Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) - moo deng and the plight of the viral zoo animal

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

She's, with apologies to the Hawk Tuah lobby, the queen of the internet in 2024 -- baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng.  Her fifteenth minute is far from over, but this week Jamie dives into the world of the viral zoo animal. She's far from the first, joining a legacy of viral animals whose life is flattened to a static image, without wondering why we're looking at them in the first place. We go into the ordeal that is becoming famous while captive, and Jamie speaks with zoologist Oliver, aka Dr. Wildlife, about the ethics of zoos and how we can better protect the animals that become a part of our digital language. Follow Dr. Wildlife here: https://linktr.ee/drwildlife  See Jamie in LA on November 1st & 20th: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-tiny-man-is-trying-to-kill-me-tickets-1039733048537See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. It's Black Business Month, and Black Tech Green Money is tapping in. I'm Will Lucas spotlighting black founders, investors, and innovators, building the future, one idea at a time. Let's talk legacy, tech, and generational wealth. I had the skill and I had the talent. I didn't have the opportunity. Yeah.

We all know, right? Genius is evenly distributed. Opportunity is not. To hear this and more on the power of Black Innovations. and ownership, listen to Black Tech Green Money from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tune in to All the Smoke Podcast, where Matt and Stacks sit down with former first lady, Michelle Obama. Folks find it hard to hate up close. And when you get to know people, you're sitting in their kitchen tables, and they're talking like we're talking. You know, you hear our story, how we grew up,

how I grew up. And you get a chance for people to unpack and get beyond race, All the Smoke featuring Michelle Obama. To hear this podcast and more, open your free iHeartRadio app. Search All the Smoke and listen now. In sitcoms, when someone has a problem, they just blurt it out and move on. Well, I lost my job and my parakeet is missing. How is your day?

But the real world is different. Managing life's challenges can be overwhelming. So, what do we do? We get support. The Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Ad Council have mental health resources available for you at loveyourmind today.org. That's loveyourmindtay.org. See how much further you can go

when you take care of your mental health. The U.S. Open is here and on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain. I'm breaking down the players, the predictions, the pressure, and of course, the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be

a very wonderfully experiential sporting event. To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain and I Heart Women's Sports Production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis,

founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports Network. Hey, I'm Kurt Brown-Oller. And I am Scotty Landis, and we host Bananas, the podcast where we share the weirdest, funniest, real news stories from all around the world. And sometimes from our guest's personal lives, too.

Like when Whitney Cummings recently revealed her origin story on the show. There's no way I don't already have rabies. This is probably just why my personality is like this. I've been surviving rabies for the past 20 years. New episodes of bananas drop every Tuesday in the exactly right network. Listen to bananas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Cool Zone Media.

Hi, everyone. It's Jamie here with two quick reminders at the top. First, if you are in the Los Angeles area in November, I'm going to be workshopping my new one-person show called The Tiny Man is trying to kill me, of course, and tickets are already running low. I'm going to be doing workshop shows on Friday, November 1st, and Wednesday, November 20th at the Lyric Hyperion, with more dates to come. But if you want to see the show early, tickets are running low. So get them. It's really goofy.

There's some body horror, and I'm really in my bag. So tickets in the description. And also, just a reminder that there is a 16th minute Reddit board that is moderated by our amazing editor and producer. Ian Johnson, if you want to chat about episodes after you listen. And now, Moodang. Moodang. Moodang. What did they do to you, Moodang? If you're listening to this episode at the time of release, you are either thrilled or completely sick of hearing about Mudang, a now three-month-old old baby pygmy hippo at the Kau Kyo open zoo. in Thailand, who went viral on TikTok for being a three-month-old baby pick-me hippo.

Moodeng is the rare internet phenomenon that no one dislikes. She lives to get water from the hose from her zookeeper. She bites said zookeeper's legs when there's not enough water from the hose. She's a sassy, slick little baby who will one day grow to be around 3,000 pounds, suckling from her mom as the hippo matriarch chowes down, 80 pounds of grass a day. She is beauty. She is rage. There's nothing controversial about Moudang. What could possibly be controversial about Moudang? At just two months old, this little baby hippo is already an internet giant.

The hottest, hottest new it girl on the planet. She's redefining beauty standards. She's She's got chubby pink cheeks, a distinct potato shape. We're talking about Moutang. So we have like a little Moodang meme group chat where we're like sharing and we like talked about getting Mujang tattoos as a joke, but now it feels serious. The Moodeng mania is still spreading and sparking a small business boom. The comedian shut down criticism surrounding a now viral appearance on Weekend Update in which he channeled the pop star while dressed as viral. Baby Hippo, Moodang. Has a baby hippo sparked the next trend in makeup?

Oh my God, we can't even look at a baby hippo without starting discourse. You guys chill out? Please. Look, Mudang's 15th minute is still very much underway. But the human ability to torpedo a good thing inside of six weeks remains completely undefeated. So today, in a special mini-ish episode, We're going to talk about Mudang, the phenomenon of the social media zoo star, and what we can do to make the world more safe for the tiny, slick queen of the internet.

Play the music. I'm not so bad when you turn up the lights, but no, well, can be perfect all of the time. To make me a star, let's take it too far, then give me one moment. Sixteen minute of fame Sixteen minute of fame Sixteen minute of face One more minute to me I'm not so bad when you say you're on my mind

I'm trying to say you're so far Welcome to 16th Minute, the podcast where we take a look at the Internet's characters of the day, see how their moment affected them, and what it says about us and the Internet at large. And this week, we're on a bit of a side quest, taking a look not just at current viral zoo sensation, Moodang the Hippo, but at the long-standing phenomenon of zoo celebrities. Zooleberties. I don't want to coin a term, because don't worry, it'll get extremely dark. And I will also be speaking with zoologist Oliver,

aka Dr. Wildlife, to expand on what zoolibrily means on today's social media. And to be clear, let me be clear. I'm not talking about viral pets here. Your grumpy cats, your doges, your noodle the pugs. Individual ownership versus zoo ownership is a completely different discussion

as far as I'm concerned. Which is just to say, by all means, send me some requests somewhat viral pets you'd want to see discussed on the show. No, this week, we're talking zoo sensations. Because while animals who go viral online have a lot in common, regardless of where they live, this conversation is very much its own thing.

So, you earned it. Let's start by talking about the current Queen Supreme of the internet, Miss Moudang the Hippo. Come with me, if you will, to last month. It feels dramatic to say we've already been through so much with Moudang discourse, but I'm kind of not joking when I say that. I really do feel like internet sensations tend to inspire an absurd amount of discourse

way more than they normally would in the year before and after an election cycle in the U.S. because of our rotting brains. So let's get into it. Pygmy Hippas aren't from Thailand natively. They're West African, a little smaller than your average hippo, and are very endangered, with an approximated less than 3,000 that still live in the wild in their native habitat, mainly due to environmental destruction because of illegal logging and mining. There is an approximate 350 pygmy hippos living in zoos across the world as of late 2014,

but as far as we know, that's about it. And Moudang immediately became the most... popular pygmy hippo in the world this past summer while living at a for-profit zoo in Thailand. And weirdly enough, saying you're the most famous pygmy hippo is actually saying something. A pigmy hippo in Berlin named Tony went viral earlier last summer, but Tony just didn't have the staying power. And that's showbiz, babe. I don't know what to tell you. Moodang was born on July 10th, 2024 to Mother Jonah, age 25, and father Tony, age 24, age gap, in Siracha-Cunbury, Thailand at the aforementioned Kaokyo Open Zoo.

And right away, she had a whole pack of full and half pygmy hippo siblings, Nadette, Mutun, Ko, Kanya, Falo, and Mu Wan. And from the moment she was born, the direction of Moudang's life was decided by the general public. To the extent that her name was voted on by regular zoo attendees. The options given by the zoo online were Moudang, which roughly translates to bouncy pork, Moudange, or D-A-E-N-G-E, red pork, or Mus-Sap, which means minced pork. The public chose correctly and overwhelmingly, and Moudang got her name by jury at over 20,000 votes.

And is the name nice? I mean, I wouldn't love a name that was just a physical descriptor of my infancy, but it does make sense. If I was named after what I looked like as a baby, they would be like, meet bald and afraid loftus. Mudang's course to fame is a little non-linear. There's no exact post that can take full credit for her rise to prominence, but the naming poll does seem to be a big part of it. Some of the early posts that got the baby hippo attention nationally in Thailand were engineered by her zookeeper, a man named Athapon Nundi,

who'd regularly posted the cute animals he worked with to social media for five years. Then a Bangkok-based ceramicist named Yami Saracino who saw one of Nundee's posts translated the Mudang naming poll, and the story begins to creep westward. And I think it's worth mentioning that Mudang was TikTok algorithm crack from moment one. An early successful posts can be traced to an account that exclusively posted Thai hippo content and had over 2 million followers because, of course, it did. But it didn't start there. Moudang became a sensation on a smaller scale, first on the zoo's Facebook,

where she stood out from the crowd as the most playful, chubbyest of the hippo siblings, going nuts for the hos and getting a lot of attention. The Kau Kiao Open Zoo was very online prior to Mudang and regularly posted to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. This is a very normal thing for zoos to do in the modern age to encourage and maintain. attendance. The earliest post I can find about Mudang is two weeks after her birth on the zoo's Instagram on July 25th, when the new hippo's birth was announced leading with a picture of Mudang herself. The post says, This baby pygmy hippopotamus is a favorite of tourists

who bring their children to admire its cuteness and take pictures as souvenirs. This baby pigmy hippopotamus is the seventh from this pair of parents at Kaukio Open Zoo. At the moment that baby pygmy hippopotamus does not have a name, they will announce its name soon. The post goes on to describe that Moudang has been a hit among attendees because of her high energy and penchant for biting her zookeeper, and that there would be a discount promotion to line up with the King of Thailand's 72nd birthday where she'd be on display. Admission to the zoo translates to about $10.50 in U.S. dollars. And the zoo has been opened since back in the 1970s.

And look, I'm not going to bother analyzing why Mudang became such an online sensation. Because it couldn't be more obvious. She's fucking adorable. She's extremely expressive. And she seems to either be sleeping or screaming at all times. She was like born to be memed. Because she's immediately popular and immediately causes controversy. The Kalkiao opens.

zoo director, a man named Narangwit Chadjoy, said that attendance doubled at the zoo in the weeks after her birth announcement and subsequent naming contest, and that dangerous behavior from guests had escalated along with it. Before long, the zoo had to install security cameras and limit visiting hours to combat visitor behavior towards Mudang, which was said to include throwing things and spraying Mudang with water to get her to wake up for pictures. And keep in mind, baby hippos are only generally awake and playing for about two hours a day. And of course, Mudang is exhibited far more than that. And all this happened before she became a global sensation on TikTok in early September 2024,

when Mudang memes started to take over all of social media on TikTok, on Twitter, on Instagram, and it kept escalating from there. Hyperalergic writer Issa Farfan broke down the rapid uptick of Mudang, from the If You Know You Know Animal Mem to a full-blown corporatized image, and this happens in the course of a couple weeks. The first week of September mainly consisted of Mudang memes. The zoo had already had an uptick in attendance and was promising an impending merch line, but as we just said, they weren't prepared for the amount of attention that the baby hippo

had generated, and it took a little while to get their ducks or whatever endangered species you want to replace ducks with in this metaphor in a row. But for my money, the Mudang memes kind of returned to this older style of meme format. One of those, if you can't handle me at my blank, you don't deserve me at my blank kind of stuff. One of the most popular was from a user on Twitter called At Something's underscore Arry. It says, the rewards of being loved, next to a picture of a peaceful baby Moudang who's smiling. Then, the mortifying ordeal of being known. Next to a picture of a blurry, screaming Moudang.

I know you know the picture I'm talking about. Then on September 9th, the Google search trend for Moudang starts climbing steadily as the mainstream media starts to catch on, and fan art from the first week of viral Mudang images keep increasing. Farfan notes that a lot of these fan images portray Moudang as a feminist icon, the image of her blurred and screaming body as the epitome of female rage. I can't lie, some of these are very funny to me. Like as her male zookeeper washes Moudang, a TikTok user captioned it, to be a woman is to perform. And the tweets, of course, came in hot and heavy.

There is light and curiosity in Moudang's eyes. If you need a timeline cleanse, I highly recommend liking a bunch of Moodang posts. The algorithm is providing, and now my feet is full of incredible baby hippo content. She didn't have to serve this hard, but she did it for us. Novelty Moodang cakes were made on TikTok. The moist Moodang makeup tutorial was posted by a beauty influencer, and like Clark. Rockwork, the brands came in. Most notably, Sephora Thailand was right on top of the Moudang trend, encouraging customers

to wear your blush like a baby hippo in September. Sports teams got in on it too. The Phoenix Suns, Washington commanders, and the New York Mets all photoshopped their own promotional Moudang memes, and a Thai delivery app put her image on their home screen. And before you know it, people got even weirder about it because you can't have a viral animal without a bunch of weirdos threatening to eat them. Twitter user Big Content Guy says,

I'd smoke moodang for 12 hours like a brisket. On September 18th, and you would think that's the weirdest one, but our producer Ian did find this even worse one. It says, I'd marinate Moudang and soy sauce with mad garlic and chili peppers, then coat the fat cap with coarse sea salt to dry out overnight. Then I'd smoke it over Applewood and reverse sear it to crisp up, and I'd serve with Hawaiian rolls and coleslaw.

Okay. Is this kind of an edge lord joke? Yes, it's something I would have said when I was 22, but there are enough examples as the weeks go on of Moodang being either threatened to be killed or eaten or being photoshopped doing something violent, that she became this example of something called the cute aggression phenomenon, which, quick sidebar, bear with me,

is a proven psychological thing in some humans, where they see something adorable, and their first instinct is to, you know, squish it, attack it, try to eat it. A literal embodiment of the iconic, despicable meme, moment. Look at that fluffy unicorn. Be so fuffy I'm going to die. It's so fluffy!

Shout out to the minions, especially Kevin. I'm really curious if you experience this. I bravely do not. But a study from 2018 estimated that about half of adults do, you fucking sickos. And it's not like people who experience cute aggression are actually at risk to like squish a puppy's head until it pops off. UC Riverside psychologist Catherine Stavropoulos describes the feeling as the human brain being overwhelmed by the positive emotion of seeing something adorable, which makes their lizard brain want to bite it? She says,

When people feel this way it's with no desire to cause harm, they think this is weird. I'm probably the only one who feels this way. I don't want to hurt it. I just want to eat it. Okay. But I do think this does explain some of the reaction to mood. For example, a zoo attendee told AP News in September, She's such a cute little lump I want to ball her up and swallow her whole. And I always wondered what this tendency was to, like, pretend to eat babies and small animals and have it be a socially acceptable, cute thing to do. And it's that, because the human mind, well, it's very small.

And while some people were fantasizing about squishing, pummeling, and eating Mudang's chubby little body until she exploded. The zoo she lived at realized if they wanted to maintain Moudang's success, they had to get ahead of some things. On September 19th, AP News reported that the Kaokyo Open Zoo was in the process of copywriting Moodang's likeness and the phrase Moodang the Hippo. That same director, Narangwit Chod Choy said, After we do this, we will have more income to support activities that will make the animal's lives better. The plan was to make shirts and sweatpants, only to be sold at the zoo, because by this point, visitorship had more than quadrupled. Around 4,000 visitors a day

were watching Mudang for five-minute intervals after the zoo changed the policy before being told to hit the road. And because Mudang had had things thrown at her, the zoo had to put up a sign to remind visitors to stop throwing things at Ludang in three different languages. We all know, right? Genius is evenly distributed. Opportunity is not. It's Black Business Month and Black Tech Green Money is tapping in. I'm Will Lucas spotlighting black founders, investors and innovators, building the future one idea at a time. Let's talk Legacy. and generational wealth. I don't think any person of any gender, race, ethnicity should alter who they are,

especially on an intellectual level or a talent level, to make someone else feel comfortable just because they are the majority in this situation and they need employment. So for me, I'm always going to be honest in saying that we need to be unapologetically ourselves. If that makes me a vocal CEO and people consider that rocking the boat, so be it. To hear this and more on the power of Black Innovation and Ownership, Listen to Black Tech Green Money from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Adventure should never come with a pause button. Remember the Movie Pass era, where you could watch all the movies you wanted for just $9?

It made zero cents, and I could not stop thinking about it. I'm Bridget Todd, host of the tech podcast, there are no girls on the internet. On this new season, I'm talking to the innovators who are left out of the tech headlines, like the visionary behind a movie pass, Black founder Stacey Spikes. who was pushed out of Movie Pass, the company that he founded. His story is wild, and it's currently the subject of a juicy new HBO documentary. We dive into how culture connects us. When you go to France, or you go to England, or you go to Hong Kong, those kids are wearing Jordans, they're wearing Kobe's shirt,

they're watching Black Panther. And the challenges of being a Black founder. Close your eyes and tell me what a tech founder looks like. They're not going to describe someone who looks like. like me and they're not going to describe someone who looks like you. I created There Are No Girls on the Internet because the future belongs to all of us. So listen to There Are No Girls on the Internet on the IHurt Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Don't let biased algorithms or degree screens or exclusive professional networks or stereotypes. Don't let anything keep you from discovering the half of the workforce who are stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's. degree. It's time to tear the paper ceiling and see the stars beyond it. Find out how you can make stars part of your talent strategy at tear the paperceiling.org. Brought to you by opportunity at work and the ad council. The U.S. Open is here and on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain. I'm breaking down the players from rising stars to legends chasing history. The predictions will we see a first time winner and the pressure? Billy Jean King says pressure is a privilege, you know.

Plus the stories and events off the court and of course the honey deuses, the same. The signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very fancy, wonderfully experiential sporting event. I mean, listen, the whole aim is to be accessible and inclusive for all tennis fans, whether you play tennis or not. Tennis is full of compelling stories of late. Have you heard about Icon Venus Williams' recent wild card bids or the young Canadian Victoria Mboko making a name for herself?

How about Naomi Osaka getting back to form? To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain, an Iheart women's sports production in partnership with deep blue sports and entertainment on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Welcome to Pretty Private with Ebeney, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free. I'm Ebeney, and every Tuesday I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you.

On Pretty Private, we'll explore the untold experiences of women of color who faced it all. Childhood trauma, addiction, abuse, incarceration, grief, mental health struggles, and more, and found the shrimp to make it to the other side. My dad was shot and killed in his house. Yes, he was a drug dealer. Yes, he was a confidential informant, but he wasn't shot on a street corner. He wasn't shot in the middle of a drug deal. he was shot in his house unarmed.

Pretty Private isn't just a podcast. It's your personal guide for turning storylines into lifelines. Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect Podcast Network. Tune in on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Welcome back to 16th Minute, the podcast where we don't want to eat a baby hippo. Oh my God.

We're talking about Moudang. And two important things happen to our sweet girl at the end of September. Well, actually, probably three. I'm assuming she was also hosed down. First, a 24-hour live stream of Moodang is launched and hasn't stopped since. I have it on right now. And the live stream is a classic viral zoo tactic that first became popular in the 2000s.

And most famously, the two-month-old baby hippo hit the American mainstream hard when Bowen-Yang appeared as Mudang on SNL just a couple of weeks ago. I'm 10 weeks old, Colin. Of course I know Chapel Rhone. And by the way, leave her alone.

Let her take as much time as she needs for her mental health. we both deserve patience and grace, so stop harassing her and stop throwing shellfish at her. Do not yell my name or expect a photo just because I'm your parasycial bestie or because you appreciate my talent. I know you can't see it,

but no matter what you think about this sketch, the costume is fucking incredible. And it's here where the internet becomes extremely unwell about the whole Moudang situation. So in case you're a straight guy, This sketch is a reference to a recent round of discourse surrounding Popstar Chapel Rhone, who fucking rocks, I can't believe we finally have an openly lesbian pop star with great politics, and the public has responded by trying to kill her.

But that, however clunkily, is the comparison that this sketch is obviously making. Chapel and Mudang both got famous out of nowhere over the summer to the point where lifestyle adjustments had to be made to protect both. both of them. Not for nothing, she is also the most high-profile pop star to be actively advocating for trans rights and Palestine, but I digress. The comparison being made here is clear, and Bowen Yang screaming for a hose every three seconds is delightful. I'm your favorite hippo's favorite hippo. And I'm thirsty, thirsty, hos! But my God, if we needed proof that Moudang had fully invaded the zes,

zeitgeist, and only kind of funny but still weirdly controversial SNL sketch is an excellent yardstick. But the biggest controversy, one that's been raging on for over a hundred years, is should we even be able to ogle Moudang in the confines of a zoo at all? Should the zoo go the way of P.T. Barnum Circus. Oh, this is the greatest show. And disappear. Okay, I'm sorry for punishing you with two greatest showmen.

bits, two episodes in a row, I just cannot get over how bad it is. Let's keep going. I'll be honest, I am not a fan of zoos, and I understand that I'm still probably in the minority there. And even this is a pretty new thing for me, something I learned around five years ago after, you guessed it, going to the National Zoo in D.C. and doing some research. But I want to introduce you to the basics as to why I feel that way, because that does tie into the controversy, that surrounds Mudang, the fact that she's not only an animal celebrity, but a zoo animal celebrity. There are cases to be made for zoos, provided that they're carefully regulated and that the appropriate professionals are hired and retained to make sure decisions are always made

in the interest of the animals, not the interest of profit. Because when profit is prioritized, people and animals get hurt. Look no further than public attractions. like SeaWorld, for what a severe animal and human cost, neglecting the interest of animals can result in. I'm of course referring to Tillicum the Orca, the captive animal who was involved in the death of three trainers, famously covered in the 2013 documentary Blackfish. And Orcas are not naturally aggressive towards humans. This was largely thought to be a result of the unnatural circumstances and being forced to perform, as well as gross animal negligence on SeaWorld's part. More recently, there was the Tiger King saga, in which a now-in-prisoned Joe Exotic was found to be

guilty of both animal abuse and exhibiting endangered species without a license or oversight. And these are just mainstream examples. They're the tip of the iceberg, but both have led to increased public demand for better regulation, and a little bit of skepticism around exhibiting animals in general. If run well, zoos can help conserve endangered species while maintaining proper habitats for them and can educate the human public on the importance of conservation. But, but, the case against zoos in their current form, to me, is far more compelling.

And Moudang's treatment by the public is a clear example of it. The quote that sticks with me most strongly comes from Dale Jameson and his book, Ethics on the Ark. He says, Zoos alleviate our sense of guilt for what we are doing to the planet, but they do little to help the animals we are driving to extinction. And that's kind of what the Moodang phenomenon is, right? A topic of conversation that doesn't feel shitty to talk about

during a period of enormous human unrest. So, in short, let's talk about why animal rights activists, a famously intense crowd, I will admit, are ethically opposed to the zoo. Most advocates believe that zoos, particularly for-profit zoos, are not a viable or ethical way to meaningfully conserve an endangered species. Activists feel that zoos are for-profit breeding projects, with criticisms ranging from limited space to unnatural. environment for a certain species, to outright mistreatment, whether that's physical abuse from trainers or harmful familial separation to maximize profits for the zoos themselves. And there's plenty of history, even as animal protection laws develop, of zoos being poorly regulated, which given their history in connection to things like circuses or private, unethical animal

collections like Joe Exotics, makes a lot of sense. Depending on the animal, most advocate to leave the animals in the wild, or if their environment has been compromised by humans, in a sanctuary where specialists can provide the animals with good care where they'll never, you know, have stuff thrown at them to make them wake up for a TikTok. Here's what PETA Asia had to say about the Mudang phenomenon on September 20th. There is nothing cute about a baby being born in captivity. The hippos belong in the wild, but Moodang will never live outside a cage.

She faces a lifetime of confinement, deprived of her freedom, and the opportunity to experience her natural habitat and the social structures of her species. Animals do not exist for our entertainment. Breeding them for public display perpetuates their suffering. Pida calls for an end to this cruel cycle and on zoos to prioritize conservation. efforts that protect animals in nature where they truly belong. But as Mudang Zoo has alluded to every time the subject of merch is broached, it's okay because the money from that merch and all of this increased attendance

to see Mudang at the zoo will be put towards animal conservation. And I can't prove that's not true. By all accounts, the Kalkio Open Zoo does its level best to conserve the two 2,000 animals they have on display. I think PETA's concerns here are well placed, but there has been some dispute as to whether this point of view is globally applicable, or if this is putting a more Western view on a zoo with different practices. And PETA is no stranger to scandals themselves, including inordinately high euthanasia rates

of pets who enter their shelters. And once more, PETA's narrative has been refuted by a different animal rights group. the Thai Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This comes from Thai news outlet Nairona, apologies for pronunciation, or the frontline. The past care of Moudang has been good, to a certain extent, according to the international standard system that is accepted worldwide. However, if we want to take better care of it, we should take care of the temporary environment, such as the group of monkeys that came to steal its food and other things. things. I would like to encourage the workers who take care of this little star ambassador who has created a phenomenon on behalf of people all over the world to turn back to take care

of animals for conservation. And even so, this argument isn't really selling me on the idea of zoos being viable. This representative is saying that the treatment of Mudang is technically up to international standards, but that doesn't eliminate the idea that allowing animals to be on display for-profit might not be ethical. It's a really complicated issue, but for the moment, there's no doubt that Mudang will remain at the zoo until further notice, and that at the very least, the zoo has been responsive to changing things in order to ensure her comfort, all while keeping her and her family on display. And finally, it wouldn't be a mid-2020s press circuit without an irrational New York post attempt to cancel a baby hippo. Come on. Could Mudang be canceled?

Leaked video shows famed baby hippo biting zoo worker. Kind of mean. A late September video shot inside months old Moudang's enclosure within Thailand's Chombory Zoo showed the feisty female coming at her caretaker while he was attempting to hose her down. Commenting on the widely circulated video, one person accused the animal of being, quote, kind of mean, according to the Daily Mail. Can we be serious? We can't be serious. And weirdly, this story might all sound a little familiar

because it repeats the same pattern we saw with a different celebrity hippo. God, celebrity hippo, Jamie said on her podcast and was dead serious. There was a second celebrity hippo. In 2017, the Cincinnati Zoo found their star in. Fiona the Hippo, from premature baby to bona fide brand, featured on merchandise, given her own ice cream flavor. Chunky, chunky hippo. Even a campaign to make her Time magazine. person of the year. In the world, including me, watched as Fiona the hippo recovered.

The zoo posted videos of her in neonatal intensive care, being bottle-fed, and even her first steps were documented and posted to a massive public response. And Fiona's arc was very similar to Mudang's. After she was finally safe and healthy, attendance at the zoo swelled to record highs in 2017. There was merch, there was a bespoke ice cream flavor, and this was all said to be created in order to sustain the animal conservation efforts on site. When Fiona became a star, the zoo's Facebook following more than doubled. And if this is any indication of things to come, Fiona's popularity has held strong after she was no longer a toddling little hippo. So it's very likely that Mudang will be here to stay too. So I know how I feel about zoos, and I know that how I feel

isn't going to shut it down. It's wonderful that there are meaningful conservation efforts being done with the money that zoo business generates, but I don't know that that's a fair way to justify the whole operation without examining whether it's actually, you know, healthy for the animals to be visually exploited for humans in order to preserve a species that is dying, because of humans. This is a story we see again and again, going back to the pre-internet days. I'm no expert, so I turn to one.

And when we come back, we talk about the ethics of the Moodeng phenomenon with zoologist Oliver, aka Dr. Wildlife. We all know, right? Genius is evenly distributed. opportunity is not. It's Black Business Month and Black Tech Green Money is tapping in.

I'm Will Lucas spotlighting Black founders, investors and innovators, building the future, one idea at a time. Let's talk legacy, tech, and generational wealth. I don't think any person of any gender, race, ethnicity should alter who they are, especially on an intellectual level or a talent level to make someone else feel comfortable

just because they are the majority in this situation and they need employment. So for me, I'm always going to, to be honest in saying that we need to be unapologetically ourselves if that makes me a vocal CEO and people consider that rocking the boat so be it to hear this and more on the power of black innovation and ownership listen to black tech green money from the black effect podcast network on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts in sitcoms when someone has a problem they just blurt it out and move on well i lost my job and my parakeet is missing how is your day

But the real world is different. Managing life's challenges can be overwhelming. So what do we do? We get support. The Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Ad Council have mental health resources available for you at loveyourmindday.org. That's loveyourmindtay.org. See how much further you can go when you take care of your mental health.

Adventure should never come with a pause button. Remember the movie pass era? Where you could watch all the movies you wanted for just $9? It made zero cents and I could not stop. thinking about it. I'm Bridget Todd, host of the tech podcast, there are no girls on the internet. On this new season, I'm talking to the innovators who are left out of the tech headlines, like the visionary behind a movie pass, Black founder Stacey Spikes, who was pushed out of movie pass the company that he founded. His story is wild and it's currently the subject

of a juicy new HBO documentary. We dive into how culture connects us. When you go to France, or you go to England, or you go to Hong Kong, those kids are wearing Jordans, they're wearing Kobe's shirt, they're watching Black Panther. And the challenges of being a Black founder. Close your eyes and tell me what a tech founder looks like. They're not going to describe someone who looks like me and they're not going to describe someone who looks like you. I created There Are No Girls on the Internet because the future belongs to all of us.

So listen to There Are No Girls on the Internet on the IHurt Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The U.S. Open is here. And on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain, I'm breaking down the players from Ryan. stars to legends chasing history, the predictions will we see a first-time winner, and the pressure. Billy Jean King says pressure is a privilege, you know. Plus, the stories and events off the court and, of course, the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very fancy, wonderfully experiential sporting event.

I mean, listen, the whole aim is to be accessible and inclusive for all tennis fans, whether you play tennis or not. Tennis is full of compelling stories of late. Have you heard about Icon Venus Williams' recent wildcard bids? Or the young Canadian, Victoria Mboko, making a name for herself? How about Naomi Osaka getting back to form? To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain, an IHeart Women's Sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Welcome to Pretty Private with Ebeney, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free. I'm Ebeney, and every Tuesday I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you. On Pretty Private, we'll explore the untold experiences of women of color who faced it all, childhood trauma, addiction, abuse, incarceration, grief, mental health, struggles and more, and found the shrimp to make it to the other side. My dad was shot and killed in his house. Yes, he was a drug dealer. Yes, he was a confidential informant, but he wasn't shot on a street corner. He wasn't shot in the middle of a drug deal.

He was shot in his house unarmed. Pretty Private isn't just a podcast. It's your personal guide for turning storylines into lifelines. Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect podcast network. Tune in on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Welcome back to 16th Minute. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm currently embroiled in some serious Snoopy drama. Ah! No dog is a lot.

There are indeed two warring factions of Snoopy fans online. In one corner, an ardent leftist. Shout out to Daily Snoopies. In the other corner, an account which randomly endorsed Donald Trump with an AI-generated image of Snoopy shaking Charlie Brown Donald Trump's hand. Fuck you, Snoopy Weekly.

If the story sticks around, maybe I'll cover it. But for the moment, I'm actually really busy this week, fighting in the trenches on behalf of daily Snoopies. Fuck Snoopy Weekly. And this week, we are getting to the bottom of one of this election year's most successful viral stars. The Calquio opened zoos pygmy hippo baby diva, Mudang. To understand Mudang's moment, I wanted to speak with someone who has studied zoology and was open to the argument against zoos. and most importantly, someone who understands the major appeal of viral zoo animals. So here's my chat with Oliver, aka Dr. Wildlife, a zoologist working in Toronto.

Enjoy. My name is Oliver, though most people online or otherwise know me as Dr. Wildlife. I'm a zoologist with 16 years of experience working in zoos and aquariums, starting as a zookeeper, and eventually moving into management roles. I've had the privilege of working with so many different animals. And it's funny because people ask me that and they're like, well, what have you worked with? And I think it's better to say, like, what haven't I worked with? But I've worked with things from really tiny pygmy marmosets, African elephants, Nile crocodiles, so many different birds and pretty much everything in between. My research and largely what my degrees were focused on, though, was with tigers, specifically their behavior and conservation.

But out of all of that, I would say my biggest passion is science communication. So how did you first become interested in zoology? How did you first sort of decide that this was going to be your path? So funny enough, I actually was working towards being a veterinarian because I feel like every kid when you're young and you're interested in animals, the whole world is like, be a vet, be a vet, be a vet. Because a lot of people don't understand there's a lot of other animal careers out there. There's all sorts of things that require different kinds of things.

of degrees or no degrees at all, but it's very interested in being a vet. I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere in Arkansas, of all places. I was around animals a lot, whether wild or the animals on our farm. So I had a keen interest, and I decided that I wanted to be a zoo veterinarian, so someone that specialized in zoo aquarium work. And to get in the vet school of any kind, it's way harder than just med school, surprisingly, to get into, especially if you're wanting to be a zoova. Everybody wants to work with the lions and tigers. And so I was like, I'm going to do a lot of internships to make myself stand out. And it wasn't until I started interning with tigers that I feel like the whole trajectory of my life changed. One of the things that I was researching and hadn't

really looked into in some time before starting research for this episode that I've seen come up around Moudang is the argument around the ethical nature of zoos. It seems like you've worked at a wide variety of places with animals at sanctuaries, at zoos, and elsewhere. From your perspective, because I'm coming in pretty cold, what are your feelings around that issue? You won't meet a single person that works in the zoo aquarium or sanctuary world that doesn't dream of a reality where the animals under their care are out. in the wild and lush thriving environments being safe secure not poached and all these issues uh every single person is of that mindset and i think that's like a very big common ground that a lot of people don't think about when you think about the world of zoos and aquariums is having sides um i

don't necessarily see it as sides i think it's all one crazy mixture because the zoon aquarium world is surprisingly complicated there's a lot of different aspects to it. When it comes to people who don't find them ethical, there is a difference between people that believe that because of their own personal morals, just personal compass of not wanting to see animals contained. And then there's kind of a combo of people who see them as unethical because they don't think there's welfare standards or any of that. And that's largely what I focus on on helping people understand that the modern zoo and aquarium is very different than the zoos and aquariums of the past. That being said, not every zoo or aquarium is up to the same standards.

But overall, there's crediting boards these days that take accreditation very seriously. They have inspections, random inspections. There's a lot of regulatory boards. There's so many zoos and aquariums to this day and age that provide such amazing care that, I mean, I visit some places. and when I see their habitats, I can easily be reduced to tears because I'm like, okay, this is how you do a zoo habitat right. This is how you do an aquarium habitat right. Overall, I do agree that there are unethical places out there, but by and large, I don't think the field itself is, especially with modern technology and standards that come into play. We're always learning,

I guess, is the best way to put it. I notice that the zoo that Mudang is at, is a for-profit zoo. The zoo in Cincinnati that Fiona is at is a nonprofit zoo. Are there different regulations for a for-profit versus a nonprofit? I just, I didn't understand if that is a deciding factor of the kind of care and animal might receive. Yeah, so funny enough, it ultimately isn't that big of a difference just because of those factors. I used to think so. Like, I used to be firmly against anything for profit in the animal world, especially in zoos and aquariums because I'm like, okay, these places are meant to be educational institutions or doing conservation work.

So what's a for-profit venture doing in this reality? But ultimately, something that affects standards and such more is mainly what area of the world they're in. But also, I mean, you know, I say that there's a lot of nonprofit zoos, aquariums, sanctuaries in the United States that aren't accredited don't meet standards at all, but they're non-profit. So I guess, yeah, and I guess the best way to answer your question is actually a terrible way to answer it with it being just, it really depends because there's, the whole world is just incredibly complex in that world being Susan Aquariums. I have actually worked

at a for-profit facility before that is accredited that provides great standards. It, feels like it's kind of when you walk in there, it's like a living rainforest rather than what most people picture a zoo being, which is small cages or things like that. I mean, really no places like that anymore. But, you know, and it's for profit. And I've always joked that it kind of felt like I was working at Jurassic Park because of the for-profit nature and such, it felt like there was a lot more spending available for buying things to the point that every plant and every habitat was an authentic plant species from the animal's habitat, you know, bought from greenhouses, of course, but they were all living. There was no fake plants. And that was because we had the funding to be

able to do it. Of course, for profit doesn't always mean that level. It could mean bad things too. So you really have to kind of look at every little aspect, I guess. Hypothetical situation, that is completely true. Let's say I, so I have these complicated feelings around zoos. However, I don't really feel comfortable paling my cousins with my nieces and nephews to be like, don't bring your kids to a zoo. Don't teach your children about animals. I understand that that's kind of a non-starter. So if you are a family with kids and you want them to learn about animals in a hands-on way, what is the best way for the average person to make sure that where they're going and what they're choosing is an ethical option?

Ooh, that is a fantastic question. I think the first step would be, to use the association of zoos and aquariums website to check if a place that you're intending on visiting is accredited or not. I think it says, like, find zoos and aquariums. There's something very obvious. But in any case, you can look up every accredited animal facility. That being said, AZA is not necessarily, you know, not all good facilities are AZA accredited. And not every facility that's AZA accredited may meet what I would personally say is like my personal standard of a place that I would personally go to, but it's a good starting point. You can look at it and you can be like, okay, well, I at least know that they're meeting

standards on top of what government regulations are, which are minimal. And then AZA take step up. It's things like, you know, they have to meet certain vet standards. They have to have certain types of vet care nutrition, enrichment for animals, all the extra stuff and the government regulations don't really look into. Good starting point. Another place to kind of look into is seeing how they interact with their animals. all the time if a place is allowing interaction between the public and big cats, that's a big no-no.

It sounds silly to say, okay, on one hand, you have these prestigious zoos, and on the other hand, you have Higer King-type places. The scary part is all the places in between where sometimes you can't really tell. So it's looking for if it's AZA and then kind of looking into how do the keepers interact with the animals there and how does the public interact? That's not to say that any place that has public interaction is automatically bad. It's more about what frequency they do it, what species that's involved with, what you're allowed to do. It does require a bit of research, but if someone wants to do the nice and easy route, we all have busy lives, right?

So AZA, go on there. You can use the find one near you search and easily find something that meets higher standards. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and talk about the role of social media and animal. education. So because you've been in this space for 16 years now, how have zoologists changed in the way that they use the internet to educate in the time you've been in this field? Oh, they've changed tremendously. And I've also seen a zoologist, also zoos in aquariums, starting to be more informal about how they educate. I think one of the most amazing examples of that is Monterey Bay Aquarium's social media presence, doing tweets like my favorite one that they did was they tweeted

just the ocean. That's all they said, like the ocean. And it got like, I say millions of likes. It's probably, it's not that high, but thousands of likes and retweets. And sometimes they would just tweet something with like short, silly things. And, you know, old-fashioned educators

or zoologists may look at that and be like, well, what is this doing? Well, okay, you tell me how you get somebody excited about a sea urchin, right? Like, how are you going to get someone to care about those animals? So I think scientists, zoologist, you know,

whatever title they hold. You started using the internet in very interesting ways. Of course, Twitch is a whole other side of that, right? Not being afraid to get on there and be silly, play games that are educational, or maybe even just a fraction educational, but talking about animals while doing it. I keep saying it's the year of science on Twitter and Twitch. God, I hope so. That would be very excited.

I would love to see science get traction over a lot of other things. Begging into the sky right now at that. I hope so. sort of talking about these social media juggernaut animals that, I mean, I think that there's so many examples of this, obviously predating social media that are more reliant on marketing narratives. But on social media, the zoo does not quite have control over the narrative as they once did. How did you find out of a mudang and where does your head go when you see an animal suddenly become famous.

You know, it's so funny. I just feel like that little hippo just appeared so suddenly that I can't exactly remember where was the first place. I saw them. The first moment that I can directly really remember

as something really funny was one of my friends sharing a video that I don't know who the original creator of it was and I can't remember what all was in the video but it was moo as a kaiju

like big like Godzilla destroying a citizen. and one of my friends sent it to me. And they're like, is this a real behavior that hippos have as a joke? And I was like, yeah, trust me, I'm a zoo other. Just that's exactly what happens. And then from that moment onward, I just feel like the hippo is taking over everybody's brain. And you see all these edits on TikTok and such.

Yeah. And my first thought, of course, is, well, I'm very easily entertained. I'm a very simple person. And I love anything with that baby hippo right now, just like all of us, I guess. I try not to be cynical when I see a viral animal at first. But in the day and age of where there's all these social media accounts that just pump out content regardless of what the background is and such, if something doesn't have context behind it, I'm always a little skeptical at first. Usually when I see just an animal video going viral, my first concern is like, okay, well, where is this from? What's the story behind it?

I do a little bit of research. Not everybody does that. That's why I'm a big proponent of if you're posting animal content, at least give some sort of background info. Right now, I don't think there needs to be background info because everybody knows. this hippo. Everybody knows who this hippo is at this point. What can and should zoos and zookeepers do to protect their animals from this kind of sudden surge of attention? Because it seemed like it took it took the zoo a second to be like, well, hold on. And they made all these adjustments. Like they made adjustments to make it safer for Mudang. But in the age of social media where this is apparently a risk,

what should professionals do to sort of be prepared for that? And what would you recommend. You asking this question kind of like just in this moment gave you this idea. It's like you almost need someone. I feel like there should be a workshop for zoos or some sort of training that it's like a preemptive. It's kind of like what to do when your animal goes viral kind of course because, you know, say you start posting like Bob the Elephant. I'm just trying to come up with something that doesn't maybe doesn't exist. But Bob the Elephant goes viral. You could post something and a million times of that elephant and it doesn't go anywhere. It gets like two likes and then you just happen to tweet the right video and caption combo.

And it has to be, you know, it's filmed in just the correct way or cut in the correct way. And you wake up and you have thousands of likes. And then from there it just grows and grows. And this is something, you know, I know it didn't take exactly just one day for her to become like this. But in reality, it is kind of like the blink of an eye. you don't really have time to prepare. So I feel like the best way for zookeepers or anybody in animal care that's listening to this and curious, or just people curious in general, I think the best way is to just

learn from all these situations and really immerse yourself or at least have someone on your team or at the zoo that immerses themselves in social media. And I'm not talking about just someone that's familiar with how to do social media or marketing. I'm talking about be immersed in internet culture. Unfortunately, I make a little bit of it. little sad sound as I say that. This unfortunately means being familiar with memes and understanding how things go viral. And I think from that you can kind of prepare yourself as best as you can.

It's unfortunate that there really is no tried and true way to protect against things because it's like, it would have expected that people would go somewhere and throw things to try and get the animals' attention. People that do those things too, it's not always malicious. It's people that just don't think about their actions and the impact it has on animals. they just want to be entertained. And that's... Right. There's like that level of entitlement,

which I feel like goes back to the argument about like, well, should zoos exist if there's always going to be bad actors? You know, I've been at zoos that have the most amazing signage in the whole world and, you know, do everything they can for it. And we'll reprimend people for their bad behavior when they catch them. But there's these people that just don't care. And I always say that a lot of that bad behavior continues because no one has ever told them no in their entire lives, you know, from the moment they were born. My last question is, what can zoos and zookeepers kind of take away from the Mudang saga, from the huge public response to this little baby hippo? I think the biggest thing is realizing that baby hippo fans are about to be like,

get their pitchforks up in an instant, but please, please hold them for a moment as I say this. I think zookeepers and zoos aquariums need to realize this baby hippo is going to sound terrible. she is not unique and I say that and people are like and she's unique in the sense that she has her own personality you know she is unique in that way but what I guess I'm saying is she doesn't have this magical spell on her or this special quality that just makes her like the only baby hippo in the entire world that can be famous and we know of course from Fiona that's not it's already not true but I guess what I'm saying as this sounds mean but what I mean is you're animals, and you know, if you're a zookeeper listening to this, your animals are just as important.

They're just as awesome. And all it takes is kind of the right way of communicating about them, the right way of talking to guests about them to make them get this same level of attention. And I think it's really important for animals to get this level of attention. So many animals that aren't fortunate enough to be as charismatic as, say, a tiger or a giant pandas, that doesn't mean that they're less worthy of being conserved or cared for or having attention on them. And it doesn't mean that your friendly little tarantula that you work with at an aquarium will never get the level of virality as this hippo has. All it means is you may need to change how you're talking about them to get this attention. I'm not saying everybody should strive to be just as viral as we've already talked about.

It can be a negative thing. But overall, it brings a lot of awareness. And I just wanted to mention that, you know, one of my favorite projects that I've had the opportunity of reading and viewing and even meeting the creator of was PhotoArk by Joel Sotori. And I made me mispronouncing his name ever so slightly. If so, apologies. But Joel created PhotoArk as a way to inspire people to help save at-risk species before it's too late. And what photo arc is, is just what it sounds like. He is working towards photographing every animal under human care anywhere in the world.

he does sew through these amazing what you would call like intimate portraits where it's it I jokingly told somebody the other day it's like the animal got taken to JCPenny and got put in front of that's dating myself I guess but some of those photos that he takes are the last chance these animals have to get attention before they unfortunately go extinct and you know this is an extreme example but there was a frog species very cute one though some people may argue not cute called a rabs fringe limb tree frog and these guys went extinct in panama due to a fungus that was spread by by human activity that's decimated amphibian populations and this rabbs fringling tree frog actually went completely extinct in panama and there was only one individual left and Joel took a lot

of amazing photos of this animal and a few years later that animal passed away and now the animals that species is gone it's just gone and this is an extreme example but Pygmy Hippo, who really thought about them before, right? Who thought about this species? And if it wasn't for her, who would have known they even existed? Same thing with so many countless other species. And a lot of people, you know, this goes to general public, but also the zookeepers listening. The world's a very scary place right now for a lot of reasons, the environment.

I mean, we have a giant hurricane coming and temperatures and all these climate crisis, environmental issues, and coaching and such. it's hard not to get negative. It's hard not to be pessimistic and be like, well, this is it. We tried. There's nothing we can do. But there's a lot of good left in the world. There's a lot of good people willing to do good things.

They just need to be armed with that information. They need to be aware and they need to be able to relate to these animals. And as silly as I'm picturing this hippo as like a Godzilla-type kaiju destroying a city, as silly as those things are, as unrelated to science as they are, who would have thought that it could have gotten this many people to care about pygmy hippo species. So I guess to summarize that, every animal has a chance to be just as special. I encourage people to take a look at how they can talk about their animals

in entertaining ways, go out of the box, be a little weird with it. Oh, Oliver, thank you so much for joining us and for just speaking so thoughtfully. It's so nice to spend a little time with you and really feel your passion for what you do. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me and being interested. and chatting. Thank you so much to Oliver for their time, and you can follow their work more over at the link in the description. So where does Mudeng go from here? If she's anything like Fiona the hippo, she'll be a source of income for her zoo of residence for a long time to come.

And it's very possible that that money will be used to preserve her species. But as we said before, in the last few weeks, the Kalkyo Open Zoo has made an effort to formally trademark Moudang's image, not to protect her from being commercialized, but to make certain that only they could commercialize her. Can we do better? I hope so, but in the meantime, give my girl the hose any time she fucking wants it. Moodang, the baby hippo, may your 15 minutes never end, baby. And for your moment of fun, here's a cursed Moodang. Deng parody song from the Edge, New Zealand. Long may she rain.

You're my little Moodang, a pygmy hippo in the zoo thing. Yeah, we know, because now you're so famous, though most your decisions seem aimless. Yeah, we see the memes on memes on memes. Fans lining up just to hear them scream. It's all memes on memes on memes. It's too much fame for us, the free little bean. 16th Minute is a production of Cool Zone Media and IHeart Radio. It is written, hosted, and produced by me, Jamie Loftus.

Our executive producers are Sophie Lichten and Robert Evans. The Amazing Ian Johnson is our supervising producer and our editor. Our theme song is by Sad 13. Voice acting is from Grant Crater. And pet shoutouts to our dog producer Anderson, my cats flea and Casper, and my pet rock bird who will outlive us all. Bye. It's Black Business Month and Black Tech Green Money is tapping in.

I'm Will Lucas spotlighting black founders, investors, and innovators, building the future, one idea at a time. Let's talk legacy, tech, and generational wealth. I had the skill and I had the talent. I didn't have the opportunity. Yeah. We all know, right? Genius is evenly distributed.

Opportunity is not. To hear this and more on the power of Black Innovation and Ownership, Listen to Black Tech Green Money from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tune in to All the Smoke Podcast, where Matt and Stacks sit down with former First Lady, Michelle Obama. Folks find it hard to hate up close. And when you get to know people and you're sitting in their kitchen tables and they're talking like we're talking. You know, you hear our story, how we grew up, how Barack grew up. And you get a chance for people to unpack and get beyond race.

All the Smoke featuring Michelle Obama. To hear this podcast and more, open your free IHeart Radio app. Search all the smoke and listen now. If a baby is giggling in the back seat, they're probably happy. If a baby is crying in the back seat, they're probably hungry.

But if a baby is sleeping in the back seat, will you remember they're even there? When you're distracted, stressed, or not usually the one who drives them, the chances of forgetting them in the back seat are much higher. It can happen to anyone. Parked cars get hot fast and can be deadly.

So get in the habit of checking the back seat when you leave. The message from NHTSA and the ad council. The U.S. Open is here and on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain. I'm breaking down the players, the predictions, the pressure, and of course the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very wonderfully experiential sporting event. To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain, and I Heart Women's Sports Production

in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports Network. Hey, I'm Kurt Brown-Oler. And I am Scotty Landis, and we host Bananas,

the podcast where we share the weirdest, funniest, real news stories from all around the world. And sometimes from our guest's personal lives, too. Like when Whitney Cummings recently revealed her origin story on the show. There's no way I don't already have rabies. This is probably just why my personality is like this.

I've been surviving rabies for the past 20 years. New episodes of bananas drop every Tuesday in the exactly right network. Listen to bananas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.