RYAN: I just wish we could travel back in time and celebrate the holidays all over again. I could make you my infamous chocolate chip brown butter holiday cookies, and give you a Happy New Years hug.

PAM: Well you still can do both of those things. And did you know it’s actually kind of possible to time travel?

RYAN: WHAT. Tell me tell me tell me tell me–

PAM: If you wanna know, we gotta start the show. I’m Pamela Kirkland.

RYAN: And I’m Ryan Willard, it’s Thursday, January 9th.

PAM: This is Ten Things You Need to Know.

RYAN: So when you said time travel, were you referring to the fact that we are all currently, in this very moment, traveling FORWARD in time?

PAM: I wasn’t referring to that, but that’s a great point. On January 1, 2025, a plane departed from Hong Kong. About 11 and a half hours later, it landed safely in California. In 2024! <SFX record scratch> You heard me! The flight left from Hong Kong at 12:21am on January 1st of 2025, but landed in California at 8:33pm the day before, on December 31st, 2024 in California time.

RYAN: So planes can be used as time machines?!

PAM: The “time travel” is actually because of time zones. Earth’s rotation means different parts of the world face the sun at different times, so what’s day on one side of the world would be night on the other. Because of this, people around the world set their clocks according to daytime in their particular place. Hong Kong is more than 7,000 miles away from Los Angeles, and is 16 hours ahead. So, flying from Hong Kong to LA may take 11 hours, but then you rewind 16 hours. Voila, time travel! Kind of!

RYAN: So talking to someone in China is like talking to someone from the future?! I have so many questions. I wonder what I have for lunch tomorrow…

PAM: I can see a little of the future too. I see you doing the next news story!

RYAN: You’re right, it’s time for WEATHER or… NOT <<SFX Thunderclap and rain sounds>> Ten’ers, if you’ve felt a little chillier than normal this week, you’re not alone! Many eastern states have been extra-cold since Monday. For a lot of places, temperatures were 12 to 25 degrees below what they normally are this time of year, which is already pretty cold! This frighteningly frigid few days follows a heavy snowfall that had over 34 million Americans from Illinois to New Jersey under a storm warning! Between icy roads, single-digit temperatures, and record-breaking snowfall in multiple states, it’s no wonder that schools and even some government buildings were closed! The snowfall caused over 300,000 people to lose power and thousands of flights to be canceled or delayed.

PAM: While it is cold across the country, it is heating up in Hollywood! January marks the start of awards season in the Television and Movie industry. Things kicked off on January 5th with the Golden Globe Awards, and Oscar nominations, the awards for the film industry will be announced on January 17th. Did you have a favorite film this year? Let us know!

RYAN: Our next story is about US politics. <SFX Hail to the Chief bite> The new congressional term started last Friday, introducing the 119th U.S. Congress and a couple of history-making individuals along with it. The number of women in the Senate and House of Representatives declined for the first time since 2011, but there were some noteworthy wins.

PAM: These include Emily Randall, Washington’s 6th Congressional District’s first openly LGBTQ+ Latina -

RYAN: Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks as the first Black senators to represent Delaware and Maryland -

PAM: And Sarah McBride, the first transgender Congressperson.

RYAN: On the topic of political history, on December 29th, Former President Jimmy Carter passed away at the age of 100. Carter was the 39th president of the United States. During his term from 1977 to 1981, he made his mark with a massive peace agreement between Egypt and Israel known as the Camp David Accords, and created the Department of Energy to promote saving energy and encourage research about renewable energy.

PAM: After leaving The White House, he founded The Carter Center, which is dedicated to human rights, democracy, and battling disease. For his lifelong efforts, Carter received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Today, January 9th, he’s honored with a National Day of Mourning.

RYAN: Talk about an impressive list of achievements. Ten’ers, we’re going to take a quick break but when we come back, we’ve got space news -

PAM: We’ve got nature news -

RYAN: We’ve got -

PAM: Alright, don’t give too much away! We’ll be right back.

RYAN: Our next story is Out. Of. This. World. <SFX NASA 3-2-1 Blastoff> OR <SFX lightspeed jump> The Quadrantid meteor shower is an annual meteor shower that peaks every year in early January. Even if you’re not a space enthusiast, the quadrantids are a bright spot - literally! Under clear skies, good weather, and minimal light pollution, the shower can produce 60 to as many as 200 meteors per hour. If that’s not cool enough, they’re also known for their bright fireballs. This is because they come from relatively large particles, which can mean larger explosions of light and color that last longer than the average meteor.

PAM: Back on Earth, over 1,000 pounds of space debris crashed in Kenya. Officials have been investigating the hunk of metal they believe to be from a rocket that crash-landed in a village in the country’s south. The object is a metallic ring about 8 feet across, and authorities think it was designed to burn up when re-entering the earth’s atmosphere, or fall in an uninhabited area. It was probably pretty shocking for villagers to see a gigantic piece of space debris in the neighborhood, but officials say that it’s not a threat to public safety.

RYAN: Speaking of Kenya, did you know it’s home to what might be Africa’s largest NIGHTMARE?

PAM: Ryan! It’s Africa’s largest butterfly collection!

RYAN: THAT’S WHAT I SAID, PAM! 74-year-old Kenyan native Steve Collins has built a collection of more than 4.2 million butterflies. Between the 1.2 million pinned in frames and 3 million in envelopes, his butterfly collection represents hundreds of species, and was once used as an education center. Now the butterfly collection is private and kept under careful conditions to make sure the specimens are safe, especially because a lot of the collection is irreplaceable due to Africa’s changing habitat.

PAM: As Collins is getting older, he’s looking into who can take over his butterfly legacy. Up for it, Ryan?

RYAN: I’d rather eat only boogers for the rest of my life. WITHOUT ketchup.

PAM: He estimates the collection is worth about $8 million.

RYAN: There’s not enough money in the world to make me do that!

PAM: In our last story, an English worker was digging up clay when he accidentally led to the discovery of a dinosaur highway.

RYAN: Ten’ers, this is NOT a bunch of dinosaurs driving around in cars. Maybe piling in and out of one, like a clown car. Maybe signing up for Uber so that one day I call for a ride and end up having a heart-to-heart with a stegosaurus on my way back from the grocery store, and we become best friends…

PAM: This dinosaur highway is a collection of nearly 200 footprints and tracks that date back 166 million years. The cluster of prints gives us information about the lives of dinosaurs, including their movement, interactions, and environment. Four of the sets of footprints are said to be from the Cetiosauriscus - a giant, long-necked herbivore that grew to almost 60 feet. Another set is from the Megalosaurus, a 30 foot predator with a triple-claw print. Since it looks like these tracks cross, experts are asking questions about how these two very different dinosaurs might have interacted.

RYAN: I’d like to think they were friends. Maybe they were all meeting up for game night. Hey! Speaking of, let’s go to Owen for trivia.

<SFX Trivia Theme song>

TRACY: Surprise! I’m filling in for Owen today and Happy New Year! What do Earnest Hemingway, Alfred Hitchcock, and Walt Disney all have in common?

They share a January birthday
All of their middle names are “John”
They’re famous for making New Year’s resolutions
They all have works available for public use starting this yea

<SFX 5 second clock tick>

TRACY: Did ya get it? The answer is D! Hemingway, Hitchcock, and Disney all made something that is now free for public use.

RYAN: When an artist creates something, there are often rules that protect someone else from using their hard work without permission. But after a certain amount of time, that work becomes free to the public, meaning anyone can use it.

TRACY: This is known as something “entering the public domain”.

RYAN: This gives other people the freedom to use works like characters, stories, images, and music. They can even put their own spin on it!

TRACY: A great example of this is Wicked. The story is based on characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which entered the public domain in 1956.

RYAN: But, iconic parts of the story like the ruby slippers or yellow brick road were not in the original book. They were from the 1939 movie, so they’ll be public domain in 2035.

PAM: And that’s Ten Things You Need to Know!

RYAN: Alright Pam, I’ve been researching flights and have a list of places we need to go.

PAM: Really? Where do we need to go?

RYAN: Not WHERE Pamela, WHEN. I want to start off at my 10th birthday party because that was bonkers, I had a bouncy castle and a cupcake mountain…I just can’t find any flights that go back that far.

PAM: That’s not how that time travel stuff works but, maybe you should keep looking. But first, we’ve got to do Ten News Snaps!

RYAN: Oh snap, you’re right! And before that, here’s a quick note for the grownups.

[Ad Break]

RYAN: Time for Ten News Snaps! <Grand fanfare SFX>

PAM: A Ten’er named WilkerS2 left a comment that said “I love all the funny sound effects and appreciate the hard work the team puts into the show.”

RYAN: Thank you, WilkerS2! We also get a kick out of the sound effects, and we appreciate you appreciating us. What I do NOT appreciate is that you ended your incredibly kind comment with BUTTERFLIES. Why would you do this to me?!?! I thought we were friends, WilkerS2!!!!

PAM: FYI, Ten Things You Need to Know drops on Thursdays, and our deep dive episodes drop once a month. If you want some bonus content, you could join the Ten’ers Club on our website.

RYAN: And to our grownups, if you want to help support the Ten News, you can make a tax-deductible donation at the link in our show notes. The whole team thanks you for your support!

PAM: “The Ten News” is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts, and part of the Airwave Podcast Network.

RYAN: The Ten News creative team still cleaning up confetti after ringing in the new year and includes: Tracey Not A Crooks, Adam the Great Bambino Bernard, Brian NOT Ryan Douglas, Hebba the Big Cheese Gouda, and Carson Pitter Patter Potter.

PAM: Our Production Director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our Executive Producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I’m Pamela Kirkland.

RYAN: And I’m Ryan Willard, thanks for listening to the Ten News

Bethany Van Delftpodcastkidskids newsnewslistentriviaInternational Space Stationspaceouter space

Tracy Kaplan

Time Travel to Public Domain - 10 Things You Need to Know

LISTEN HERE

10 Things You Need to Know: Episode 522

Los Angeles Wildfires to World Records - 10 Things You Need to Know

Feeding Pandas to Toys for Tots - 10 Things You Need to Know