asks what Mindy and Guy Raz do on weekends.
- Dennis (confused): “I don’t think they do anything on the weekends. If I leave them, I’m pretty sure they just sit around and wait for me…” [07:36]
- A silly voicemail from “Mindy” lists outrageous weekend activities (“riding a donkey,” “visiting Mars”). [08:29–08:41]
4. Inside Tinkercast Studios: Relisten to “Song of the Singing Mouse”
[09:43–35:14]
a. Introduction to the Story
- Mindy and Guy, prompted by Reggie, revisit an episode about singing mice (Season 3, Episode 14).
- They enter a mouse concert featuring the fictional band, America’s Squeak Hearts.
b. The Science Behind Singing Mice
[21:39–30:39]
- Discovery: Dr. Michael Long and his NYU team studied Alston’s singing mice (Scotinomys teguina) from Central America, who can sing over 100 musical notes.
- Mindy: “These mice can sing over 100 different musical notes…” [22:39]
- Behavior: Male mice engage in “rap battles”—dueling vocalizations to impress female mice.
- Guy Raz: “A rap battle? You mean like a singing duel to win the affection of a mate?” [23:23]
- Unique Communication: Their singing is a musical “conversation,” with remarkable turn-taking, each waiting for the other to finish before “responding.”
- Guy Raz: “I mean, all the different vocal muscles and parts of their little mouth that had to work together to create that snappy back and forth sing off. I mean, that’s just not something you see very often in the animal kingdom. Well, unless you count us humans.” [24:22]
c. Experiments & Brain Science
[28:03–33:10]
- Experiment 1: Call-and-Response Rules
- Mice sing differently together than alone, following “unspoken rules,” like human conversational turn-taking.
- Mindy: “…they learned that these mice have certain unspoken rules to their musical back and forth, just like we humans do when we’re having a conversation.” [28:31]
- Mice sing differently together than alone, following “unspoken rules,” like human conversational turn-taking.
- Experiment 2: The Orofacial Motor Cortex (OMC)
- Using tiny sensors, researchers mapped which parts of the mice’s brains (OMC) control the timing of singing.
- Mindy: “…they discovered that it was the part of the brain known as the orofacial motor cortex, or the OMC for short.” [29:44]
- Using tiny sensors, researchers mapped which parts of the mice’s brains (OMC) control the timing of singing.
- Experiment 3: Speeding up & Slowing Down Brain Signals
- By accelerating OMC signals, mice sang too fast and off-key; slowing the signals made them sing slowly, but still in tune.
- Mindy: “So, using those same electronic sensors, Dr. Long and his team sped up the signals that the mice's brains were sending to their vocal muscles. And before they knew it… singing all the wrong notes…” [30:21]
- Mindy: “Turns out that these mice could still sing the right notes. There were just longer spaces in between…” [31:19]
- By accelerating OMC signals, mice sang too fast and off-key; slowing the signals made them sing slowly, but still in tune.
- Experiment 4: Turning Off OMC
- Temporarily disabling the OMC: mice could sing solo, but couldn’t coordinate back-and-forth exchanges—no more “musical conversation.”
- Mindy: “Well, they found that the mice could still sing… but only to themselves. In other words, they could no longer sing back and forth to each other. No more musical conversation.” [32:22]
- Guy Raz: “They became solo artists.” [32:37]
- Temporarily disabling the OMC: mice could sing solo, but couldn’t coordinate back-and-forth exchanges—no more “musical conversation.”
d. Why this Science Matters
- Implications for Human Communication
- This research may help scientists understand and treat communication difficulties (e.g., autism, stroke).
- Mindy: “They’re hoping… to help people whose brains don’t let them have these quick back and forth conversations.” [34:22]
- Guy Raz: “…like some people with autism… or maybe people who have had strokes…” [34:34]
- This research may help scientists understand and treat communication difficulties (e.g., autism, stroke).
- Comic Relief & Fun
- Mindy jokes about her own inability to stop interrupting or singing off-key and the gang riffs on communication skills.
- Mindy: “Or people like me who sing all the wrong notes at all the wrong times and can’t stop interrupting.” [34:44]
- Guy Raz: “I think that might be something we worth experimenting on your own, Mindy.” [34:50]
- Mindy jokes about her own inability to stop interrupting or singing off-key and the gang riffs on communication skills.
- Concert Finale: The mouse band, America’s Squeak Hearts, thanks the audience and invites everyone to listen to their “Hide and Squeak” album.
5. Wrap-Up & Thanks
[35:14–36:43]
- Dennis Reflects:
- Dennis: “I can’t believe we can learn all this stuff about our own brains from little mousies. Like, we communicate is so… communicationy.” [35:17]
- Final Antics: Baby Dennis wants more magic tricks; Dennis wraps up with gratitude and a playful goodbye song.
- Dennis: “I need to go and magically saw baby Dennis in half and then put him back together.” [36:25]
- Show closes with Dennis promising another episode and a cheerful farewell. [36:43]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- Guy Raz: “What are they going to come up with next? A band of singing chipmunks? A musical starring cats?” [19:24]
- Mindy: “Winner, winner, mousetrap dinner.” [33:07]
- Dennis (on communication): “It’s just like, really, you know, like, what’s the word? Communicationy. Yeah, communicationy.” [35:37]
- Mail Carrier (exasperated by past deliveries): “Three weeks ago, you mailed yourself an ice cream cone which ended up melting all over my delivery bag.” [14:04]
Timed Segment Guide
- 00:07–01:51 – April Fools’ Toy Gag & Shop Promo
- 01:52–05:15 – Show Intro, Magic Tricks with Reggie & Baby Dennis
- 05:15–08:46 – Listener Q&A (haiku, guinea pig question, Mindy & Guy’s weekend)
- 09:43–35:14 – Science re-listen: Singing Mice & Neuroscience (with in-story “concert,” experiments, discussion)
- 35:14–36:43 – Closing Thoughts & Goodbye Song
Tone & Style
The episode blends high-energy silliness and playful back-and-forth with accessible, jaw-dropping science. Hosts balance zany antics (talking pigeons, magic tricks, April Fools’ jokes) with sincere curiosity and genuine educational enthusiasm.
Perfect for:
Listeners who love to be entertained while learning, and families interested in the wonders of animal communication, neuroscience, and the playful mysteries of the natural world.