[TERRESTRIALS INTRO]

LULU MILLER: Three, two, one! Imagine you've evolved into a well-oiled machine over thousands, millions of years. Every part of you is maximized for energy efficiency, for survival. And yet every now and then you use your precious energy to ...

ALAN GOFFINSKI: Prank!

LULU: ... goof! Get up to seemingly pointless ...

ALAN: Yet joyful mischief.

LULU: You have become ...

ALAN: A creature pulling a shenanigan!

LULU: Now is the part where I make you sing the theme song with me. "Terrestrials, Terrestrials, we are not the worst, we are the ...

ALAN: Lulu, what exactly is a shenanigan?

LULU: Bursting into song in the middle of a scientific interview is ...

LULU: Bestrials!

LULU: ... sort of a shenanigan!

ALAN: [laughs]

LULU: Terrestrials is the show where we uncover the strangeness waiting right here on Earth. I am your host Lulu Miller, joined as always by my songbud ...

ALAN: She-nana-nana!

LULU: Alan.

ALAN: Na-nana-nanagin!

LULU: Today we're actually gonna play an episode from another podcast called Weirdly Helpful, who has an episode all about shenanigans, which the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines as "high-spirited or mischievous activities." And we translate as ...

ALAN: Goofin' for good! Nah nah! Being silly for the thrilly! Nah nah! Making jokesies for the folksies! Nah nah!

LULU: Basically riling up some harmless mischief, usually in the name of making others laugh, feeling connected or, I don't know, just injecting some play and fun into everyday life. And so we're gonna play this really fun episode about shenanigans that our friends over at the podcast Weirdly Helpful made, because well, A) I adore their podcast. It is joyful and short and bright. And B) As many of us are gearing up for a season of family gatherings, which can also sometimes be filled with some sleepy, gray, humdrum time—long car trips, long delays, long multi-course dinners—I thought it could be fun to infuse this time with some fun, some pranks, some shenanigans!

ALAN: Are Bananagrams shenanigans?

LULU: No, Bananagrams is a game.

ALAN: But if they would be, would they be called Bananashenaniganograms?

LULU: I guess they would be, Alan! And before I play Weirdly Helpful's episode, which is full of all kinds of shenanigans you can pull on your loved ones, I did wonder if animals did shenanigans.

ALAN: Shenanimaligans!

LULU: Correct. I kind of figured that this pranking for fun might actually be something that set us apart from the rest of the animals because, you know, animals have to survive in the wild. They need to use every spare calorie of energy to survive. They can't waste energy on harmless fun, pointless behavior, right?

ALAN: Yeah, that seems right.

LULU: Wrong! [laughs] Turns out shenanigans do seem to appear across the animal kingdom. Would you like to hear a quick list, Alan?

ALAN: Indeed I would.

LULU: Okay, we got chimps who tickle one another.

ALAN: Tickle, tickle!

LULU: Octopuses who will spray bubbles to shoot objects across the water, seemingly just for funsies.

ALAN: Look, Ma, no hands! Just eight arms and hundreds of bubbles! Whee!

LULU: Otters who use rocks almost like fidget spinners.

ALAN: Twirly! Whoa, look at the twirls!

LULU: Crows who will pull the tails of cats and bigger birds, and I don't know if any have ever pulled a pony's tail—it's kind of like pulling a ponytail.

ALAN: Hey!

LULU: Possums who will play dead. Just kidding. Not a shenanigan. That is for survival. But seabirds who drop stones in the air and then rush down to catch them just before they hit the ground?

ALAN: Did I fake you out?

LULU: Total shenanigan.

ALAN: Fake out!

LULU: We got more. Kittens will do what I believe is the classic quintessential Shenanigans 101, where they will tap someone on one shoulder, like over here. Tap, tap. But then they'll, like, quietly move to the other side.

ALAN: Meow'd you look!

LULU: You've been shenaned! Or dolphins, who even in the wild will balance random objects on their snouts—seaweed or shells or corals—because, well, no one really knows.

ALAN: Wahoo!

LULU: So this holiday season—and all year round for that matter—I encourage us all to make like the dolphins and do something with no clear evolutionary porpoise—I mean purpose.

ALAN: [laughs]

LULU: After the break, we will share a whole bag of tricks of creative and harmless shenanigans you can pull on your family and friends. Shenan with us.

LULU: Terrestrials is back, and—what's that sound? It is me shaking a whole bag of shenanigans! Because it is time now to turn to our friends at the podcast Weirdly Helpful, who have collected a bunch of shenanigans that you can pull on your friends and family.

ALAN: At last, news you can use.

LULU: Or, you know, goofy stuff should you choose. Anyway, so really quick, the podcast Weirdly Helpful, what it is is that in each episode, the host, Zak Rosen ...

ZAK ROSEN: Hey.

LULU: ... asks someone what piece of advice has been weirdly helpful in their life. I've been on the show. The writer Megan Stielstra did a great one about the weirdly helpful technique of screaming, often alongside trains as they're passing by, just at the top of your lungs. Anyway, those episodes are linked in the show notes.

ALAN: They are all so good. Not all of them are necessarily family friendly, though, so adults, give them a listen first.

LULU: And for the episode we're gonna play today, Zak talked to a woman named Rebecca Garza-Bortman. She's an artist from Berkeley, California, who said that pulling shenanigans, coming up with shenanigans, has been a really good strategy to help her enjoy life, to get the most out of life, to find humor on dull days. So together, Rebecca and Zak did a call-out for listeners to call in with their family shenanigans. And I will just now play the part of their episode where they share what they found.

ZAK: So I had eight listeners respond to my call for shenanigans.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Okay, let's hear 'em. Can't wait!

ZAK: I'm gonna play these for you, and I wonder, should we create a scale of, like, this is definitely a shenanigan, to I'm not sure if this is a shenanigan?

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: The scale should be, like, shenan—that's like—that's low level, low-level shenan.

ZAK: Okay.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Shenan.

ZAK: Shenan.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: And then shenanaganananaganananagan is—that's the utmost.

ZAK: Okay, great. Let's start with Julia.

JULIA: Hi. So I have a family shenanigan. And I've never called into any kind of show like this, so this is fun for me. We pretend that we're a little animal family sometimes when we're going to sleep. So it started when I would, like, cuddle up, snuggle my daughter, either, like, going to bedtime or if she came back in the bed and was scared at night and act like, oh, we're squirrels, and this is our cozy little leaf nest, and we're so safe up high here in our oak tree. And you did such a good job collecting nuts today. We're probably gonna have some yummy acorn pancakes in the morning. Just on and on with that type of thing. And they just love it. And usually the little one will—will come up with names as well. So for example, she is Nutsy Squirrel, and that her older sister is Acorn, and I am for some reason Jimmy.

ZAK: Okay, that's our first one.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Thank you, caller, for taking the leap and telling us about this beautiful family tradition.

ZAK: Mm-hmm.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: I was gonna give you a shenan because I was like, cute, totally cute, until I heard that your daughter calls herself Nutsy.

ZAK: Yeah. [laughs]

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Because that just—I feel like that takes it up a level. That just takes—the chaos. You know, I'm looking for the chaos turner.

ZAK: Yes. You thought it was kind of at the bottom of the scale, but it's maybe more mid, halfway up?

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Yeah. I just want to hear more about Nutsy's adventures. Like, this could be a lifelong picture book adventure for your kids of just like, Nutsy, Jimmy and Acorn.

ZAK: Yeah. I love any animal or any pet who has just a human-sounding name.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Yes.

ZAK: So like an animal named Jimmy, I think, also increases the shenan.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: The branding, branding of that animal family. It's just really—it takes it to the next level. Thank you for your shenan-again.

ZAK: [laughs] Here we go.

LAUREN SNOW: Hi, Zak. My name is Lauren Snow. I'm calling with regards to shenanigans. I think shenanigans is somewhere in the parenting realm where I excel. Sometimes when the kids are in a real funk, my daughter can sometimes wake up in the morning in a little bit of a funk, and I find if I need to kind of get the ball rolling for the day, I can grab any object and pretend it's a microphone and then start to interview her. And so, you know, pass the microphone to her and just say, you know, "Tell me, how did you sleep last night? And, you know, how does it feel to have the softest hair ever when you wake up in the morning?" And that can sometimes just draw them out and bring them a little bit of silliness into the morning as we start to do all the normal things to get out the door. Anyway, love the show. Thank you so much. Bye!

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Dude, solid shenanigan. I'm gonna say if this caller wants to get her score up to like a shenanananana, she needs to bring a voice.

ZAK: A voice.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: I assume if she was doing voices, she would have done it for us then.

ZAK: Yeah. Are you thinking like a broadcaster voice or ...

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Yeah, I mean, you know, like easy ones would be, like, kind of, yeah, news reporter, broadcaster, something like "Reporting live from the kitchen, we are now going to find out why is your hair so messy. Straight to the source."

ZAK: [laughs] Yeah. Okay, here's the next one.

LAUREN PASSELL: Hi, Zak. It's Lauren Passell. It started when I was working in corporate, Barnes & Noble corporate. You know when you're, like, in a public bathroom and you're leaving the public bathroom and someone walks in at the same time? So there's this, like, awkward moment where, like, you're holding the door for them or, like, are they holding it? Like, what's going on? You know, you're leaving and they're coming in. I always do this thing where I go—like, very dramatically, I go, "Welcome to the bathroom!" And I, like, swing my hands open and I, like, welcome them into the bathroom. And it truly makes me laugh. It makes me so happy. I get really excited when I know that I'm going to get to do this. However, people's reactions are not—people are confused, I think. I don't know. No one ever laughs. And my mom's like, people are just thrown off. My mom was like, I'm not surprised no one's laughing. But so anyway, I really do think of the welcome to the bathroom gesture as something I truly do to keep myself happy, despite the fact that no one else seems to think it's funny. Okay. I appreciate you. This is long. Bye-bye.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Lauren, thank you. I want you to know that Zak and I are here saying there is a shenanananananagan.

ZAK: Yep.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Right there, because you're only making yourself laugh.

ZAK: Yeah.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: And that is a beautiful gift to yourself, because you are enjoying it. And yes, you are coming off as a crazy person to the people who are coming into the bathroom, but you don't care.

ZAK: And I told this to Lauren, and I feel like you—it's the same for you, Rebecca. If you were on the receiving end of "Welcome to the bathroom!" wouldn't you laugh?

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: I would totally. I actually want to say ...

ZAK: I think it's so fun.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: ... for the 100 people who don't, you're gonna find your me and Zaks. But I would say if that happened to me, I would "Yes and" that in the moment. I would be so excited to, like, "Why, thank you! How is it? How's the water?"

ZAK: [laughs] Yes, exactly. And Lauren is so fascinated with this liminal bathroom space that she is launching a podcast very soon called Welcome to the Bathroom.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Dude, can we be guest stars?

ZAK: I hope so.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Oh my gosh!

ZAK: So Lauren, circle back to us for that.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: The weirdly helpful advice that spun so many podcasts.

ZAK: Mm-hmm. It's gonna be so echoey. It's gonna be great.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Dude, please have us on as guests, Lauren. This is thrilling. Welcome to the Bathroom.

ZAK: Welcome to the Bathroom! Here's the next one.

ERICA LUNDBLAD: Hi, Zak. My name is Erica Lundblad, and I am calling about our family shenanigans. So we love to mispronounce words on purpose, and if we say it the right way the first time, then we always say, "Say it right!" So like zucchini, I grew up with my dad calling it "zoo-canny," and syrup was "surple." And smoke was "moke." And it just always makes me smile and laugh. All of us—me, my sister, my dad—we do this with my dad, not my mom. Our parents are divorced but good friends. But anyway, yeah, we just make fun of the words when we're using them, and always mispronounce it because that's how we pronounce it in our home. Anyway, it brings so much joy to my life. And I hope that's weirdly helpful to you. Have a great day.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Mmm! An intergenerational gift from you. Thank you. I'm gonna give that a shenanananananananananana intergenerational nana.

ZAK: Again, choose joy.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: You're writing your own family's language, right? It's like they're—like, smaller than dialect. It is colloquial at the familial level. And that's—that's gorgeous. It also encourages me to keep on mispronouncing "strawberries" in hopes that my children will grow up to, like, sound vaguely British.

ZAK: Great one. Zoo-canny. Here's the next one.

KATIE MILLER: My name is Katie Miller. Myself and my boyfriend, Roman, whenever the egg cooker goes off or the oven preheats or the washing machine is done and it plays its little tune, we break out in a big dance. And the egg cooker will just keep going until you turn it off, so you can get as many dance moves in as you want. And he'll even come, like, running from the other room in when he hears the egg cooker go off. So just a fun way to bring some shenanigans into your day.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Katie and Roman. Guys, can I get an invite to your wedding? Because you guys are clearly made for each other. You're dancing the fun into life and I'm so glad that you brought dancing into shenanigans, because it is the body movement that can happen with a shenanigan is so important. And you have found an opportunity, you have found a soundtrack of your life to give a little joy and zest and a reason to move your feet and your booty. And I want to give this a shenanananananananana!

ZAK: Thinking of them just delaying turning the egg timer off makes me so happy. Like, you know, we're gonna let the timer keep going. We're gonna let our eggs get a little cold because we're busy dancing with each other. It's so intimate.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Dude! Okay, Katie and Roman, if you do this, please film it for us, okay? Your first dance at your wedding. Okay, everybody's waiting. It's quiet.

ZAK: Oh yeah.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: You play the egg timer dance.

ZAK: Yes!

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Okay?

ZAK: Oh my God.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: You have the egg timer, though. You got the DJ. You set the timer. You're like, "Hey guys, 10 minutes from now we're gonna start the dance." You set the egg timer, and you have those eggs, right?

ZAK: Mm-hmm.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Your first dance is to the egg timer, because this shenanigan is—I don't know you, but I think it's at your core.

ZAK: Oh my God. That has to happen.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: You have the family jester vibes. And that would be the best first dance.

ZAK: Hundred percent. Let's do another one.

MEREDITH RUSSELL: Hi, it's Meredith Russell from Salem, Oregon. I love this idea of family shenanigans. I thought back to when my son was about in middle school, and for some reason he got a little bit obsessed with Britain and British culture and British speech. And so we would start our mornings getting him up, and we would speak in a British accent the whole morning, and for some reason it characterized itself with some sort of yelling, upset, hassled mom. And I would say, "Where are you?" And he'd say, "Mom, I'm coming down just as soon as I can." And I'd say, "You're gonna be late for school if you don't get your bum down here!" And he'd say, "Oh, why don't you get those breakfasts ready, Mom?" And on and on we'd go till he headed off to school. And even to this day, he remembers that with a smile.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Meredith, what a beautiful mom you are!

ZAK: Beautiful.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: I want voices. I want the show. I want the whole thing. And Meredith, you have delivered a shenanigan again, again, again, again, again, again, again, again.

ZAK: Wow, this is tipping the scale. So good, Meredith. Let's do one more.

MIKE GLUCK: Hey, Zak, this is Mike Gluck. Okay, so family shenanigans. I don't know if this counts or not. Hopefully it does, but we have two dogs, and every evening when my wife says she's gonna go let the dogs out, I say, who? You know, like, who let the dogs out? I think it's funny. I think it's hilarious. I don't think she does, but that's okay.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Mike, we see you, and we see you're bringing—you're just bringing a shenan, and that's okay. Not everything has to be a shenaniganaganagan, okay? And I actually think you get a little extra nan in there because you say it seriously.

ZAK: Yeah. You don't bark it. You just bring it.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: It's the stoicism. Who?

ZAK: Yeah.

REBECCA GARZA-BORTMAN: Yeah. It's the stoicism that brings—it's just a little spice of joy. And you know what? It's kind of like how a pun is well received. A pun is well received by a groan, right? And maybe your partner is actually—maybe it's a little bit of a groan, but it's also—you know, it's just a sign that you just have the joy and the vim and vigor inside you.

LULU: Puns being best appreciated with groans is something we here at Terrestrials know a lot about. Terrestrials runs on the groans that you make from our bad puns. And I think that's where we'll leave it. Thank you so much to Weirdly Helpful. Don't forget to go out and check out the podcast Weirdly Helpful. They've got tons of episodes that will be weirdly helpful to your life. If you have a shenanigan, shenare it, share it here. Drop your shenanigan in the comments or shoot us an email about it at terrestrials [at] wnyc [dot] org.

LULU: And then, you know, we can pull them on each other and just spread the joy, spread the silliness. I'll leave you with one of my family shenanigans that we've been doing lately. So our little one, she's two. She's just learning words, but she started singing, saying, singing, saying, shenaning this thing where she goes, "Ooh la la, ooh la la, ooh la la." And it's a very magnetic, hypnotic sound. And it, for some reason, draws me in. It draws the boys in. It draws my wife in. And sometimes we'll just all come and we'll just sing it with her over and over again. Ooh la la, ooh la la. And it can be a real vibe changer. Like, if things are chaotic, you just all come together. If things are—I don't know. And you're just suddenly all laughing with this sound that just feels really fun to say. Ooh la la. So yeah, ooh la la is my gift to you. See you next week for a normal Terrestrials episode. Catch you in a couple spins of this dirty old planet of ours. Bye! Ooh la la. Ooh la la. Ooh la la. Ooh la la. Ooh la la.

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