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Speaker 1: Guess what, Mango? What's that? Will? So? Have you heard

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Speaker 1: that mothers and babies can actually synchronize their heartbeats just

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Speaker 1: by smiling at each other? This is from Gizmodo, but

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Speaker 1: apparently and they were researchers in Israel, and they were

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Speaker 1: looking at mothers and their children, and they had the

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Speaker 1: mothers interact with their three month olds in various ways.

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Speaker 1: So they were monitoring their cardiac output as they did this,

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Speaker 1: and when they gazed at each other and smiled, they

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Speaker 1: quote coordinated their heart rhythms within lags of one second.

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Speaker 1: Isn't that wild? That's insane. I mean, you know other

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Speaker 1: animals can do this through contact, but humans, and specifically

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Speaker 1: mothers and infants, seem to be the only ones who

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Speaker 1: can sync up just by looking at each other affectionately.

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Speaker 1: But Today's Nine Things is a Mother's Day tribute, including

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Speaker 1: a few of history's best moms, why we love them

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Speaker 1: so much, and what makes them so special? So let's

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Speaker 1: dig in, y Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to Part

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Speaker 1: Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson, and as always I'm joined

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Speaker 1: by my good friend Mangesh Ticketer and sitting behind the

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Speaker 1: soundproof glass reading his copy of Yo Mama is so extraordinary,

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Speaker 1: a treasury of Yo Mama compliments. That's our friend and

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Speaker 1: producer Tristan McNeil. Now, I had not seen this book before, Mango.

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Speaker 1: Have you seen this? Yeah, it's it's a pretty great

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Speaker 1: and he was actually reading something earlier. And they're way

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Speaker 1: better than your mama jokes actually really yeah, because they're

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Speaker 1: all compliments. But it's all like your mom was so extraordinary, right, right.

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Speaker 1: The only joke about moms that I ever really remember

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Speaker 1: isn't like a standard joke, but one that our old boss,

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Speaker 1: Felix Dennis, made and he both loved and was terrified

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Speaker 1: of his mom. And when he was describing her to us,

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember this, but he said, uh,

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Speaker 1: she looks and acts like Margaret Thatcher without any of

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Speaker 1: the soft bits. Just to remember that. Yeah, but today's

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Speaker 1: show is obviously a celebration of moms, and I know

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Speaker 1: that we used to say that when we first started

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Speaker 1: Mental Flass the only people who subscribed were your mom,

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Speaker 1: my mom, and two under two, our mom's friends, and

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Speaker 1: it sounded like a joke, but it wasn't really at all.

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Speaker 1: And we obviously have so much to thank our own

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Speaker 1: mom's Paula and Lolita for well, and of course we

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Speaker 1: have wives who are wonderful mothers as well, so lots

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Speaker 1: of moms in our lives to be grateful for. But

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Speaker 1: let's kick this off. So I started the show with

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Speaker 1: a quick fact about heartbeats. So where do you want

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Speaker 1: to take it from there? Um, sticking with this science theme,

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Speaker 1: here's the fact I learned from Sithonian about teenage drivers. Now,

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Speaker 1: apparently kids drive much safer when their moms are nearby,

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Speaker 1: which I guess makes sense. And basically, the test was

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Speaker 1: set up so that kids would be on this simulation

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Speaker 1: and then they drive up to a yellow light, and

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Speaker 1: when their moms were around, they tend to stop for

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Speaker 1: the red but if they were alone, they punched the

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Speaker 1: accelerator and race through. But what's interesting about the experiment

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Speaker 1: is how their brains were rewarding them for their driving.

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Speaker 1: So when they were alone, scans shown that the brain's

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Speaker 1: reward center actually lit up when they ran the yellow light,

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Speaker 1: but when they were with their moms, the same thing

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Speaker 1: happened if they hit the brakes. Oh wow, that's pretty interesting. Well,

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Speaker 1: you know, our brains are actually rewarding us when we

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Speaker 1: listen to our moms or do the things we think

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Speaker 1: will impress them. Well, since we're talking so much about

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Speaker 1: the science of moms, here's one fact that comes from

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Speaker 1: The Guardian, and it covers the scientific reason why moms

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Speaker 1: here their babies cry before others do. So. I don't

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Speaker 1: know if this is where you're going with us, but

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Speaker 1: my wife and I used to fight about this when

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Speaker 1: Henry and Ruby were babies, because I'm actually not a

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Speaker 1: very heavy sleeper. But when our kids were infants, Lizzie

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Speaker 1: used to accuse me of like never getting up or

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Speaker 1: never hearing the babies like little muse, especially when they

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Speaker 1: were tiny. Maybe that was true. I was also surprised,

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Speaker 1: like I I couldn't hear them as well, because She's

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Speaker 1: not that light a sleeper. But I'm excited to go

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Speaker 1: home and settle some long simmering arguments that if you're

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Speaker 1: a science is in my favor, so I'm gonna go on. Well,

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Speaker 1: as you've probably read, ox eetocin levels spike and a

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Speaker 1: mother's brain after she gives birth, but studies from n

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Speaker 1: y U show that this actually affects the way the

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Speaker 1: brain processes and interprets auditory signals and will make a

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Speaker 1: mom much more sensitive to a baby's cries. That's pretty fascinating.

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Speaker 1: So does oxytocin give you like superhering if you inject

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Speaker 1: something into a mail as well? Yeah, I'm not sure

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Speaker 1: about that. But the scientist did inject the oxytocin into

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Speaker 1: virgin mice and they saw their mothering and stinks kick in.

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Speaker 1: Not only did they respond quickly to baby my squeals,

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Speaker 1: but they had an urge to help them, often carrying

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Speaker 1: them to their nest on their backs. Well I like that,

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Speaker 1: and let's move off science for a second and talk

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Speaker 1: about Mother's Day itself. Now, you might know that Mother's

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Speaker 1: Day was launched in America at least by Anna Jarvis.

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Speaker 1: And you might have also heard that by the end

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Speaker 1: of her life she hated Mother's Day and had turned

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Speaker 1: against it. But I actually didn't remember the details about this,

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Speaker 1: so here are a few of them. Basically, Anna's mom

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Speaker 1: and was a Civil War nurse, and she cared for

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Speaker 1: soldiers on both sides of the divide, and she even

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Speaker 1: tried to orchestrate this peace day between moms of soldiers.

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Speaker 1: It was called Mother's Friendship Day, and so it was

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Speaker 1: supposed to unite people from the Union and the Confederate side.

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Speaker 1: But when she passed, and I was struck by the

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Speaker 1: number of cards and notes she got about her mom,

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Speaker 1: and she actually decided to celebrate her mom and all

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Speaker 1: moms by creating a day for them Mother's Day. But

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Speaker 1: what's interesting is sort of the derision she got from

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Speaker 1: senators and all this pushback, and uh, this is according

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Speaker 1: to Jonathan mullin Nick's research. But one Colorado senator, this

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Speaker 1: guy named Henry Moore Teller, he called the day puerile,

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Speaker 1: absolutely absurd, and he declared every day with me as

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Speaker 1: a Mother's Day. So he was annoyed by this. And

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Speaker 1: then uh, he actually had support from this new Hampshire

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Speaker 1: senator who was also installed by the Day and he

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Speaker 1: complained as though the memory of my late mother could

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Speaker 1: only be kept green by some outward demonstration on Sunday

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Speaker 1: May ten. Goodness, I mean, obviously there was a lot

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Speaker 1: of resistance. So how did she make Mother's Day a thing? Basically,

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Speaker 1: she got florists on her side. She also had the

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Speaker 1: backing of Sunday schools and other organizations too. So the

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Speaker 1: resolution finally swept through Congress. When I went through in

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Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, but she was sort of in the pocket

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Speaker 1: of Big Flower and they ran with it. Like not

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Speaker 1: only did they have her talk at conventions and on

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Speaker 1: a speaking tour, but they actually started marketing white carnations

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Speaker 1: as a tribute to moms who passed away, and colorful,

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Speaker 1: bright ones for your mom if she's alive. But um,

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Speaker 1: you know, as the day became more and more commercialized

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Speaker 1: and less about this respectful and also reflective day for

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Speaker 1: thinking about your mom, Anna Jarvis got more and more incensed,

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Speaker 1: and eventually she wished she could take the day back.

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Speaker 1: In fact, there's this one great scene where she's at

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Speaker 1: Wanta Maker's department store in Philly and she ordered a

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Speaker 1: Mother's Day salad because she saw it on the menu

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Speaker 1: and it was just like a typical salad. When she

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Speaker 1: got it, she was so angry. She stood up, she

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Speaker 1: dumped it on the floor, threw her money down, and

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Speaker 1: then huffed out. And uh. It was like any little

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Speaker 1: commercial use of Mother's Day, especially the dumb ones like

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Speaker 1: a Mother's Day salad, would just set her off with

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Speaker 1: the rest of her life. I just love a good

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Speaker 1: Mother's Day salad. You know. I can't tell if she

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Speaker 1: would have liked or hated Tristan's Yomama So extraordinary book.

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Speaker 1: I'm I'm guessing she probably would have hated. But you know,

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Speaker 1: you know what's funny, I didn't realize there's so many

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Speaker 1: other Mother's Days around the world, Like not everyone celebrates

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Speaker 1: it on the same day, let alone the same month.

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Speaker 1: That is pretty interesting. So do you have any favorites?

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Speaker 1: You know, maybe Bolivia is because it has such an

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Speaker 1: unusual origin. Apparently, when Bolivia fought for independence in the

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Speaker 1: early nineteenth century, all the men were caught in the fighting.

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Speaker 1: You know, many were dying or injured on the battlefields.

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Speaker 1: But in coach Obamba, the moms wanted to do something,

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Speaker 1: so on May they united to fight on Corinia Hill.

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Speaker 1: And while hundreds of them died in battle, that day

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Speaker 1: that the heroines of Corinia took on the Spanish army

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Speaker 1: is known in Bolivia as Mother's Day. So here's a

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Speaker 1: mom I wouldn't trust, but who I'm sure made her

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Speaker 1: boy proud, and that's Jesse James Momzarelda. So after James

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Speaker 1: passed away, all these travelers used to come to is

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Speaker 1: at the outlaw's grave and often they'd give condolences to

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Speaker 1: Jesse James's mom, and that's where she smelled opportunity. So

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Speaker 1: Zarelda would pretend to be so touched by their actions,

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Speaker 1: like they're coming all this way to pay their respects,

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Speaker 1: that she'd offered to sell them Jesse's gun along with

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Speaker 1: a note of authenticity. And of course this was a

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Speaker 1: huge scam, like she used to get these neighborhood boys

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Speaker 1: to scavenge and steal guns for her, and then she

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Speaker 1: just resell them. But as legend of the scam grew,

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Speaker 1: the fake guns got their own reputation and they were

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Speaker 1: called Zarelda's and now they're highly prized collectibles in their

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Speaker 1: own right. All right, Well, here's the fact I thought

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Speaker 1: was interesting, and especially in light of Prince Harry's getting married.

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Speaker 1: But Princess Diana once took the boys to Disney World

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Speaker 1: and actually made them stand in lines. Can you imagine this?

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Speaker 1: So she really tried to instill a sense of normalcy

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Speaker 1: in their lives, and reportedly she'd take them for burgers

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Speaker 1: and McDonald's, let their kids wear jeans and baseball hats.

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Speaker 1: And this all tends to break protocol with what's allowed

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Speaker 1: for a young prince of worse. What's less reported is

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Speaker 1: that when they were at Disney, they rented out the

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Speaker 1: entire tenth floor of the Grand Floridian and had to

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Speaker 1: use the underground tunnels at Disney to get around because

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Speaker 1: they'd get mobbed by the paparazzi. You know, kind of

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Speaker 1: like when when we go and we have to floor.

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Speaker 1: But anyway, Diana is making her kids wait in line

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Speaker 1: for the roller coasters and rides. Was was really part

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Speaker 1: of her attempt to keep her kids grounded. That's pretty amazing. Well,

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Speaker 1: we still got a few more facts for you, but

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Speaker 1: first a quick break. Welcome back to Part Time Genius,

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Speaker 1: where we're talking about moms, So Will. There are obviously

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Speaker 1: so many great stories and facts about moms. Mr Rogers

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Speaker 1: mom knit all the sweaters on the show that used

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Speaker 1: to wear, which is just, you know, the most Mr.

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Speaker 1: Rogers fact ever. And supposedly, Bonobo moms will shake their

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Speaker 1: heads no at their baby chimps when the baby chimps

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Speaker 1: play with their food. But I do want to know

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Speaker 1: what's your last mom fact that you're gonna lay on us. Well,

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Speaker 1: I want to share this fact about Nancy Edison, who

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Speaker 1: was Thomas Edison's mom and there's this wonderful story that

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Speaker 1: Thomas came home with a letter one day when he

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Speaker 1: was seven, and this was from a teacher saying that

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Speaker 1: he was addled and wasn't bright enough. But when his

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Speaker 1: mom read the letter, she instead said out loud that

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Speaker 1: Thomas was a genius and the school was too small

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Speaker 1: for his intellect and that he'd have to be homeschooled instead.

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Speaker 1: And then the story goes on that Thomas grew up

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Speaker 1: believing that and only found out the real contents of

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Speaker 1: the letter when he was an adult after his mom

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Speaker 1: had passed away. Now the truth is a little less glamorous.

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Speaker 1: Thomas Edison was in fact dyslexic and getting in trouble

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Speaker 1: at school, and the teacher used a leather belt for discipline,

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Speaker 1: and Thomas might have been on the wrong end of

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Speaker 1: it a few times. But when his mom realized the

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Speaker 1: school wasn't right for him and that he had a

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Speaker 1: learning disability, she pulled him from the school and educated

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Speaker 1: him herself. As he put it, my mother was the

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Speaker 1: making of me. She was so true, so sure of me,

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Speaker 1: and I felt I had something to live for, someone

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Speaker 1: I must not disappoint. And then he went on to

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Speaker 1: make the first cat boxing video, right, and the lightbulb

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Speaker 1: Bengo and a million other things. So anyway, what's your

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Speaker 1: last bat Well? I like that Nancy Edison stood up

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Speaker 1: for her son, but I don't think anyone stood up

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Speaker 1: for their children the way Isaiah Thomas's mom, Mary has so.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty six, Mary was a single mom and

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Speaker 1: mother of nine, and she was at her home in

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Speaker 1: Chicago when the Vice Lords, who was this notorious gang,

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Speaker 1: came up to her front door and told her they

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Speaker 1: were recruiting her sons. And this is according to the

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Speaker 1: New York Times. The leader said, we want your boys.

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Speaker 1: They can't be walking around here and not being a gang.

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Speaker 1: And Mary Thomas, who was five four and ten pounds

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Speaker 1: so she's like a tiny woman, she just faced off

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Speaker 1: against this guy and said there's only one gang here

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Speaker 1: and that's the Thomas Gang, and I leave that. It's

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Speaker 1: just amazing, right, And then when they didn't leave, she

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Speaker 1: went to the back of her house, got a shotgun

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Speaker 1: and said, get off my portra. I'll blow you across

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Speaker 1: the expressway. It's nuts. And for some reason they stopped

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Speaker 1: their recruiting efforts. But by all accounts, she was a

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Speaker 1: really tough woman, and when people would tell her that

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Speaker 1: gangs were facing off, she'd actually just walked in between

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Speaker 1: them and settled the disputes. Apparently she was the only

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Speaker 1: mom Bobby Knight was ever afraid of. But all her

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Speaker 1: kids actually graduated school as well, which in itself was amazing.

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Speaker 1: I was reading about Isaiah and that he actually had

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Speaker 1: to ride ninety minutes to school every day. He had

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Speaker 1: to take two transfers on trains and buses just to

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Speaker 1: get to high school, and she made sure he was

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Speaker 1: there always. And uh. She also made him sign a

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Speaker 1: contract that he'd finished his college degree, and even though

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Speaker 1: he left early for the NBA, he honored that and

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Speaker 1: secretly went back to school just to make her happy.

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Speaker 1: So she's just kind of a remarkable woman. Yeah, and

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Speaker 1: I think I actually heard they referred to their mom

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Speaker 1: as deer right, which was short for mother dear. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I mean, there's tons of praise for Isaiah Thomas' mom,

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Speaker 1: But who do you think should win this week's nine Things?

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Speaker 1: You know what, I want to make sure both of

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Speaker 1: our moms stay proud and happy, so I think maybe

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Speaker 1: both of us should get it. What do you think

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Speaker 1: or Tristan, or do you know what, Tristan. And as

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Speaker 1: your mama's jokes so so, maybe we'll give it, Tristan.

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Speaker 1: I think our moms will understand. But but a happy

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Speaker 1: Mother's Day to our moms, to our sisters, to our grandma's,

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Speaker 1: to all the other moms out there, and of course

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Speaker 1: the other mother figures out there