Valentine's Day Treats & Hugs with the Creator of Hugimals 😍

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The Ten News: Season 4, Episode 31

Today on The Ten News: 😍 Happy Valentine's Day, or Galentine's Day, or even Palentine's Day! Let's talk about the history of the holiday and ways to celebrate love for one another and yourself 🧸 Special guest & founder of Hugimals, Marina Khidekel shares about her job and journey toward creating the perfect product! 💝 And, on the Trivia Throne: how many conversation heart candies are created each year?

Resources

• https://www.tallahassee.com/story/life/2023/02/10/valentines-day-alternatives-try-galentines-or-singles-awareness-day

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TRANSCRIPT:

INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO

<SFX door opens + Footsteps>

PAM: Hi Ryan! Happy Valentine’s da–

RYAN: NOPE! No no no. No thank you. I’m allergic to Valentine’s Day. 

PAM: Allergic? To Valentine’s Day?

RYAN: Yup. I believe it was a holiday created to sell greeting cards and candy, and to be clear, I love both of those things. But I don’t like the pressure of having to confess your love to your crush. And I certainly don’t love waiting for crushes to confess their love to me, who… apparently don’t exist. 

PAM: Wow. That’s a LOT to unpack, Ry. Valentine’s Day doesn’t just have to be about confessing your love to a crush… There’s a ton of other things to celebrate. 

RYAN: Fair enough, Pam. I’m intrigued, curious and am Ryan Willard. 

PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland. It’s Thursday, February 15th.

RYAN: This is the Ten News. 

INT. SNACK ROOM - DAY

PAM: So why do you dislike Valentine’s Day so much?

RYAN: Honestly? It’s because I don’t have a Valentine, I never have a Valentine. 

PAM: The holiday doesn’t have to be about having a Valentine. If you go back in history, it isn’t even clear how it started. The holiday is said to be named after a Saint Valentine and there are a few legends out there about his support of young love. One story is that the Emperor Claudius II in Rome’s third century didn’t want young men to marry before they went off to war. He thought that they would make better soldiers if they were single. Saint Valentine went behind the emperor’s back and married young couples and this tale brings us to today’s Valentine’s Day cards and heart shaped candy.

RYAN: Wow, that was a long time ago, so can I ignore it?

PAM: Well you can but now people use the day and the day before, February 13th to share their love with friends, family, and even their pets! I celebrate Galentine’s Day, where I get lunch with my girlfriends and we talk about what we love and admire in each other. And there is Palentine’s Day, which is all about spending time with friends and people you like to pal around with. 

RYAN: Wait, did you say pets?

PAM: Sure. The day is about love and I know you love your cat, Tuesday.

RYAN: Tuesday is a purrrrfect Valentine! I’m into this now. 

INT. PAM’S OFFICE

<SFX Knock knock>

MARINA: Pamela?

PAM: Hi Marina! Thanks for stopping by. 

MARINA: Oh my gosh, thank you for having me! 

PAM: We’re celebrating Valentine’s Day today and it got me thinking alot about self care and things you can do to love yourself, especially in the winter.

MARINA: January and February can be tough months for some people…it’s often cold and wintery and dark outside…

PAM: And you have a great way to help with this. Can you tell us all about what you do and your company?

INTERVIEW

PAM: Thank you so much for stopping by Marina! 

MARINA: You’re most welcome, any chance I can try the Trivia Throne?

PAM: Of course! It’s just down the hall, to the left.

RYAN: Hey Ten’ers: is your birthday on February 29th? Aka, were you born on Leap Day? If so, we want to hear from you! Leave us a voice message with a grownup's contact info at 877-TEN-NEWS and we might have you on the show!

<SFX Trivia Room door opens>

<SFX shiny sparkly magical>

MARINA: Um, hello. Is someone here?

OWEN:  Welcome to the Trivia Room!

MARINA: Hi Owen! Why are you buried in hugmials on the Trivia Throne? 

OWEN: I wanted to make sure it was nice and cozy for you! Are you ready? 

MARINA: Ahhh I’m so excited!

OWEN: Step on up!

OWEN: I love chocolate and the little candy hearts on Valentine’s Day. Do you know how many of the little hearts are created each year? Is it, 

1. 8 Billion

2. 80 Million, or

3. 8 Million

OWEN: The answer is…<SFX drumroll> A! 8 Billion!!!

OWEN: The Necco Company makes 8 Billion of those little hearts each year. In order to make the amount needed every year, the company starts right after the end of each year and continues to the next year! They make the candies year round to be ready for Valentine’s Day. Thanks for playing Marina!

MARINA : Thanks for having me Owen! 

OWEN: Ten’ers, if you have a great trivia question or want to sit on the Trivia Throne, leave us a message at 877-TEN-NEWS and we might have you on the show!

<sfx shimmer/shine fades and door closes>

PAM: Alright Ry, close your eyes. 

RYAN: Okay…

PAM: And here’s your Valentine’s Day gift.

<SFX sets stuffed animal on Ryan>

RYAN: Oh my gosh what is this? It feels like I’m getting hugged by a stuffy.

PAM: It’s a Hugimal, and I thought you could use it anytime you needed a hug!

RYAN: Oh my goodness, and it’s a Sloth! This is tremendous. I love it!

PAM: Happy Valentine’s Day Ry. Do you want to go make Valentine’s we can give to the rest of the Ten News Team?

RYAN: Yeah I’m game. But first, we gotta give Ten News Snaps to one of our listeners. 

PAM: You’re right. But before that, here’s a quick note for the grownups. 

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

PAM: A Ten’er named Ab2ey said, “hahahaha” and left about 50 butterfly emojis, then said, “watch out Ryan, your days are numbered.

RYAN: Wait. What?

PAM: And Vbuggy022912 said, “I love this podcast! It helps me by letting me know what is going on!” 

RYAN: Awww that’s nice!

PAM: And then they put in 23 butterfly emojis and said, “we are coming!”

RYAN: WHY ARE TEN’ERS PUTTING BUTTERFLIES IN OUR APPLE PODCAST REVIEWS. Thank you Ab2ey and Vbuggy for the potential nightmares you’re giving me and thanks for listening to the Ten News. 

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 is thrilled to be back from our break and sending love to all our amazing Ten’ers and includes Tracey Crooks, Logan DeYoung, Corinne Catibayan, and Carson Potter.. Big thanks to Marina and Owen for contributing to this episode. 

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

RYAN: I’m Ryan Willard.

PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland, thanks for listening to The Ten News.