WEBVTT - Are Dad Jokes Actually Good For Kids’ Brains? 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.160 Guess what mango's that will. So when you were growing up, 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.880 was your dad just full of dad jokes? Ah, so 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:09.120 many dad jokes, Like he made a lot of puns. 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.320 But he also did this thing where he would just repeat, 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:17.160 like Dana Carvey catchphrases like he loved a SNL so 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:20.480 so he'd like do his George Bush in an Indian accent, 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.360 and it would just make us grown. I love the 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:26.239 idea of your dad in an Indian accent doing an 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:29.960 impression of Dana Carvey doing an impression of George Bush 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:32.640 or whatever it was, the church lady, whatever it was, 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:35.559 church lady, Well, my dad was right there with him, 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.040 and he is still full of these dad jokes. And 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:40.040 in fact, I think part of the fun of having 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:42.920 my kids grow up around my parents is actually getting 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:46.159 to see them react to the dad is of dad jokes. 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:48.480 And if you would have asked them, like which one 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.040 sticks out the most to them, it would probably be 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:53.680 when we see my parents on New Year's Day and 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:55.600 they know this is coming. As soon as we pull 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:57.840 up in the driveway, he's gonna be waiting right there 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.000 to say, I haven't seen you all year. And of 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:03.800 course you know they roll their eyes, but they love 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.880 every second of it. I know. So I I remember 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:10.440 my dad making some horrible joke knowingly like about um. 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:12.679 I think it was about mc Hammer's pala being called 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:17.280 mc screwdriver or something, you know, I knowingly mess up 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:21.000 lyrics or like do the floss dance wrong or whatever, 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:23.800 you know, just to get a reaction like that, ad 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.440 Dad from my kids because it's the best. Do you 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:28.920 think that if you did the floss dance correctly that 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:31.440 it would be any less embarrassing for them? I'm pretty 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:36.120 sure doesn't matter. But you know what, Mango, there's actually 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:39.279 good news for all of us dads. It actually turns 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:42.760 out there appears to be benefits of these corny jokes. 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:45.520 So there really fun article from the Telegraph in the 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:47.760 UK a couple of years ago, and it was looking 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.240 at a few different studies on this. But the author 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:52.200 of the piece, his name was Rob Kimp. He put 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.200 it this way. He says, by playing with words, dads 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:58.760 engage their kids and the flexibility of language, encouraging them 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:02.160 to think about words too. And this other research showed 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:05.840 that the jokes actually helped build these stronger relationships and 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.320 and in some ways may even help fathers cope with 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:12.160 their kids growing up. Huh. Well, whether the science behind 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.760 all this is sound or not, I'm in full support 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.320 of this theory me too. As you know, it's Father's 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:21.440 Day this weekend, so we thought we'd share some other 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:23.640 fun facts in honor of all the great dads in 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.280 our lives and all the other dads out there. So 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:49.600 let's dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to part 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.399 Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and is always I'm joined 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:55.639 by my good friend Mangues Ticketer, although today Mango is 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:58.760 joining me from the always Friendly Mouth Media Studios in 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:01.320 New York City. We always is love recording there whenever 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:04.160 we're in the city. So Mango, I hate that you're 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:06.560 missing this here because the man on the other side 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.160 of the soundproof glass with a sharpie and a drawing 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:13.120 pad holding up one dad joke after another to the glass. 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:16.160 That's our friends and producer Tristan McNeil. So what's the 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:18.720 latest one? It says, Uh, he's holding one up that says, 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:22.400 what's brown and sticky? A stick? I mean, it doesn't 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.960 get any more. Well, don't think I'm missing out on this, 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:29.000 because he just texted me spring is here. I got 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:32.960 so excited I wet my plants. That's terrible. You know, 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:35.840 the guy doesn't even have kids, but he's actually better 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.480 at dad jokes than we are. But jokes, I'm not 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:41.480 that surprised, to be honest with you. All Right, Well, 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:43.840 let's keep the dad thing going. So what's your first 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:47.720 factor the day, Mango? So I think you can probably 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:49.320 predict for I'm gonna go with the first fact here. 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.400 It's gonna be an animal fact, isn't it. Yeah. So, 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:54.440 so here's the thing. I feel like we've all heard 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.760 about how incredible like those emperor penguins are just like 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.000 protecting the eggs and keeping them warm. And then you've 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.320 got this fact about seahorses because the males are actually 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:05.400 the ones who get pregnant. But I actually want to 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:09.520 talk about a different creature, and that's the clown fish. Yeah, 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:12.480 it's because their paternal instincts are so strong they'll even 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:15.160 look after eggs that aren't their's. And and this happens 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:18.200 to be because of a hormone similar to oxytocin, which is, 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:20.159 you know, that love hormone that makes humans want to 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:23.440 be loving dad's And what they found in clownfish. Is 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:26.839 that their paternal instincts are so intense that you could 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.200 actually take a male seahorse and just drop a bunch 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:32.039 of their eggs from another nest near the clownfish, and 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.240 he'd actually protect them. He'd protect them, You've cleaned them, 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:38.080 fan them, all of that, just like they were his own. Wow. 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:40.839 I would assume this would just apply to fish eggs, 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:44.600 like if you drop some chicken eggs underwater. But but 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:46.960 but let's think about other fish. Like other fish wouldn't 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.520 do this, No, I mean most of the fish species 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:53.480 would just eat the eggs. Well, I knew you would 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:55.600 start with an animal fact, but that is a good one. 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.359 I feel like we have to at least acknowledge the 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:01.159 inspiration for Father's Day, and that's manned by the name 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:04.560 of William Jackson Smart. Smart was a Union soldier in 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:07.960 the Civil War, and several years after the war, Smart's 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.600 wife died, leaving him with his daughter, Sonora, who was 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:14.120 sixteen at the time, and her five younger brothers. Well. 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:17.599 Sonora was so inspired by her father's dedication to them that, 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:20.400 after attending a Mother's Day celebration at her church back 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.160 in nineteen o nine, she decided if there's a day 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:26.760 to recognize mothers, there should be one to recognize fathers. 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:29.680 And as she put it several years after his passing, 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:33.120 I remember everything about him. He was both father and 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:37.080 mother to me and my brothers and sisters. So I'm 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:38.919 also going to talk about a dad from way back, 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:41.520 and actually I'm gonna go way way back to a 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:45.080 father who was willing to forgive, and that's Charlemagne, who 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:47.560 was pretty busy doing whatever the Holy Roman emperor did 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:50.200 during the early Middle Ages, and apparently one of those 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:54.320 things was having twenty children. But despite having so many children, 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:57.080 Charlemagne was insistent that his kids be well educated, whether 0:05:57.120 --> 0:05:59.320 they were his sons or daughters, and some of his 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:02.320 kids were born to wives and some to concubines. But 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:06.080 his oldest son, unfortunately known as Pepin the Hunchback, was 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.400 eventually passed over to be the next in line to rule, 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:12.240 and this was likely because he was considered to be illegitimate. Well, 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:14.599 this didn't sit well with Peppin, and he and a 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:18.000 few others conspired to assassinate Charlemagne. So you think that 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:20.000 they would have all been put to death, right, But 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.640 instead the emperor did something merciful, and he decided to 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.320 spare him and instead sent him off to a monastery 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:29.240 for the rest of his life. Wow, such a forgiving dad. 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:35.080 That is wild. And twenty kids, that's just unbelievable. All right, well, 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:36.760 I'm going to hop on over to the world of 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.280 pop culture. And as we know, ron Howard has been 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.560 in the news a lot recently, both directing solo and 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:45.560 of course he's also the executive producer and the narrator 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:48.800 of one of the funniest shows ever arrested Development. And 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:51.840 I'm not sure anyone has had more of an interesting 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:54.919 career in TV and film than Ron Howard. But the 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:57.279 world first got to know little Ronnie Howard when he 0:06:57.320 --> 0:06:59.839 was just six years old in his role as Opie 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:01.800 to Tailor. And if you've ever seen the show, you 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:05.440 remember that iconic opening scene when Opie and Andy are 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:08.640 just walking along that dirt path holding their fishing poles. 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:10.760 You remember this, right, yeah, of course, every time I 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:13.120 think about it makes me want to whistle. Right. Well, 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:16.400 you probably also remember the part where Opie picks up 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:19.040 a rock and tosses it into the water. I'm not 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:21.480 sure why, but apparently this was an important part of 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:24.040 the scene to the director, because it turns out Opie 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:26.920 wasn't quite strong enough or coordinated enough to get the 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:30.320 rock all the way to the water, because it's not 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:33.080 like it was that far away. So they tried a 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:36.160 couple of times, and both times the rock fell short 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:38.280 of the water. So what they did was they had 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.240 a prop man hide behind a bush, and when Opie 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.640 through the next one, the assistant director then yelled throw it, 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:47.520 and the prop man tossed another rock the rest of 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:49.680 the way so that it would splash in the water. 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:52.680 And so that's why if you're watching closely, and you 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.440 may have noticed this before if you've been watching really closely, 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.280 but you'll see a bit of gravity defiance in that 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:01.440 lag from the throw to to the splash. So I'm 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.320 totally going back and watching this online now. And unrelated 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.400 to this, despite all that Ron Howard is accomplished, it's 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:09.640 hard for me not to immediately think of one of 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.160 his appearances on Saturday Night Live. I mean, you know, 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.120 we're both longtime SNL fans, and and this was back 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.760 in the Eddie Murphy days. I actually already know exactly 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.480 where you're going with this. Yeah, when Murphy mixed up 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:22.880 two of his most famous characters, Opie Taylor and then 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.720 Richie Cunningham from Happy Days, and then called him Opie Cunningham. 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:28.520 And then he proceeded to try and get the studio 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:35.040 audience to chant Opie Cunningham. So great. Alright, So, so 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.719 what do you have next? Well, I also have one 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:39.640 from the world of pop culture, but I think I'm 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:41.880 gonna save it and instead talk about the record for 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.840 the oldest person to father a child. Now, they have 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.960 not surprisingly been several claims to this title, since it's 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:50.440 often really difficult to verify the date of birth for 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:53.360 people born a century ago. But the one that seems 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:55.960 at least pretty close to accurate is an Indian man 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:58.640 by the name of rum Groov who had his first 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:00.800 child at the age of ninety four. And I say 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:03.959 first child because he had his second and ninety six, 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:05.960 and I believe he's still alive at the age of 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:10.240 a hundred two ish. That is incredible. Wow. Yeah, And 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:12.720 he's kind of the poster boy or poster old man 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:16.920 from vegetarianism, because that's actually what he credits for his quote, 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:20.880 stamina and virility. You remember how you were a vegetarian 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:25.000 for so long. I mean, you're mostly vegetarian these days, 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:28.800 but you've been vegetarian for years, but your diet consisted 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:32.080 of I would guess. I actually, scientifically, i'd put the 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:35.760 estimate at six was McDonald's French fries. And then, of 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:37.920 course we learned that they've been cooked in animal fat 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:41.200 for all of those years, which is a for effort, right, 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:43.959 I guess. All right, Well back to history. So did 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:47.040 you know that the term Founding Fathers wasn't actually coined 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:50.200 until the twentieth century. So the term first appeared in 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.520 a speech by Warren G. Harding. This was, of course, 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:56.280 the same man who won on his inspiring campaign slogan 0:09:56.559 --> 0:10:00.880 a return to normalcy. I feel like get goose bumps 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:04.120 just hearing that phrase. Yeah, me too. Well, anyway, in 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:07.080 his nineteen twenty acceptance speech, he said it was the 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:09.920 intent of the Founding Fathers to give this republic a 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:13.640 dependable and enduring popular government. But even after that, the 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:17.520 term wasn't really that common until Kenneth Bernard Umbright published 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:20.520 the book it was called Founding Fathers, Men who shaped 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.640 our tradition. Okay, well, we each have one more fact 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:25.480 to go. But before we get to that, let's take 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:40.719 a quick break. Welcome back to part time Genius, where 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.640 we're sharing facts about father's Okay, well, so what's your 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.840 last fact of the day. All right, Well, you know, 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:48.000 I was curious to look at which culture has put 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:50.880 a greater emphasis on father spending time with their children, 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.720 and it was really interesting to read about the Acca 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:56.640 Pygmy people in Central Africa. And this was for a 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:59.600 couple of reasons. So first, a few studies have shown 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.440 that of fathers spend more time with their infant children 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.719 than any other society, with one study showing that they 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:09.880 have their infants within arms reach nearly fifty of their 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.480 time now. But another thing that was interesting to me 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:15.679 just in general about the Aca is just how interchangeable 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:19.280 the male and female roles are. In fact, they almost 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:22.839 don't have male and female roles. So sometimes the women 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:24.959 will hunt and the men will take care of the children. 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.520 Sometimes it's the reverse, sometimes the men will prepare meals 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:30.720 while the women are preparing the next camp, and of 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:34.000 course you know vice versa. That's really interesting. All right, Well, 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:36.320 for my last fact, as promised, I'm gonna go back 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:39.079 to pop culture and a couple of years ago, g 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:41.960 Q had this online poll slash tournament where they were 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.320 trying to determine the greatest dad in TV history, and 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:47.520 the final four came down to Uncle Phil from the 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:50.840 Fresh Prince Tim the to a man Taylor J. Pritchett 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.640 for Modern Family, who by the way, beat out himself 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:56.719 as Al Bundy just to get there. And and then 0:11:56.720 --> 0:12:00.079 there was Homer Simpson and Uncle Phil ended up winning. 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.320 And and yes, he was, of course a good dad. 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:04.520 But I actually think I agree with the g Q 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:07.760 writer John ort Ved who wrote of Homer quote, he 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:09.720 takes a night job at the quickie Mart so he 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:12.199 can afford a pony for Lisa. He sends Bart to 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:14.920 summer camp, even when Bart fails to make the grades 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:17.920 of creed upon to earn the indulgence. He gives up 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:19.959 his dream job at a bowling alley so that he 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:23.120 can afford to support a third child. I mean, for 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:26.000 as much of a goofball as Homer Simpson is, it's 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:29.199 obvious he loves his kids. Oh there's no doubt about that. 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:32.040 So I would wish upon all of us that may 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:34.960 we all have the dedication of the Akka Dads and 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.680 the sacrifice of Homer Simpson so you know, I was 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:40.720 going to give the fact Off Trophy to you for 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:42.680 that last fact it was a good one, but then 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:44.880 you know, I thought maybe we should give it to 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:47.640 all the dad's out there for Father's Day. But you know, 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:49.120 I got the same angle. I don't know, if you've 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.600 been watching Tristan these last few days over there with 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:54.000 these sea monkeys he's been raising on his desk, if 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:56.320 you caught a glimpse of this at all, I have, 0:12:56.600 --> 0:12:58.640 and you can see how proud he is of each 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.280 and every sea monkey, every single one of them, and 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:02.959 only about half of them are dad at this point, 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:06.120 so he's just doing a great job. So here's to Tristan, 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.320 and happy Father's Day to our dads and all the 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:12.200 fathers and father figures out there. Thanks again to Mouth 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:14.760 Media for hosting me today, and thanks to Eve's Jeff 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:18.080 Coche for always helpful research. And we'll be back with 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:32.480 a full length episode on Wednesday.