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Hey, Wowser fans, Mindy here.And before we start the show, the presidential election is coming up on Tuesday, November 5th.It's almost here.
And even though you aren't old enough to vote just yet, there are still lots of ways that you can participate. We here at Wow in the World have partnered with our friends at The Week Jr.Magazine to share the wows of elections.
And we even made a special episode of 2 What's in a Wow airing this Friday that'll help you learn more about elections, plus how you can be involved no matter what age you are. In honor of Election Day, our friends at The Week Jr.
Magazine have created a limited-time offer for you Wowzer fans only.Grownups visit theweekjr.com to try six issues of this amazing weekly magazine, absolutely risk-free. What are you waiting for?
Grownups, visit theweekjr.com slash wow to get this offer today.And tune in on Friday for a special episode of Two What's in a Wow.That's it.Now let's get back to the show.
Ew.Slimy, squiggly, little icky buggies.Flies and beetles and ants are so yucky.Nasty critters, scurrying and squirming, and wriggling and slithering, and I'm going to barf.Blah!Creepy, crawly, weak.Creepy, crawly, weak.
Things with wings and too many legs.Gross!Creepy, crawly, weak.Creepy, crawly, weak.Crawly, weak.Crawly, weak. Hello and welcome to day five of WeeWow Creepy Crawly Week.I'm your host, Dennis.And that's my co-host, Reggie.
This week is all about icky gross bugs.And it's also about Mindy's pet cockroach, Smokey McDougal, who turns out is surprisingly not that gross.No, no, no, no, no, no.Reggie, I don't like Smokey McDougal.He's a bug.
But he's kind of nice and smart and not disgusting.For a bug. Speaking of which, it's time for Smokey McDougal's deep tissue massage.Oh, Smokey McDougal!Time to work the tension out of your thorax!
Reggie, why is the lid of Smokey McDougal's tank open?No, Reggie, he can climb out.He's very athletic.We gotta find him.Smokey, Smokey McDoo, where are you?He couldn't have gotten far, Reggie.I'm gonna search the basement.
I know, I need to look in all the nooks and crannies. and the crannies.If there's one thing I know about Smokey, it's that he loves those crannies.Smokey!Here, boy!I've got some cheese puffs for you!Smokey!Come out, come out, wherever you... Ah!
Smokey!Oh, no!No, no, no, no, no!I didn't mean to step on him!Oh, please be okay!Please be okay!Please be okay!Speak to me, Smokey!Speak to me! Oh, thank goodness you're okay.Don't scare me like that, Smokey.
Oh, if anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do.Shh, shh, shh, shh.You're safe now.You're safe, little Smokey.There, there.Papa Dennis is gonna put on a podcast and rock you to sleep.Okay, fine, Reggie.I like him.But only a little.
Don't worry, little Smokey.Here's Wow in the World, Season 5, Episode 2 called, So You've Been Swallowed by a Frog.Reggie, shush.This episode's only a little creepy-crawly.It's not that bad.OK, it's kind of bad.OK, Smokey.Here we go.And play.
Wee Wow will be right back.Grownups, this message is for you. That's it.Now back to the show.
Rise and shine, friends and neighbors.It's your old pal Mindy with your Saturday morning wake up call.
Wendy?In her ice cream truck?This early in the morning?
Now Po's feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning.
Not me.I was up all night counting sheep.Get out of here, sheep.Don't count your sales.
Now Po's ready to attack this day with them and bigger.
You're attacking my constitutional right to a peaceful sleep!
If you're with me, let me hear you snore!
I'm with you, Mindy!S-N-O-R-E!Let me hear you breathe loudly!Snore!Snore!Yay, snore!Uh, Dennis!
You've curved the road!You're gonna get run over!Ah!Wait, wait!
Morning, Mindy!Care for a cup of decaffeinated espresso?I call it a depresso.
No, thanks a latte, Dennis, but I'm trying to cut back.I'm just out here to wake up the neighborhood for a little early morning mindfulness sesh.
Ooh! Morning, Mindy.Morning, Dennis.Did I hear someone say mindfulness?I love mindfulness.Breathing, meditation, relaxation, guided imagery.
What in the world wide web is all this racket?And which one of you just said they're imaginary?
imaginary fingerling.He's a real boy.Look!Ow!Why didn't you just pinch me?
Grandma G-Force?Well, someone better pinch me, because this is a dream come true.I've never had the whole neighborhood here in front of my house before.Okay, well I'll pinch you too. Wow, that pinch was as good as a cup of coffee.
I'll call it a compresso.
Do it again.Okay.No, no, Grandma G-Force.There is no pinching in mindfulness.
What about imaginary ones?You know, pinches of the mind.
Actually, practicing mindfulness helps you to focus on being aware of what you're sensing and feeling in the moment.
Want to sense this, fingerling?
Ah, gee, Forest, would you quit it?I'm mindful enough.OK, no more pinching, OK?No more pinching.Mindy, Mindy, when are we going to start this morning mindfulness exercise?
Oh, uh, I don't know.What about now?Now?Yeah, no better time to be in the present than the present, right?Oh, speaking of presents, that reminds me.
I have to conduct roll call. Now, when I shout your name, yell present.Dennis.Present.Very good, Dennis.Reggie.Reggie, just say your name, please.No one likes a smarty pigeon.So should we just take a seat where we're standing?
Oh, yes.I need everyone to just get situated on the ground in a comfortable seated position.OK?
OK.There we are. What in the?Don't mind me.That's just all my bones.Gross.
Now what?All right, now I'm just going to run back to my ice cream truck to turn on some mindful music.So just sit there and breathe or something, OK?
Excuse me.I choked on a spit.
Sorry, wrong song.There we go.Now, I want everyone to close your eyes and take a deep breath in.Hold it.Now take a deep breath out.
Today, I want you to focus your intention on allowing yourself to receive the gift of a little self-scare. What's he say?Self-scare?
Oh, I get it.Like self-care.But spooky.
That's right.A little self-scare.And as you're breathing, imagine that you are a tiny water beetle. scampering through a field of lily pads, when oh, what is that you see?I don't know.What is it?It's a frog.
Oh, a frog.I'm going to kiss it.Come here, froggy.
Gee, Forrest, don't do that.
You'll get rabies.Actually, frogs can't get rabies.But one time, I got rabies when I- Reggie, don't interrupt me.
The frog looks hungry and she's got her big bulging eyes set on you.
My thoughts exactly, Pigeon.This self-scare meditation is freaking me out, dude.
Stay in the present.Just stay in the present.
Oh, good idea, Guy Raz.We should all hide from the frog inside of a present.It'll never find us in there.You can run from this frog, but you can't hide. Oh, yeah?Watch me!Ah, no!Those are my prize-winning azaleas!Shh!
You stop, dead in your tracks, paralyzed by fear, when this frog opens her mouth wide and... she's pulled you in with her long, Now exhale.
And before you can even digest the idea that you are inside of her big toothless frog mouth, she takes one big gulp and she swallows you up.
Alive!Ah!Mente no!I want out of this meditative self-scare!
Calm down, fella.It's not even that scary.Why, look at Mr. Rozzy over there.
I am swallowed alive. I am inside of a frog.I am still in the present.
Oh, fine.What happens next, Mindy?
You realize that you must get your tiny beetle body out of this frog.You ask yourself, what would a bombardier beetle do?
What would a bombardier beetle do?
A bombardier beetle would surely let out a toot so powerful it would force the amphibian to barf you up.Ah, what?
But you, you are not a tooting bombardier beetle.I'm not?You are a Japanese water beetle who goes by the scientific name Reginbartia attenuata. And you, you like to do things the hard way.
You know, that is so like me.
Just stay in the present.Stay in the present.
No, Guy, remember, you're not in a present.You're in a frog.
Using your tiny beetle legs to brace you, you begin to crawl and swim your way through the frog's digestive tract.And as you work your way through its guts, its powerful and corrosive stomach juices threaten to break you down.
Oh, that is just disgusting.
But you keep going. I think I can.I think I can.
At this point, you realize you've gone as far as you can ride down the digestive slide, and there is only one way out.
Oh, look, everyone!A way out!What is it?Like a secret door on the side of the frog or something?
Well, I don't think it's on the side of the frog, if you know what I mean.
Um, no.I actually don't know what you mean.
Well, looks like somebody's gonna make an exit out the old poop chute.
You find what appears to be an opening of sorts, but it's closed tightly shut.You knock three times.Knock, knock, knock. Suddenly, the opening releases, and you come spilling out into the world in a flood of fresh frog feces.
What did I say?So disgusting.
Mindy, what kind of guided meditation was that?A defecation meditation.
If you'll excuse me, I need to go wash out my mind's eye.
Yeah, me too.You got any soap?Well, let's see.I've got hand soap, bar soap, body soap, soap on the road.
Great job, everyone.Now give yourselves a round of applause.
Mindy, where in the world did you get the idea for that horrifying guided meditation?Oh, well, I got the idea from science.
Science?Yeah, specifically this bonker balls new study that I just read from Kobe University in Japan.It was led by this biologist named Shinji Sugira.
Wait a minute, I've read about him.He's been studying the strange behaviors of insects and predators for years.
Yeah, and he's seen a lot of weird stuff in his day.
Yeah, like bugs who, when eaten by a frog, make the frog vomit so they can avoid being swallowed and escape alive.
Yeah, and the bombardier beetle is a pretty good example of that.
After a frog gobbles it up, it tooths out this hot chemical spray that is so gross and so foul, it makes the frog puke all over the place, allowing the beetle to escape the frog and live to tell the tale.
Oh, right.You mentioned that in your, um... Defecation meditation?
Uh... Anywho, this study was about a completely different beetle.A Japanese water beetle who goes by the super long scientific name Reginbardia attenuata.
Whoa, that's a mouthful, even for a frog.
Yeah, I thought about calling Regan Barty a Reggie for short, but... So anywho, Dr. Sugira had been noticing these beetles and frogs hanging out together around the lily pad fields in Japan.
So he brought one beetle and one frog back to his lab so he could study how they, um, interacted with each other.
And was he surprised when the frog ate the beetle?
Well, he was surprised that when the frog ate the beetle, it didn't spit it right back out.Live beetles are not exactly known for their flavor.
That tastes like chicken.
Gee, Forrest, ain't nobody wanna know that.But according to the... Disgusting, gross mindset exercise you just put me through.The frog must have swallowed the beetle, giving it a journey through its intestines.
You know it.And just a couple of hours later, the beetle, having taken a little ride down the frog's digestive slide, shot right out of the frog's cloaca, covered in poop. You mean it shot out of its butt?Well, not just a butt.
The cloaca is kind of a one-stop shop that frogs and other animals use for pooping, peeing, laying eggs.
Now that sounds like a handy little multi-tool.Where can I get one?What?
Sorry, Mr. Fingerling, cloacas are not for most mammals.
Oh, uh, Reggie would like everyone to know that he has a cloaca.In fact, all birds do.
No need to brag about it. Uh, excuse me, can we get back to this study, please?Mindy, you were saying that after the beetle worked its way through the frog's digestive tract, it shot out of the same hole that the frog uses to, uh, um, defecate?
Would he say?Well, defecate is a more polite way of saying, um,
uh poop wow oh no guy not you too yeah what goes in must come out and when you're this particular beetle you're using the back door and that is not even the most amazing part.
Nope.What Dr. Sagira discovered was truly bonker balls.When the frog pooped out the beetle... Yes?The beetle was still alive.What?Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!
Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!
Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!
Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no!
That's right, the frog eats the beetle, the beetle emerges from the frog's behind in a pile of poop, and survives!Like that death-defying journey never even happened.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second. That's impossible.I mean, first of all, how would a beetle survive being chewed up by a frog?Yeah!
Oh, well, that's easy.See, these pond frogs don't have teeth, so they just have to gobble and swallow their prey whole.
OK, OK.Well, how could the beetle possibly survive the frog's corrosive stomach acids? Yeah!I mean, the whole purpose of these digestive juices is to tear apart and break down anything that the frog eats.
Yeah, what about that?Well, Dr. Sugira had the same question.And he thinks that the exoskeleton, or protective outer shell of the beetle, is probably strong enough to withstand being digested by a frog.
But he'll need to do more research before he can say for sure.
OK, but how was it able to breathe that whole time it was swimming through the frog's digestive tubes?I mean, I know it's a water beetle, but still.
Well, Dr. Segura suspects that since this aquatic beetle can trap air under its wing cases to breathe underwater, well, it could probably do the same to breathe inside of a frog.
Well, that checks out.No further questions, your honor.
Now get to the part where the bug starts knocking on the back door, if you know what I mean.
Oh, yeah.So once the beetle reaches the end of the, uh, you know, tunnel, it's got to find a way back out. But the problem is, there's an obstacle in its way.And that obstacle is a little ring of muscle holding that cloaca hole closed.
Sort of like a drawstring on a bag cinching it shut.
Or like the drawstring on my hoodie.There.
Now I'm cool. So wait a minute, Mindy.Are you saying that the beetle has to get that muscle to loosen up before it can escape from the frogs behind?
You know it.And after some poking, and prodding, and maybe a little knocking, the muscle loosens, the cloaca opens, and out pops the beetle in a flood of fresh frog poop.
Oh, that's nasty.And what about the beetle?What happens after it's pooped out alive?
Well, from what Dr. Segura could tell, the beetle just goes on to live like it never even happened.It pulls itself out of the poop and goes back to swimming around and living its little beetle life.
I just washed my mind's eye.Anything for science.So, Mindy, are we sure that this wasn't just a one-time thing?I mean, scientists have to conduct their experiments more than once to make sure that their findings are consistent.
Oh yeah, after this, Dr. Seguro went on to conduct this experiment five more times, including some different beetle species and different insect-eating frogs.
Well, he found that over 90% or most of the time, the Reginbardia beetle made it out alive and went on to live happily ever after. But the other beetles weren't so lucky.
So besides the protective exoskeleton or shell on the Reginbardia beetle, were there any other clues to how it was able to survive?
Oh, yeah.And those clues lie in the legs.The legs?Yep.When the Reginbardia beetle had full use of its legs, it managed to pop out the other end between six minutes and six hours after it was swallowed by a frog.
But when Dr. Segura made it difficult for the beetle to use its legs by covering them with wax, well, the digestion took days, and the beetle did not make it out alive.So by conducting this experiment, he was able to determine...
What?He was able to determine that the beetle was using its legs to crawl through the frog's intestines.
Exactoritos!That beetle was plotting its escape route from the very beginning.
But I guess it's kind of hard to know for sure without seeing inside the frog's intestines.
Yeah, sometimes even scientists have to use their imaginations.
Hey, speaking of imagination, Mindy, do you mind if I lead us all through a little mindful guided meditation?Oh, yeah, sure.But do you think you're going to be able to corral everyone else?
No, you get pooped out by a frog.No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.No, you get pooped out by a frog.
No, you get pooped out by a frog.
No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.No, you get pooped out by a frog.No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.
No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.
No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.No, you get pooped out by a frog, GeForce.
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Thanks for joining us for this edition of WeWOW on the Weekend!Our show is written by Ruth Morrison and Jed Anderson.The role of Baby Dennis is played by Jed Anderson.Ah, well then who plays the role of Big Dennis?Never you mind!Tee hee!
Original sound design and production is done by Henry Moskal, with contributions from Jed Anderson and Tyler Tholl.Original music for WeWOW is composed and performed by Tyler Tholl.
Special thanks to Jessica Bode, Rebecca Caban, Dr. Natasha Crandall, Kenny Curtis, Lizzy Freilich, Kristen Yang, Meredith Halpin-Ranzer, Twee Mack, Erica Medina, Henry Muskell, Jody Nussbaum, Ali Paksima, Guy Raz, Linda Rothenberg, Steph Sosa, Mindy Thomas, Joanna Weber, Anna Zagorski, and
all of the other Tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ.Be sure to visit Tinkercast.com, where you can become an official member of the World Organization of Wowsers.
Learn about upcoming events, shop our wow shop, find our best-selling books, and learn about all the other amazing podcasts from Tinkercast.Thanks again for hanging out in the basement this weekend.
Be sure to check out episodes of Wow in the World every Monday.And remember, who wows? Wee-wow!No, baby Dennis!Wee-wow!Wee-wow!
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