Uh oh! Forever Ago host Joy Dolo has trapped Brains On! co-creator Sanden Totten. His only escape? Play her new game: Stranger Than Fiction! Will this game be a little bit fun or extremely fun? There’s only one way to find out. Grab your Smarty Pass and listen
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SPEAKER: Now entering Brains On! headquarters.
JOY DOLO: Hey, smarty pal, Joy Dolo here. You've caught me in the middle of a sticky situation. We've been hard at work on a new batch of episodes of Forever Ago. But sometimes I need a little brain break. So I've been setting traps around HQ so I can find contestants for my fun new game, Stranger Than Fiction.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Aah!
JOY DOLO: And it looks like I finally caught someone. Its Brains On! editor, Sanden Totten.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Joy, Joy, help! I was just walking along to the kitchen when I saw this delicious-looking loaf of vegan pumpkin bread. But as soon as I grabbed it, this cage fell on top of me.
JOY DOLO: I know. It was one of my many traps. You and I are going to play a game.
SANDEN TOTTEN: The most dangerous game?
JOY DOLO: [LAUGHS] No. Who has time for volleyball? We're going to play Stranger Than Fiction. In this game, I'll read you three news headlines. Two of them are real. One of them is fake. It'll be up to you to guess which one is the fake one.
SANDEN TOTTEN: And if I say, I'll play your game, will you let me out of this cage?
JOY DOLO: Just don't think of it as a cage. Think of it as a restrictive opportunity zone, full of whimsy and vegan pumpkin bread.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Joy.
JOY DOLO: Ugh, fine. Yeah, I'll let you out now.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, thank you, Joy.
JOY DOLO: Here are your three headlines. Try to guess which two are real and which one is fake.
SANDEN TOTTEN: OK.
JOY DOLO: Number one, "Cow escapes field, heads to resort, and gets stuck on water slide."
[LAUGHTER]
Have you ever been stuck on a water slide?
SANDEN TOTTEN: No.
JOY DOLO: It's not funny, Sanden.
SANDEN TOTTEN: But the cow, it just wanted to live its best life. In the middle, it's like, this isn't going well at all.
JOY DOLO: What's the most fun thing I can do with my freedom? I'm going to go down a water slide. That cow will never do that again.
SANDEN TOTTEN: No.
JOY DOLO: Headline two, "Canadian moose loves Celine Dion."
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yeah, that track's everything about that. I like it.
JOY DOLO: Canadian-Canadian? And headline three, "Psycho squirrel terrorizes small town over Christmas."
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, my gosh.
[LAUGHTER]
That seems like it needs to be the next Pixar movie. Oh, boy, a psycho squirrel-- terrorizes town.
JOY DOLO: So cow escapes field, heads to resort, and gets stuck on water slide; Canadian moose loves Celine Dion; or psycho squirrel terrorizes small town over Christmas, which one is the fake one?
SANDEN TOTTEN: So many questions. So we start with a cow escaping, immediately finding its way to a water park, which is pretty astounding. I mean, to even just know-- I don't even know where the water park in my neighborhood is or if there's one that I could even walk to. This cow manages to pull this off. That seems unlikely.
Does it have a map? Was it using a phone with GPS? I don't know how it even got there. The odds of it stumbling-- I mean, think about it, if a cow is just walking around the street just minding its own business, how long would it take before someone would report that missing cow before it would make it all the way to a water slide?
JOY DOLO: Maybe the cow was using Moo-gle Maps.
[LAUGHTER]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Wait, wait, maybe it had a costume on. And no one noticed it because it was in-cow-gnito.
[LAUGHTER]
JOY DOLO: Milk, I don't know.
[LAUGHTER]
SANDEN TOTTEN: This is a lot of fun for a party that started with me being trapped in a cage.
JOY DOLO: Things have changed so quickly.
SANDEN TOTTEN: The second one, what was that one again?
JOY DOLO: That was "Canadian moose loves Celine Dion."
SANDEN TOTTEN: Well, they specified Canadian moose--
JOY DOLO: Yes, which is very important.
SANDEN TOTTEN: --because Celine Dion is also--
JOY DOLO: Canadian, that's right.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yes.
JOY DOLO: Do you like Celine Dion?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Do I? She's likable.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm not the biggest fan. But there's no point at which I've ever been like, that's Celine Dion. Get her out of here. I'm always like, there she is.
JOY DOLO: Meh.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Cool. I mean, if it was an American cow-- American moose that liked Celine Dion, maybe I would be a little more skeptical. But this seems legit. Maybe there was a concert and a moose just kept showing up on the hillside to watch her perform over and over again.
Maybe some of the high notes and some of her songs sound like a moose-mating call. I could hear like--
JOY DOLO: Oh.
SANDEN TOTTEN (SINGING): --my heart will go ohhn.
JOY DOLO: Ohhn.
[LAUGHTER]
Totally. And then the last one was "Psycho squirrel terrorizes small town over Christmas."
SANDEN TOTTEN: That one is 100% true. And I know it because--
JOY DOLO: Why? Have you looked that up before?
[LAUGHTER]
You already know?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yes. Oh, man, I was worried about squirrels carrying rabies for various reasons. So it's very, very, very rare for a squirrel to have rabies. But there was a case of a really deranged squirrel attacking people around Christmas time. I read about it in the news. And people were like, did it have rabies?
And I don't think they thought it did. I think they thought it was just a really Grinch-tastic squirrel. But I'm not sure what exactly happened to that squirrel. But I do remember this news story.
JOY DOLO: When I read this headline, I wasn't sure if it was the "Psych squirrel terrorizes small town over Christmas," like, Christmas break or like, because of Christmas. I've had enough of these gifts and trees.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Chestnuts roasting over an open fire? What a waste of chestnuts!
JOY DOLO: Give me those nuts.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Give me those nuts. So I think, for sure, that one's real. And I think the other real one is the moose because it just seems really plausible that a moose would be into Celine Dion. I mean, yeah, that's it.
JOY DOLO: That makes sense.
SANDEN TOTTEN: I think the cow escaping is the fake one. As much as I want it to be true, I want that cow to get out there, live its best life. And even if it gets stuck in the water slide, you know what, best story in the cow crowd ever. All the other cows would be like, tell it again. But I don't think it's true.
JOY DOLO: Well, I mean, luckily for you, this is great news because you are wrong.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh.
JOY DOLO: The cow escapes the field was a real headline. And the fake one was Canadian moose loves Celine Dion. The Canadian moose was actually just lukewarm on Celine Dion.
[LAUGHTER]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, man.
JOY DOLO: I loved your rationalization, though, about the Celine Dion having a call that the Canadian moose-- if it was like that, that makes sense. I could see that. Well, thanks so much, Sanden. You've been such a great guest. And you're free now. So you can go about your-- the rest of your day.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Sweet.
JOY DOLO: That's it for now, smarty pals. We'll be back in your feed next month with another fun history game. Thanks for listening.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Bye, everybody. Thanks.
SPEAKER: That's it for this Smarty Pass episode. It was made by Aron Woldeslassie and Anna Goldfield. Our executive producer is Beth Pearlman. And the executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati, Joanne Griffith, and Alex Schaffert. Brains On! is a non-profit public radio program. Thanks, Smarty Pass friends. We appreciate you.
SANDEN TOTTEN (SINGING): My heart will go ohhn.
JOY DOLO: Hey, smarty pal, Joy Dolo here. You've caught me in the middle of a sticky situation. We've been hard at work on a new batch of episodes of Forever Ago. But sometimes I need a little brain break. So I've been setting traps around HQ so I can find contestants for my fun new game, Stranger Than Fiction.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Aah!
JOY DOLO: And it looks like I finally caught someone. Its Brains On! editor, Sanden Totten.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Joy, Joy, help! I was just walking along to the kitchen when I saw this delicious-looking loaf of vegan pumpkin bread. But as soon as I grabbed it, this cage fell on top of me.
JOY DOLO: I know. It was one of my many traps. You and I are going to play a game.
SANDEN TOTTEN: The most dangerous game?
JOY DOLO: [LAUGHS] No. Who has time for volleyball? We're going to play Stranger Than Fiction. In this game, I'll read you three news headlines. Two of them are real. One of them is fake. It'll be up to you to guess which one is the fake one.
SANDEN TOTTEN: And if I say, I'll play your game, will you let me out of this cage?
JOY DOLO: Just don't think of it as a cage. Think of it as a restrictive opportunity zone, full of whimsy and vegan pumpkin bread.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Joy.
JOY DOLO: Ugh, fine. Yeah, I'll let you out now.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, thank you, Joy.
JOY DOLO: Here are your three headlines. Try to guess which two are real and which one is fake.
SANDEN TOTTEN: OK.
JOY DOLO: Number one, "Cow escapes field, heads to resort, and gets stuck on water slide."
[LAUGHTER]
Have you ever been stuck on a water slide?
SANDEN TOTTEN: No.
JOY DOLO: It's not funny, Sanden.
SANDEN TOTTEN: But the cow, it just wanted to live its best life. In the middle, it's like, this isn't going well at all.
JOY DOLO: What's the most fun thing I can do with my freedom? I'm going to go down a water slide. That cow will never do that again.
SANDEN TOTTEN: No.
JOY DOLO: Headline two, "Canadian moose loves Celine Dion."
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yeah, that track's everything about that. I like it.
JOY DOLO: Canadian-Canadian? And headline three, "Psycho squirrel terrorizes small town over Christmas."
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, my gosh.
[LAUGHTER]
That seems like it needs to be the next Pixar movie. Oh, boy, a psycho squirrel-- terrorizes town.
JOY DOLO: So cow escapes field, heads to resort, and gets stuck on water slide; Canadian moose loves Celine Dion; or psycho squirrel terrorizes small town over Christmas, which one is the fake one?
SANDEN TOTTEN: So many questions. So we start with a cow escaping, immediately finding its way to a water park, which is pretty astounding. I mean, to even just know-- I don't even know where the water park in my neighborhood is or if there's one that I could even walk to. This cow manages to pull this off. That seems unlikely.
Does it have a map? Was it using a phone with GPS? I don't know how it even got there. The odds of it stumbling-- I mean, think about it, if a cow is just walking around the street just minding its own business, how long would it take before someone would report that missing cow before it would make it all the way to a water slide?
JOY DOLO: Maybe the cow was using Moo-gle Maps.
[LAUGHTER]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Wait, wait, maybe it had a costume on. And no one noticed it because it was in-cow-gnito.
[LAUGHTER]
JOY DOLO: Milk, I don't know.
[LAUGHTER]
SANDEN TOTTEN: This is a lot of fun for a party that started with me being trapped in a cage.
JOY DOLO: Things have changed so quickly.
SANDEN TOTTEN: The second one, what was that one again?
JOY DOLO: That was "Canadian moose loves Celine Dion."
SANDEN TOTTEN: Well, they specified Canadian moose--
JOY DOLO: Yes, which is very important.
SANDEN TOTTEN: --because Celine Dion is also--
JOY DOLO: Canadian, that's right.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yes.
JOY DOLO: Do you like Celine Dion?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Do I? She's likable.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm not the biggest fan. But there's no point at which I've ever been like, that's Celine Dion. Get her out of here. I'm always like, there she is.
JOY DOLO: Meh.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Cool. I mean, if it was an American cow-- American moose that liked Celine Dion, maybe I would be a little more skeptical. But this seems legit. Maybe there was a concert and a moose just kept showing up on the hillside to watch her perform over and over again.
Maybe some of the high notes and some of her songs sound like a moose-mating call. I could hear like--
JOY DOLO: Oh.
SANDEN TOTTEN (SINGING): --my heart will go ohhn.
JOY DOLO: Ohhn.
[LAUGHTER]
Totally. And then the last one was "Psycho squirrel terrorizes small town over Christmas."
SANDEN TOTTEN: That one is 100% true. And I know it because--
JOY DOLO: Why? Have you looked that up before?
[LAUGHTER]
You already know?
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yes. Oh, man, I was worried about squirrels carrying rabies for various reasons. So it's very, very, very rare for a squirrel to have rabies. But there was a case of a really deranged squirrel attacking people around Christmas time. I read about it in the news. And people were like, did it have rabies?
And I don't think they thought it did. I think they thought it was just a really Grinch-tastic squirrel. But I'm not sure what exactly happened to that squirrel. But I do remember this news story.
JOY DOLO: When I read this headline, I wasn't sure if it was the "Psych squirrel terrorizes small town over Christmas," like, Christmas break or like, because of Christmas. I've had enough of these gifts and trees.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Chestnuts roasting over an open fire? What a waste of chestnuts!
JOY DOLO: Give me those nuts.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Give me those nuts. So I think, for sure, that one's real. And I think the other real one is the moose because it just seems really plausible that a moose would be into Celine Dion. I mean, yeah, that's it.
JOY DOLO: That makes sense.
SANDEN TOTTEN: I think the cow escaping is the fake one. As much as I want it to be true, I want that cow to get out there, live its best life. And even if it gets stuck in the water slide, you know what, best story in the cow crowd ever. All the other cows would be like, tell it again. But I don't think it's true.
JOY DOLO: Well, I mean, luckily for you, this is great news because you are wrong.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh.
JOY DOLO: The cow escapes the field was a real headline. And the fake one was Canadian moose loves Celine Dion. The Canadian moose was actually just lukewarm on Celine Dion.
[LAUGHTER]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, man.
JOY DOLO: I loved your rationalization, though, about the Celine Dion having a call that the Canadian moose-- if it was like that, that makes sense. I could see that. Well, thanks so much, Sanden. You've been such a great guest. And you're free now. So you can go about your-- the rest of your day.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Sweet.
JOY DOLO: That's it for now, smarty pals. We'll be back in your feed next month with another fun history game. Thanks for listening.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Bye, everybody. Thanks.
SPEAKER: That's it for this Smarty Pass episode. It was made by Aron Woldeslassie and Anna Goldfield. Our executive producer is Beth Pearlman. And the executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati, Joanne Griffith, and Alex Schaffert. Brains On! is a non-profit public radio program. Thanks, Smarty Pass friends. We appreciate you.
SANDEN TOTTEN (SINGING): My heart will go ohhn.
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