Women's History Month, Iran Update, and Happy Birthday, Pokémon!
10 Things You Need to Know: Episode 629
10 Things You Need to Know
1. Women's History Month 🩷
2. International Women's Day 💖
3. What's Up with the WNBA? ⛹️♀️
4. 2026 Winter Paralympics 🎿
5. Iran Update 🇮🇷
6. Happy Birthday, Pokémon! 🎂
7. A New Dino Discovery 🦖
8. A Planet Parade 🪐
9. The Return of the Tortoises 🐢
10. Origami for the Win! 🗒️
RESOURCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_WNBA_season?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.paralympic.org/milano-cortina-2026?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.npr.org/2026/02/22/nx-s1-5722918/new-dinosaur-spinosaurus-fossil-niger-horn-sereno
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/giant-tortoises-vanished-from-the-galapagos-floreana-island-more-than-150-years-ago-now-conservationists-have-brought-them-back-180988238/ https://newsforkids.net/articles/2026/02/19/teen-wins-science-contest-with-origami-research/
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TRANSCRIPT
INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO
<SFX Door opens>
PAM: Ry! Did you see it?!
RYAN: The new dinosaur they discovered?!
PAM: Wait, what?! No, I was talking about the parade of planets that lined up the other night.
RYAN: I didn’t see that but that is also incredibly cool. Were the planets on parade because… it’s Women’s History Month?
PAM: Oh wow, that’s actually a really cool coincidence. I didn’t even think about that!
RYAN: Well I did, because I’m Ryan Willard.
PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland, it’s Thursday, March 5th.
RYAN: This is Ten Things You Need to Know.
PAM: It’s officially the month of March, which means that it’s Women’s History Month! The month of March has served as Women’s History Month since 1987, after it outgrew the previous celebration, ‘Women’s History Week’, which was established by President Jimmy Carter in 1980. Each year, the National Women’s History Alliance selects a theme for Women’s History Month. The 2026 theme is “Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future.” Although we celebrate all women this month (and every day), this theme focuses on the contributions of women who are leading sustainability efforts across educational, economic, environmental, and social justice movements.
RYAN: Another big deal is that coming up on Sunday, March 8th, is International Women’s Day (also known as IWD), which is celebrating it’s 115 year anniversary! A big milestone for an even bigger day, celebrating women’s achievements, recognizing gender equality efforts, and honoring the social, economic, cultural, and political contributions of women around the world. IWD also has a theme, and this year, it’s #GiveToGain. Give To Gain emphasizes the power of generosity, like when people, organizations, and communities support women, it creates greater opportunities for women to thrive. So, this International Women’s Day, whether you’re making a donation, attending an event, or even just learning about it, know that your support goes a long way!
PAM: Now, onto the Wild World of Sports… <SFX Wild World of Sports> Have you heard about the potential WNBA lockout? It hasn’t happened yet, but a work stoppage could occur if the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association don’t reach a new collective bargaining agreement by Sunday, March 10th. The collective bargaining agreement is the agreement that covers things like how much the players get paid, what health care benefits they receive, their travel, and working conditions. If negotiations don’t move forward, the league could face its first-ever lockout, meaning the players would stop playing, potentially delaying the season, currently scheduled to start on May 8th. 2026 marks the WNBA’s 20th season and is expected to be a big year, as the league plans to expand from 13 to 15 teams. The Ten News will be keeping an eye on what happens next as the March 10th deadline approaches.
RYAN: By the way…Pam, what’d you think of the Winter Olympics?
PAM: I loved it, but I want more…
RYAN: Well, the 2026 Winter Paralympics are here!
PAM: Oh yeah! Let’s go! (or adlib!)
RYAN: The games will be hosted in Milan-Cortina, just like the Winter Olympics, marking the third time the Paralympics have been held in Italy. The Opening Ceremony will take place tomorrow, kicking off 79 medal events across six sports and welcoming more than 600 athletes from about 50 nations. The sports include Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon, Para cross-country skiing, Para ice hockey, Para snowboarding, and wheelchair curling. The 2026 Winter Paralympics will conclude at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on March 15th. Until then, we wish the best of luck to all of the athletes competing this year. I can’t wait to watch!
PAM: On a less fun note, you may have heard that Iran is back in the news… Here’s what went down: Israel and the U.S. bombed Iran last weekend and opened up major fighting in the Middle East. The Trump administration has claimed that the Iranian government was becoming an immediate threat and action needed to be taken. Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah, is no longer alive. He had been the head of a very repressive government and the Iranian people have been protesting against him and the government for months now. There’s a sense of hope that his removal will bring a positive regime change. But congressional members and commentators say that it’s alarming that President Trump authorized this attack without the approval of Congress. We don’t know how long this conflict will last, what impact it will have on U.S. troops, or how it will affect the rest of the United States. We’ll keep you posted as the situation develops. But for more background on Iran, check out the link in our show notes for a previous episode on the situation there.
RYAN: Alright, this calls for a quick break. You down, Pam?
PAM: Of course I am, let’s do it.
RYAN: Hey Ten’ers, we’re going to do a Deep Dive on fun things to do…I’m obviously going to talk about video games, but I’m curious, what fun activities or hobbies are you into? And also, what video games are you playing or looking forward to? Leave us a comment on Spotify, an Apple review, or email us at: hello@thetennews.com and we might have you on the show! Speaking of, back to it!
PAM: We. Are. BACK!
RYAN: And we’re back with some… <SFX GGS!> Pokemon celebrated its 30th birthday on February 27th and it was…AWESOME. They announced a Pokémon Go update that will bring back Pokémon that were phased out. And they shadowdropped the retro games: Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen for the Switch. And we finally got a peek at the next mainline Pokémon RPG: Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves. The trailer has a lot of ecosystems, but I’m most curious about the underwater world it showed…we also saw the three new starter Pokémon: Brow, Pombon, and Gecqua. Pokémon Winds and Waves comes out exclusively for the Switch 2 in 2027. But if you’re looking for a totally new type of Pokémon game, I highly recommend Pokémon Pokopia. It’s a life sim, where you play a Ditto that crafts, builds, farms, and terraforms to create habitats that attract Pokémon. Nintendo invited me to a sneak preview, and it was really fun, and I’m super curious to see what the full game is like. Pokémon Pokopia is out now, exclusively on the Switch 2.
PAM: Alright, it’s not a Pokemon but did you hear that THEY DISCOVERED A NEW DINOSAUR SPECIES! The new species, a Spinosaurus dinosaur, was a large, fish-eating predator that first appeared more than 140 million years ago during the Jurassic period. This discovery marks the first time in more than 100 years that scientists have identified a new species of this kind. However, this particular species, a Spinosaurus mirabilis, is estimated to have lived about 95 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.
RYAN: The Spinosaurus mirabilis was about the length of a school bus, had a foot-long, curved horn on its head, and was large enough to stand in about 6 feet of water without floating. The species was discovered by an international team of scientists led by paleontologists from the University of Chicago in Niger.
PAM: We love a good parade, but a parade of planets? That’s even cooler! Last weekend, stargazers were able to catch a glimpse of a rare six-planet “alignment”. Known as the ‘planet parade’, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Venus, and Mercury were visible to the naked eye. And, while planetary alignments of three to five planets do happen every few months to a few years, a ‘parade’ of six to seven planets is pretty uncommon according to NASA. This night sky show happened as the planets slowly caught up to one another while orbiting the sun, and because they travel along the same path as they pass Earth, they appeared aligned.
RYAN: Alright, for 10 points, can you guess what animal this is? <SFX Giant Tortoise sound…?> <SFX Tick Tick Tick Ding!>
PAM: BIG news for GIANT tortoises! In the mid-1800s Giant tortoises went extinct on Floreana Island, located in Ecuador’s Galapagos archipelago, as a result of human settlement and invasive species, but they’re making a comeback. As the first of 12 locally extinct species planned to return, 158 captive-bred tortoises between the ages of 8 and 13 were released onto the island, kicking off a historic conservation effort. But how did they bring the subspecies back? In 2008, researchers found some tortoises on a nearby island with genetic ancestry similar to the creatures and brought 23 of them that most closely resembled the subspecies to the Galápagos, specifically Santa Cruz Island, for captive breeding. By 2025, there were over 600 tortoises! This reintroduction program is called the Floreana Ecological Restoration Project, and we can’t wait to see what other animals they bring back to life!
RYAN: And for the last thing you need to know, let’s go to our Trivia Master, Owen.
OWEN: Thanks, Ry!
While paper may appear thin, it’s actually pretty strong... By carefully folding paper, do you know how much weight it can support? Is it:
Its own weight
Ten times its weight
Hundreds of times its weight, or
Thousands of times its weight?
The answer is… D! Paper can support more than 10,000 times its own weight. This was recently proven by Miles Wu, a 14-year-old origami genius. Miles, who has been creating origami masterpieces since he was eight years old, recently won first prize in a national science competition. He tested 54 kinds of folding methods and different paper and showed how the ancient art of paper folding could inspire the future of engineering.
RYAN: And that was Ten Things You Need to Know.
PAM: Are you ready to start celebrating Women’s History Month?
RYAN: Obviously, but…how do you want to start?!
PAM: I was thinking we could _______________
RYAN: I’m absolutely game, but we should give some Ten News Snaps out first…
PAM: Right after this quick note for the grownups.
<AD BREAK>
RYAN: It’s time for Ten News Snaps!
PAM: A Ten’er named the Best Banana left us a 5 star apple review and said, “Sorry that I am late. I like speed skating! I am EvaPookie’s lil bro.” Thanks Best Banana, I like speed skating too, I also like bananas!
RYAN: And then Best Banana’s sister, Eva Pookie left us another 5 star review and said, “I am ten and my name is Eva and will you say my dog is Jojo and is crazy also can you make an episode about politics?” Alright I’m curious what kind of dog Jojo is and why you think he’s crazy! And yes, we can definitely do an episode about politics!
PAM: 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.
RYAN: 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!
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 getting extra hyped to watch the Winter Para Olympics and includes Tracey Not a Crooks, Adam the Great Bambino Bernard, Brian Not Ryan Douglas, the Duke of Earl Davis, and Carson Not So Harry Potter. Big thanks to Owen, Not Slowin Down for Anybody.
PAM: 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.
RYAN: I’m Ryan Willard.
PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland, thanks for listening to the Ten News!
