WeWow on the Weekend (8/16/25)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Wow in the World - "WeWow on the Weekend" (8/16/25)

Episode Overview This episode of Wow in the World is a weekend special hosted by Dennis and Reggie (with appearances by Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz). The main theme centers on fun interactions with the listeners (reading their reviews), plus a revisiting of a classic story from the very first season: the surprising science behind why dogs and humans are such good friends. The tone is playful, upbeat, and full of silly jokes and science facts—perfect for kids and their grown-ups.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Dennis's Basement Intro & "Reading Reviewsies Reviewsies"

(01:53 – 05:37)

• Dennis enthusiastically welcomes listeners from his mom’s basement, declaring himself “so cool.” Reggie, the recurring pigeon, co-hosts.
• Launches a new segment: "Reading Reviewsies Reviewsies," where Dennis reads and reacts to listener reviews of the podcast.
• Reviews range from simple and sweet ("cool" and "nice" with five stars) to more dramatic: one glowing text review calls it “the best show ever,” but only gives it one star—prompting Dennis to call it “an emotional roller coaster of a reviewsie” (04:27).
• Listener “The Gymnast of the West” requests an episode about “the science of stress.” Dennis plugs a relevant episode: “Season three, episode five, the Zen of Video Games… Guy Raz and Mindy enter a relaxing state of flow by playing video games.” (05:11)

Memorable Quote:

“Keep ‘em coming. Oh, right. If you leave a comment on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, I just might read it. Five stars or more, please. What? It only goes up to five stars? Sheesh.” — Dennis (05:16)

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2. Inside Tinkercast Studios: Revisiting "Dogs and Humans"

(05:38 – 14:00)

a) Dog Jokes & Evolution

• Mindy kicks off with a classic dog joke:
  Mindy: “What kind of dog loves to take baths?”
  Dennis: “A shampoodle!” (07:22)
• Guy Raz segues to the science: humans and dogs have been best pals for “a reason that might have something to do with evolution.” (07:55)
• Describes how cooperation and friendliness helped early humans survive.

Memorable Quote:

“Survival of the friendliest.” — Mindy (09:20)

b) What Makes a Species?

• Friendly back-and-forth jokes about species, with Mindy ribbing Guy Raz about his “chimpanzee toes.”
• Guy Raz differentiates species, explaining humans’ close ties to chimps, but points out that out of all friendly animals, dogs are our true “best friends.” (11:11)

c) The Social Intelligence Experiment

• Guy Raz recounts a University of Arizona study: dogs and 2-year-old kids both possess a particular kind of “social intelligence,” outperforming chimps.
• Dogs—and toddler humans—follow human pointing and eye direction, while chimps didn’t in the experiment.
• Both dogs and young children also excel at making eye contact with people. Chimps were less attentive.

Memorable Quote:

“Among all creatures, dogs seem to be able to understand what’s going on around them in ways that are similar to a two-year-old kid.” — Guy Raz (11:33)

d) Why Does This Matter?

• Eye contact is a sign of social intelligence, and the study suggests that dogs evolved this along with humans.
• This could help scientists “crack the code” of how friendliness and social behavior develop in humans (13:08).

Memorable Quote:

“It suggests, Mindy, that dogs, like humans, probably evolved or changed over millions of years to become friendly. As you said, survival of the friendliest.” — Guy Raz (12:42)

e) Broader Wonders & Listener Wrap-up

• Mindy lists off silly, sciencey things we still don’t fully understand: “why we hiccup, why we can’t sneeze with our eyes open, why our feet fall asleep on the toilet…” (13:46)
• Dennis reflects: “Do you think I have as much social intelligence as a dog? … Is skateboarding social intelligence? … Maybe not, but that was definitely adorable infectiousness.” (14:00)

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• (04:27) Dennis on a surprising review:
  “What? One star. Oh, why? Oh. What an emotional roller coaster of a reviewsie.”
• (09:20) Mindy coins a phrase:
  “So, survival of the friendliest.”
• (11:33) Guy Raz on dogs’ smarts:
  “Among all creatures, dogs seem to be able to understand what’s going on around them in ways that are similar to a two-year-old kid.”
• (12:42) Guy Raz summarizes:
  “It suggests, Mindy, that dogs, like humans, probably evolved or changed over millions of years to become friendly. As you said, survival of the friendliest.”

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Episode Timeline

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------| | 01:53 | Dennis and Reggie intro; “Reading Reviewsies” | | 05:38 | Inside Tinkercast Studios: "Dogs and Humans" | | 07:13 | Jokes & banter about evolution | | 10:01 | Explaining species and human evolution | | 11:15 | Social intelligence in dogs and toddlers | | 13:08 | Why the science matters for understanding humans | | 14:00 | Dennis reflects and wraps up listener segment |

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Tone & Style

• Playful, encouraging, and silly, with frequent sound effects, puns, and gentle jabs between co-hosts.
• Encourages curiosity (“wow!” moments), emphasizing that questions are good and science is fun.
• Includes engagement with listeners by reading their actual reviews out loud.

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For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode offers a fun mix of audience participation and science storytelling: starting with shout-outs and silly banter, it then pivots to the genuinely fascinating idea that dogs may be as socially intelligent as two-year-old humans. If you’ve ever wondered why people and dogs just “click,” or want science served with a heaping scoop of giggles, this one’s for you!

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, did you hear that we are on YouTube.

[Guy Raz]

That's right, Mindy Wowzer Fams. You can find full episodes of wow in the World and more of your favorite Tinkercast podcasts on our YouTube channel, WowTube.

[Mindy Thomas]

Plus on WowTube, you can also watch me explode some watermelons and test out Bonkerball's experiments in the laboratory of bad ideas.

[Guy Raz]

Or you can dance along with Dennis for music videos featuring music from WEW on the weekend.

[Mindy Thomas]

There is so much in store made just for you on WowTube. Visit Tinkercast.com YouTube to watch. Now that's Tinkercast.com YouTube.

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[Dennis]

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. Laugh, clap. We wow on the weekend. Cause this is what we do on the weekend. Hello and welcome to Wee Wow on the Weekend. I'm your host, Dennis. And Reggie's also a host as well. Also, we're down in my mother's basement just hanging out, being cool. Reggie, I am so cool. Yeah. Huh? Remember the time I accidentally crashed my bike into the bushes by the library and I got a scrape and I hardly even cried? I crashed because I was wearing sunglasses and I couldn't see which one. Oh, whatever. We need to move on because today we have a brand new segment. I know. I call it Reading Reviewsies Reviewsies. You know the comments people write on Apple podcasts or Spotify or whatever, and they give us stars. Yeah, I printed a bunch out and I'm gonna read them. I'm reading reviewsies for me and for yousies. We've got us some doozies, so let's reviews Z's. Okay, let's see what we got here. This reviews comes from cat. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. 1. The title says nice and the message says cool. Huh? That's a really short reviewzy. Oh, and they gave us five stars. Thanks, Cat. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. 1. Next comment. Okay, this next reviewsy comes from username Fiona. The title reads, the best show ever. Thank you, Fiona. And the message says, ahem, I have watched all your episodes twice. They are so great. I love Dennis so much. Thank you. I am extremely lovable. Let's see how many stars. What? One star. Oh, why? Oh. What an emotional roller coaster of a reviewsie. I need to sit down. Oh, right. I'm already sitting down. Right, right, right, right, right. Okay, next comment. This next one's from username, the Gymnast of the West. Ooh, mysterious. The title says 11 out of 10. The message reads, happy, happy New Year. Fireworks Emoji. I love your podcast. You should make an episode about the science of stress. Well, gymnasts of the west, as it happens, there's an episode of WOW in the world called Gaming youg Way to Zen. Reggie. Nuh. It's not called the Zen of Video Games. It's called Gaming your Way to Zen. Yes, it is. Look, season three, episode five, the Zen of Video Games. Huh? Okay, whatever. You're right. Anyway, in the episode, Guy, Raz and Mindy enter a relaxing state of flow by playing video games. Thank you, gymnasts of the west. And thank you everyone for your reviewsies. Keep em coming. Oh, right. If you leave a comment on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, I just might read it. Five stars or more, please. What? It only goes up to five stars? Sheesh. I feel like we should be able to squeeze in a sixth or seventh star, you know? Okay, next up is 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. And this weekend, we're revisiting episodes from the very first season of wow in the World. Today we're doing a from episode nine called Dogs and Humans. In this episode, Mindy and Guy Raz, discuss a striking similarity between dogs and humans. No, Reggie, we don't smell the same. Well, I don't want to spoil the surprise. Let's just play the episode. Okay, here we go. And play.

[Mindy Thomas]

Wee. Wow. Will be right back. Grown ups, this message is for you. That's it. Now back to the show.

[Dennis]

What in the world?

[Mindy Thomas]

Hey, Guy Raz.

[Guy Raz]

Hello, Mindy.

[Mindy Thomas]

How's it going, buddy?

[Guy Raz]

It's going well, thanks.

[Mindy Thomas]

So I've got a serious question for you.

[Guy Raz]

Okay.

[Mindy Thomas]

What kind of dog loves to take baths?

[Guy Raz]

Well, actually, Minnie.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, Guy Raz, it's a joke. What kind of dog loves to take a bath?

[Dennis]

A shampoodle. Huh?

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, moving right along.

[Guy Raz]

Well, actually, Mindy, that brings me to a science story.

[Mindy Thomas]

Ooh, I love stories. What do you have?

[Guy Raz]

Well, you know that old saying about humans and dogs?

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, yeah. Never eat a dog unless it's in a bun. Mindy, it was something like, never eat a dog if it can run, like, away from you. I don't know, Guy Raz. I don't know what the saying is.

[Guy Raz]

Actually. The old saying I was thinking about, Mindy, is dogs are man's best friends.

[Mindy Thomas]

Never heard that one.

[Guy Raz]

We call dogs our best friends because, you know, they're loyal and loving no matter what. Even on a bad day.

[Mindy Thomas]

Or a bun.

[Guy Raz]

You know, even on a bad day, Mindy, your dog will still love you.

[Mindy Thomas]

Yeah, and it'll show you that love by slobbering all over your face and eating your shoes.

[Guy Raz]

But, Mindy, the reason why dogs and humans are such good pals might have something to do with evolution.

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, evolution. So, like the way we've changed over millions of years?

[Guy Raz]

Exactly. We humans have changed over time. We've had to learn how to cooperate with each other in order to make sure that we survive.

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, we know all about cooperation, Guy Raz. Do you remember that one time I asked you to put your cell phone in the aquarium so that I could talk to the fish? And you didn't want to do it, but you did it anyway because you're a good friend and also because you fell into it. That was cooperation.

[Guy Raz]

Yeah, exactly. And, you know, long, long before humans had cities or horses or supermarkets or.

[Mindy Thomas]

Or airports or taco trucks.

[Guy Raz]

Yeah, right, right. Long before we had all of those things, Mindy. We had to find food out in the wild. And over time, we figured out that if we were going to make it on this planet, we had to work together. So some people would look for food, other people would build places to live, other people would cook the food, Basically, we had to become friendly.

[Mindy Thomas]

Hello.

[Dennis]

Hi.

[Mindy Thomas]

So, survival of the friendliest.

[Guy Raz]

Exactly. Humans had to become friendly because, as any kid knows, Mindy, by being friendly, you are more likely to get what you want.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, I think I've got this. So say I want you to give me 100 bucks. I might say something to you like, Guy Raz, you're looking so dashing today, I hardly even recognized it was you. Uh, yeah, no, that's not it.

[Guy Raz]

Anyway, Mindy, friendliness is how early humans were, in one sense able to become the most dominant species on planet Earth.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, and just to be sure, when you say species, you mean groups of living creatures, right?

[Guy Raz]

Yeah, but not just creatures, Mindy. A species is a similar group of living things that create more of that same species. So, for example, cats are a species. So are horses and tigers, but so are plants and flowers, like the water hyacinth, and even things like garlic and fruit flies. And. And of course, our nearest relatives, chimpanzees, knew it.

[Mindy Thomas]

Guy Raz, I took one look at your toes last summer and knew that your great grandma had to have been a chimpanzee.

[Guy Raz]

Well, we're not really relatives in that sense. We actually broke away from chimpanzees about 7 million years ago. So not like in our family. But yes, we humans are distant relatives of chimps. We are different, of course, very different than chimps. But out of all the species on Earth, they are the closest ones to us.

[Mindy Thomas]

Wait a minute. So does this mean that chimps are also friendly in the same way that humans are?

[Guy Raz]

Well, it's interesting you ask, Mindy, because when it comes to friendliness, our closest animal relatives might be.

[Mindy Thomas]

Ooh, ooh. Pygmy.

[Guy Raz]

You want to take a guess?

[Mindy Thomas]

Is it man's best friend?

[Guy Raz]

That's exactly right, Mindy. Dogs.

[Mindy Thomas]

So how do we even know this?

[Guy Raz]

Well, Mindy, scientists at the University of Arizona recently discovered that dogs and two year old humans show similar patterns of something called social intelligence.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, so I don't want to sound socially unintelligent, Guy Raz, but what exactly does that mean?

[Guy Raz]

Well, it means that among all creatures, dogs seem to be able to understand what's going on around them in ways that are similar to a two year old kid.

[Mindy Thomas]

Wow. So how do we even know this?

[Guy Raz]

Well, the scientists at the University of Arizona took a group of chimps and a group of dogs, and they gave them some brain games to play. So, for example, the scientists would hide a toy in a room, and then they'd start to look in the direction of the toy, or even point their fingers to the part of the room where the toys were hidden. And lo and behold, the dogs would stand up and walk to that part of the room and find the toys. But when it came to the chimps, Mindy, they would just sit on their bottoms and do nothing.

[Mindy Thomas]

Wow, that's crazy town. So then what did the two year olds do, Mindy?

[Guy Raz]

Those little humans did exactly the same thing the dogs did. And what's more is that the scientists found that dogs and the kids were better than the chimps at making eye contact, at looking right into the eyes of the scientists.

[Mindy Thomas]

Such manners. So why is this a big deal?

[Guy Raz]

Well, it's a big deal because making eye contact is an example of that term I mentioned earlier, social intellig. And it suggests, Mindy, that dogs, like humans, probably evolved or changed over millions of years to become friendly. As you said, survival of the friendliest.

[Dennis]

That's so cool.

[Mindy Thomas]

So, Guy Raz, now that we know about dogs, what does this discovery mean for us humans?

[Guy Raz]

Well, Mindy, it's possible that we might be able to better understand when and how humans develop certain behaviors and why it's easier for some humans to be friendly, but sometimes harder for other humans to be friendly. We know that at around nine months, human babies start to understand what's going on around them. They start to notice how other people around them behave. And if we can get an even better understanding of how dogs have figured this out, it could help us crack the code about certain mysteries related to human behavior that we don't yet understand.

[Mindy Thomas]

Yeah, like why we get the hiccups. Or why we can't sneeze with our eyes open. Or why we see in 3D. Or why we get bored. Or why our feet fall asleep when we sit on the toilet for too long. Or why we toot. Or why we daydream. Or why our cheeks turn red when we're embarrassed.

[Dennis]

Gosh. Oh, wow. Cool. That was great. Dogs have as much social intelligence as two year old humans. Reggie, do you think I have as much social intelligence as a dog? Because one time on the Internet I saw a video of a dog that could ride a skateboard. What? Skateboarding isn't social intelligence? Oh, well, another time on the Internet, I saw a video of a dog popping bubbles with a raccoon. Is that social intelligence? Well, okay, maybe it's not social intelligence, but it was definitely adorable infectiousness. Well, that will just about do it for today listeners. If you have a question for me, remember to call and leave me a message at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW. That's 1-888-7-WWOW. I just might answer your question on Wee Wow on the weekend. Okay, let's do the Goodbye song. That's the end of the show. I have to go watch videos of dogs on the Internet, but I'll do another. But for now, that's the end of the show.

[Guy Raz]

Eh?

[Dennis]

Eh. Bye.

[Mindy Thomas]

Grown ups. 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] survey.