Godfrey Hibbert
Two little critters take the spotlight today. It’s hummingbirds vs. seahorses! Reporter Jill Replogle gets into a squeaky scuffle with comic and writer Brandi Brown in this awesome ani-melee. Which creature will carry the day? Heavenly hummingbirds or salty seahorses?
Vote below for the team YOU think won.
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Audio Transcript
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ANNOUNCER: From the brains behind Brains On, it's Smash Boom Best.
LENA: The show for people with big opinions!
MOLLY BLOOM: Hi, I'm Molly Bloom and this is Smash Boom Best, the show where we take two things, smash them together, and ask you to decide which one is best. Today's stand off features two tiny critters, the squeaker of the skies and the steed of the seas. It's hummingbirds versus sea horses. We've got reporter, Jill Replogle, here to represent heavenly hummingbirds.
JILL REPLOGLE: Shout out to the spunky flying gemstones of the sky.
MOLLY BLOOM: And comic and writer, Brandi Brown, is here to defend the splendor of seahorses.
BRANDI BROWN: Give it up for seahorses, the best dancers underwater.
MOLLY BLOOM: Which team will win? The one with wings or the one that swims? Lucky for us, we've got Lena from New York, New York, here to help us decide. She sings, crochets, loves to bake. And when she was nine, she asked for a melon baller and a king-sized Kit Kat for Hanukkah. Hi, Lena.
LENA: Hi.
MOLLY BLOOM: So, I have a question for you. If a seahorse and a hummingbird were in an opera, what would they sound like? What would their voices be like, do you think?
LENA: That is a wonderful question. To be fair, I was in the production of The Little Mermaid.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh.
JILL REPLOGLE: I feel like there's bias here already.
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHING]
LENA: No. Well, also, I have seen a hummingbird before. So that levels the playing field.
MOLLY BLOOM: Perfect. So, how do you think a hummingbird would sing the word hummingbird?
LENA: (SINGING) Hummingbird.
Something like that.
MOLLY BLOOM: Beautiful.
JILL REPLOGLE: Ooh! That was lovely.
MOLLY BLOOM: What about seahorses? I know you experienced seahorses during The Little Mermaid, so what would they sound like? Maybe--
(SEAHORSE IMPRESSION) Seahorses.
LENA: That's amazing. Yes. I can't do better than that. I can't top that.
JILL REPLOGLE: That was pretty good.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. Lena, are you feeling ready to judge today's debate?
LENA: I am always ready to judge people. Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHING] Excellent. Then let's review the rules of the game. Round 1 is the Declaration of Greatness, where our debaters present fact-filled arguments in favor of their side, and each have 30 seconds to rebut their opponent's statements. Then we've got the Micro Round, where each team will present a creative response to a prompt they received in advance.
Round 3 is the Sneak Attack, where our debaters will have to respond to an improv challenge on the spot. And to wrap it all up, we've got the Final 6, where each team will have just six words to sum up the glory of their side. Our Judge, Lena, will award two points in the first round. One for her favorite rebuttal, the other for the declaration she liked best.
She'll award one point in each round after that, but she'll keep her decision secret until the end of the debate. Listeners, we want you to judge too. Mark down your points as you listen. At the end of the show, head to our website, smashboom.org, and vote for whichever team you think won. OK. Jill, Brandi, and Lena, are you ready?
JILL REPLOGLE: Yes, I am.
LENA: Definitely.
BRANDI BROWN: Ready.
LINA: Let's do this.
MOLLY BLOOM: Then it's time for the--
ANNOUNCER: Declaration of Greatness.
MOLLY BLOOM: We flipped a coin. And Jill, you're up first. Tell us why your itsy bitsy birdies are the Smash Boom Best.
NARRATOR: Meanwhile, at Jill's desk--
JILL REPLOGLE: Got to find material for my Declaration of Greatness. Let's see, hummingbird websites, hummingbird videos, hummingbird TikTok? Interesting. Kind of weird. I wish I could just be a hummingbird. Whoa, whoa.
(HUMMINGBIRD VOICE) Whoa! Why is my voice getting so chill? Why is my nose being so long and pointy? It's happening, people. I'm-- I'm-- I'm a hummingbird! I can fly! So this is what it feels like to beat your wings up to 70 times per second.
Oh, and my unique bone structure and wing muscles allow me to go forwards, upwards, down, backwards, even upside down! I'm like a helicopter but so much cooler. I can even levitate in mid-air and contemplate the beautiful flowers. Om.
Wait a second. Why am I so hungry all of a sudden? Oh, I know. It's because hummingbirds have to eat every 10 minutes and consume the equivalent of half their body weight in insects and flower nectar every day. Nectar. Let's try some from this flower and this other flower and this one over here. I don't even feel guilty about all the sugar I'm eating because, while I'm stuffing my beak, I'm spreading pollen which helps more flowers grow.
In fact, hummingbirds pollinate about 8,000 different plants in North and South America, including pineapples. Yum! Speaking of pineapples, there's some right there. I must be in Costa Rica. Some 50 different species of hummingbirds live here.
Oh, there's a green hermit hummingbird. Look at those emerald feathers. Oh, and there's a fiery-throated one. It's like a flying rainbow. Turquoise, purple, chartreuse.
And its feathers change colors depending upon which angle I look at it, like bubbles in the sunshine. I want to find that good looking. Oh, there's a pond. I can check my reflection. Hey, hey, not bad. Well, it's a long journey to get back up North.
I better get going. Some species of hummingbirds migrate 2,000 to 3,000 miles per year. They spend the warm winters in Mexico and Central America, then head North as far as Canada and Alaska in the summers. Time to fuel up. Flower power, flower power, this is Maverick going in for nectar.
[HAWK CAWS]
[GASP]
Uh-oh, a hawk. She looks big. Hold on, hummingbirds aren't scared of hawks. Well, most of the time. Hummingbirds are fierce defenders of their territory. They fight off other hummers.
And people have even seen them dive-bombing hawks, which are 200 times bigger. Have you ever seen seahorses fight? Up their tails together like they're doing the tango. It's like they got tangled up playing twister. But back to my journey. Oh, wow, this is a lovely little village.
WOMAN: Hey, look. It's Huitzilopochtli. Wow!
JILL REPLOGLE: (HUMMINGBIRD VOICE) Oh, you must be mistaking me for the Aztec god often represented by a hummingbird. Legend has it, Huitzilopochtli the Mexica people to the Valley of Mexico, where they founded the city of Tenochtitlan, which eventually became the center of the powerful Aztec empire.
In fact, hummingbirds are revered by many Native cultures in the Americas. And one legend of the Ohlone people, who lived in what is now Northern California, the hummingbird brought fire to the tribe. In a Hopi legend, a hummingbird brought corn to a starving village.
WOMAN: Thanks for everything, Huitzilopochtli. You're really great.
JILL REPLOGLE: (HUMMINGBIRD VOICE) Whoa! They really do think I'm Huitzilopochtli. Wait, are we in ancient Mesoamerica? I get to be a hummingbird and travel back in time? Best day ever!
MOLLY BLOOM: A transporting and transforming Declaration of Greatness for hummingbirds there. Lena, what did you think about Jill's Declaration of Greatness? Any facts or moments that really stood out to you?
LENA: That was the most information I've ever written down in such little time.
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHING]
LENA: I thought it was really cool how their feathers change color in the sun when you look at them from different perspectives. I thought that was really cool. I also thought it was really cool how they have to eat every 10 minutes, because I would like to do that.
JILL REPLOGLE: Me too.
LENA: But that sounds like a good thing for me. Also, I heard pineapples. I don't know what about pineapples happened, but I heard pineapples. And I love piña coladas, and so that's already-- it's already in my brain.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. Now we know how to make Lena happy. We just say the word pineapple.
LENA: Yeah.
MOLLY BLOOM: Brandi, it's time for your rebuttal. You've got 30 seconds to sink Jill's argument. And your time starts now.
BRANDI BROWN: Look, we're all burnt out, we're all tired. I am concerned about the hummingbird's work-life balance. They are always on the go. They can't enjoy a meal, just savor the pineapple. They can't kick back and have a piña colada because they're super stressed.
And also, dive-bombing hawks? I think they're just annoying, honestly. Just doing too much. There are other animals and insects and bats and other things that can pollinate.
They just need to slow down and relax. They're just going to burn out. I'm really concerned about the burnout with this bird. You're at a 10, I need you out of 5 sometimes.
MOLLY BLOOM: And time. Nicely done. OK. Brandi, it's your turn. Tell us why your salty steed is superior.
BRANDI BROWN: Hi, I'm Brandi. And I'm here to sing the praises of the humble seahorse.
SEYMOUR: Excuse me? Humble? I don't think so, bro. Seahorses are mega, and I'm proud to be one. What?
BRANDI BROWN: Oh, hey. It's my pal, Seymour the seahorse. You can help me convince our judge to be team seahorse instead of team hummingbird.
SEYMOUR: Hummingbirds? Those delicate, little birdies got nothing on us proud, powerful seahorses. Just look at me. I got this beautiful, long snout, perfect, round butt, and majestic tail.
BRANDI BROWN: You're a good looking fish, buddy. I was just about to talk about how many varieties of seahorses there are. You're a colorful bunch.
SEYMOUR: You're not wrong, friendo. There are more than 40 species of seahorses, and we can be smaller than your fingernail, larger than your shoe, and everywhere in between. We live all over the world along the coastlines of just about every continent. So, we're adapted to all sorts of environments.
That's why we come in so many sizes and colors. We can be blue, yellow, pink, gray, and underwater rainbow. We can even change our colors to match our surroundings or even to tell other seahorses how we're feeling. Yeah, we're tough. But we're in touch with our emotions.
BRANDI BROWN: Oh, like a living mood ring. So stylish. And I heard you seahorses rock your own suits of armor. What's that like?
SEYMOUR: Oh, dude. It's red. Humans have skeletons on the inside and that's cool, I guess. But seahorses have a tough, bony exoskeleton that protects us like a superhero suit. My body is covered with impressive overlapping plates instead of sad, little fishy scales, although I am a fish.
BRANDI BROWN: A fish of legend, even. Seahorses have the scientific name Hippocampus, named after a creature from ancient Greek mythology that had an upper body of a horse, hooves and all, and the tail of a fish. The mythical Hippocampus was said to pull the chariot of the mighty Poseidon, god of the sea.
POSEIDON: So where are my fishy steeds?
[HORSE NEIGH]
SEYMOUR: Could there be a more epic namesake? I think not.
BRANDI BROWN: And seahorses have a really cool way of getting around, right, Seymour?
SEYMOUR: Yeah, bro. All those other fish are working hard, flipping their fins. And those hummingbirds, so much wing flapping. Buzz, buzz. Blah. Not for seahorses. It's all in the tail, baby.
BRANDI BROWN: A tail perfectly shaped by evolution. It's covered in interlocking bony plates in a unique square shape. That's right. Seahorse' tails are square. The shape makes the tail super strong and flexible, and creates a lot of surface area for the best possible grip. That's because seahorses use those amazing tails to curl around floating seaweed and hitch a ride on ocean currents.
SEYMOUR: No swimming needed, my dude. Plus, it means I can grab onto some seagrass on the ocean floor, kick back, and relax while the currents bring my food to me. Brine shrimp are so tasty seahorses can eat up to more than 3,000 of those little guys every day. I'm so hungry for brine shrimps.
BRINE SHRIMPS: Swim away.
BRANDI BROWN: Wow! Amazing. I've got a special spot in my heart for seahorses, actually. More like a special spot in my brain. Remember how the scientific name for seahorse is Hippocampus?
Well, there's a section of the human brain called the hippocampus because its curly shape looks just like a seahorse. That part of our brains controls memory and emotion, and may even help us navigate the world around us. So, the next time you're following directions to your favorite bookstore or donut shop, you can think the little seahorse in your brain.
SEYMOUR: Oh, sweet. So no matter what, you'll always have seahorses on your mind, dude.
BRANDI BROWN: Yup. Thanks for your help, Seymour. You brine shrimp-eating, square tail-having seahorses are total legends.
MOLLY BLOOM: A mind blowing declaration there for seahorses. Lena, what did you think about Brandi's argument? What stood out to you there?
LENA: It really stood out to me that their tails are square, which I never thought about before. But that's really cool. And we were talking about how crazy and how hard the hummingbirds work, but these guys, they ride the ocean currents, they're totally chill. They're just hanging out, getting food, eating brine shrimp, which made me think of pickles. And pickled shrimp sounds really bad.
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHING]
All right. Well, Jill, it's time for your rebuttal. Time to give Brandi's argument a tongue thrashing. You have 30 seconds. And your time starts now.
JILL REPLOGLE: OK. Brandi talked a lot about their strong tails. But you know what? Seahorses have these little fins and they beat them like crazy, but they just don't work. Something is off with the physics. They barely move. So they have to have strong tails.
Also, the fact that they're square, I mean, they're the least aerodynamic creature you can imagine. That's why they have to ride on the air, sorry, on currents because they can barely move. And this hitching ride on currents really just means they're lazy, lazy bums. And the whole thing about blending in with their surroundings, I feel like they lack some self-confidence. I mean, I--
MOLLY BLOOM: And time. We know you had more to say.
JILL REPLOGLE: I did.
MOLLY BLOOM: But that's all you get. All right. Lena, give one point to the person whose Declaration of Greatness you liked best and then one point to the most compelling rebuttal. You get to decide what makes a winning argument.
Did one side charm you with their humor or logic or facts? So mark one down for best declaration and one down for best rebuttal. Don't tell us who's getting the points. Have you made your decision?
LENA: Mm-hmm.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. It's time for a quick break. Grab a nip of nectar or a bundle of brine shrimp.
LENA: And we'll be back with more Smash Boom Best.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching State of Debate, home to rage in rhetoric and awe-inspiring argumentation.
TODD DOUGLAS: Hey there, debate heads. Todd Douglas here with the Control Alt to my Delete, you know her, you love her, it's debate maiden--
TAYLOR LINCOLN: Taylor Lincoln. And we just listened in on someone using a classic logical fallacy, a.k.a. a not-so-great debate technique.
TODD DOUGLAS: Yep, it was a hasty generalization. That's when someone makes a bold claim about a group or a phenomenon without enough evidence.
TAYLOR LINCOLN: As soon as we tamp down one logical fallacy, another one pops up. They're everywhere.
TODD DOUGLAS: I know. They may be easy to make, but they sure make your argument easier to defeat. Let's check in on Phil and his smart kitchen.
PHIL: Romi, play the song wrinkled clothes in the car.
ROMI: Now playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
(SINGING) Twinkle--
PHIL: No. Romi, stop. I said, play the song Wrinkled Clothes In The Car.
ROMI: Now playing Henry Winkler at the Bar.
PHIL: No! Romi, stop! I can't trust you. I can't trust any technology. It's always unreliable. Technology is the worst.
TODD DOUGLAS: Beep, boop, beep. That Romi needs some work.
TAYLOR LINCOLN: Right. But just because Phil's smart speaker didn't understand his very specific song request doesn't mean all technology is bad.
TODD DOUGLAS: Time to slow your roll and stop making such hasty generalizations, Phil. Romi, play the womp-womp sound.
ROMI: Playing stomp-stomp sound.
TODD DOUGLAS: No! Womp-womp like when someone messes something up.
ROMI: Playing gong-gong sound.
TAYLOR LINCOLN: This might be a good time to end the segment.
TODD DOUGLAS: This has been--
BOTH: State of Debate.
(SINGING)
Best.
Boom.
Smash. Smash
Boom.
Best.
MOLLY BLOOM: You're listening to Smash Boom Best. I'm your host, Molly Bloom.
LENA: And I'm your judge, Lena.
MOLLY BLOOM: So, Lena, how is it going? Are you enjoying the debate so far?
LENA: I'm definitely enjoying it. I like hearing people argue. I like observing the drama but not being a part of the drama.
[LAUGHTER]
MOLLY BLOOM: Smart, very smart. So we love getting debate suggestions from our listeners. Here's an epic idea we got from Linnea in Nevada.
LINNEA: My debate idea is sirens versus Medusa.
MOLLY BLOOM: We'll check back with Linnea at the end of this episode to see which side she thinks should win.
LENA: And now, it's back to today's debate, hummingbirds versus seahorses.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's right. And it's time for round 2, the--
ANNOUNCER: Micro Round.
MOLLY BLOOM: Today's Micro Round challenge is called Dear Debater. We asked Brandi and Jill to pretend their side is a revered advice columnist, and it's their job to answer a tough romantic question. Let's listen to these cuties unleash their most awesome animal advice. Jill went first last time. So brandy, you're up. Let's hear your sea stallion dole out some amorous tips and tricks.
BRANDI BROWN: Welcome to the Animal Advice Hour, with our special guest, Seymour Seahorse.
SEYMOUR: Pleasure to be here.
[SIPS COFFEE]
BRANDI BROWN: Seymour, please do not drink next to the mic.
SEYMOUR: But this is my "Number one dad" mug.
BRANDI BROWN: Today's question is--
Dear Animal Advice Hour, I have a crush on a classmate. How should I ask them out?
SEYMOUR: Oh, this is a great one.
[SIPS COFFEE]
BRANDI BROWN: Good grief. Put the mug down.
SEYMOUR: OK. Seahorses mate for life so I haven't dated in a while. But I recommend you do what I did to woo my lady back in the day. Do a dance and keep dancing. Do a days-long dance-a-thon. Like this.
BRANDI BROWN: Oh, those are cool moves you're doing. He's doing cool moves.
SEYMOUR: Once you two get tired of dancing and decide to be partners, the female will tuck her eggs into a special pouch in your belly. That's where the eggs get fertilized and grow. Because for seahorses, dads give birth. And when those little fries are ready to be born, they'll shoot out into the water and begin life.
SEAHORSE FRY 1: Oh, whoa!
SEAHORSE FRY 2: It's wet out here.
SEAHORSE FRY 3: The water!
SEAHORSE FRY 4: Wee!
BRANDI BROWN: Fries?
SEYMOUR: That's what our babies are called. And just like that, you're a father to hundreds of babies. You're welcome.
BRANDI BROWN: They asked about a date.
SEYMOUR: I'm the best dad.
[SIPS COFFEE]
That's why I have this "Number one dad" mug.
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHING]
Oh, very nice, Seymour. Well-loved by all of his fries. Jill, it's your turn. Let's hear your shimmering sweetie deliver some lovey-dovey directions.
JILL REPLOGLE: Dear, Rufus. I've been trying and trying to impress a girl, a human one. I left two dozen roses on her desk the other day, and I made a super cute meme of her face on a kitten body and texted it to her with the words, "You're pur-fect." But she just keeps ignoring me.
I read that male hummingbirds have some pretty flashy ways of attracting a mate, and that they actually work. Can you give me some advice? Sincerely, love-struck human.
RUFUS: Dear, love-struck human. This may sound a little wacky to you as a Homo sapien, but trust me, the best way to attract a mate is to fly straight up as high as you can and then dive-bomb, preferably at least 40 miles per hour, right in front of the lady you want to impress. If she likes the sound your tail feathers make when you dive, she just might be convinced to let you be her mate.
Also, if you have gorgeous plumage like I do, I'd try to show off those colors to the max. If she still ignores you, you might have to accept that she's just not into you. Sincerely, Mr. Rufus Hummingbird.
MOLLY BLOOM: Rufus with some tips that may be tricky for humans to do. But you never know. All right. Lena, what stood out to you about Brandi and Jill's Micro Rounds?
LENA: Well, with the hummingbird one, I know that humans might not be able to do it. But it's always good to reach for the stars and to go beyond what's humanly possible.
MOLLY BLOOM: Aspirational. Yes.
LENA: Yeah. So for the seahorses, I really like the equality between the male and female seahorses. They mate for life. And then the male gives birth, which I like. But I think that it was probably not the best idea to name them fries, just, like, that could get confusing.
[LAUGHTER]
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. It's time to award a point. But don't tell us who it's going to. Who made you laugh, who gave the better advice, who had more facts in there? It's up to you. Have you made your decision?
LENA: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent. Then it's time for our third around, the super stealthy--
ANNOUNCER: Sneak Attack.
MOLLY BLOOM: Your sneak attack is called Keep Them Guessing. For this challenge, each debater is going to get a secret list of words. And it's their job to get Lena to guess what the words are without using the word itself. So, for example, if I was team bread and my word was slice, I could say, I cut a blank of bread.
And as soon as Lena guessed the word slice, I'd move on to the next word. You'll each have 30 seconds to get Lena to guess as many of your words as you can. And whoever gets Lena to guess the most wins. Does that make sense, Brandi and Jill?
BRANDI BROWN: Yep.
JILL REPLOGLE: I think so.
MOLLY BLOOM: Brandi went first last time. So Jill, you are up.
JILL REPLOGLE: I'm ready.
MOLLY BLOOM: You have your 30 seconds to get her to guess. Lena, you got your listening ears on?
LENA: Yeah.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. Your time starts now.
JILL REPLOGLE: Hummingbirds are very blank in size relative to larger things.
LENA: Small.
JILL REPLOGLE: They use these things to travel long distances. They flap them.
LENA: Wings.
JILL REPLOGLE: They really like to suck this out of flowers. It's got lots of sugar in it.
LENA: Pollen? Nectar. It's nectar.
MOLLY BLOOM: Nice.
JILL REPLOGLE: And they're like these machines that fly in the sky that can go all different kinds of directions. They'll go, real
MOLLY BLOOM: And time. Oh, nicely done. Jill got you to guess three. She got small, wings, and nectar. Excellent work. Brandi, Lena, you both ready?
BRANDI BROWN: Mm-hmm.
LENA: I'm ready.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. Your time starts now.
BRANDI BROWN: Fries are?
LENA: Oh, the babies?
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes.
BRANDI BROWN: You don't want these pickled.
LENA: Oh, what are they called? I don't know. The shrimp?
BRANDI BROWN: Yeah.
LENA: Brine shrimp?
BRANDI BROWN: You wag this, it's square shaped. It comes out of their bottom.
LENA: The tail. The tail?
BRANDI BROWN: Knights wear a suit of?
LENA: The armor?
BRANDI BROWN: Yeah. You ride this, an animal you ride. Also, you put a stamp on it.
MOLLY BLOOM: And time. Brandi did get enough to win. She got Lena to guess four correct. Baby, shrimp, tail, and armor.
BRANDI BROWN: Nice job.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well done to all of you. So Lena, mark down a point for Brandi for this round. You don't have to make any decisions. So just mark down a point for team seahorse. All right. It is time for our final around--
ANNOUNCER: The Final 6.
MOLLY BLOOM: Brandi, you've got just six words to win hook, line, and sinker. Give us your [INAUDIBLE] salute to the horses of the sea.
BRANDI BROWN: Chill dancers, equal parenting, cool camouflage.
MOLLY BLOOM: Very nice. All right. Jill, it's your turn to hoist your hummingbird flag high and deliver a winning six in favor of your side.
JILL REPLOGLE: Hummingbirds cross oceans to pollinate flowers.
MOLLY BLOOM: Very nice. This debate has been quite the creature feature, but who will win? There's only one person who can make the call. Lena, are you ready to crown one team the Smash Boom Best?
LENA: I am. Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. Drumroll, please.
[DRUMROLL]
The winner is--
LENA: Hummingbirds!
JILL REPLOGLE: Wee!
BRANDI BROWN: Oh, boo.
[LAUGHTER]
JILL REPLOGLE: We did it!
MOLLY BLOOM: Nice work to everyone. So Lena, was there a moment that really decided it for hummingbirds? One moment you were like, oh yeah, that's a great point.
LENA: The final six definitely decided things for me, because the hummingbirds mentioned pollination, which is so important in helping the Earth. And also, hummingbirds are cute.
[LAUGHTER]
JILL REPLOGLE: Brandi, you made me laugh a lot. And also, I have to say, if anyone has not seen a video of a seahorse having babies, you need to go look that up right now. Because it is the most incredible thing I've ever seen.
BRANDI BROWN: Jill, I really liked learning about pollination. I think that's really important. I love plants, I love nature. So thank you for doing too much, hummingbirds.
[LAUGHTER]
MOLLY BLOOM: Over achievers, all of them. That's it for today's debate battle. Lena crowned hummingbirds the Smash Boom Best, but what about you?
LENA: Head to smashboom.org and vote to tell us who you think won.
BRANDI BROWN: It's produced by Molly Bloom, Rose DuPont, Ruby Guthrie, and Sanden Totten.
MOLLY BLOOM: We had engineering help from Gary O'Keefe, Alex Simpson, Parker McDaniels, and Derek Ramirez.
JILL REPLOGLE: And we had production help from Anna Goldfield, Eduardo Perez, Mark Sanchez, and Anna Weggel.
MOLLY BLOOM: Our executive producer is Beth Pearlman. And the APM Studios executives in charge are Chandra Kavati, Alex Shaffer, and Joanne Griffith. Our announcer is Marley Feuerwerker-Otto. We want to give a special thanks to Austin Cross, Taylor Coffman, Jed Kim, Peter Ecklund, Jon Sklaroff, Lena at [INAUDIBLE] Studios, and Lulu. Jill, is there anyone you'd like to give a shout out to?
JILL REPLOGLE: I should probably thank my dad who always has a hummingbird feeder outside of the window at our house.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, very nice. And how about you, Brandi? Any special shout outs?
BRANDI BROWN: I'd like to thank my cat Claude at cookie Lyon for being quiet when I was recording the scratch audio at home and for the seahorses at the Duluth aquarium, I think it's called that, in Duluth, Minnesota, because they were just really funny. And it was nice seeing them before the debate.
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent. And Lena, do you want to give any special thanks or shout outs?
LENA: I want to give a special thanks and shout out to my sister, Layla, because she taught me how to judge people effectively.
[LAUGHTER]
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent. Before we go, let's check in with Linnea and see who she thinks would win her sirens versus Medusa debate.
LINNEA: I think sirens would win because they enchant sailors with their beautiful songs, and Medusa just has snakes in her hair and turn people to stone.
MOLLY BLOOM: Do you have an idea for a knockdown, drag-out debate? Head to smashboom.org and tell us about it. We'll be back with a new debate battle next week. Bye-bye!
[THEME MUSIC]
LENA: You talk about your kids and then they're like, oh, they're my fries. And then you're like, what are you-- are you eating your children?
MOLLY BLOOM: I think it's the human's fault they're named that.
BRANDI BROWN: Yeah, that's not on them.
LENA: OK.
LENA: The show for people with big opinions!
MOLLY BLOOM: Hi, I'm Molly Bloom and this is Smash Boom Best, the show where we take two things, smash them together, and ask you to decide which one is best. Today's stand off features two tiny critters, the squeaker of the skies and the steed of the seas. It's hummingbirds versus sea horses. We've got reporter, Jill Replogle, here to represent heavenly hummingbirds.
JILL REPLOGLE: Shout out to the spunky flying gemstones of the sky.
MOLLY BLOOM: And comic and writer, Brandi Brown, is here to defend the splendor of seahorses.
BRANDI BROWN: Give it up for seahorses, the best dancers underwater.
MOLLY BLOOM: Which team will win? The one with wings or the one that swims? Lucky for us, we've got Lena from New York, New York, here to help us decide. She sings, crochets, loves to bake. And when she was nine, she asked for a melon baller and a king-sized Kit Kat for Hanukkah. Hi, Lena.
LENA: Hi.
MOLLY BLOOM: So, I have a question for you. If a seahorse and a hummingbird were in an opera, what would they sound like? What would their voices be like, do you think?
LENA: That is a wonderful question. To be fair, I was in the production of The Little Mermaid.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh.
JILL REPLOGLE: I feel like there's bias here already.
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHING]
LENA: No. Well, also, I have seen a hummingbird before. So that levels the playing field.
MOLLY BLOOM: Perfect. So, how do you think a hummingbird would sing the word hummingbird?
LENA: (SINGING) Hummingbird.
Something like that.
MOLLY BLOOM: Beautiful.
JILL REPLOGLE: Ooh! That was lovely.
MOLLY BLOOM: What about seahorses? I know you experienced seahorses during The Little Mermaid, so what would they sound like? Maybe--
(SEAHORSE IMPRESSION) Seahorses.
LENA: That's amazing. Yes. I can't do better than that. I can't top that.
JILL REPLOGLE: That was pretty good.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. Lena, are you feeling ready to judge today's debate?
LENA: I am always ready to judge people. Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHING] Excellent. Then let's review the rules of the game. Round 1 is the Declaration of Greatness, where our debaters present fact-filled arguments in favor of their side, and each have 30 seconds to rebut their opponent's statements. Then we've got the Micro Round, where each team will present a creative response to a prompt they received in advance.
Round 3 is the Sneak Attack, where our debaters will have to respond to an improv challenge on the spot. And to wrap it all up, we've got the Final 6, where each team will have just six words to sum up the glory of their side. Our Judge, Lena, will award two points in the first round. One for her favorite rebuttal, the other for the declaration she liked best.
She'll award one point in each round after that, but she'll keep her decision secret until the end of the debate. Listeners, we want you to judge too. Mark down your points as you listen. At the end of the show, head to our website, smashboom.org, and vote for whichever team you think won. OK. Jill, Brandi, and Lena, are you ready?
JILL REPLOGLE: Yes, I am.
LENA: Definitely.
BRANDI BROWN: Ready.
LINA: Let's do this.
MOLLY BLOOM: Then it's time for the--
ANNOUNCER: Declaration of Greatness.
MOLLY BLOOM: We flipped a coin. And Jill, you're up first. Tell us why your itsy bitsy birdies are the Smash Boom Best.
NARRATOR: Meanwhile, at Jill's desk--
JILL REPLOGLE: Got to find material for my Declaration of Greatness. Let's see, hummingbird websites, hummingbird videos, hummingbird TikTok? Interesting. Kind of weird. I wish I could just be a hummingbird. Whoa, whoa.
(HUMMINGBIRD VOICE) Whoa! Why is my voice getting so chill? Why is my nose being so long and pointy? It's happening, people. I'm-- I'm-- I'm a hummingbird! I can fly! So this is what it feels like to beat your wings up to 70 times per second.
Oh, and my unique bone structure and wing muscles allow me to go forwards, upwards, down, backwards, even upside down! I'm like a helicopter but so much cooler. I can even levitate in mid-air and contemplate the beautiful flowers. Om.
Wait a second. Why am I so hungry all of a sudden? Oh, I know. It's because hummingbirds have to eat every 10 minutes and consume the equivalent of half their body weight in insects and flower nectar every day. Nectar. Let's try some from this flower and this other flower and this one over here. I don't even feel guilty about all the sugar I'm eating because, while I'm stuffing my beak, I'm spreading pollen which helps more flowers grow.
In fact, hummingbirds pollinate about 8,000 different plants in North and South America, including pineapples. Yum! Speaking of pineapples, there's some right there. I must be in Costa Rica. Some 50 different species of hummingbirds live here.
Oh, there's a green hermit hummingbird. Look at those emerald feathers. Oh, and there's a fiery-throated one. It's like a flying rainbow. Turquoise, purple, chartreuse.
And its feathers change colors depending upon which angle I look at it, like bubbles in the sunshine. I want to find that good looking. Oh, there's a pond. I can check my reflection. Hey, hey, not bad. Well, it's a long journey to get back up North.
I better get going. Some species of hummingbirds migrate 2,000 to 3,000 miles per year. They spend the warm winters in Mexico and Central America, then head North as far as Canada and Alaska in the summers. Time to fuel up. Flower power, flower power, this is Maverick going in for nectar.
[HAWK CAWS]
[GASP]
Uh-oh, a hawk. She looks big. Hold on, hummingbirds aren't scared of hawks. Well, most of the time. Hummingbirds are fierce defenders of their territory. They fight off other hummers.
And people have even seen them dive-bombing hawks, which are 200 times bigger. Have you ever seen seahorses fight? Up their tails together like they're doing the tango. It's like they got tangled up playing twister. But back to my journey. Oh, wow, this is a lovely little village.
WOMAN: Hey, look. It's Huitzilopochtli. Wow!
JILL REPLOGLE: (HUMMINGBIRD VOICE) Oh, you must be mistaking me for the Aztec god often represented by a hummingbird. Legend has it, Huitzilopochtli the Mexica people to the Valley of Mexico, where they founded the city of Tenochtitlan, which eventually became the center of the powerful Aztec empire.
In fact, hummingbirds are revered by many Native cultures in the Americas. And one legend of the Ohlone people, who lived in what is now Northern California, the hummingbird brought fire to the tribe. In a Hopi legend, a hummingbird brought corn to a starving village.
WOMAN: Thanks for everything, Huitzilopochtli. You're really great.
JILL REPLOGLE: (HUMMINGBIRD VOICE) Whoa! They really do think I'm Huitzilopochtli. Wait, are we in ancient Mesoamerica? I get to be a hummingbird and travel back in time? Best day ever!
MOLLY BLOOM: A transporting and transforming Declaration of Greatness for hummingbirds there. Lena, what did you think about Jill's Declaration of Greatness? Any facts or moments that really stood out to you?
LENA: That was the most information I've ever written down in such little time.
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHING]
LENA: I thought it was really cool how their feathers change color in the sun when you look at them from different perspectives. I thought that was really cool. I also thought it was really cool how they have to eat every 10 minutes, because I would like to do that.
JILL REPLOGLE: Me too.
LENA: But that sounds like a good thing for me. Also, I heard pineapples. I don't know what about pineapples happened, but I heard pineapples. And I love piña coladas, and so that's already-- it's already in my brain.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. Now we know how to make Lena happy. We just say the word pineapple.
LENA: Yeah.
MOLLY BLOOM: Brandi, it's time for your rebuttal. You've got 30 seconds to sink Jill's argument. And your time starts now.
BRANDI BROWN: Look, we're all burnt out, we're all tired. I am concerned about the hummingbird's work-life balance. They are always on the go. They can't enjoy a meal, just savor the pineapple. They can't kick back and have a piña colada because they're super stressed.
And also, dive-bombing hawks? I think they're just annoying, honestly. Just doing too much. There are other animals and insects and bats and other things that can pollinate.
They just need to slow down and relax. They're just going to burn out. I'm really concerned about the burnout with this bird. You're at a 10, I need you out of 5 sometimes.
MOLLY BLOOM: And time. Nicely done. OK. Brandi, it's your turn. Tell us why your salty steed is superior.
BRANDI BROWN: Hi, I'm Brandi. And I'm here to sing the praises of the humble seahorse.
SEYMOUR: Excuse me? Humble? I don't think so, bro. Seahorses are mega, and I'm proud to be one. What?
BRANDI BROWN: Oh, hey. It's my pal, Seymour the seahorse. You can help me convince our judge to be team seahorse instead of team hummingbird.
SEYMOUR: Hummingbirds? Those delicate, little birdies got nothing on us proud, powerful seahorses. Just look at me. I got this beautiful, long snout, perfect, round butt, and majestic tail.
BRANDI BROWN: You're a good looking fish, buddy. I was just about to talk about how many varieties of seahorses there are. You're a colorful bunch.
SEYMOUR: You're not wrong, friendo. There are more than 40 species of seahorses, and we can be smaller than your fingernail, larger than your shoe, and everywhere in between. We live all over the world along the coastlines of just about every continent. So, we're adapted to all sorts of environments.
That's why we come in so many sizes and colors. We can be blue, yellow, pink, gray, and underwater rainbow. We can even change our colors to match our surroundings or even to tell other seahorses how we're feeling. Yeah, we're tough. But we're in touch with our emotions.
BRANDI BROWN: Oh, like a living mood ring. So stylish. And I heard you seahorses rock your own suits of armor. What's that like?
SEYMOUR: Oh, dude. It's red. Humans have skeletons on the inside and that's cool, I guess. But seahorses have a tough, bony exoskeleton that protects us like a superhero suit. My body is covered with impressive overlapping plates instead of sad, little fishy scales, although I am a fish.
BRANDI BROWN: A fish of legend, even. Seahorses have the scientific name Hippocampus, named after a creature from ancient Greek mythology that had an upper body of a horse, hooves and all, and the tail of a fish. The mythical Hippocampus was said to pull the chariot of the mighty Poseidon, god of the sea.
POSEIDON: So where are my fishy steeds?
[HORSE NEIGH]
SEYMOUR: Could there be a more epic namesake? I think not.
BRANDI BROWN: And seahorses have a really cool way of getting around, right, Seymour?
SEYMOUR: Yeah, bro. All those other fish are working hard, flipping their fins. And those hummingbirds, so much wing flapping. Buzz, buzz. Blah. Not for seahorses. It's all in the tail, baby.
BRANDI BROWN: A tail perfectly shaped by evolution. It's covered in interlocking bony plates in a unique square shape. That's right. Seahorse' tails are square. The shape makes the tail super strong and flexible, and creates a lot of surface area for the best possible grip. That's because seahorses use those amazing tails to curl around floating seaweed and hitch a ride on ocean currents.
SEYMOUR: No swimming needed, my dude. Plus, it means I can grab onto some seagrass on the ocean floor, kick back, and relax while the currents bring my food to me. Brine shrimp are so tasty seahorses can eat up to more than 3,000 of those little guys every day. I'm so hungry for brine shrimps.
BRINE SHRIMPS: Swim away.
BRANDI BROWN: Wow! Amazing. I've got a special spot in my heart for seahorses, actually. More like a special spot in my brain. Remember how the scientific name for seahorse is Hippocampus?
Well, there's a section of the human brain called the hippocampus because its curly shape looks just like a seahorse. That part of our brains controls memory and emotion, and may even help us navigate the world around us. So, the next time you're following directions to your favorite bookstore or donut shop, you can think the little seahorse in your brain.
SEYMOUR: Oh, sweet. So no matter what, you'll always have seahorses on your mind, dude.
BRANDI BROWN: Yup. Thanks for your help, Seymour. You brine shrimp-eating, square tail-having seahorses are total legends.
MOLLY BLOOM: A mind blowing declaration there for seahorses. Lena, what did you think about Brandi's argument? What stood out to you there?
LENA: It really stood out to me that their tails are square, which I never thought about before. But that's really cool. And we were talking about how crazy and how hard the hummingbirds work, but these guys, they ride the ocean currents, they're totally chill. They're just hanging out, getting food, eating brine shrimp, which made me think of pickles. And pickled shrimp sounds really bad.
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHING]
All right. Well, Jill, it's time for your rebuttal. Time to give Brandi's argument a tongue thrashing. You have 30 seconds. And your time starts now.
JILL REPLOGLE: OK. Brandi talked a lot about their strong tails. But you know what? Seahorses have these little fins and they beat them like crazy, but they just don't work. Something is off with the physics. They barely move. So they have to have strong tails.
Also, the fact that they're square, I mean, they're the least aerodynamic creature you can imagine. That's why they have to ride on the air, sorry, on currents because they can barely move. And this hitching ride on currents really just means they're lazy, lazy bums. And the whole thing about blending in with their surroundings, I feel like they lack some self-confidence. I mean, I--
MOLLY BLOOM: And time. We know you had more to say.
JILL REPLOGLE: I did.
MOLLY BLOOM: But that's all you get. All right. Lena, give one point to the person whose Declaration of Greatness you liked best and then one point to the most compelling rebuttal. You get to decide what makes a winning argument.
Did one side charm you with their humor or logic or facts? So mark one down for best declaration and one down for best rebuttal. Don't tell us who's getting the points. Have you made your decision?
LENA: Mm-hmm.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. It's time for a quick break. Grab a nip of nectar or a bundle of brine shrimp.
LENA: And we'll be back with more Smash Boom Best.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching State of Debate, home to rage in rhetoric and awe-inspiring argumentation.
TODD DOUGLAS: Hey there, debate heads. Todd Douglas here with the Control Alt to my Delete, you know her, you love her, it's debate maiden--
TAYLOR LINCOLN: Taylor Lincoln. And we just listened in on someone using a classic logical fallacy, a.k.a. a not-so-great debate technique.
TODD DOUGLAS: Yep, it was a hasty generalization. That's when someone makes a bold claim about a group or a phenomenon without enough evidence.
TAYLOR LINCOLN: As soon as we tamp down one logical fallacy, another one pops up. They're everywhere.
TODD DOUGLAS: I know. They may be easy to make, but they sure make your argument easier to defeat. Let's check in on Phil and his smart kitchen.
PHIL: Romi, play the song wrinkled clothes in the car.
ROMI: Now playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
(SINGING) Twinkle--
PHIL: No. Romi, stop. I said, play the song Wrinkled Clothes In The Car.
ROMI: Now playing Henry Winkler at the Bar.
PHIL: No! Romi, stop! I can't trust you. I can't trust any technology. It's always unreliable. Technology is the worst.
TODD DOUGLAS: Beep, boop, beep. That Romi needs some work.
TAYLOR LINCOLN: Right. But just because Phil's smart speaker didn't understand his very specific song request doesn't mean all technology is bad.
TODD DOUGLAS: Time to slow your roll and stop making such hasty generalizations, Phil. Romi, play the womp-womp sound.
ROMI: Playing stomp-stomp sound.
TODD DOUGLAS: No! Womp-womp like when someone messes something up.
ROMI: Playing gong-gong sound.
TAYLOR LINCOLN: This might be a good time to end the segment.
TODD DOUGLAS: This has been--
BOTH: State of Debate.
(SINGING)
Best.
Boom.
Smash. Smash
Boom.
Best.
MOLLY BLOOM: You're listening to Smash Boom Best. I'm your host, Molly Bloom.
LENA: And I'm your judge, Lena.
MOLLY BLOOM: So, Lena, how is it going? Are you enjoying the debate so far?
LENA: I'm definitely enjoying it. I like hearing people argue. I like observing the drama but not being a part of the drama.
[LAUGHTER]
MOLLY BLOOM: Smart, very smart. So we love getting debate suggestions from our listeners. Here's an epic idea we got from Linnea in Nevada.
LINNEA: My debate idea is sirens versus Medusa.
MOLLY BLOOM: We'll check back with Linnea at the end of this episode to see which side she thinks should win.
LENA: And now, it's back to today's debate, hummingbirds versus seahorses.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's right. And it's time for round 2, the--
ANNOUNCER: Micro Round.
MOLLY BLOOM: Today's Micro Round challenge is called Dear Debater. We asked Brandi and Jill to pretend their side is a revered advice columnist, and it's their job to answer a tough romantic question. Let's listen to these cuties unleash their most awesome animal advice. Jill went first last time. So brandy, you're up. Let's hear your sea stallion dole out some amorous tips and tricks.
BRANDI BROWN: Welcome to the Animal Advice Hour, with our special guest, Seymour Seahorse.
SEYMOUR: Pleasure to be here.
[SIPS COFFEE]
BRANDI BROWN: Seymour, please do not drink next to the mic.
SEYMOUR: But this is my "Number one dad" mug.
BRANDI BROWN: Today's question is--
Dear Animal Advice Hour, I have a crush on a classmate. How should I ask them out?
SEYMOUR: Oh, this is a great one.
[SIPS COFFEE]
BRANDI BROWN: Good grief. Put the mug down.
SEYMOUR: OK. Seahorses mate for life so I haven't dated in a while. But I recommend you do what I did to woo my lady back in the day. Do a dance and keep dancing. Do a days-long dance-a-thon. Like this.
BRANDI BROWN: Oh, those are cool moves you're doing. He's doing cool moves.
SEYMOUR: Once you two get tired of dancing and decide to be partners, the female will tuck her eggs into a special pouch in your belly. That's where the eggs get fertilized and grow. Because for seahorses, dads give birth. And when those little fries are ready to be born, they'll shoot out into the water and begin life.
SEAHORSE FRY 1: Oh, whoa!
SEAHORSE FRY 2: It's wet out here.
SEAHORSE FRY 3: The water!
SEAHORSE FRY 4: Wee!
BRANDI BROWN: Fries?
SEYMOUR: That's what our babies are called. And just like that, you're a father to hundreds of babies. You're welcome.
BRANDI BROWN: They asked about a date.
SEYMOUR: I'm the best dad.
[SIPS COFFEE]
That's why I have this "Number one dad" mug.
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHING]
Oh, very nice, Seymour. Well-loved by all of his fries. Jill, it's your turn. Let's hear your shimmering sweetie deliver some lovey-dovey directions.
JILL REPLOGLE: Dear, Rufus. I've been trying and trying to impress a girl, a human one. I left two dozen roses on her desk the other day, and I made a super cute meme of her face on a kitten body and texted it to her with the words, "You're pur-fect." But she just keeps ignoring me.
I read that male hummingbirds have some pretty flashy ways of attracting a mate, and that they actually work. Can you give me some advice? Sincerely, love-struck human.
RUFUS: Dear, love-struck human. This may sound a little wacky to you as a Homo sapien, but trust me, the best way to attract a mate is to fly straight up as high as you can and then dive-bomb, preferably at least 40 miles per hour, right in front of the lady you want to impress. If she likes the sound your tail feathers make when you dive, she just might be convinced to let you be her mate.
Also, if you have gorgeous plumage like I do, I'd try to show off those colors to the max. If she still ignores you, you might have to accept that she's just not into you. Sincerely, Mr. Rufus Hummingbird.
MOLLY BLOOM: Rufus with some tips that may be tricky for humans to do. But you never know. All right. Lena, what stood out to you about Brandi and Jill's Micro Rounds?
LENA: Well, with the hummingbird one, I know that humans might not be able to do it. But it's always good to reach for the stars and to go beyond what's humanly possible.
MOLLY BLOOM: Aspirational. Yes.
LENA: Yeah. So for the seahorses, I really like the equality between the male and female seahorses. They mate for life. And then the male gives birth, which I like. But I think that it was probably not the best idea to name them fries, just, like, that could get confusing.
[LAUGHTER]
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. It's time to award a point. But don't tell us who it's going to. Who made you laugh, who gave the better advice, who had more facts in there? It's up to you. Have you made your decision?
LENA: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent. Then it's time for our third around, the super stealthy--
ANNOUNCER: Sneak Attack.
MOLLY BLOOM: Your sneak attack is called Keep Them Guessing. For this challenge, each debater is going to get a secret list of words. And it's their job to get Lena to guess what the words are without using the word itself. So, for example, if I was team bread and my word was slice, I could say, I cut a blank of bread.
And as soon as Lena guessed the word slice, I'd move on to the next word. You'll each have 30 seconds to get Lena to guess as many of your words as you can. And whoever gets Lena to guess the most wins. Does that make sense, Brandi and Jill?
BRANDI BROWN: Yep.
JILL REPLOGLE: I think so.
MOLLY BLOOM: Brandi went first last time. So Jill, you are up.
JILL REPLOGLE: I'm ready.
MOLLY BLOOM: You have your 30 seconds to get her to guess. Lena, you got your listening ears on?
LENA: Yeah.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. Your time starts now.
JILL REPLOGLE: Hummingbirds are very blank in size relative to larger things.
LENA: Small.
JILL REPLOGLE: They use these things to travel long distances. They flap them.
LENA: Wings.
JILL REPLOGLE: They really like to suck this out of flowers. It's got lots of sugar in it.
LENA: Pollen? Nectar. It's nectar.
MOLLY BLOOM: Nice.
JILL REPLOGLE: And they're like these machines that fly in the sky that can go all different kinds of directions. They'll go, real
MOLLY BLOOM: And time. Oh, nicely done. Jill got you to guess three. She got small, wings, and nectar. Excellent work. Brandi, Lena, you both ready?
BRANDI BROWN: Mm-hmm.
LENA: I'm ready.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. Your time starts now.
BRANDI BROWN: Fries are?
LENA: Oh, the babies?
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes.
BRANDI BROWN: You don't want these pickled.
LENA: Oh, what are they called? I don't know. The shrimp?
BRANDI BROWN: Yeah.
LENA: Brine shrimp?
BRANDI BROWN: You wag this, it's square shaped. It comes out of their bottom.
LENA: The tail. The tail?
BRANDI BROWN: Knights wear a suit of?
LENA: The armor?
BRANDI BROWN: Yeah. You ride this, an animal you ride. Also, you put a stamp on it.
MOLLY BLOOM: And time. Brandi did get enough to win. She got Lena to guess four correct. Baby, shrimp, tail, and armor.
BRANDI BROWN: Nice job.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well done to all of you. So Lena, mark down a point for Brandi for this round. You don't have to make any decisions. So just mark down a point for team seahorse. All right. It is time for our final around--
ANNOUNCER: The Final 6.
MOLLY BLOOM: Brandi, you've got just six words to win hook, line, and sinker. Give us your [INAUDIBLE] salute to the horses of the sea.
BRANDI BROWN: Chill dancers, equal parenting, cool camouflage.
MOLLY BLOOM: Very nice. All right. Jill, it's your turn to hoist your hummingbird flag high and deliver a winning six in favor of your side.
JILL REPLOGLE: Hummingbirds cross oceans to pollinate flowers.
MOLLY BLOOM: Very nice. This debate has been quite the creature feature, but who will win? There's only one person who can make the call. Lena, are you ready to crown one team the Smash Boom Best?
LENA: I am. Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right. Drumroll, please.
[DRUMROLL]
The winner is--
LENA: Hummingbirds!
JILL REPLOGLE: Wee!
BRANDI BROWN: Oh, boo.
[LAUGHTER]
JILL REPLOGLE: We did it!
MOLLY BLOOM: Nice work to everyone. So Lena, was there a moment that really decided it for hummingbirds? One moment you were like, oh yeah, that's a great point.
LENA: The final six definitely decided things for me, because the hummingbirds mentioned pollination, which is so important in helping the Earth. And also, hummingbirds are cute.
[LAUGHTER]
JILL REPLOGLE: Brandi, you made me laugh a lot. And also, I have to say, if anyone has not seen a video of a seahorse having babies, you need to go look that up right now. Because it is the most incredible thing I've ever seen.
BRANDI BROWN: Jill, I really liked learning about pollination. I think that's really important. I love plants, I love nature. So thank you for doing too much, hummingbirds.
[LAUGHTER]
MOLLY BLOOM: Over achievers, all of them. That's it for today's debate battle. Lena crowned hummingbirds the Smash Boom Best, but what about you?
LENA: Head to smashboom.org and vote to tell us who you think won.
BRANDI BROWN: It's produced by Molly Bloom, Rose DuPont, Ruby Guthrie, and Sanden Totten.
MOLLY BLOOM: We had engineering help from Gary O'Keefe, Alex Simpson, Parker McDaniels, and Derek Ramirez.
JILL REPLOGLE: And we had production help from Anna Goldfield, Eduardo Perez, Mark Sanchez, and Anna Weggel.
MOLLY BLOOM: Our executive producer is Beth Pearlman. And the APM Studios executives in charge are Chandra Kavati, Alex Shaffer, and Joanne Griffith. Our announcer is Marley Feuerwerker-Otto. We want to give a special thanks to Austin Cross, Taylor Coffman, Jed Kim, Peter Ecklund, Jon Sklaroff, Lena at [INAUDIBLE] Studios, and Lulu. Jill, is there anyone you'd like to give a shout out to?
JILL REPLOGLE: I should probably thank my dad who always has a hummingbird feeder outside of the window at our house.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, very nice. And how about you, Brandi? Any special shout outs?
BRANDI BROWN: I'd like to thank my cat Claude at cookie Lyon for being quiet when I was recording the scratch audio at home and for the seahorses at the Duluth aquarium, I think it's called that, in Duluth, Minnesota, because they were just really funny. And it was nice seeing them before the debate.
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent. And Lena, do you want to give any special thanks or shout outs?
LENA: I want to give a special thanks and shout out to my sister, Layla, because she taught me how to judge people effectively.
[LAUGHTER]
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent. Before we go, let's check in with Linnea and see who she thinks would win her sirens versus Medusa debate.
LINNEA: I think sirens would win because they enchant sailors with their beautiful songs, and Medusa just has snakes in her hair and turn people to stone.
MOLLY BLOOM: Do you have an idea for a knockdown, drag-out debate? Head to smashboom.org and tell us about it. We'll be back with a new debate battle next week. Bye-bye!
[THEME MUSIC]
LENA: You talk about your kids and then they're like, oh, they're my fries. And then you're like, what are you-- are you eating your children?
MOLLY BLOOM: I think it's the human's fault they're named that.
BRANDI BROWN: Yeah, that's not on them.
LENA: OK.
Transcription services provided by 3Play Media.
