April Fool's Day: Two Truths and a Lie! 🤪
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🤪 We're in the April Fool's Day spirit! Can you spot the prank in today’s two truths and a lie episode? It's harder than you think. 🏄♂️ Does surfer Dana McGregor really give surfing lessons to kids with the help of two goats named Pismo and Grover? 🔔 Did fast food company Taco Bell really purchase the Liberty Bell and rename the US landmark the Taco Liberty Bell? ⭐️ Did a huge star in a galaxy 75 million light-years away really just disappear? Listen until the end to find out if you got it right!🤪 We're in the April Fool's Day spirit! Can you spot the prank in today’s two truths and a lie episode? It's harder than you think. 🏄♂️ Does surfer Dana McGregor really give surfing lessons to kids with the help of two goats named Pismo and Grover? 🔔 Did fast food company Taco Bell really purchase the Liberty Bell and rename the US landmark the Taco Liberty Bell? ⭐️ Did a huge star in a galaxy 75 million light-years away really just disappear? Listen until the end to find out if you got it right!
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🔔 Discover the truth about whether Taco Bell really purchased the Liberty Bell in 1996!
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Transcript
Various Voices 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
From surfing goats to disappearing stars.
In the next 10 minutes, we'll figure out what's real and what isn't. I'm Bethany Van Delft.
No, I'm Bethany Van Delft.
I'm Bethany Van Delft.
No. I'm Bethany Van Delft.
Bethany Van Delft 0:23
I'm Bethany Van Delft. And this is The Ten News, April Fool's Day edition.
We've got a fun episode for you today. But before we get to that, let's talk about why we have this odd little holiday called April Fool's Day anyway.
Sound Bit 0:46
What's all the hubbub?
Bethany Van Delft 0:47
The exact origin of the holiday is kind of a mystery. Some historians point to the year 1582 when Pope Gregory the 13th changed the date of New Year's Day in France, not a prank, he actually did that. Okay, based on Pope Gregory's new Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day, which used to be celebrated on April 1, with the beginning of spring was changed to January 1, he didn't make the change just to have a calendar named after himself. He did it to rethink the calendar to the seasons, and to keep Easter close to the spring equinox. Since no one had social media at the time, news of the change travelled slowly, and some people kept celebrating New Year's Day on April 1, those people were called, wait for it, April Fools. Other historians point to the ancient Roman Holiday of hilaria, which was celebrated at the end of March and involve dressing up and playing tricks on fellow Romans. Hilarious. Hilaria. Get it? And lastly, there's the idea that April Fool's Day is tied to the first day of spring. The northern hemisphere's vernal equinox, and the crazy weather ups and downs that happened at this time of year. As they say, if you don't like the weather, just wait a minute. While we may not know exactly why we celebrate it, the tradition has led to some funny stories and epic pranks. Today is our turn to get in on the April Fool's Day fun. Can you spot the prank in today's episode? Listen carefully to the next three stories, because guess what? One of them isn't true. See if you can guess which it is by the end of the episode.
Naomi 2:43
I'm Naomi with the story of some of the coolest surfing instructors in Southern California, goats. Surfer Dana MacGregor gives surfing lessons out of Pismo Beach to kids with the help of his teaching assistants, two goats named Pismo and Grover, McGregor brings groups of students out onto the waves on a big inflatable surfboard with Pismo or Grover sitting right up front. He says they keep kids calm and help them get over their fear of the water. But the goats also just love to hang 10. They splash around swim, and if they wipe out, they get right back up and get on the board again.
Sound Bit 3:18
You've got serious thrill issues dude.
Naomi 3:21
It's been 10 years since McGregor got his first goat to surf and now he includes dogs, pigs and donkeys in his lessons too. He says he loves how much joy the animals bring to people. The McGregor's big dream is to one day have Pismo ride aboard with legendary surfer Kelly Slater. Now that would be radical.
Bethany Van Delft 3:44
Okay, the real Bethany here now with our next story that's more extreme than a crunchwrap supreme. Fast food franchise Taco Bell made headlines when it announced a new marketing campaign in Philadelphia. According to a press release, the company has purchased the Liberty Bell. You know the one. The iconic bell that won some of the public to the reading of the Declaration of Independence and has long been an American symbol of liberty will, from now on be known as the Taco Liberty Bell. The bell will still be open to public viewing. And we'll be getting an upgraded concession stand featuring an all Taco Bell menu where visitors can purchase an edible Taco Liberty Bell made of refried beans that even has the bells famous crack filled in with nacho cheese. There was a little bit of pushback from the public about the sale of the symbol of America's past. But a spokesperson for the National Park Service told reporters Hey, if it gets people interested in our country's history, we see no problem. Not to be outdone, though it's rumored that Kentucky Fried Chicken is pushing to get the Colonel's head added to the lineup on Mount Rushmore.
A Kid 5:06
Are you kidding me?
Owen 5:12
I'm Owen.
Myles 5:13
And I'm Myles. And that's the question scientists are asking themselves in our last story. That's because a huge star in the galaxy 75 million light-years away, totally disappeared.
Owen 5:28
How do you lose a star? I mean, it's not like your coin or something? Well, the experts aren't really sure.
Myles 5:37
After 20 years of studying it, astronomers simply can't find it using their scientific equipment. And it's not like it's hard to miss. This is a gigantic star that's even brighter than our own Sun. And it glows bright blue. Whoa. Some people believe it turned into a black hole, a part of space time where gravity is so strong, not even light can escape it. But that would be really weird.
Owen 6:03
Usually, before a star becomes a black hole, they go through a super powerful explosion called a supernova.
Myles 6:15
The idea of a star becoming a black hole without a supernova, has been around for a while, but it's never been proven. Maybe some aliens ran off with the big ball of burning gas in question.
Owen 6:27
I guess we'll just have to keep watching the skies.
Sound Bit 6:30
The truth is out there.
Bethany Van Delft 6:35
All right. Now you've heard our three stories, and you're probably racking your brains trying to figure out which one isn't real, so let's go over them one more time. First, some gnarly goats caught some sick waves with their surfer pal. Second, we heard about how Taco Bell took a big bite out of American history. And third, a big blue star went Bye bye.
Did you guess it? The answer is story number two. You don't really think the government would sell off one of our most famous historical artifacts, did you? But that didn't stop Taco Bell from telling everyone they did. On April 1, 1996 the company pranked the entire country when it took out an ad in six major newspapers saying it bought the Liberty Bell to help with the national debt. The fast food chain didn't check in with the National Park Service before making the joke though, because the agency got thousands of calls asking them how could they do such a thing? How? It's definitely one of the best practical jokes ever. We hope you enjoyed our silly little shenanigans today. Heavy April Fool's day everyone.
Various Voices 8:05
Time's up. Before we go. Here's a quick note for grownups.
Bethany Van Delft 8:13
Are you in need of a cool gift idea? Of course you are. We always are. Visit The Ten news.com to learn how you can give the gift of a Ten News Ten'ers club membership. With the monthly membership, the recipient will enjoy things like bonus content discounts on mirch early news of upcoming stories, and exclusive audio call outs. Visit tehtennews.com for more info. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for our new episodes Tuesdays, Thursdays and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. Our editorial director is Tracey Crooks. Editing and sound design by Pete Musto, who also co wrote today's episode with Ben Austin de Campo. Our creative producer is Jenner Pascua. Stephen Tompkins is our head of audience development. And our production assistant is Sarah Olender. And a big big shout out to our team of mischievous little helpers today, Lulu, Nico, Owen, Naomi and Myles, thank you!
Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and The Ten News is executive produced by Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. Do you want to be part of this show? Have a grown up help you record a question, a joke or a fun fact you want to share and email it to us at hello@thetennews.com and show your love for The Ten News by going to your favorite podcast app and submitting a rating and review. Believe it or not, it does help others find the show so they can join us for the fun.
A Kid 9:57
I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to The Ten News.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Sources for this episode
April Fool's Day Episode:
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/april-fools-day
https://time.com/4276140/april-fools-day-history/
Stories:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/07/disappearing-star-supernova-galaxy/613699/
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-a-black-hole-k4.htmhttps://apnews.com/article/yard-sale-find-porcelain-bowl-worth-500k-6afe3261a5b4b74e9c02a533e0403081
Trivia Question:
