Rosh Hashanah, Pokemon Preview, and More

Episode

Sep 25

Written By Tracy Kaplan

10 Things You Need to Know: Episode 606

1. Rosh Hashanah 2025 🎊

2. A Fire Collab 🍗🔥

3. A Towering Sunflower 🌻

4. Meet the Microsnail Named Picasso 🐌

5. 102-year-old Climbs Mount Fuji ⛰️

6. Pokémon Legends Z-A Preview 🎮

7. Jimmy Kimmel is Back on Air 📺

8. Capri Sun 🤝 New York Fashion Week

9. 17-year-old Sprint Sensation 💨

10. WNBA Rookie of the Year 🏆

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TRANSCRIPT

INT. TEN NEWS SNACK ROOM

PAM: Wow! What a food spread, Kap! Thank you for bringing it in!

KAP: You gotta try the brisket, Owen helped make it this year–

RYAN: KAPPY NEW YEAR! I mean, Shanah Tovah! I know I’m late, but are there any more apples and honey? Or did I miss the snacky mcyumyums?

KAP: I don’t think you’ve ever missed snack time, as long as I’ve known you.

RYAN: Thank you for acknowledging my perfect attendance.

PAM: Well, we’re not diving into this delicious food until after the show–

RYAN: Then I’m Ryan Willard, and I’m ready to start the show.

PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland, it’s Thursday, September 25th.

RYAN: This is Ten Things You Need to Know.

PAM: A late Shanah Tovah, which means Good Year or Good year to you, to all of our Ten’ers who celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The holiday began at sundown on Monday, September 22nd, and ended at sundown on Wednesday, September 24th. Rosh Hashanah is a time to reflect and kick off a new year by reflecting and repenting for any mistakes in the past year. It’s also a time to celebrate, and in many ways! Like attending synagogue services and hearing the blowing of the shofar, a ram’s horn–

RYAN: Lemme hear that shofar! <SFX SHOFAR> YES!

PAM: –or participating in a Tashlich ceremony, where you throw bread into water, to symbolically cast one’s sins into a natural flowing body of water. There’s also delicious food to be enjoyed, like apples and honey eaten as an expression of hope for a sweet new year.

RYAN: I love apples and honey…I can’t wait to eat… so I will talk about other foods to distract myself… did you catch Popeyes’ new collab with the Hot Ones series!? If you’re not familiar, Hot Ones is a YouTube talk show where celebrities are interviewed over a platter of increasingly spicy chicken wings. So, this collab is about to be fire… literally. The menu features four limited-time items starting with the garlicky, mild Sizzlin’ Sriracha Dippers and the medium-heat Smokin’ Rojo sandwich. Then cranks up the heat with the Darin’ Dab Ghost Wings. However, it doesn’t stop there; for those who dare, there is The Last Dab sauce, served all by itself. It contains three strains of Pepper X, Smokin’ Ed Currie’s Guinness World-Record-breaking chile pepper, and hits a 2.693 million Scoville Heat Units (the standard measurement for how spicy or hot, peppers and food are). For reference, your average sriracha sauce is around 1,000 SHU.

PAM: Have you ever tried the Last Dab sauce?

RYAN: No, I’ve always wanted to. Should I try it now?

PAM: No, definitely not–

RYAN: OK I WILL! <SFX sauce DROPLET> Just one drip of the last dab to see…<SFX Ryan slurps it> Hmmm, it’s not that baaaaaaaabalabbadingdong! <SFX MAN SCREEEEEAM>

PAM: Ooookay…while Ryan hopefully finds some milk, we’re gonna go from the world’s spiciest sauces to the world’s tallest sunflower…Ukrainian immigrant Alex Babich has grown the tallest sunflower ever recorded, towering nearly 36 feet high. The sunflower named ‘Clover’ resides in Babich’s backyard in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and is a Guinness World Record holder. But, to Alex Babich, this record-breaking bloom means a whole lot more. The sunflower is Ukraine’s national flower, where he was born and raised until he immigrated to the United States at 14 years old in 1991. His journey of growing sunflowers for seven years serves as a symbol of his love for his home country. The first sunflower grew to 13 feet tall, the next 15 feet, then 19 feet, and finally a 36-footer. While Babich’s careful tending surely helped Clover soar, he also gives credit to his 10-year-old son, who placed four-leaf clovers on the sunflower’s leaves for good luck.

PAM: Speaking of good luck, did you find any milk, Ry?

RYAN: Yes, yes, I did–

ADAM: HEY! WHO DRANK THE WHOLE GALLON OF MILK!?!

RYAN: I’m going to ignore that question and ask YOU a question instead. For 10 points, can you name this animal? <SFX SNAIL Sound> <SFX Clock TICK TICK TICK DING!> That sound was a SNAIL. Well, a very small snail, an extra tiny one.

RYAN: 46 new species of Southeast Asian microsnails have been discovered by an international team of malacologists, also known as someone who studies snails. One of these tiny creatures is called an Anauchen picasso, and is named after the famous Spanish artist, Pablo Picasso. It’s earned the name Picasso due to its angular patterns rather than the more typical curved ones. And, get this, its shell is only 3 millimeters wide, which is equivalent to the height of two pennies stacked together! In a recent paper published in the scientific journal ZooKeys, the Anauchen Picasso is different from other similar land snails because of its “whorls painted in a Pablo Picasso style,” which resembles the form of art known as cubism.

PAM: Ten’ers, get ready for an amazing story! Kokichi Akuzawa, a 102-year-old man from Japan, just became the oldest person ever to climb Mount Fuji, the country’s tallest mountain at 12,388 feet. He didn’t climb alone. Akuzawa hiked with his daughter, she’s a young 70 years old, and other family and friends. Akuzawa trained for months before the climb, waking up at 5 a.m. for walks and even tackling smaller mountains to get ready. This wasn’t his first time breaking records, he also climbed Mount Fuji when he was 96. Kokichi says what he loves about mountains is that everyone is equal when they climb, you just put one foot in front of the other together. And here’s a fun fact: Mount Fuji isn’t just a mountain—it’s actually a volcano!

RYAN: Shoutout to Akuwaza for an incredible feat. I’m tired just hearing about it. Let’s take a quick break…

PAM: Okay, Ten’ers, time for a quick check-in. School is in full swing, and we want to know what you’re up to! Are you reading a cool book, studying state capitals, or maybe building something wild in science class? Whatever it is, we want to hear about it. Do you have a favorite teacher you want to shout out? Grab your grown up and leave us a voice mail at 877-TEN-NEWS or send us an email at hello@thetennews.com!

RYAN: And now let’s kick things off with some… <SFX GGs!> Ten’ers. I got to do something AMAZING. Nintendo invited me to try out Pokémon Legends Z-A over a month before it comes out. I gotta share a few things that I thought were really cool: first off, your character is VERY customizable, so much drip, and you can do it all through the pause menu. The battle system has completely changed, it’s no longer turn based, it’s REAL TIME BATTLES which was a little crazy and a lot of fun. And the Mega Evolution gameplay, is waaay different from previous games. You can do so much more with it, it’s a huge part of this game. Pokémon Legends Z-A comes out on October 16th on S and S2! Also, I just rolled credits on LEGO VOYAGERS, which is a really cool two player co-op game where you play as Lego bricks. I highly recommend you play this game with a friend or even a grownup; it’s a really fun and unique game. The only problem is, my friend and I beat it in less than 5 hours. It was short, but sweet and it only costs $25, so I thought it was worth it.

RYAN: Guess what, Ten’ers? Jimmy Kimmel, the funny guy from the late night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was suddenly FIRED… and then—plot twist—RE-HIRED this past week. Here’s what happened: after Kimmel made some comments about the suspect in the Charlie Kirk case, the head of the Federal Communications Commission, the group that makes rules about TV and radio, threatened action against Disney and ABC over what Kimmel said. ABC is owned by Disney. In response, ABC pulled Kimmel’s show off the air. People were NOT happy about this and the backlash came fast. Fans were soon rallying for Kimmel’s return, arguing that his freedom of speech was being violated. Protests spread, Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions were canceled, and the company lost billions of dollars. So, just days later, Disney and ABC reversed course and announced Kimmel would be back on Tuesday, September 23rd. Protests can make a difference—especially when corporations feel it in their wallets.

PAM: In Fashion news, a new star hit the runway at New York Fashion Week – Capri Sun. The popular juice pouch launched a clutch purse that was inspired by its iconic packaging and was made in partnership with an even more iconic name in fashion, Christian Siriano, who is also a Project Runway winner. The Capri Sun clutch is crafted from a flexible silver material that can be squeezed, just like the drinkable version. The inside of the bag features a custom monogram fabric with Capri Sun and Christian Siriano’s logos; the bottom of the bag features colorful fringe along with rhinestone-studded fruit charms. But, the absolute best part? Once you unzip the clutch, which the zipper is made from the brand’s yellow straws, there is a pouch that you can put your favorite flavor of Capri Sun in!

RYAN: I don’t carry a purse, but I would carry that one! I love a good juice box or pouch but not when I’m running. Speaking of running, 17 year-old sprinting superstar Gout Gout didn’t quite get the finish he was hoping for at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, but wow—did he impress! He raced in the 200 meters, running his heat in 20.23 seconds to make it to the semi-finals. There, he placed 4th with a time of 20.36 seconds—just missing the final. Gout was aiming to beat his own Australian record of 20.02, but this time it wasn’t in the cards. Here’s the wild part: when Gout was only 14, he ran the 100 meters in 10.57 seconds. And last year, at the World Under-20 Championships, he clocked 20.60 in the 200 meters—that’s 0.01 seconds faster than Usain Bolt at the same age! So even if Tokyo wasn’t his big moment, keep your eyes on Gout Gout—he’s still just getting started, and he’s fast-fast!

PAM: And for our final thing you need to know, let’s go to our Trivia Master, Owen.

OWEN: Thanks Pam! Gout Gout is one of the fastest young people on the planet, but do you know which prestigious award basketball star Paige Bueckers won during her freshman year at the University of Connecticut? Is it:

AP Player of the Year
Naismith College Player of the Year
The Wooden Award, or
All of the above?

The answer is…D! All of the above! Bueckers won all 3 awards, making her the first freshman to ever achieve the feat! And, her impressive track record doesn’t stop there. Now playing as a guard in the WNBA for the Dallas Wings, Paige Bueckers has been named the 2025 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year. She received 70 of 72 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters in order to win, and is the first player with the Wings to win the award since 2017!

PAM: And that was Ten Things You Need to Know!

RYAN: Lemme get that briiiiisket! I’ve already got the hot sauce–

PAM: Maybe you should try the brisket before you put on the extra hot sauce…

RYAN: Why?

PAM: Because Owen helped make it and it might be good without it. And also, because if you man scream again you won’t be able to give Ten News Snaps.

RYAN: You’re right, and before that, here’s a quick note for the grown ups.

RYAN: Time for Ten News Snaps!

RYAN: A Ten’er named “I Know I’m Cool” gave us five stars on Apple Podcasts and said, “You should listen to this.” I know you know you’re cool, but did you know that we think you’re cool? Thank you for the kind review!

PAM: A Ten’er named FabFelon gave us five stars and said, “I love this podcast! It is soooooo helpful when I need to know child appropriate news!”

RYAN: That’s so nice–

PAM: And then she left three butterfly emojis.

RYAN: Nooooo thank you! And two extra notes for the grown-ups, you can now get ad-free versions of our episodes when you join the Ten’ers Club on our website.

PAM: And 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!

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

PAM: The Ten News creative team is eating all the Rosh Hashanah leftovers and includes Tracey Not a Crooks, Adam the Great Bambino Bernard, Brian Not Ryan Douglas and Carson Not So Harry Potter. Big thanks to Owen, Not Slowin Down for Anybody.

RYAN: Our Production Director is Jeremiah “On Fyaaah” Tittle, and our Executive Producers are Donald “Albright, Albright, Albright!” and show creator Tracy Takes the Leeds Kaplan. I’m Ryan Willard.

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

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Tracy Kaplan

Rosh Hashanah, Pokemon Preview, and More

10 Things You Need to Know: Episode 606

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