WeWow on the Weekend (8/24/25)

Summary

Wow in the World – WeWow on the Weekend (8/24/25)

Podcast by Tinkercast | Wondery
Release Date: August 24, 2025
Hosts: Mindy Thomas, Guy Raz, with Dennis and Reggie

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Episode Overview

This "WeWow on the Weekend" episode brings the signature mix of science, humor, and listener engagement that Wow in the World is known for. Hosted primarily by the ever-playful Dennis (with interjections from Reggie the pigeon), this episode features:

• Fun and fast-paced banter,
• Listener Q&A about science and curious animal behaviors,
• An educational throwback segment about crypsis—animal camouflage—with Mindy and Guy Raz,
• A focus on pandas, including the science behind their unique black-and-white markings.

The episode aims to spark wonder and laughter while diving into imaginative exploration and real scientific discovery, perfect for curious kids and their grown-ups.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Denis’ Weekend Introduction & the “Laugh a Minute” Challenge

• [01:23] Dennis kicks off the weekend episode with a song and a promise: keep the episode snappy and funny.
• Introduces a "laugh a minute" timer—underscoring the playful, spontaneous tone of the show.
• Quick banter about fake toot sounds and a running gag about how Reggie can’t do them because he doesn’t have lips.

“No, toots aren’t funny. Well, then you make a fake toot sound. Oh, yeah, you don’t have lips. Weird. I never noticed that.” — Dennis [02:40]

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2. Q&A Segment with Listener Calls

a. Book Math Challenge

• [03:44] Listener Eloise asks: If you’re reading a 251-page book and must read half in a week, how many pages should you read?
• Dennis explains: Half is 125.5 pages, so round up to 126. He jokes about not counting title, table of contents, glossary, or index pages.

“But make sure not to count the title pages and the table of contents page. Those are free pages, you can skip those…” — Dennis [04:14]

b. Pufferfish Inflation Mystery

• [04:47] Siobhan from Berkeley asks: How do pufferfish blow up into bubbles?
• After joking about burps and toots, Dennis consults "Zoodle" (his comical version of Google):
  • Pufferfish unhinge their jaws, swallow water, and stretch their skin when frightened.
• Dennis is (playfully) freaked out and quickly pivots to the next question.

“When a pufferfish is frightened, it unhinges its jaw, widens its mouth, swallows a large amount of water and stretches its skin. Ah, no. This is way too freaky. No, next question.” — Dennis [05:16]

c. Why Do Humans Cry When Sad?

• [05:40] Stephanie from Minnesota wonders: Why are humans the only animals who cry when sad?
• Dennis is surprised, bringing up "crying boogers" and pondering if animals use tissues or if their noses run when they’re sad.
• Ends with Dennis thanking all callers and encouraging more to leave questions.

“Not only do my eyes cry tears when I’m sad, my nose cries boogers when I’m sad too. Do other animals’ noses cry boogers when they’re sad?” — Dennis [05:55]

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3. Inside Tinkercast Studios: Revisiting “How Pandas Got Their Spots”

[06:45]–[14:02]
Dennis introduces a throwback to episode 11, featuring Mindy and Guy Raz exploring crypsis—the art of camouflage in animals, specifically pandas.

a. What is Crypsis?

• [08:00] Guy Raz introduces “crypsis”, explaining it's a scientific term for how animals camouflage to hide from predators.
• Mindy jokes about "Crispus fried chicken," underscoring the show’s kid-friendly humor.

“Oh, so crypsis is like when one of those cool lizards that looks like tree bark blends in with the trees so well that you can't see it.” — Mindy Thomas [09:14]

b. Why Are Pandas Black and White?

• [10:01] Discussion of the panda’s unique coloring as “piebald”—patches of different colors.
• Guy Raz explains that “piebald” animals have distinctive spots or patches, like pandas, magpies, and bald eagles.

“‘Piebald’ is a word we use to describe things that are two different colors. And normally we use it to describe animals that are light colored with dark patches." — Guy Raz [10:47]

• The theory: Pandas’ coloring helps with camouflage—a form of crypsis:
  • White fur helps in snowy mountains.
  • Black fur helps blend in dark bamboo forests.
• Pandas need camouflage to evade predators like snow leopards and humans.

c. Recognizing Each Other

• Each panda has a unique pattern of black fur around their eyes, which helps them distinguish one another.

“Each panda has a unique… patch of black fur around their eyes. And that’s one of the key ways they can figure out who’s who.” — Guy Raz [13:33]

• Mindy cracks more puns about "pandanas" and "black and white humor."

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4. Closing Moments & Further Listener Engagement

• [14:02] Dennis re-emerges, excited about all things pandas and mulling over "panda cakes" after the episode.
• Encourages listeners to call in with questions or share their "Wee Wow Crafternoon Challenges."
• Tinkercast team thanks listeners and invites exploration on their website for more learning, WOW experiences, and community events.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "No, toots aren’t funny. Well, then you make a fake toot sound. Oh, yeah, you don’t have lips. Weird. I never noticed that. Huh?" — Dennis [02:40]
• "Each panda has a unique or one of a kind patch of black fur around their eyes. And that's one of the key ways they can figure out who's who." — Guy Raz [13:33]
• "Piebald is a word we use to describe things that are two different colors. And normally, we use the word piebald to describe animals that are light-colored with dark patches." — Guy Raz [10:47]
• "Not only do my eyes cry tears when I’m sad, my nose cries boogers when I’m sad too." — Dennis [05:56]
• "Crypsis is like when one of those cool lizards that looks like tree bark blends in with the trees so well that you can't see it." — Mindy Thomas [09:14]
• "Let's go upstairs and make panda cakes. Panda cakes. I don't know what they are, but Mindy mentioned them… and now I want some." — Dennis [14:39]

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Important Timestamps

• 01:23 – Dennis’ Weekend Introduction & “laugh a minute” challenge
• 03:44 – Listener Q&A: Book math
• 04:47 – Listener Q&A: Pufferfish inflation
• 05:40 – Listener Q&A: Why humans cry
• 06:45–14:02 – Legacy episode: “How Pandas Got Their Spots” (crypsis, piebald, panda camouflage)
• 14:02 – Dennis wraps up, shares panda enthusiasm, and gives call-to-action for listener participation

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Summary

This episode of "WeWow on the Weekend" showcases the best of Wow in the World: engaging science made fun, listener interaction, and a seamless blend of jokes and learning. The episode spotlights camouflage in animals (crypsis), the black-and-white mystery of pandas, and answers listener curiosities with spirited responses. It’s an episode that’s sure to make kids and adults alike say, “Wow!” — and crave a panda cake.

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. All of us here at Tinkercast want to wish you a very happy new school year. And before we start the show is your Wowzer family homeschooling this school year. You may have heard about our Podject based learning tool, Tinkerclass, which helps K through 5 students build 21st century skills like critical thinking, collaboration and creative innovation. Over 4,000 teachers are using Tinkerclass in their classrooms. And did you know that you can now bring tinkerclass to a home room near you? With tinkerclass at home, you get access to all of our podcast based projects, or as we like to call them, Podjects. Plus over 1,000 online activities, experiments, crafts, recipes, worksheets and more. Want to learn more about how you can bring the WOW into your your homeschool curriculum this year? Visit Tinkercast.com homeschool that's Tinkercast.com homeschool, that's it. And now let's get back to the show.

[Dennis]

Ah, ah ah. Wee. 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. Clap clap. We wow on the weekend. Cause this is what we do on the weekend. Hello and welcome to We Wow on the Weekend with me, Dennis. No, Reggie, I can't introduce you today. There's no time because I think the show is getting too long. We gotta be snappier. We gotta be punchier. We gotta have a laugh a minute. Yes, Reggie, a laugh every minute. I set a timer and when it goes off, we gotta say something funny and get a laugh from my devoted listeners. Oh, well, let's just see how much time we have left. Uh, we have 20 seconds. Ah, hurry, Reggie. Think of something funny. No, that's not funny enough. It's gotta be funnier. Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry. Aha. Oh, no, Reggie, that was the timer. What do we do? What do we do? Make a fake toot sound, Reggie. No, toots aren't funny. Well, then you make a fake toot sound. Oh, yeah, you don't have lips. Weird. I never noticed that. Huh? Yeah. Might as well move on to the Q and A segment. Unless you can think of something funny. Anything? You got nothing. Okay, fine. Ahem, ahem. The Q and A segment. Alright, let's just get the old answering machine pulled up here. Okay, Here we go. Hi, you've reached Dennis from WEW on the weekend. That's me. Do you have a question? Well, I do too. Lots of them. And who's gonna answer all my questions? You? Probably not, but I guess I can answer yours. Leave me a message.

[Listeners]

Hi, Dennis, My name is Eloise. If you're reading a book that is 251 pages and you have to finish half of the book in a week, how many pages do you have to be on in one week?

[Dennis]

Ooh, is this like a riddle? What, you don't think so? Oh, you think Eloise has a reading assignment and is trying to figure out how much work it's going to be? Well, let's see. Half of 251 would be 125 and a half pages. And you're probably not going to want to stop in the middle of a page, especially if it's a good story. So it'll probably be at least 126 pages. But make sure not to count the title pages and the table of contents page. Those are free pages, you can skip those and then double check that the end of the book doesn't have an index. Don't count any index or glossary pages either. What book do you think Eloise is reading? Yeah, I hope it's a good one too. Next question.

[Listeners]

Hi, I'm Siobhan. I live in Berkeley, California. Um, how do pufferfish, like, blow up into a giant bubble thingamabobber?

[Dennis]

Great question, Siobhan. How do pufferfish, like, blow up into a giant bubble thingamabobber? Hmm, Maybe they hold in their burps. They're toots then. Okay, fine, Mr. Smarty Pigeon. We'll look it up. Asking Zoodle, how do pufferfish blow up? Okay, let's see. When a pufferfish is frightened, it unhinges its jaw, widens its mouth, swallows a large amount of water and stretches its skin. Ah, no. This is way too freaky. No, next question. Next question.

[Listeners]

Hi, Dennis. I'm Stephanie from Hopkins, Minnesota. My question is, why are we the only animals who cry when we're sad?

[Dennis]

What? Is that true? No other animal cries tears? Oh, wow. Huh. I had no idea. And now that I think about it, not only do my eyes cry tears when I'm sad, my nose cries boogers when I'm sad too. Do other animals noses cry boogers when they're sad? And what about when they need to blow their noses. Can any animals blow their noses with a tissue? Or do they even have tissues? Being an animal must be hard. Well, thanks for your calls, everyone. If you've got a question for me, call and leave me a message. The number is 1-888-7-WWOW. I just might answer your question on Wee Wow on the weekend. Okay, that takes. Alright, 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 story from episode 11 called How Pandas Got Their Spots. In this episode, Mindy and Guy Raz discuss an animal ability called crypsis. Uh, I actually don't remember what crypsis is. Where are my notes? Eh. Okay, what do we got? Okay, here we go. Crypsis. Rajay. Crypsis is spelled with a C, R, Y. Does that have something to do with how animals cry? Is that how pandas got their spots? They cried and cried and cried until their moms gave them spots. Oh, yeah, I suppose. Probably not. Let's play the episode and find out. 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?

[Guy Raz]

Hey, Mindy, have you. Have you heard of the word crypsis?

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh yeah. Guy Raz, let me tell you a story. So one time I was eating a bucket of Crispus fried chicken that was so big, I actually climbed inside the bucket. And then just when I was about to take my savory last bite, I fell asleep in the bucket. Napped there for the rest of the afternoon. So yeah, I love some Crispus fried chicken.

[Guy Raz]

No, no, I don't think that's a thing. I said cryp.

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, crypsis. Well, in that case, nope, I've never heard of it.

[Guy Raz]

Well, neither did I until recently when I happened to come across that word in a scientific journal. And a scientific journal is just a fancy way of describing a magazine for scientists and researchers. And the journal I was reading is called Behavioral Ecology.

[Mindy Thomas]

So what did this journal tell you about this crypsis business and why it's so hard to say?

[Guy Raz]

Well, it sounds like a complicated word, but it's a word scientists use to describe an animal that hides or camouflages its body in the wild to, you know, protect itself from predators or other animals that might try to eat It.

[Mindy Thomas]

Oh, so crypsis is like when one of those cool lizards that looks like tree bark blends in with the trees so well that you can't see it.

[Guy Raz]

Exactly.

[Mindy Thomas]

Or when a white arctic fox blends in with the bag of marshmallows in your pantry.

[Guy Raz]

You got it, Mindy. That's crypsis. When an animal is able to blend into its environment to protect itself from harm.

[Mindy Thomas]

So why were you reading about crypsis anyway?

[Guy Raz]

Well, I came across a very interesting discovery that has to do with a very specific animal and how it blends into its environment. And that animal is the panda.

[Mindy Thomas]

The panda?

[Guy Raz]

Yeah, pandas.

[Mindy Thomas]

But what do pandas have to do with hiding? I mean, everyone knows a panda is pretty much the easiest creature to.

[Guy Raz]

And that's what a team of scientists from the University of California, Davis, and Cal State Long beach also thought. Mindy. And the story begins when these scientists wanted to find out how pandas got their patches.

[Mindy Thomas]

Yeah, that's a good question. How did pandas get their patches?

[Guy Raz]

Well, as you know, Mindy, pandas are some of the most unusual and beautiful creatures in the world, and they're only found in the wild in central China. And as you know, Mindy, they have a white head and body, but also black furry spots around their eyes and then black furry arms and legs. And these spots are what gives the giant panda a piebald appearance.

[Mindy Thomas]

A pie what?

[Guy Raz]

Piebald.

[Mindy Thomas]

Guy Raz. First we're talking about crypsis, then patches, now bald pies?

[Guy Raz]

Well, not exactly, Mindy. Piebald is a word we use to describe things that are two different colors. And normally we use the word piebald to describe animals that are light colored with dark patches. So, for example, a horse with giant spots or a black and white cow.

[Mindy Thomas]

Or maybe a bald eagle.

[Guy Raz]

Actually, Mindy, that's exactly right. A bald eagle usually has a white head, a brown body, and then some white tail feathers. And the bald eagle was actually named after the word piebald. So was another bird called the magpie.

[Mindy Thomas]

Magpie, that's right.

[Guy Raz]

And a magpie is a sweet little black and white bird that is a cousin of the crow.

[Dennis]

Huh.

[Mindy Thomas]

So basically, a piebald animal is just an animal with patches of light and dark.

[Guy Raz]

Yeah, that's. That's an excellent way to think about it.

[Mindy Thomas]

So why do pandas even have patches anyway? Why aren't they like other bears, you know, like all black or all white or all brown?

[Guy Raz]

Well, that's what these scientists I mentioned earlier were trying to figure out. And after doing a lot of Research. They came up with an interesting theory, which is an idea that is backed up by scientific evidence.

[Mindy Thomas]

So what's the theory?

[Guy Raz]

Well, Mindy, the theory. The theory goes something like. What do pandas eat?

[Mindy Thomas]

Well, if I were a panda, I would eat panda cakes. Get it? But I'm pretty sure they probably just eat bamboo.

[Guy Raz]

That's right, Mindy. Bamboo. And bamboo is not particularly nutritious. So pandas have to eat a lot of bamboo every day just to have enough energy to walk around.

[Mindy Thomas]

Okay, but how does that make their fur black and white?

[Guy Raz]

Well, Mindy, because pandas are constantly eating and constantly searching for food. They spend part of the year in cold and snowy mountains, and then part of the year in dark bamboo forests. And their white fur allows them to hide from predators in snowy areas. And their dark patches make it easier for crypsis, or hiding in a dark bamboo forest.

[Mindy Thomas]

But who would go after a panda? They're so cute.

[Guy Raz]

Well, pandas are generally safe from most predators, but panda cubs are sometimes hunted by snow leopards. And of course, humans can pose a danger to pandas as well.

[Mindy Thomas]

Not cool snow leopards and humans. By the way, Guy Raz, how do pandas tell each other apart? I mean, they all pretty much look exactly the same.

[Guy Raz]

Well, to us humans, Mindy, they may look the same, but each panda has a unique or one of a kind patch of black fur around their eyes. And that's one of the key ways they can figure out who's who.

[Mindy Thomas]

Or they could just wear different color pandanas. Get it?

[Guy Raz]

Not really.

[Mindy Thomas]

Well, I thought it was pretty black and white. Get it? You like that Peter Panda? He doesn't speak English.

[Dennis]

Hooray. Pandas. I love pandas. They're my favorite animal. Oh, right. I forgot about season seven, episode four, Poo Poo Panda, where I tried to interview pandas and ended up in a pile of horse poop. Yeah, maybe. Pandas are my favorite black and white animal. After penguins and zebras and dalmatians. There are black and white pigeons, too. Oh, wow. Well, that will just about do it for this edition of Wee Wow on the weekend. Thanks for listening, everyone. And if you want to ask me a question, call and leave me a message at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW. That's 1-888-7-WWOW. I just might answer your voicemail on WEW on the weekend. Okay, Reggie, let's go upstairs and make panda cakes. Panda cakes. I don't know what they are, but Mindy mentioned them in the episode we just listened to. And now I want some well I'm thinking we need cocoa powder and extra sugar and extra buttermilk and extra.

[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 plus 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 thanks for joining us for this edition of WEWOW on the Weekend. Our show is written by Ruth Morrison and Jed Anderson. Original sound design and production is done by Henry Moskal and Marion Lazar with help from Jed Anderson and Tyler Thol. Original music for Wewow on the Weekend is composed and performed by Tyler Thol.

[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 1-888-7www. Wow.

[Guy Raz]

Our website is tinkercast.com there you can learn 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 except experimenting and exploring with us this week. Meet us back here on Monday for Wow in the World. And remember who wows we wow wow.

[Dennis]

Wow wow In the World was made.

[Mindy Thomas]

By Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.