Wow in the World

By NPR

Science & Medicine Education Kids & Family

What's Wow in the World about?

Hosts Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz guide curious kids and their grown-ups on a journey into the wonders of the world around them. We'll go inside our brains, out into space and deep into the coolest new stories in science and technology.

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LAST EPISODE

An Eyebrow Evolution!

06.24.2019

Once upon a time, our earliest human ancestors all had a permanent case of 'angry face' due to the big bony ridges on their foreheads. Over time we've evolved flexible brows that can communicate our complex emotions. Evolutionary anthropologists are ...

Wow in the World episodes:

06.24.2019 An Eyebrow Evolution! Once upon a time, our earliest human ancestors all had a permanent case of 'angry face' due to the big bony ridges on their foreheads. Over time we've evolved flexible brows that can communicate our complex emotions. Evolutionary anthropologists are ...
06.17.2019 G-Force Vs. Wasabi: How The Brain Registers Pain It's time for another spicy smack down in the world of Wow, and this time Gramma G-Force and a Naked Mole Rat go head to head in a battle of...Wasabi?! How will our fearless competitors handle the heat? And what ...
06.10.2019 A Sunbrella For The Planet Summer days are getting hotter and hotter! For us humans, it's as easy as drinking a cool glass of water, lathering ourselves in sunscreen and putting up a parasol! But what about the planet? How do we keep planet earth ...
06.03.2019 Dinosaurs Take Flight! How Birds Evolved To Fly What in the world can a giant ostrich and a prehistoric dinosaur tell us about the evolution of flight? Join Mindy, Guy Raz, a dino robot, and escaped zoo ostrich as they explore the Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, ...
05.27.2019 Scaredy Sharks & The Science of Fear Darkness? Orcas? Turns out, everyone's afraid of something! Even the Great White Shark, the most fearsome predator in the seven seas! But afraid of what? And why? And how can this fear impact the rest of the ocean? Join Guy ...
05.20.2019 Getting Nosey About the Science of Smell: Why Different Sniffs Get Different Whiffs! Scientists have long known that different people experience different smells, well...differently! But Why? And How? Join Mindy and Guy Raz in their new backyard Ol'Factory of bottled up odors, as they explore the Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, and ...
05.13.2019 An UnFROGettable Day At the Museum of Wow! The Museum of Wow just opened its new amphibian exhibit, and everyone from pollywogs to old croaks agree that the new discoveries featured there are positively ribbeting! Join Mindy, Guy Raz, Reggie, and friends for a fact-filled tour of miniature ...
05.06.2019 Pull A Face! The Science Of Four-Legged Facial Mimicry Hook your fingers in your cheeks, push your nose up with your thumb and strap yourselves in as Mindy and Guy head to the Interspecies Face Pulling World Championships to see the best funny face makers in the animal kingdom! ...
04.29.2019 Drop That Beat and Cut The Cheese...For Science! Would you care for a little brie marinated in hip hop? How about some cheddar dipped in rock and roll? Swiss serenaded by an up-beat pop classic! Turns out that cheese have preferences when it comes to music, and those ...
04.22.2019 Here Comes The Sun-Powered Energy! It's Cyber Funday on Wow in the World, and Mindy is taking full advantage of all the good deals! Sales on everything thing she's ever wanted and everything she never even knew she wanted! But is her online shopping spree ...
04.15.2019 MY ASTEROID IS BLOWING UP! Imagine a giant asteroid is out in space and headed on a collision course with planet Earth. Your mission, is to annihilate this giant mass of space rock before it can even get close. What do you do? How do ...
04.08.2019 And The Winner Is...RICEQUAKE! You might think that rice krispies belong in the kitchen, but as Guy Raz and Mindy find out at the Annual Nom Nom Foodie Awards, they also belong on the big screen and in the lab! Join Mindy and Guy ...
04.01.2019 Song Of The Singing Mouse What do humans, bottlenose dolphins, and the singing mice of the Costa Rican cloud forests have in common? Well according to a new scientific study, we all share the power of singing...in duets! But why?! And how?! Join Mindy, Guy ...
03.25.2019 Hey Baby Island, How'd You Get Here? - When Underwater Volcanoes Grow UP! If you could take one item to a desert island what would it be? A pacifier? A rattle? How about a diaper? Well that might be just what you need if you're visiting an itty bitty baby island! Join Mindy ...
03.18.2019 Horsefly Don't Bother Me! - The Dazzling Mystery Of Zebra Stripes Guy Raz and his horse Bucky just got back from a frustrating riding lesson. Mindy is on the roof of her gingerbread mansion dressed as a horsefly. And Dennis is, well....just being Dennis. And before this episode is over, YOU ...
03.11.2019 Bored Out Of Your Bonkerballs? - Why Having Nothing To Do Can Be Good For You! Bored out of your bonkerballs with nothing to do? Turns out, being bored can be good for you! A new study from the United Kingdom suggests that periods of boredom are crucial for anyone looking to get their creativity on! ...
03.04.2019 1+2=3? Just Ask A BEE! - The Scientific Buzz On Bees & Math What in the world is a Fibonacci Sequence? Where in the world can you spot one in the wild? And why in the world is that BEE adding and subtracting at the lightening speed of a child?! Join Guy Raz ...
02.25.2019 So Cute You Can't Even! - The Science Of Cute Aggression Do you have a face so cute that people want to pinch your cheeks? Does the sight of a baby piglet snuggling up to a newborn baby make you want to kick down a door and run away screaming? Have ...
02.18.2019 Heeeere Foodie Foodie Foodie! - Edible Insects Are On The Menu! It's that time of year! The annual public radio food truck festival! Mindy has slapped a new logo on her dilapidated ice cream truck and joins in the festivities with a new twist on Gramma G-Force's famous "Sloppy G's!" But ...
02.11.2019 Long Live Lonesome George! - The Mysterious Genome Of A Giant Tortoise 80 years old? 100 years old? 400 years old?! Some animals live for a really long time, which means that things are getting pretty crowded at Reggie's parent's retirement farm! Join Guy Raz, Mindy, and Reggie, as they fly on ...
02.04.2019 Duck Duck Poop - A Tale Of Symbiosis It's time for the regional library Story Slam Potluck & Pajama Party, and the gang's all here! First up, it's Mindy, with a non-fiction story involving a duck, a copycat plant, and some scientifically magical POOP? What could these three ...
01.28.2019 Back-To-School: Recess 101 How in the world does recess make us smarter? Where in the world do kids enjoy the most of it? Join Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas on an expedition to better understand the science of taking a break! It's the ...
01.21.2019 Two-Headed Space Worms What in the world are Planarian Flatworms? Why in the world did scientists send them on a mission to outer space? And where in the world are their mouths if not on their heads?! Join Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas ...
01.14.2019 Now Watch Me Drip Drip: The Science Of Slower Melting Ice Cream! I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! But what's up with all the melting on hot summer days? Join Mindy and Guy Raz as they scour the globe in search of a special new ingredient, that's said ...
01.07.2019 Exploding Ants! You ANT gonna believe this! A new ant species has been discovered in the jungles of Southeast Asia! And while these tiny insects may look similar to the ants we know, they are literally BURSTING surprises! Join Mindy and Guy ...
12.31.2018 The Zen of Video Games Stressed? Anxious? Is your life going bonkerballs?! May we suggest ... video games! A recent study has shown that certain video games may help alleviate stress in times of high anxiety. To test out this theory Mindy and Guy Raz ...
12.24.2018 The Cubic Scoop on Wombat Poop! Poop to the power of 3? Rubik's Poop? Poop cubed?! We're talking wombats and the unusually shaped blocks of scat they leave behind! But HOW? And WHY? Join Mindy and Guy Raz as they travel to an Australian "Pooseum" to ...
12.17.2018 An Elevator To The Stars! Welcome to another toe tapping episode of Wow in the World! Guy Raz is off to listen to the latest and greatest in world of elevator music and Mindy tags along for the ride! But this music isn't just for ...
12.10.2018 The Karate Kickin' Cockroach Mindy signs Guy Raz and herself up for a karate lesson! But when she starts talking about cockroaches, jewel wasps, and zombies, Guy Raz quickly realizes that this is not going to be your typical karate class. What in the ...
12.03.2018 Extreme Makeover: Spider Edition Lights, Camera and Action! Join Mindy and Guy Raz as they go behind the scenes on the hottest new matchmaking show in the animal kingdom; "Date or Bait!" Follow along as they learn all about the carnivorous habits of the ...
11.26.2018 A Dog's Nose Always Knows What in the world is a dog's secret sniffing power? How in the world do their noses know more than ours? And why are we putting these noses to work? Join Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas as they explore latest ...
11.19.2018 The Very Hungry Black Hole Mindy's going to need a few tips if she's going to win the local eating competition, lucky for her, Guy Raz knows the best eater in the universe! The supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy! Join Guy ...
11.12.2018 Exploding Ants! You ant gonna believe this! A new ant species has been discovered in the jungles of Southeast Asia! And while these tiny insects may look similar to the ants we know, they are literally BURSTING surprises! Join Mindy and Guy ...
11.05.2018 Why Horses Can't Wear Flip Flops How in the world did horses get their hooves? What in the world is the difference between their feet and ours? And when in the world did tiny dog-sized horses roam the earth? Join Guy Raz and Mindy for a ...
10.29.2018 Ladies & Germs, Meet The Supervillain Superbugs! Almost 100 years ago, Alexander Fleming discovered what would go on to become the world's first antibiotic. Nearly a century later, the bacterial infections and diseases these antibiotics once treated are making a comeback! Join Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas ...
10.22.2018 EAR YE! EAR YE! How The Shape Of Our Ears Affects The Way We Hear! Get ready and prepare those two fleshy little sea shells on the side of your head for the science of sound! That's right, we're talking ear science! Join Guy and Mindy as they explore the who, what, when, where, why, ...
10.15.2018 Your Crabby Pee Is Scaring Me! What's that scent wafting through the murky waters off the coast of Georgia? Well if you're a mud crab, you'll know that it's the smell of fear. But where does it come from? And how do we know? Join Guy ...
10.08.2018 BANG! Where'd this universe come from?! What in the world can you create with a 3D printer? How in the world does it work? Where in the world is it being used OUT of this world? And WHY in the world is Mindy pouring pancake batter ...
10.01.2018 3D Printing the Future! What in the world can you create with a 3D printer? How in the world does it work? Where in the world is it being used OUT of this world? And WHY in the world is Mindy pouring pancake batter ...
09.24.2018 Totally Spiced Out! What in the world makes chili peppers hot? How in the world do we measure their spiciness? And where in the world are kids least likely to get spiced out? Get ready to be SPICED OUT with Mindy Thomas and ...
09.17.2018 WAIT...WAIT...ARE THOSE MARSHMALLOWS? Why Kids Are Better At Waiting Than Adults New scientific research suggests that kids these days are better than grownups when it comes to waiting. WHAT?! Join Mindy and Guy Raz in the waiting room of the dentist's office, as they explore how scientists used MARSHMALLOWS in the ...
09.10.2018 Spit-Take! The Science Of Saliva And Those Bitter Bites Having trouble breaking through the bitter bites of nature's leafiest greens and cocoa beans? Well before you do that spit-take, you may want to chew on this nature's candy just a little longer! New research suggests that the key savoring ...
09.03.2018 How To Sleep Your Way to Victory We all know a good night's sleep is good for our bodies, but did you know it could also increase your odds of winning the big race? Join Guy Raz and Mindy as they snooze, snore, and put this new ...
08.27.2018 The Dinosaur With Dandruff Don't scritch scratch that itchy, flaky scalp! Take it from the Beipiaosaurus, it doesn't help! Join Mindy and Guy Raz, and a tiny T-Rex as they explore the Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, and Wow in the World of ...
08.20.2018 An Intergalactic Interloper! It came from another solar system! No, it's not the latest sci-fi summer blockbuster; it's science! Join Mindy and Guy Raz as they explore the Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, and Wow in the World of alien asteroids!
08.13.2018 An Eyebrow Evolution! Once upon a time, our earliest human ancestors all had a permanent case of 'angry face' due to the big bony ridges on their foreheads. Over time we've evolved flexible brows that can communicate our complex emotions. Evolutionary anthropologists are ...
08.06.2018 An Aurora Named Steve There's a new natural phenomenon in town and he's putting on a light show! Scientists are learning more and more about this mysterious new aurora and have even given it a name! So join Mindy and Guy Raz as they ...
07.30.2018 Now Watch Me Drip Drip: The Science Of Slower Melting Ice Cream! I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! But what's up with all the melting on hot summer days? Join Mindy and Guy Raz as they scour the globe in search of a special new ingredient, that's said ...
07.23.2018 The Curious Case of the Everlasting Storm Crash! Crack! Boom! No need to duck and cover during this incredible thunderstorm! It's been going on for hundreds of years! Join Mindy and Guy Raz as they make there way out to Venezuela to hunt down the mysterious and ...
07.16.2018 Exploding Ants! You ant gonna believe this! A new ant species has been discovered in the jungles of Southeast Asia! And while these tiny insects may look similar to the ants we know, they are literally BURSTING surprises! Join Mindy and Guy ...

Older episodes

Wow in the World

What's Wow in the World about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Wow in the World episodes:

An Eyebrow Evolution!

G-Force Vs. Wasabi: How The Brain Registers Pain

A Sunbrella For The Planet

Dinosaurs Take Flight! How Birds Evolved To Fly

Scaredy Sharks & The Science of Fear

Getting Nosey About the Science of Smell: Why Different Sniffs Get Different Whiffs!

An UnFROGettable Day At the Museum of Wow!

Pull A Face! The Science Of Four-Legged Facial Mimicry

Drop That Beat and Cut The Cheese...For Science!

Here Comes The Sun-Powered Energy!

MY ASTEROID IS BLOWING UP!

And The Winner Is...RICEQUAKE!

Song Of The Singing Mouse

Hey Baby Island, How'd You Get Here? - When Underwater Volcanoes Grow UP!

Horsefly Don't Bother Me! - The Dazzling Mystery Of Zebra Stripes

Bored Out Of Your Bonkerballs? - Why Having Nothing To Do Can Be Good For You!

1+2=3? Just Ask A BEE! - The Scientific Buzz On Bees & Math

So Cute You Can't Even! - The Science Of Cute Aggression

Heeeere Foodie Foodie Foodie! - Edible Insects Are On The Menu!

Long Live Lonesome George! - The Mysterious Genome Of A Giant Tortoise

Duck Duck Poop - A Tale Of Symbiosis

Back-To-School: Recess 101

Two-Headed Space Worms

Now Watch Me Drip Drip: The Science Of Slower Melting Ice Cream!

Exploding Ants!

The Zen of Video Games

The Cubic Scoop on Wombat Poop!

An Elevator To The Stars!

The Karate Kickin' Cockroach

Extreme Makeover: Spider Edition

A Dog's Nose Always Knows

The Very Hungry Black Hole

Exploding Ants!

Why Horses Can't Wear Flip Flops

Ladies & Germs, Meet The Supervillain Superbugs!

EAR YE! EAR YE! How The Shape Of Our Ears Affects The Way We Hear!

Your Crabby Pee Is Scaring Me!

BANG! Where'd this universe come from?!

3D Printing the Future!

Totally Spiced Out!

WAIT...WAIT...ARE THOSE MARSHMALLOWS? Why Kids Are Better At Waiting Than Adults

Spit-Take! The Science Of Saliva And Those Bitter Bites

How To Sleep Your Way to Victory

The Dinosaur With Dandruff

An Intergalactic Interloper!

An Eyebrow Evolution!

An Aurora Named Steve

Now Watch Me Drip Drip: The Science Of Slower Melting Ice Cream!

The Curious Case of the Everlasting Storm

Exploding Ants!

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