What a Weird Week gets you caught up on the odd, interesting,
strange, fun, and weird news that happened this week. Ten stories in 15
minutes!
See https://www.shownotes.page or "What a Weird Week" where you get podcasts.
See https://www.shownotes.page or "What a Weird Week" where you get podcasts.
Stream the episode...
Hi friends, I'm Scott and this is What a Weird Week, a look at the
odd, interesting, strange, fun and weird stories that made news this
week. See bottom of shownotes page for a transcript of the podcast
episode. To Subscribe/ get in touch/ other/ see www.shownotes.page.
Thanks for rating and reviewing and also subscribing!
These are the shownotes for Season 6, Ep 28 first published Fri July 11, 2025
Thanks for rating and reviewing and also subscribing!
These are the shownotes for Season 6, Ep 28 first published Fri July 11, 2025
Three Easy Brain Boosters for the mindgrapes of your brain vineyard
https://nypost.com/2025/07/04/health/3-weird-tips-for-brain-health-one-you-can-do-in-the-shower/
https://nypost.com/2025/07/04/health/3-weird-tips-for-brain-health-one-you-can-do-in-the-shower/
.jpg)
Even going to a VR forest promotes mental health
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250705084325.htm
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250705084325.htm
Cinnamon Toast and Bacon Crunch Cereal
https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/28590-general-mills-debuts-bacon-flavored-cereal
https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/28590-general-mills-debuts-bacon-flavored-cereal
ICYMI, they solved Hair Loss by mistake
https://www.sciencealert.com/surprise-hair-loss-breakthrough-dna-sugar-gel-triggers-robust-regrowth
Whenever you drive, You Hear a Symphony
https://apnews.com/article/uae-fujairah-road-beethoven-ninth-symphony-b1991f9afacb7445f9277fe8ac659ff0
World's Most Expensive Cheese breaks record. Also, it's cave cheese.
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2025/07/08/spain-Guinness-World-Records-Cabrales-cheese-expensive/7871751993044/
Dad Bods of the World: you ARE desirable!
https://nypost.com/2025/07/04/lifestyle/the-perfect-male-body-type-according-to-scientists/
French Stuntman Breaks Guinness Records while on Fire
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2025/07/09/france-Guinness-World-Records-motorcycle-fire/1771752080214/ and also https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL2aKqaCAJe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2025/07/09/france-Guinness-World-Records-motorcycle-fire/1771752080214/ and also https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL2aKqaCAJe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
"Blueberry Spill Causes Traffic Jam in British Columbia" (perfect headline via writer Hoops Hooper
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2025/07/09/canada-Mission-British-Columbia-RCMP-blueberries-road/2811752081702/
also, be sure to check out the giant Blueberry Man of Oxford, Nova Scotia!
https://maps.app.goo.gl/RSXqS8WR9y3bGJts5
Bees attack the French #serious
https://apnews.com/article/france-bees-attack-8c24d5919db13eac5b817c91daf1e7ab
Large Shoes Found at Dig Site. So Very Large!
https://www.yahoo.com/news/roman-bigfoot-uk-archaeologists-probe-171502887.html
To subscribe to the podcast or for social media and more links, you can get everything at https://www.shownotes.page or search "What a Weird Week" where you get podcasts.
Transcript below.
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
00:00
Hi friends, I'm Scott. This show is called What a Weird Week. We look back at the news of the week and we pick out the fun, the weird, the odd, the interesting, the strange, never too serious stories from the past week. We do 10 stories in about 15 minutes and you can get our show notes
00:29
and do a deeper dive on all the stuff we talk about. you go to show notes dot page. Also, if you want to get in touch or anything like that, find out more about our podcast. Go to show notes dot page. This is the show for Friday, July 11, 2025. 10 is the tips for brain health to have a healthier brain. There was an article in the New York Post where they talked to an expert. Three things that could lead to a healthier brain.
00:58
Chewing gum is one increases blood flow to the brain, more oxygen. Some other stuff happens when you chew gum. so that is supposed to, according to this article, lead to a healthier brain. Walking backwards is one that is a challenge to your brain, strengthening the neurons, walking backwards and humming. They say humming stimulates a certain nerve that promotes relaxation. When the nerve is stimulated, this, uh, the vagus nerve,
01:28
relaxation, baby. There's some other stuff happening there with humming as well. Some increased blood flow and some other things they mentioned in the article. So chewing gum, walking backwards and humming, hum your way to brain health backwards, walk your way to brain health. Please do so cautiously. Consult your brain doctor before you start walking everywhere backwards. nine. Let's keep going with this theme of making our brains better. Our mind brains. Number nine is about
01:57
the study where they had people put on VR headsets and the VR experience was you're in the forest, but they also had some aroma therapy going on at the same time. You could smell the trees and they had the sounds of a forest, the birds and whatnot, perhaps the odd chipmunk. And that was good for your, that is a good de-stressor. That is like therapeutic for people.
02:26
That's kind of the gist of it. We link to an article that goes deep into the science of it or how they conducted the study. But essentially, if you can get to a forest, it's good for you. If you cannot, but you can simulate the experience through virtual reality. Well, hey, chalk this one up for technology. It seems to be a good outcome with the VR headset walking through the VR forest. Number eight.
02:54
Number eight is a publicity stunt or marketing campaign or maybe just a goodwill gesture giving back to the consumer, giving you what you want. Let me know in the comments how you feel about this. Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal that tastes like bacon. Last year, the folks at Hormel came out with a bacon that tasted like Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. This year, they done flipped the script and you can get the cereal that tastes like Hormel bacon. So Cinnamon Toast Crunch bacon cereal.
03:23
That's kind of the story. Not available where I am, so I'm not sure if it's delicious. I'm not able to purchase it here on the East Coast of Canada. It is only available through walmart.com. It's just under $6 American for a small pouch of bacon cereal, cinnamon, toast, crunch, and bacon. This portion of the program not sponsored by either bacon or cinnamon or toast. seven. Number seven is
03:48
based on the Science Alert article that came out this week, but they're talking about something that occurred last year in 2024. The story of how the team, the researchers accidentally solved hair loss. If this is something that impacts you or perhaps somebody you know and love would be interested in a cure for hair loss, if this one was under the radar last year, Science Alert has circled back and published the story of how these researchers
04:14
were trying, were using a gel made out of a sugar that occurs naturally in the human body. And they thought it would speed healing. So they're working on mice. You you put this gel on a cut, it speeds up the healing process. Well, it grew hair. That gel grew hair. And the scientists, the researchers were like, huh, well, would you look at that? That's a paraphrase. They say robust regrowth of hair.
04:43
very promising and all discovered by accident. I love it when that happens. You can read the whole thing if you want. We link to it in the show notes, click show notes dot page. Number six is this road. This is the road. So that's a stretch of highway in the United Arab Emirates. They're trying to spread culture and add a little music to our lives.
05:12
The right-hand lane has these sections where if you're doing the speed limit, which there would be a hundred kilometers an hour, it will play ode to joy. It'll play Beethoven. As you drive along, your tires hitting these patches on the road, it plays Beethoven. If you want to watch cars going over the thing or read more, click shownotes.page.
05:38
Number five is the world's most expensive cheese which made headlines because it is now official in the Guinness Book of World Records. The Guinness folks have named this Cabralet cheese made in Spain, aged in a cave. This cheese, and if you don't have a chance to click the photo, looks like a green cheese. It's like a some sort of cheese wheel and when they slice into it, I'm seeing a lot of green in there. Anyway, this cave aged cheese.
06:06
won a competition and it went on auction and it sold for $42,000 and something. And that's the world's most expensive cheese. Number four is the dad bod research. The dad bod is the... Wait, are you sitting down? The dad bod is the most attractive body type for a dude. If you're unfamiliar, the dad bod is someone a little softer around the edges carrying a little extra padding, not having six pack abs, but in fact,
06:36
being pudgy. That's the dad bod. What they did, it's not a huge study. linked to all the, it's an article in the New York post. They talked about this study. They had 280 some people look at black and white photos of dudes from skinny all the way up to larger. And the faces were blurred out. So you only concentrated on the body type and the dad bod one, the dad, had to rate based on attractiveness and the most attractive.
07:07
Dad bod. Then the article gets into why the researchers don't really know they're, you know, formulating theories now, but more research needed. Honestly, I'm baffled, but I'm not asking any questions because it's great news for me. I showed this article to my wife and I said, basically dumb stuff that a husband says. How do you feel about it? Are you someone who would be like looking at these photos and not choosing the dad bod?
07:36
Do you think science got it wrong in this occasion? Or perhaps you are someone who is like, yep, that's, that's what I would go for too. Or maybe you are a fellow who heard this as you were on your way to the gym and are now turning around to go home to eat chips. You're welcome. You can read more about the story and get in touch and let us know how you feel. Our contact info and all the show notes. If you go to shownotes.tv
08:06
page. Number three, number three is that fellow who made headlines this week, setting a Guinness world record. He got lit on fire and then drove a motorcycle and he went for the longest distance ever. And now Guinness world record. His name is Jonathan Vero. Please do not attempt. He is a professional. He's a firefighter and a stunt man. He combines those two things. He sets world records while on fire is kind of his, that's his whole deal. So he drove a motorcycle while he was on fire. He drove a motorcycle.
08:36
1,450 feet. And maybe at first you're like, well, that's not that far, but remember he was on fire at the time. I don't know if you've ever had a moment of distraction while driving, operating a motor vehicle. It happens to the best of us. Imagine this fellow is on fire and trying to focus on driving that motorcycle 1,450 feet. So congratulations, Jonathan Vero. Again, please do not attempt. He has other Guinness world records. He does stuff while he's on fire.
09:06
Like you did the 100 meter dash while on fire. That's one of his records. If you want to see some photos, you can click show notes dot page number two. Number two, I think is going to be the best headline you hear all week. Not my headline. This is from Ben Hoops Hooper at United Press International. Hoops, you're knocking it out of the park, buddy. The headline is blueberry spill causes literal traffic jam.
09:34
That's the whole story. Really, a truck lost some blueberries on the road. Traffic was backed up. There was a traffic jam. This happened in British Columbia, Canada, North America, planet Earth. And if you want to see what it looked like, some good photos. We'll link to those in the show notes. With that link, I'm going to put a link to the largest blueberry in the world. Here on the East Coast of Canada, we know the largest blueberry in the world, Oxford, Nova Scotia. They have a giant.
10:00
Blueberry man roadside attraction people come from all around to have their photo taken with the giant blueberry man now Roadside attraction world records are a bit dicey So pretty sure it's the largest blueberry in the world because our program goes out over the internet reaches different areas of planet earth perhaps you're unfamiliar with the large blueberry man and If you want to have a look if you're curious I will put that link in the show notes and then maybe you're want to make some travel plans
10:28
travel to the east coast of Canada and see that giant blueberry man. This honorable mention is not funny or fun. is interesting and weird though. And it's about the bees that invaded this French town. 24 people were injured and some were like seriously had to be taken to hospital like life threatening. The article says everyone is on the mend. Now these bees
10:55
got super aggressive in this French town. They think it's because so there was a beehive on top of the building. It's been there for a long time, but some hornets maybe attacked the hive and the bees just went full on aggression. They took that beehive down off the roof of the building and now it's on the outskirts of town. One of the quotes from the article, in terms of the number of victims, the panic among the people and the severity of some of the injuries, it was impressive.
11:26
I don't know if that was originally issued in English or if that's a translation, but impressive bee attack. That's your honorable mention. one. Top story of the week. Big shoes, old shoes, very big and very old shoes. The end. This is a story where archeologists in the news for digging up a Roman site in Northern England, they've uncovered 2000 year old shoes.
11:52
that are size 49 European sizing or size 15 where I'm at, it would be a size 15. And that is a big honkin shoe that kind of baffled the researchers. They call it really unusual. Now they want to find out who the heck was living there 2000 years ago that needed these big shoes. Who is the big footed person or persons who had these shoes? Just when you think you've got everything figured out, they uncovered
12:22
ginormous shoes that are 2000 years old. That's kind of it right now. It's a bit of a mystery. I like a good mystery, but I always say I like a solution a lot better. So hopefully we'll be able to circle back and they'll have this figured out at some point and we'll revisit the story of the big shoes, the mysterious old big shoes. If you want to see what they look like, they actually have a pretty good photo. We'll link to it in the show notes.
12:47
So that's that all the weird stories of the week. Thanks for checking out what a weird week. I appreciate it. I thank you for the reviews, especially when there five or nine stars or how, you know, a lot of stars that is very much appreciated. You can find everything we talked about, all our contact info, everything about the podcast. All of it lives where the show notes live. If you go to show notes dot page, that's how you can find us. We'll catch you next week for more weird news on what a weird week.
Hi friends, I'm Scott. This show is called What a Weird Week. We look back at the news of the week and we pick out the fun, the weird, the odd, the interesting, the strange, never too serious stories from the past week. We do 10 stories in about 15 minutes and you can get our show notes
00:29
and do a deeper dive on all the stuff we talk about. you go to show notes dot page. Also, if you want to get in touch or anything like that, find out more about our podcast. Go to show notes dot page. This is the show for Friday, July 11, 2025. 10 is the tips for brain health to have a healthier brain. There was an article in the New York Post where they talked to an expert. Three things that could lead to a healthier brain.
00:58
Chewing gum is one increases blood flow to the brain, more oxygen. Some other stuff happens when you chew gum. so that is supposed to, according to this article, lead to a healthier brain. Walking backwards is one that is a challenge to your brain, strengthening the neurons, walking backwards and humming. They say humming stimulates a certain nerve that promotes relaxation. When the nerve is stimulated, this, uh, the vagus nerve,
01:28
relaxation, baby. There's some other stuff happening there with humming as well. Some increased blood flow and some other things they mentioned in the article. So chewing gum, walking backwards and humming, hum your way to brain health backwards, walk your way to brain health. Please do so cautiously. Consult your brain doctor before you start walking everywhere backwards. nine. Let's keep going with this theme of making our brains better. Our mind brains. Number nine is about
01:57
the study where they had people put on VR headsets and the VR experience was you're in the forest, but they also had some aroma therapy going on at the same time. You could smell the trees and they had the sounds of a forest, the birds and whatnot, perhaps the odd chipmunk. And that was good for your, that is a good de-stressor. That is like therapeutic for people.
02:26
That's kind of the gist of it. We link to an article that goes deep into the science of it or how they conducted the study. But essentially, if you can get to a forest, it's good for you. If you cannot, but you can simulate the experience through virtual reality. Well, hey, chalk this one up for technology. It seems to be a good outcome with the VR headset walking through the VR forest. Number eight.
02:54
Number eight is a publicity stunt or marketing campaign or maybe just a goodwill gesture giving back to the consumer, giving you what you want. Let me know in the comments how you feel about this. Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal that tastes like bacon. Last year, the folks at Hormel came out with a bacon that tasted like Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. This year, they done flipped the script and you can get the cereal that tastes like Hormel bacon. So Cinnamon Toast Crunch bacon cereal.
03:23
That's kind of the story. Not available where I am, so I'm not sure if it's delicious. I'm not able to purchase it here on the East Coast of Canada. It is only available through walmart.com. It's just under $6 American for a small pouch of bacon cereal, cinnamon, toast, crunch, and bacon. This portion of the program not sponsored by either bacon or cinnamon or toast. seven. Number seven is
03:48
based on the Science Alert article that came out this week, but they're talking about something that occurred last year in 2024. The story of how the team, the researchers accidentally solved hair loss. If this is something that impacts you or perhaps somebody you know and love would be interested in a cure for hair loss, if this one was under the radar last year, Science Alert has circled back and published the story of how these researchers
04:14
were trying, were using a gel made out of a sugar that occurs naturally in the human body. And they thought it would speed healing. So they're working on mice. You you put this gel on a cut, it speeds up the healing process. Well, it grew hair. That gel grew hair. And the scientists, the researchers were like, huh, well, would you look at that? That's a paraphrase. They say robust regrowth of hair.
04:43
very promising and all discovered by accident. I love it when that happens. You can read the whole thing if you want. We link to it in the show notes, click show notes dot page. Number six is this road. This is the road. So that's a stretch of highway in the United Arab Emirates. They're trying to spread culture and add a little music to our lives.
05:12
The right-hand lane has these sections where if you're doing the speed limit, which there would be a hundred kilometers an hour, it will play ode to joy. It'll play Beethoven. As you drive along, your tires hitting these patches on the road, it plays Beethoven. If you want to watch cars going over the thing or read more, click shownotes.page.
05:38
Number five is the world's most expensive cheese which made headlines because it is now official in the Guinness Book of World Records. The Guinness folks have named this Cabralet cheese made in Spain, aged in a cave. This cheese, and if you don't have a chance to click the photo, looks like a green cheese. It's like a some sort of cheese wheel and when they slice into it, I'm seeing a lot of green in there. Anyway, this cave aged cheese.
06:06
won a competition and it went on auction and it sold for $42,000 and something. And that's the world's most expensive cheese. Number four is the dad bod research. The dad bod is the... Wait, are you sitting down? The dad bod is the most attractive body type for a dude. If you're unfamiliar, the dad bod is someone a little softer around the edges carrying a little extra padding, not having six pack abs, but in fact,
06:36
being pudgy. That's the dad bod. What they did, it's not a huge study. linked to all the, it's an article in the New York post. They talked about this study. They had 280 some people look at black and white photos of dudes from skinny all the way up to larger. And the faces were blurred out. So you only concentrated on the body type and the dad bod one, the dad, had to rate based on attractiveness and the most attractive.
07:07
Dad bod. Then the article gets into why the researchers don't really know they're, you know, formulating theories now, but more research needed. Honestly, I'm baffled, but I'm not asking any questions because it's great news for me. I showed this article to my wife and I said, basically dumb stuff that a husband says. How do you feel about it? Are you someone who would be like looking at these photos and not choosing the dad bod?
07:36
Do you think science got it wrong in this occasion? Or perhaps you are someone who is like, yep, that's, that's what I would go for too. Or maybe you are a fellow who heard this as you were on your way to the gym and are now turning around to go home to eat chips. You're welcome. You can read more about the story and get in touch and let us know how you feel. Our contact info and all the show notes. If you go to shownotes.tv
08:06
page. Number three, number three is that fellow who made headlines this week, setting a Guinness world record. He got lit on fire and then drove a motorcycle and he went for the longest distance ever. And now Guinness world record. His name is Jonathan Vero. Please do not attempt. He is a professional. He's a firefighter and a stunt man. He combines those two things. He sets world records while on fire is kind of his, that's his whole deal. So he drove a motorcycle while he was on fire. He drove a motorcycle.
08:36
1,450 feet. And maybe at first you're like, well, that's not that far, but remember he was on fire at the time. I don't know if you've ever had a moment of distraction while driving, operating a motor vehicle. It happens to the best of us. Imagine this fellow is on fire and trying to focus on driving that motorcycle 1,450 feet. So congratulations, Jonathan Vero. Again, please do not attempt. He has other Guinness world records. He does stuff while he's on fire.
09:06
Like you did the 100 meter dash while on fire. That's one of his records. If you want to see some photos, you can click show notes dot page number two. Number two, I think is going to be the best headline you hear all week. Not my headline. This is from Ben Hoops Hooper at United Press International. Hoops, you're knocking it out of the park, buddy. The headline is blueberry spill causes literal traffic jam.
09:34
That's the whole story. Really, a truck lost some blueberries on the road. Traffic was backed up. There was a traffic jam. This happened in British Columbia, Canada, North America, planet Earth. And if you want to see what it looked like, some good photos. We'll link to those in the show notes. With that link, I'm going to put a link to the largest blueberry in the world. Here on the East Coast of Canada, we know the largest blueberry in the world, Oxford, Nova Scotia. They have a giant.
10:00
Blueberry man roadside attraction people come from all around to have their photo taken with the giant blueberry man now Roadside attraction world records are a bit dicey So pretty sure it's the largest blueberry in the world because our program goes out over the internet reaches different areas of planet earth perhaps you're unfamiliar with the large blueberry man and If you want to have a look if you're curious I will put that link in the show notes and then maybe you're want to make some travel plans
10:28
travel to the east coast of Canada and see that giant blueberry man. This honorable mention is not funny or fun. is interesting and weird though. And it's about the bees that invaded this French town. 24 people were injured and some were like seriously had to be taken to hospital like life threatening. The article says everyone is on the mend. Now these bees
10:55
got super aggressive in this French town. They think it's because so there was a beehive on top of the building. It's been there for a long time, but some hornets maybe attacked the hive and the bees just went full on aggression. They took that beehive down off the roof of the building and now it's on the outskirts of town. One of the quotes from the article, in terms of the number of victims, the panic among the people and the severity of some of the injuries, it was impressive.
11:26
I don't know if that was originally issued in English or if that's a translation, but impressive bee attack. That's your honorable mention. one. Top story of the week. Big shoes, old shoes, very big and very old shoes. The end. This is a story where archeologists in the news for digging up a Roman site in Northern England, they've uncovered 2000 year old shoes.
11:52
that are size 49 European sizing or size 15 where I'm at, it would be a size 15. And that is a big honkin shoe that kind of baffled the researchers. They call it really unusual. Now they want to find out who the heck was living there 2000 years ago that needed these big shoes. Who is the big footed person or persons who had these shoes? Just when you think you've got everything figured out, they uncovered
12:22
ginormous shoes that are 2000 years old. That's kind of it right now. It's a bit of a mystery. I like a good mystery, but I always say I like a solution a lot better. So hopefully we'll be able to circle back and they'll have this figured out at some point and we'll revisit the story of the big shoes, the mysterious old big shoes. If you want to see what they look like, they actually have a pretty good photo. We'll link to it in the show notes.
12:47
So that's that all the weird stories of the week. Thanks for checking out what a weird week. I appreciate it. I thank you for the reviews, especially when there five or nine stars or how, you know, a lot of stars that is very much appreciated. You can find everything we talked about, all our contact info, everything about the podcast. All of it lives where the show notes live. If you go to show notes dot page, that's how you can find us. We'll catch you next week for more weird news on what a weird week.
