Smarty Pass Bonus: Solstice Smackdown!

MOLLY: Now entering Brains On headquarters. Oh, hey. So glad you're here. We love welcoming smarty pass holders to Brains On headquarters. Come on in. I'll show you around. There's always so much going on. Joy Dolo is in the sauna doing her vocal warm-ups.

JOY DOLO: [VOCALIZING] Welcome to Forever Ago. I am your host, Joy Dolo.

MOLLY: She likes to be as warm as possible while warming up hence the sauna.

JOY DOLO: It's not called a cold up or room temperature up. Anyway, back to warm-ups.

[VOCALIZING]

MOLLY: Mark is on the third floor tuning up all the sound effects for the new season of Smash Boom Best.

MARK: Molly.

MOLLY: Oh, hey, Mark. How are the sound effects today?

MARK: I was going through the sound jars and I can't find the [VOCALIZING] sneak attack sound. Have you seen it anywhere?

MOLLY: Yeah. That one has a tendency to sneak away. Oh, I think I may have seen it in the kitchen maybe next to the lukewarm water. I think that's where I saw it.

MARK: Oh, cool. I'll go check. Thanks. Besides Smash Boom Best coming back in a couple of weeks, we're also really excited because it's almost solstice time. There are two solstices every year. Here in the northern hemisphere, we're about to have winter solstice, the first day of winter. But in the southern hemisphere, it's about to be summer solstice.

So why aren't our seasons in sync? Well, as the Earth rotates around the sun, it tilts back and forth. When the northern hemisphere tilts toward the sun, it gets more light and heat and the southern hemisphere gets less. So when it's summer in the northern hemisphere, it's winter in the south and vise versa. Oh, and look, it's our pal, Ruby Guthrie. Hey, Ruby. What's up? And why is it so toasty over here?

RUBY GUTHRIE: Hey, party people. I'm just enjoying the heat thanks to Brains On HQ's very own miniature sun. Nothing's better than a faint sun to warm you up. So balmy, so radiant, and not at all bothersome to anyone in the office.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, it's so hot in here.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Look, everyone. It's Sanden Totten. Sanden, don't you just love the heat?

SANDEN TOTTEN: No. It's almost winter, and you've got it blazing in here like the 4th of July. Ruby, you need to get rid of that tiny sun.

RUBY GUTHRIE: But I love my miniature star. It's so warm like clothes in the dark, and it's the only thing that gets me through winter. Winter is the worst season.

SANDEN TOTTEN: I beg your pardon. Winter is the best season. We have Christmas, New Year's, Hanukkah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, the Winter Olympics, and the winter solstice.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Sanden, in the summer, every day is a holiday. No school and splashing in the pool, long nights and flowers blooming bright. Oh, and it has the best solstice.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Winter solstice is clearly the better astrological event. How dare you you? Can't spell winter without win, winter, wins. You can't argue with spelling.

RUBY GUTHRIE: I'm not trying to argue with spelling. No, I'm out to prove that the summer solstice is the best. See how warm it is in here?

SANDEN TOTTEN: That's the problem. You just can't see how wrong you are when it's this hot. Molly, what do you think?

MOLLY: I can't choose. I love them both.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Come with me. Elevator.

ELEVATOR: You called?

SANDEN TOTTEN: Take us to the snow room, please.

ELEVATOR: Do you have a coat on?

SANDEN TOTTEN: Yes.

ELEVATOR: Gloves?

SANDEN TOTTEN: Yes.

ELEVATOR: Scarves.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Elevator.

ELEVATOR: Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you.

MOLLY: Brr. It's so cold in here. This frost bites.

SANDEN TOTTEN: It's brisk. The snow room has everything that's cool, snowmen, sledding, ice skating, and--

MOLLY: Look out. It's a Yeti.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Molly, this is Virginia the Yeti. She lives in the snow room.

VIRGINIA: Hey, Sanden. What are you doing here? Looking for an icy? Italian ice? Popsicle?

SANDEN TOTTEN: Those all sound great. But today, I'm just trying to show my friends here why the winter solstice is the best. Ruby thinks summer solstice is where it's at. Boo.

VIRGINIA: Oh, ludicrous.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Outrageous.

VIRGINIA: Bonkers.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Preposterous.

MOLLY: OK. OK. I think we get how you feel.

SANDEN TOTTEN: We're not alone in our winter solstice love. People all over the world do incredible things to celebrate. In Scandinavia, they celebrate Saint Lucia's day, a day where people dressed in white robes, red sashes, and wear wreaths of candles on their heads. So lovely.

RUBY GUTHRIE: That is so cool, almost like a birthday cake crown.

VIRGINIA: In Iran, people celebrate the night of Yalda. This ancient Persian festival celebrates the victory of light over darkness with family gatherings, candles, poetry readings, and a feast.

MOLLY: Victory over darkness. It's like if my nightlight had its own holiday.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Exactly. And in Peru during the winter solstice, they celebrate Inti Raymi. It's this awesome celebration where people perform dances that go back to the Incan and empire. They dress in beautiful clothes and celebrate the sun.

RUBY GUTHRIE: All right. So all these traditions are just trying to make endless darkness fun. When I think winter, all I see are icy roads, eternally chapped lips, and sunsets at 4:30 PM. I'll pass. The summer solstice is way better anyways.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, yeah? Prove it.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Easy peasy, fresh summer lemonade squeezy. Let's go to the summer room.

VIRGINIA: I'm going to sit this one out. I've got snowmen to build.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Fair enough. OK. Everyone else, follow me.

CREW: B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-brains On.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Welcome to the summer room.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Ah, M sweaty. So sweaty, oh.

RUBY GUTHRIE: I'd rather sweat than freeze. Plus, look at all the amazing stuff in here. There's a field of wildflowers over there, an ice cream truck. There's even a beach. And look at all those sand castles. Look, someone's surfing. Wait, is that Joy Dolo?

JOY DOLO: Totally gnarly, broski. Cowabunga! Found another warm spot for my vocal warms. Hang 10, Joy.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Oh, isn't it awesome in here?

SANDEN TOTTEN: It's salty. I'll give you that.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Sanden, you're the one that salty. Winter's cool and all, but it's long and dark and colder than elevator's icy heart. But summer's just about fun. You get a break from school, maybe go on vacation, or just soak up the sun at the pool.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Or you just get sunburned. Summer? More like bummer, am I right?

RUBY GUTHRIE: There's SPF for that.

VIRGIL: Who needs sunscreen?

MOLLY: Ah, a brown Yeti.

VIRGIL: I'm actually a Sasquatch. The name's Virgil, and I live in the summer room.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Virgil, my main squeeze. I was just telling my friends here all about the summer solstice. There are so many awesome traditions.

VIRGIL: You bet. For example, there's midsummer in Sweden, one of the most important and celebrated holidays in the country.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Right. It's all about honoring the abundance of nature. So many people visit the countryside and wear crowns of wildflowers, which people once believed would bring good health throughout the year. They also put up a giant pole covered in greens and flowers, and everyone dances, sings, and even plays games around it like [NON-ENGLISH], where you hop around like a frog. Ribbit! Ribbit! This is so fun. Come on, Sanden, hop with us.

SANDEN TOTTEN: My legs are getting tired just watching you. I wish you could just curl up with some hot chocolate instead.

VIRGIL: If a snack is what you're after, have some fresh strawberries. They're a midsummer treat. Try some.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Mmh, berry nice. There are lots of different summer solstice traditions across the world. In some parts of China like the Shandong province, it's customary to eat chilled noodles.

VIRGIL: Bonfires are also a popular solstice activity. In Spain, it's tradition to jump over a bonfire three times to burn your problems away. You can also jump in the ocean at midnight for even more good luck. In Puerto Rico, they take this to the next level by plunging backwards into the water three times. This is supposed to get rid of any negativity.

RUBY GUTHRIE: What a positive plunge. And in places even closer to the Arctic Circle like Fairbanks, Alaska, there's almost 24 hours of daylight. For the past century, Fairbanks has celebrated with a midnight sun baseball game where they play a game of ball through the night. They don't even need to turn on the stadium lights.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Sounds exhausting.

MOLLY: Sanden, do you know what's exhausting? Shoveling. OK. OK. OK. There's only one way to settle this. Sanden, Ruby it's time you have a debate Smash Boom Best style. You'll each get 30 seconds to defend your solstice. Sanden, you're going to go first. Tell us why winter sends shivers down your spine, but the good kind. And your time starts now.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Winter solstice makes summer sadder, sucker. Sure, we've got the longest nights, but that just means we've got more dancing to do till the break of dawn. If you like sunburns, mosquito, bites and super sweaty armpits, then by all means, go to a summer solstice. But if you want. cool food, cool people, and cool outfits, jump over to the other side of the globe for some winter solstice fun.

MOLLY: And time. OK, Ruby, your next. You've got 30 seconds to tell us why summer has the superior solstice. And go.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Summer has the solstice with the mostest because the days are longer. And since you don't have school, you have more time to do fun stuff like swimming or bonfires or dancing around like a frog. Plus, you're setting good intentions to celebrate and reset after a long winter. Also, you're honoring the abundance of the Earth, the green grass, flowers, delicious fresh berries are perfectly snappy snapies on some chilled noodles. So refreshing. Also, it's peak ice cream season, a celebration of life at its finest.

MOLLY: And time. Woo, that was quite the debate, you two. All right, listeners, we want to hear from you. Are you team summer solstice or team winter solstice? Let us know by going to smashboom.org and casting your vote.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Molly, aren't you going to crown me the Smash Spoon Best?

SANDEN TOTTEN: No way! Molly, I'm your Smash Boom Bestie. Come on, you know I got it.

RUBY GUTHRIE: But Molly, I produce the show.

SANDEN TOTTEN: I invented the show.

MOLLY: I think I'm personally more of a fall equinox person. That's the time in fall when the day and night are about the same length. There's also one in spring too. But the one in the fall, it's really hard to argue with fall colors.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Oh, or apple cider.

SANDEN TOTTEN: Or sunny days with a crispness in the air. Hey, maybe we should all go to the fall room.

RUBY GUTHRIE: Oh, you're so right.

MOLLY: That's it for this smarty pants episode. It was produced by--

[LISTING HONOR ROLL]

Brains On is a nonprofit public radio program. Thank you so much smarty pants friends for your support. Bye.