Molly, Aron and Anna W. are grabbing ice cream after a live show and having a nice, cozy chat. Aron and Anna W.’s families have been through a LOT. In fact, there were several times their families were saved by one odd object/animal/place! Who’s got the better tale of danger and salvation? Only a sneak attack will decide!
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ROBOT: Now entering Brains On headquarters.
[MACHINE SOUNDS]
MOLLY: Hey, Smarty pal. You caught me and producers Anna Weggel and Aron Woldeslassie relaxing after one of the hardest days of our lives.
ARON: [SIGHS] I'll say. We were in so much danger, followed by some incredible odds, followed by even more danger.
ANNA: know. And not only that, but it's almost as if our incredible journey fits into three separate, unique parts.
ARON: Anna's right. And Smarty pal, I wish I could share the exhilarating three-part story we all experienced together, but right now, we're relaxing with some ice cream.
MOLLY: He's right. Telling a gripping story is good, but not as good as my pistachio ice cream. What kind of ice cream do you have, Aron?
ARON: Oh, I've got vanilla. How about you, Anna?
ANNA: Mine's rock flavored.
ARON: Like, it tastes like a rock?
ANNA: Yeah. It's very earthy, very bitter.
MOLLY: I think that's just mud, Anna.
ANNA: It is? Huh. Well, it beats vanilla.
MOLLY: You don't like vanilla, Anna? Wait, Aron, isn't it your family made up of vanilla bean farmers, and wasn't your family's vanilla bean farm nearly wiped out in a freak tsunami, only to then nearly be purchased by a pizza baron, who you had to defeat in a thumb wrestling contest?
ARON: Molly, he was a calzone baron. But yeah, that's mostly true. Anna, how could you not tell me you hated vanilla?
ANNA: Well, we just haven't had the important vanilla flavor talk yet. Besides, the only reason I hate vanilla is because a hypnotist forced my entire family to eat only vanilla wafers for a whole month after my uncle Perry implied the hypnotist boots were beige instead of oatmeal taupe, and you don't want to do that.
MOLLY: Wow. I always forget how good you two are at making up wild stories about your family's overcoming incredible odds. You are really good tellers of tall tales.
ARON: Molly, my family farm was nearly destroyed. It's sort of-- I mean, mostly-- I mean, kind of-- like, barely, not at all true.
ANNA: And my family was attacked by a khaki-footed hypnotist. Well, OK, I made some of that up. Well, I made some of that up, the plot and the characters. But my family is real, and boy, did they love me.
MOLLY: Hmm. You're both great at stories, so I think this calls for a--
MAN: Ha, ha, hoo, ha.
MOLLY: --sneak attack. In this sneak attack challenge, we'll be playing, and that's how a blank saved my family. I'll give you both three specific objects, and you have to use them to tell me a one-minute story about how you saved your family from peril. You'll be getting different objects, so there's no way the stories will be the same. Does that make sense?
ANNA: Yes.
ARON: Oh, yeah.
MOLLY: OK. Aron, you are up first. Tell us how a moose, a cabbage, and the State of Maine saved your family. Your time starts now.
ARON: OK, so classic story. Me, my mom, my sister were all walking through the woods, right? We're just so lost but having a really good time. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, there's an avalanche. So we're just running like crazy. And as you guys all remember, both me and my sister are both gold and silver, like, track athletes. So like, we're super fast. But my mom, she's like--
MOLLY: Didn't know that.
ARON: Yeah. She's only participated in the Winter Olympics, so she's not a good runner, and we were so worried. But out of nowhere, this beautiful, brilliant moose shows up, picks my mother up onto his horns, and we run out of there.
ANNA: Oh.
ARON: We later find out that his name is Steven, Steven the Moose, and I wanted to pay him. I wanted to say, thank you so much for saving my mom, but all I have is this head of cabbage. And he said, I love cabbage. It was the number one thing I ate while living abroad in the State of Maine, which I guess he's a Canadian moose, so Maine counts as abroad for him.
MOLLY: Sure.
ARON: Yeah. We would later cut that cabbage up--
MOLLY: And time.
ARON: --into really thin slices, and it was great.
[LAUGHTER]
MOLLY: Wow. What a tale. OK, Anna.
ARON: And all completely true.
MOLLY: Oh, sure.
ARON: Yeah.
MOLLY: You really got me with thin slices.
ARON: Yeah.
MOLLY: That was a nice bow at the end of the story.
ARON: I think you've seen my gold medal. I'm pretty sure.
ANNA: Oh, yeah. You always wear it under your sweaters.
ARON: Yeah.
MOLLY: I mean, it's made of tinfoil, but it's fine. All right, Anna, it's your turn. Remind us of how a rainbow, a garbage truck, and a groundhog saved your family. You have a minute, and your time starts now.
ANNA: OK. So I've got two little kids. We all know that. They're 1 and 3. And the thing is, there's nothing worse than when they both cry at the same time. There's something that just activates inside of me. There's a fire that bursts through my skin.
It's a horrible feeling, and this is what was going on that day. We were on a walk. They were both in their little wagon. I tried to separate them with a drink tray, but they were fighting over milk, and it was terrible. And one started crying, and then the other started crying. But guess what? Guess what? All of a sudden, a beautiful rainbow appeared above us.
MOLLY: Aw.
ARON: [GASPS]
ANNA: I picked up my baby and I said, Remy, look, look, a rainbow. And he said, [BABBLING]. And I said, that's right. You said rainbow. And he said, [BABBLING]. And then all of a sudden, a garbage truck went right by us. And my daughter, my three-year-old, leapt onto the back of it. You know that that you hold on to, she held on to it, and she took a ride around the block. And I was like, oh, no, I don't have a daughter anymore.
MOLLY: And time.
ANNA: And then a groundhog came out, and then the truck stopped, and she got off.
MOLLY: [LAUGHS]
ARON: Wow. I completely forgot about the time your daughter very quickly worked as a garbage man.
ANNA: Yes. Yes. Yeah. She's very talented. Yeah. She did get paid $18 just for that one--
ARON: That's pretty good.
ANNA: --that one lap around the block.
MOLLY: That's a really good deal. Well, you two make up really incredible stories about your families, and it is really hard to decide the winner.
ARON: I mean, I can't blame you. Anna, your story was incredible. I can't believe you went through all that.
ANNA: Me? You bravely thumb wrestled a calzone baron and more.
MOLLY: Maybe you two could try some vanilla and dirt flavored ice cream together.
ANNA: Sure. Aron, let's swap real quick and see how we feel.
ARON: OK.
ANNA: Oh my goodness. This tastes like a sugary beam of starlight.
ARON: Ugh. Mine just tastes like mud.
MOLLY: That's it for this Smarty Pass episode. It was produced by Aron Woldeslassie and edited by Sanden Totten. Our executive producer is Beth Pearlman, and the APM Studios executives in charge are Chandra Kavati and Joanne Griffith. Smash Boom Best is a nonprofit public radio program. Thanks, Smarty Pass friends.
ANNA: Bye.
ARON: Bye bye.
MOLLY: Bye.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
(SINGING) Ooh, you're the smash boom best
Ooh, put you through the test
Ooh, you're the smash boom best
Ooh, let them have no rest
It's the Smash Boom Best
It's the Smash Boom Best
[MACHINE SOUNDS]
MOLLY: Hey, Smarty pal. You caught me and producers Anna Weggel and Aron Woldeslassie relaxing after one of the hardest days of our lives.
ARON: [SIGHS] I'll say. We were in so much danger, followed by some incredible odds, followed by even more danger.
ANNA: know. And not only that, but it's almost as if our incredible journey fits into three separate, unique parts.
ARON: Anna's right. And Smarty pal, I wish I could share the exhilarating three-part story we all experienced together, but right now, we're relaxing with some ice cream.
MOLLY: He's right. Telling a gripping story is good, but not as good as my pistachio ice cream. What kind of ice cream do you have, Aron?
ARON: Oh, I've got vanilla. How about you, Anna?
ANNA: Mine's rock flavored.
ARON: Like, it tastes like a rock?
ANNA: Yeah. It's very earthy, very bitter.
MOLLY: I think that's just mud, Anna.
ANNA: It is? Huh. Well, it beats vanilla.
MOLLY: You don't like vanilla, Anna? Wait, Aron, isn't it your family made up of vanilla bean farmers, and wasn't your family's vanilla bean farm nearly wiped out in a freak tsunami, only to then nearly be purchased by a pizza baron, who you had to defeat in a thumb wrestling contest?
ARON: Molly, he was a calzone baron. But yeah, that's mostly true. Anna, how could you not tell me you hated vanilla?
ANNA: Well, we just haven't had the important vanilla flavor talk yet. Besides, the only reason I hate vanilla is because a hypnotist forced my entire family to eat only vanilla wafers for a whole month after my uncle Perry implied the hypnotist boots were beige instead of oatmeal taupe, and you don't want to do that.
MOLLY: Wow. I always forget how good you two are at making up wild stories about your family's overcoming incredible odds. You are really good tellers of tall tales.
ARON: Molly, my family farm was nearly destroyed. It's sort of-- I mean, mostly-- I mean, kind of-- like, barely, not at all true.
ANNA: And my family was attacked by a khaki-footed hypnotist. Well, OK, I made some of that up. Well, I made some of that up, the plot and the characters. But my family is real, and boy, did they love me.
MOLLY: Hmm. You're both great at stories, so I think this calls for a--
MAN: Ha, ha, hoo, ha.
MOLLY: --sneak attack. In this sneak attack challenge, we'll be playing, and that's how a blank saved my family. I'll give you both three specific objects, and you have to use them to tell me a one-minute story about how you saved your family from peril. You'll be getting different objects, so there's no way the stories will be the same. Does that make sense?
ANNA: Yes.
ARON: Oh, yeah.
MOLLY: OK. Aron, you are up first. Tell us how a moose, a cabbage, and the State of Maine saved your family. Your time starts now.
ARON: OK, so classic story. Me, my mom, my sister were all walking through the woods, right? We're just so lost but having a really good time. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, there's an avalanche. So we're just running like crazy. And as you guys all remember, both me and my sister are both gold and silver, like, track athletes. So like, we're super fast. But my mom, she's like--
MOLLY: Didn't know that.
ARON: Yeah. She's only participated in the Winter Olympics, so she's not a good runner, and we were so worried. But out of nowhere, this beautiful, brilliant moose shows up, picks my mother up onto his horns, and we run out of there.
ANNA: Oh.
ARON: We later find out that his name is Steven, Steven the Moose, and I wanted to pay him. I wanted to say, thank you so much for saving my mom, but all I have is this head of cabbage. And he said, I love cabbage. It was the number one thing I ate while living abroad in the State of Maine, which I guess he's a Canadian moose, so Maine counts as abroad for him.
MOLLY: Sure.
ARON: Yeah. We would later cut that cabbage up--
MOLLY: And time.
ARON: --into really thin slices, and it was great.
[LAUGHTER]
MOLLY: Wow. What a tale. OK, Anna.
ARON: And all completely true.
MOLLY: Oh, sure.
ARON: Yeah.
MOLLY: You really got me with thin slices.
ARON: Yeah.
MOLLY: That was a nice bow at the end of the story.
ARON: I think you've seen my gold medal. I'm pretty sure.
ANNA: Oh, yeah. You always wear it under your sweaters.
ARON: Yeah.
MOLLY: I mean, it's made of tinfoil, but it's fine. All right, Anna, it's your turn. Remind us of how a rainbow, a garbage truck, and a groundhog saved your family. You have a minute, and your time starts now.
ANNA: OK. So I've got two little kids. We all know that. They're 1 and 3. And the thing is, there's nothing worse than when they both cry at the same time. There's something that just activates inside of me. There's a fire that bursts through my skin.
It's a horrible feeling, and this is what was going on that day. We were on a walk. They were both in their little wagon. I tried to separate them with a drink tray, but they were fighting over milk, and it was terrible. And one started crying, and then the other started crying. But guess what? Guess what? All of a sudden, a beautiful rainbow appeared above us.
MOLLY: Aw.
ARON: [GASPS]
ANNA: I picked up my baby and I said, Remy, look, look, a rainbow. And he said, [BABBLING]. And I said, that's right. You said rainbow. And he said, [BABBLING]. And then all of a sudden, a garbage truck went right by us. And my daughter, my three-year-old, leapt onto the back of it. You know that that you hold on to, she held on to it, and she took a ride around the block. And I was like, oh, no, I don't have a daughter anymore.
MOLLY: And time.
ANNA: And then a groundhog came out, and then the truck stopped, and she got off.
MOLLY: [LAUGHS]
ARON: Wow. I completely forgot about the time your daughter very quickly worked as a garbage man.
ANNA: Yes. Yes. Yeah. She's very talented. Yeah. She did get paid $18 just for that one--
ARON: That's pretty good.
ANNA: --that one lap around the block.
MOLLY: That's a really good deal. Well, you two make up really incredible stories about your families, and it is really hard to decide the winner.
ARON: I mean, I can't blame you. Anna, your story was incredible. I can't believe you went through all that.
ANNA: Me? You bravely thumb wrestled a calzone baron and more.
MOLLY: Maybe you two could try some vanilla and dirt flavored ice cream together.
ANNA: Sure. Aron, let's swap real quick and see how we feel.
ARON: OK.
ANNA: Oh my goodness. This tastes like a sugary beam of starlight.
ARON: Ugh. Mine just tastes like mud.
MOLLY: That's it for this Smarty Pass episode. It was produced by Aron Woldeslassie and edited by Sanden Totten. Our executive producer is Beth Pearlman, and the APM Studios executives in charge are Chandra Kavati and Joanne Griffith. Smash Boom Best is a nonprofit public radio program. Thanks, Smarty Pass friends.
ANNA: Bye.
ARON: Bye bye.
MOLLY: Bye.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
(SINGING) Ooh, you're the smash boom best
Ooh, put you through the test
Ooh, you're the smash boom best
Ooh, let them have no rest
It's the Smash Boom Best
It's the Smash Boom Best
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