I'm bored!
LeManna/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Boredom is something we all feel sometimes, when nothing seems fun or interesting. But have you ever wondered what’s actually going on in your brain when you feel that way? Can it ever be good for you to be bored?
Molly and co-host Maisie explore how boredom can lead to creativity, and how our brain can work past that blah feeling. Plus, a boredom-blasting brain workout from Sanden and his pal Pete the wombat, and a brand new Mystery Sound!
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MAISY: You're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being curious.
ANNOUNCER: Brains On is supported, in part, by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
[GAMESHOW MUSIC]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Welcome to the Brains On Bleh Olympics. This is the contest where we see who can find the most mind numbingly, painstakingly, totally, utterly boringest activity ever. Sanden here, covering all the inaction. [EXHALES SHARPLY] It's a beautiful day here at the Brains On boreditorium, where the walls are gray, the windows look out on empty parking lots, and the only sound you can hear is the echo of the wall clock slowly ticking away.
[TICKING]
[SIGHS] Let's check in with contestant number 1, the master maven of meh herself, Molly Bloom.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hey, Sanden. I'm just sitting here, organizing these macaroni noodles from largest to smallest.
SANDEN TOTTEN: But Molly, all these macaroni are the same size.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. It's very boring.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, deviously tedious. Let's check in with Mr Monotonous Marc Sanchez. Marc--
MARC SANCHEZ: 472. 473.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Uh, Marc, what are you doing?
MARC SANCHEZ: 4-- what? What? Oh, I was counting the number of speckles in the tiles on the floor, but you just made me lose count.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yikes. Oh, sorry about that, Marc.
MARC SANCHEZ: Are you kidding me? Now I have to start all over, which is even more boring than counting the first time. Thanks, pal.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Um, you're welcome? Uh, let's see, over here, we have extreme tedium expert Ruby Guthrie, who is--
RUBY GUTHRIE: Doing taxes.
[TYPING ON KEYPAD]
Carry the 1. Divided by income.
[WRITING ON PAPER]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Um, taxes were due months ago, Ruby.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Oh, I know. These are last year's taxes. I'm doing them for the seventh time to make sure I didn't miss anything.
[FLIPS PAPER]
[WRITING ON PAPER]
And done. Hey, it looks exactly the same as the last six times. Huh, well, better start over to check them in eighth time.
[TYPING ON KEYPAD]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, geez, that is painfully repetitive. It'll be hard to beat that. Oh, but what's this? We have a surprise contestant, Bob. Bob, it looks like you're waiting for a TV show to load and that little spinny circle thing is on the screen.
BOB: What? No, that spinning circle thing is the show. It's just an hour of the spinning circle. It's my favorite show. It's so believable and true to life. Plus, I can really relate to the main character.
SANDEN TOTTEN: You mean the little circle that goes round and round?
BOB: It's basically me, you know?
SANDEN TOTTEN: [CHUCKLES] Folks, I think we found our winner!
[VICTORIOUS MUSIC]
Congratulations, Bob. May I present you the Brains On Bleh Olympics gold medal?
[CHIME]
What do you have to say to our listeners at home, Bob?
BOB: Shh, don't interrupt my show. I want to see what happens.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Bob, it's literally the same thing over and over.
BOB: Hey, no spoilers.
[THEME MUSIC]
MOLLY BLOOM: You're listening to Brains On from APM Studios. I'm Molly Bloom, and my co-host today is Maisy from Alameda, California. Hey, Maisy.
MAISY: Hey, Molly.
MOLLY BLOOM: So Maisy, you wrote to us with a question.
MAISY: Yeah, I wanted to know if it's ever good to feel bored.
MOLLY BLOOM: That is a really good question. I'm curious, what made you think of it?
MAISY: Well, I was bored and I thought, well, is there a good side to being bored?
MOLLY BLOOM: That's an excellent place for your mind to go when you're bored. So I'm wondering, like, when you are bored, what does it feel like in your body?
MAISY: It feels like I'm impatient to find something else to do.
MOLLY BLOOM: So is there something you have in your life, a place, a circumstance, something, an activity that makes you bored?
MAISY: Mm, maybe sometimes. If I'm like doing a math problem, it might-- and I can't really figure it out, I might feel bored, kind of.
MOLLY BLOOM: Mm, so maybe working on some math problems might make you feel bored. Anything else?
MAISY: No. Well, sometimes. Like if I'm really stuck on a word when I'm reading, I kind of feel bored, like, if I can't find out the word.
MOLLY BLOOM: So what do you do when you get bored, besides think of questions to send two Brains On?
MAISY: Well, I try to think of something else to do, like, if I could find my dog or get out some of my stuff just to find if there's anything useful with them.
MOLLY BLOOM: And what's something from your life that feels like the opposite of boredom?
MAISY: Snuggling with my dog.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, that's so sweet. So what does that feel like to you?
MAISY: It feels cozy because he likes to lick me.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's really nice. So even though it's kind of a quiet activity, it doesn't feel boring?
MAISY: No, it doesn't.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's awesome. Boredom is something a lot of our pals are also curious about.
ISAAC: Hi. My name Isaac from Saint Palm, Minnesota. My question is, why do you get bored?
JOSLYN: Hi. My name is Joslyn. My question is, why do kids get bored?
LILY: Hi. My name is Lily, and I live in Shaker Heights, Ohio. And my question is, why do our brains get bored?
MOLLY BLOOM: To find out if boredom is good or bad, we need to find out what boredom is. And luckily, here at Brains On, we cultivate a keen sense of boredom.
MAISY: Wait, really? I feel like you're always going on adventures, talking to scientists, and finding new and unusual ways to eat food. Totally not boring things.
MOLLY BLOOM: You think the cheddar cheese quilt was unusual? But yeah, we do all that. But we also have to fold laundry, dust the mystery sounds, brush our teeth, and fill out tons of insurance paperwork. Did you know that we are now legally required to be insured for wombats? You throw one wombat music festival where 20,000 wombats party day and night for a whole week in your home, and suddenly, you need more insurance. Can you believe it?
MAISY: Yes, I can.
WOMBAT PETE: Me too. 'Sup Molly?
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, hey, Wombat Pete. Legally, I have to ask you to leave until our claim is approved.
WOMBAT PETE: Totally understand. I just popped by to grab my sunglasses and glow stick necklace. See you at next year's Wombat Fest! Whoop whoop! Peace out!
[DOOR CLOSES]
MOLLY BLOOM: Anyway, my point is we get bored too, everyone does. Boredom is just another shade of feeling, like happiness or sadness. And life is full of all different feelings. It's like painting with every color instead of just one or two.
MAISY: OK, I can see that. I mean, how would you know what's not boring if you didn't get bored sometimes?
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. But what is boredom?
HEATHER LYNCH: So it's when you're doing something or sitting there and you have an emotional response that just what you're doing right now just is kind of painful.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's Heather Lynch. She's a scientist at Texas A&M University, where she studies emotions.
HEATHER LYNCH: It's not engaging. You don't want to be doing what you're doing right now. You're not interested. So it feels bad, right? It's a very negative emotion.
MAISY: Yeah, that checks out. Even if it's normal, it doesn't feel good to be bored.
MOLLY BLOOM: Totally. But the tough part is lots of things can make us feel this way. Sometimes you might feel bored because you're doing something that's not challenging or you're doing the same thing over and over.
MAISY: Like folding your clothes or waiting in line or sitting still on a long car ride.
MOLLY BLOOM: But you can also get bored if you're doing something that's too challenging, something that you can't figure out.
MAISY: Like when you're struggling to understand a math problem or reading a book with lots of words you don't know yet.
MOLLY BLOOM: Whether or not you feel bored also depends on whether you care about what you're doing or, as emotions expert Heather Lynch puts it, is this activity meaningful to you?
HEATHER LYNCH: Does it relate to something, a goal that you have or something that you care about? And if it doesn't, you can be in a very active, busy room, doing a ton of things, and you can still be bored.
MAISY: Yeah, so I bet if sitting on the couch and doing nothing is really important to you, then it's not boring it's more like relaxing.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. So we feel bored when we're not challenged enough or when we are too challenged.
MAISY: And we feel bored when we're doing something that isn't meaningful to us.
MOLLY BLOOM: So that's what makes us bored. But can boredom be good for us? Maisy, what do you think? Is there a time where boredom can be good for you?
MAISY: Yes, because, like, once I was cleaning my room, and I thought of something I could do after because I was kind of bored doing it. And then I thought of something I could do after that was really fun.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's awesome. So it gave you some ideas while you were bored is what you're saying.
MAISY: Yeah. It was like this game with stuffies because I was putting away my stuffies.
MOLLY BLOOM: But it kind of inspired you to create a new game?
MAISY: Yeah.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's awesome. So the official answer from our emotions expert Heather is--
[DRUM ROLL]
HEATHER LYNCH: Absolutely, boredom can be good for you. One of the most important parts of boredom is that really gets you thinking and moving and exploring and creating. And so we think about it as the driving force that moves you to think about new creative options and really gets you moving out in the world.
MOLLY BLOOM: Basically, boredom can be the springboard that launches you to bigger and better things.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Yeah, boredom can take you to wild places if you let it.
MAISY: Who is that person with the grease-covered overalls?
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, you made it. That's our special guest.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Hey there. Brenda Brannock, brain mechanic. I've worked on all kinds of brains. Speed racers, long haulers, deep thinkers, and daydreamers, you name it.
MAISY: Well, we were talking about boredom and how it feels bad.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Uh, yeah, classic case of a brain that can't get into gear.
MAISY: Brains have gears?
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, not literally, but brains do have different systems. Some systems control things you don't even think about like breathing and pumping blood. Others are involved in stuff like language or memory.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Correcto, perfecto. Here, let me show you using my 1967 Chevy Impala.
[ENGINE STARTS]
See, I've got this little baby all tricked out to help you understand the brain.
MAISY: Whoa, instead of fuzzy dice, there are fuzzy brains hanging from the rear view mirror.
MOLLY BLOOM: And is that a brain-shaped air freshener?
BRENDA BRANNOCK: You bet your bumper stickers, it is. Sadly, it doesn't smell like actual brains. It's bubble gum scented.
MOLLY BLOOM: Mm, it smells delicious.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Now take a look here at the gearbox. I can use this stick shift to switch into different modes of driving, kind of how your brain can switch into different modes too--
[ENGINE REVS]
Like reading mode--
[ENGINE REVS]
--or sleep mode.
[ENGINE REVS]
Now, some brain researchers think one way boredom happens is if you're trying to shift your brain into concentration mode.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's a mode that's good for doing things that take a lot of brains power, right? Like homework or solving a puzzle.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Exacto dactyl. So let's say you need to do something that takes a lot of concentration, like writing thank you cards to everyone who attended your wrench-themed birthday party as a totally random example. You try to shift into concentration mode and--
[ENGINE REVS AND DIES]
--no luck charmarino.
[ENGINE STARTS]
You keep at it, but it's a grind.
[ENGINE DIES]
It just won't work. You can't get in the right gear.
MAISY: Ugh, it sounds so frustrating.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: It's mondo frustrado. Some researchers think that's what's happening when you feel bored. Whatever you're doing just isn't interesting enough to keep your concentration. Comprende? But get this, when you get really bored, something cool happens.
MAISY: Something cool? That's kind of hard to believe.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: All right, just hear me out. When boredom takes over, your brain shifts to something called the default network, or as I like to call it, daydream mode. Primo system right there.
MAISY: The daydream mode? OK, that does sound pretty cool.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Right? Daydream mode is kind of like cruise control because when you're in it, the activity in your brain goes down and you switch from paying attention to the outside world to paying more attention to your own thoughts and ideas.
MOLLY BLOOM: Right. And scientists have linked this mode to creativity. Like Brenda said, it's related to daydreaming but also remembering the past, planning for the future, and general mind wandering.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Yeah. And when you're in daydream mode, your brain mobile can take you to some really interesting places. You might dream up a solution to a problem you've been stuck on like how to make a hammer that never misses the nail or maybe you'll come up with a love story between two engines that fall for each other even though they come from totally different car manufacturers.
MOLLY BLOOM: Some people think it's this daydream mode that helps us come up with great ideas when we're doing sort of boring things like taking a shower. Maisy, you talked about that earlier when you were doing something boring, cleaning your room, you got a new idea to play that game with your stuffies, right?
MAISY: Yeah.
MOLLY BLOOM: Does that ever happen to you another time?
MAISY: Yeah, I was cleaning up my TV room. I was going to go upstairs to put something in my room. And I saw my whiteboard, and I thought, well, maybe I could play school after this.
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent idea. But boredom isn't always a good thing. Remember that emotions expert we heard from, Heather Lynch? She says, for some people, boredom can sometimes lead to bad decisions.
HEATHER LYNCH: You know, it can drive you to take risks. You know, people that experience chronic boredom are more likely to gamble. They're more likely to drop out of school and struggle in school. So there are a lot of new experiences that you can fill your boredom with, and not all of them are good for you.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Yeah, when I used to get bored, I would try unscrewing Phillips head screws with flat head screwdrivers just to see if it would work. Real bad idea there. Stripped so many screws that way. Yeesh, would not recommend.
MOLLY BLOOM: Right. Like Heather said before, boredom isn't a good feeling, so people will do all kinds of things to get rid of it. We'll give you some tips on how to bust boredom in a good way in just a bit.
[HOOTING]
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Sorry, sorry, that's my line for emergencies. Hello. Oh, you went to get something from the kitchen then forgot what it was? [CHUCKLES] Classic brain fart. You got brain gas, my friend. I'll be right over with some degassing solution. Hang tight, duderino. All right, pals, I've got to jet ski. Later, carburetors.
[ROBOTIC CHIME]
ROBOTIC VOICE: Brains On.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here's something that always grabs my attention. It's the--
[MECHANICAL WHISTLING]
CHILD (WHISPERING): - Mystery sound.
MOLLY BLOOM: Are you ready for the mystery sound, my friend, Maisy?
MAISY: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here it is.
[RUSTLING SOUND]
What do you think, Maisy?
MAISY: It sounded kind of like if someone was, like, knocking things over.
MOLLY BLOOM: Great guess. I have no idea what this is either. Should we hear it again maybe and see if it gives us any other clues?
MAISY: OK.
[RUSTLING SOUND]
MAISY: Maybe something hard. It could be like-- like, maybe they could also be something that, if hit the ground, it was loud like a box.
MOLLY BLOOM: Those are all really good thoughts. OK, we'll hear it again and get another chance to guess and hear the answer after the credits. So stick around.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We're working on an episode about memory and we want to hear from you. Do you ever use a song or a rhyme to help you remember something? We'd love to hear it. Maisy, do you use a song or rhyme to remember something?
MAISY: Yeah. Like in kindergarten, we sang this song about the continents.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, how did it go?
MAISY: I think it started with North America and South America.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, you know what's a song that's really helpful to me to remember stuff, and I use it, like, all the time? Is the alphabet song.
MAISY: Oh, yeah, I do that too.
MOLLY BLOOM: It's the only way I can remember alphabetical order. I've got to sing the song every time.
MAISY: [CHUCKLES]
MOLLY BLOOM: Like sitting there at the library and I'm like, I've got to find this book. A, B, C, D-- and I go through the whole alphabet.
[BOTH CHUCKLING]
MAISY: Yeah, I do that sometimes. Like once I was at a Harry Potter camp and we were doing ancient runes, and I wanted to write them in the alphabet. I was like, A, B, C, D--
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly, very useful song. Well, listeners, please record yourself singing or reciting your rhyme. It can be one you invented to remember something very silly. Whatever you want. Send it to us at brainson.org/contact. And while you're there, you can send us mystery sounds, drawings, and questions.
MAISY: Like this one. Why do we need oxygen to breathe?
MOLLY BLOOM: Again, that's brainson.org/contact.
MAISY: And keep listening. You're listening to Brains On. I'm Maisy.
MOLLY BLOOM: And I'm Molly. Today, we're talking all about boredom. We just heard how boredom is an emotion that people usually avoid.
MAISY: Yeah, it can help you get creative, but it also doesn't feel great, so people usually try to bust their boredom as quickly as possible.
MOLLY BLOOM: These days, we have a lot of ways to do that-- games, videos, TV, movies, surfing the web.
MAISY: So you'd think we'd be the least bored people in all of history. But I have a feeling that's not the case.
MOLLY BLOOM: Me too. It turns out the idea of boredom wasn't really a thing until sometime in the 1800s.
MAISY: But people were around for thousands of years before that, and they definitely felt bored sometimes. But people who study this think that those people just assumed it was normal to have dull times.
MOLLY BLOOM: These days, we have so many quick ways to avoid feeling bored. When things slow down, we think, why not just grab a tablet or a phone right away?
MAISY: But when you do this, you usually stop yourself from getting into a deep state of boredom, like that daydream mode.
MOLLY BLOOM: Right. Here's an interesting story. During the pandemic, scientists studied a group of people who were stuck at home with very little to do. They found that these people were-- you guessed it-- often really bored. But some of them got really bored, like mega bored, like super duper bored. And for a lot of these people, it pushed them to take up hobbies or learn new things.
MAISY: Like carpentry or baking or making wigs for cats.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. But other times when people got bored, they quickly turn to social media, and so they never got really super duper mega bored. Sure the boredom went away, but the researchers think it also stopped them from getting motivated to do bigger, cooler projects. Maisy, do you remember getting really bored during that time? Did you take up any new hobbies?
MAISY: Well, I did start going for a lot of walks to try to find cats, but that was basically it.
MOLLY BLOOM: [CHUCKLES] Did you make those cats wigs?
MAISY: No.
MOLLY BLOOM: No?
MAISY: But there was this one certain cat that was-- we thought his name was Franklin, but then it was actually named Frankie.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh.
MAISY: He was really cute anyway.
MOLLY BLOOM: That is really cute. Yeah, for me, during that time, I got really into baking cakes. I was like, I'm going to bake. I got time. And they were delicious. It was a good way to pass the time. Our emotions expert Heather Lynch thinks when you use devices to beat boredom, it's only a short-term fix.
MAISY: She says when boredom inspires you to do stuff that's important to you, you feel more accomplished afterwards, and that can feel really good.
MOLLY BLOOM: Totally. Now, if you're looking for some productive ways to beat your boredom, you're in luck. We asked Sanden to come up with some ideas. Take it away, Sanden.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Hey there, Brains On pals. Have you ever been bored out of your gourd? Like, there wasn't anything fun to do on the whole planet? [SCOFF] You're not alone, right, Wombat Pete?
WOMBAT PETE: Oh, true story, Sanden. I sometimes have days where nothing feels interesting, not even playing wom basketball, watching The Wom Bachelor or treating myself to a nice, soapy wom bath.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Ugh, I call that yucky mopey. Nothing interesting feeling the blorgs.
[WACKY MELODY]
Like, ugh, blorg. It's raining and I'm stuck in my Burrow.
[WACKY MELODY]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Or, no, the skate park is closed today. Ugh, total blorg.
[WACKY MELODY]
When I was a kid, the blorgs used to really bum me out. After all, it's tough when you're young because you haven't learned all the ways to manage your boredom yet.
WOMBAT PETE: Right. But don't you worry because Sanden and I are old.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Well, I mean, not that old.
WOMBAT PETE: Like ancient, so old.
SANDEN TOTTEN: OK, come on now.
WOMBAT PETE: And in our many years, we've learned to beat the blorgs.
SANDEN TOTTEN: [FIGHTING UTTERANCES]
WOMBAT PETE: That's right. And we'll train you too, that's why we're wearing matching wrestling onesies. Now cue the training montage.
[ROUSING MUSIC]
Round one.
[BELL CHIMES]
Take a look around you and see what you're working with. Got a couch? Great. Build yourself a rad cushion for it and imagine you're camping in the woods.
[FIGHTING UTTERANCES]
Imaginary campfire and double decker s'mores. Nice. If camping isn't your style, create an obstacle course and challenge your family to a race. Hopscotch down the hallway, but scoot down the stairs, crawl on all fours to the kitchen, and finish with a somersault. Round two.
[BELL CHIMES]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Grab a pencil and a paper and give your imagination a workout. Write a silly poem. Design your dream treehouse or your dream wombat Burrow. Better yet, draw me and Sanden partying down at Wombat Fest. Whoo! Yeah! Next, try writing a list of your favorite types of cheese in alphabetical order. Bonus points if you can make a cheese quilt out of them. Create a book of bedtime stories for your family. Draw a picture of something amazing that you want to do someday.
[FLIPPING THROUGH PAGES]
Check it out, Wombat Pete, here's one of my drawings. See, that's me, and I'm flying a kite shaped like a fire truck while I'm riding a yak named Boris.
WOMBAT PETE: Hey, you know, Boris? I know Boris. He's the best. Final round.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Time to finish off those blorgs with some rapid fire ideas.
WOMBAT PETE: Dance party. Crank some tunes and have a dance off.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Grab a laundry basket, a broom, and some rolled up socks, play a game of sock hockey.
WOMBAT PETE: Make a batch of pudding then make a finger painting out of pudding then lick the painting.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Stick googly eyes on rocks and hide them around your neighborhood.
WOMBAT PETE: And if none of those things sound like your cup of tea, think of something that makes you smile, giggle, go hmm or even eww.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yeah. You might even be inspired to start a new project or hobby.
[BELLS CHIME]
Whoo hoo! [CHUCKLES] Great work. We beat the blorgs. Give me paw, Wombat Pete.
[CLAP]
WOMBAT PETE: My dude!
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oop, yikes, Molly's coming. You know, she's a real stickler about that wombat insurance. Uh, quick, hide in the closet.
[CLOSET DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES]
[DOOR OPENS]
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, hey, Sanden. Maisy and I were just going to go set up a very non-boring slip 'n slide outside, and we thought you might want to come hang. Wait, why are you in a wrestling onesie? Are we interrupting something?
MAISY: [SNIFFS] It smells kind of like wombat in here.
SANDEN TOTTEN: [CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY] Wombat? No. LOL. That's so funny you would say that. Random. Uh, it's just me in here and I was sweating to the oldies. And I had broccoli for lunch and a lot of sauerkraut. Whoops, and beans. Toot toot [CHUCKLES] Sanden Totten, more like Sanden Tootin', right?
MOLLY BLOOM: [CHUCKLES] Tootin', good one, buddy. Come on outside when you're ready.
[DOOR CLOSES]
[CLOSET DOOR OPENS]
WOMBAT PETE: Did she say slip 'n slide? Let me get my wom bathing suit.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Wait, Wombat Pete, hold on a second. We're not insured for that!
[FOOTSTEPS RUSHING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: Boredom is an emotion, just like sadness, happiness, excitement, or fear.
MAISY: We feel it when our brains aren't interested in what's going on around us.
MOLLY BLOOM: It's good for you to feel some boredom.
MAISY: It can inspire you to be creative or learn new skills, and it gives your brain a rest.
MOLLY BLOOM: Social media and screen time might seem like boredom busters, but they can sometimes make your brain feel worse. It's good to just let yourself be bored sometimes.
MAISY: And you can use that feeling to dream up all kinds of new ideas.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's it for this episode of Brains On.
MAISY: This episode was written by Sanden Totten and Anna Goldfield, with production help from Molly Bloom, Anna Weggle, Rose DuPont, Aron Woldeslassie, Nico Gonzalez Wisler, Ruby Guthrie, and Marc Sanchez.
MOLLY BLOOM: This episode was edited by Shahla Farzan and sound designed by Rachel Breeze. Beth Perlman is our executive producer. The executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati, Alex Schaffert, and Joanne Griffith. Special thanks to Carla Wozniak, Brian Charles, Samia Schwartz, Andy Doucette, and Eric Ringham.
MAISY: Brains On is a non-profit Public Radio program.
MOLLY BLOOM: There are lots of ways to support the show. Head to brainson.org
MAISY: While you're there, you can subscribe to our Smarty Pass which lets you listen to ad-free episodes and other awesome bonus content
MOLLY BLOOM: And you can submit your questions and fan art. Have we mentioned how much we love your fan art? It's the best. OK, Maisy, are you ready to listen to that mystery sound again?
MAISY: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK, here it is.
[RUSTLING SOUND]
MAISY: I still say that sounds like stuff being knocked over.
MOLLY BLOOM: I'm going to make a wild guess about what it is being knocked over. I think it's the wombats having a party in the backyard. And they erected some kind of structure to dance on and it fell over.
MAISY: Oh, OK, OK.
MOLLY BLOOM: What do you think?
[BOTH CHUCKLING]
Is that possible? I mean, it was sent by one of our listeners. Maybe they had a wombat party at their house too.
MAISY: OK.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK, it's a good a guess as any. OK, so we're still thinking metal falling down.
MAISY: Or anything that's, like, hard that will hit the ground.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right, let's hear the answer.
OSCAR: Hello. This is Oscar and Felix from France. That mystery sound was us putting away puzzles.
MAISY: I would never have guessed that in a million years.
MOLLY BLOOM: I would never have guessed that either. Putting away puzzles. Those must be very heavy puzzles.
MAISY: Yeah, probably.
MOLLY BLOOM: I'm giving you partial credit because they had to be heavy to make that noise. And for all we know, they were made out of metal. Felix and Oscar did not specify. So you know, who knows?
MAISY: They sounded pretty loud.
MOLLY BLOOM: [CHUCKLES]
[PUZZLES CLATTERING]
Now it's time for the Brains Honor Roll. These are the incredible kids who keep the show going with their questions, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives.
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
We'll be back next week with more answers to your questions.
MAISY: Thanks for listening.
ANNOUNCER: Brains On is supported, in part, by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
[GAMESHOW MUSIC]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Welcome to the Brains On Bleh Olympics. This is the contest where we see who can find the most mind numbingly, painstakingly, totally, utterly boringest activity ever. Sanden here, covering all the inaction. [EXHALES SHARPLY] It's a beautiful day here at the Brains On boreditorium, where the walls are gray, the windows look out on empty parking lots, and the only sound you can hear is the echo of the wall clock slowly ticking away.
[TICKING]
[SIGHS] Let's check in with contestant number 1, the master maven of meh herself, Molly Bloom.
MOLLY BLOOM: Hey, Sanden. I'm just sitting here, organizing these macaroni noodles from largest to smallest.
SANDEN TOTTEN: But Molly, all these macaroni are the same size.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. It's very boring.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, deviously tedious. Let's check in with Mr Monotonous Marc Sanchez. Marc--
MARC SANCHEZ: 472. 473.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Uh, Marc, what are you doing?
MARC SANCHEZ: 4-- what? What? Oh, I was counting the number of speckles in the tiles on the floor, but you just made me lose count.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yikes. Oh, sorry about that, Marc.
MARC SANCHEZ: Are you kidding me? Now I have to start all over, which is even more boring than counting the first time. Thanks, pal.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Um, you're welcome? Uh, let's see, over here, we have extreme tedium expert Ruby Guthrie, who is--
RUBY GUTHRIE: Doing taxes.
[TYPING ON KEYPAD]
Carry the 1. Divided by income.
[WRITING ON PAPER]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Um, taxes were due months ago, Ruby.
RUBY GUTHRIE: Oh, I know. These are last year's taxes. I'm doing them for the seventh time to make sure I didn't miss anything.
[FLIPS PAPER]
[WRITING ON PAPER]
And done. Hey, it looks exactly the same as the last six times. Huh, well, better start over to check them in eighth time.
[TYPING ON KEYPAD]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oh, geez, that is painfully repetitive. It'll be hard to beat that. Oh, but what's this? We have a surprise contestant, Bob. Bob, it looks like you're waiting for a TV show to load and that little spinny circle thing is on the screen.
BOB: What? No, that spinning circle thing is the show. It's just an hour of the spinning circle. It's my favorite show. It's so believable and true to life. Plus, I can really relate to the main character.
SANDEN TOTTEN: You mean the little circle that goes round and round?
BOB: It's basically me, you know?
SANDEN TOTTEN: [CHUCKLES] Folks, I think we found our winner!
[VICTORIOUS MUSIC]
Congratulations, Bob. May I present you the Brains On Bleh Olympics gold medal?
[CHIME]
What do you have to say to our listeners at home, Bob?
BOB: Shh, don't interrupt my show. I want to see what happens.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Bob, it's literally the same thing over and over.
BOB: Hey, no spoilers.
[THEME MUSIC]
MOLLY BLOOM: You're listening to Brains On from APM Studios. I'm Molly Bloom, and my co-host today is Maisy from Alameda, California. Hey, Maisy.
MAISY: Hey, Molly.
MOLLY BLOOM: So Maisy, you wrote to us with a question.
MAISY: Yeah, I wanted to know if it's ever good to feel bored.
MOLLY BLOOM: That is a really good question. I'm curious, what made you think of it?
MAISY: Well, I was bored and I thought, well, is there a good side to being bored?
MOLLY BLOOM: That's an excellent place for your mind to go when you're bored. So I'm wondering, like, when you are bored, what does it feel like in your body?
MAISY: It feels like I'm impatient to find something else to do.
MOLLY BLOOM: So is there something you have in your life, a place, a circumstance, something, an activity that makes you bored?
MAISY: Mm, maybe sometimes. If I'm like doing a math problem, it might-- and I can't really figure it out, I might feel bored, kind of.
MOLLY BLOOM: Mm, so maybe working on some math problems might make you feel bored. Anything else?
MAISY: No. Well, sometimes. Like if I'm really stuck on a word when I'm reading, I kind of feel bored, like, if I can't find out the word.
MOLLY BLOOM: So what do you do when you get bored, besides think of questions to send two Brains On?
MAISY: Well, I try to think of something else to do, like, if I could find my dog or get out some of my stuff just to find if there's anything useful with them.
MOLLY BLOOM: And what's something from your life that feels like the opposite of boredom?
MAISY: Snuggling with my dog.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, that's so sweet. So what does that feel like to you?
MAISY: It feels cozy because he likes to lick me.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's really nice. So even though it's kind of a quiet activity, it doesn't feel boring?
MAISY: No, it doesn't.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's awesome. Boredom is something a lot of our pals are also curious about.
ISAAC: Hi. My name Isaac from Saint Palm, Minnesota. My question is, why do you get bored?
JOSLYN: Hi. My name is Joslyn. My question is, why do kids get bored?
LILY: Hi. My name is Lily, and I live in Shaker Heights, Ohio. And my question is, why do our brains get bored?
MOLLY BLOOM: To find out if boredom is good or bad, we need to find out what boredom is. And luckily, here at Brains On, we cultivate a keen sense of boredom.
MAISY: Wait, really? I feel like you're always going on adventures, talking to scientists, and finding new and unusual ways to eat food. Totally not boring things.
MOLLY BLOOM: You think the cheddar cheese quilt was unusual? But yeah, we do all that. But we also have to fold laundry, dust the mystery sounds, brush our teeth, and fill out tons of insurance paperwork. Did you know that we are now legally required to be insured for wombats? You throw one wombat music festival where 20,000 wombats party day and night for a whole week in your home, and suddenly, you need more insurance. Can you believe it?
MAISY: Yes, I can.
WOMBAT PETE: Me too. 'Sup Molly?
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, hey, Wombat Pete. Legally, I have to ask you to leave until our claim is approved.
WOMBAT PETE: Totally understand. I just popped by to grab my sunglasses and glow stick necklace. See you at next year's Wombat Fest! Whoop whoop! Peace out!
[DOOR CLOSES]
MOLLY BLOOM: Anyway, my point is we get bored too, everyone does. Boredom is just another shade of feeling, like happiness or sadness. And life is full of all different feelings. It's like painting with every color instead of just one or two.
MAISY: OK, I can see that. I mean, how would you know what's not boring if you didn't get bored sometimes?
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. But what is boredom?
HEATHER LYNCH: So it's when you're doing something or sitting there and you have an emotional response that just what you're doing right now just is kind of painful.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's Heather Lynch. She's a scientist at Texas A&M University, where she studies emotions.
HEATHER LYNCH: It's not engaging. You don't want to be doing what you're doing right now. You're not interested. So it feels bad, right? It's a very negative emotion.
MAISY: Yeah, that checks out. Even if it's normal, it doesn't feel good to be bored.
MOLLY BLOOM: Totally. But the tough part is lots of things can make us feel this way. Sometimes you might feel bored because you're doing something that's not challenging or you're doing the same thing over and over.
MAISY: Like folding your clothes or waiting in line or sitting still on a long car ride.
MOLLY BLOOM: But you can also get bored if you're doing something that's too challenging, something that you can't figure out.
MAISY: Like when you're struggling to understand a math problem or reading a book with lots of words you don't know yet.
MOLLY BLOOM: Whether or not you feel bored also depends on whether you care about what you're doing or, as emotions expert Heather Lynch puts it, is this activity meaningful to you?
HEATHER LYNCH: Does it relate to something, a goal that you have or something that you care about? And if it doesn't, you can be in a very active, busy room, doing a ton of things, and you can still be bored.
MAISY: Yeah, so I bet if sitting on the couch and doing nothing is really important to you, then it's not boring it's more like relaxing.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. So we feel bored when we're not challenged enough or when we are too challenged.
MAISY: And we feel bored when we're doing something that isn't meaningful to us.
MOLLY BLOOM: So that's what makes us bored. But can boredom be good for us? Maisy, what do you think? Is there a time where boredom can be good for you?
MAISY: Yes, because, like, once I was cleaning my room, and I thought of something I could do after because I was kind of bored doing it. And then I thought of something I could do after that was really fun.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's awesome. So it gave you some ideas while you were bored is what you're saying.
MAISY: Yeah. It was like this game with stuffies because I was putting away my stuffies.
MOLLY BLOOM: But it kind of inspired you to create a new game?
MAISY: Yeah.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's awesome. So the official answer from our emotions expert Heather is--
[DRUM ROLL]
HEATHER LYNCH: Absolutely, boredom can be good for you. One of the most important parts of boredom is that really gets you thinking and moving and exploring and creating. And so we think about it as the driving force that moves you to think about new creative options and really gets you moving out in the world.
MOLLY BLOOM: Basically, boredom can be the springboard that launches you to bigger and better things.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Yeah, boredom can take you to wild places if you let it.
MAISY: Who is that person with the grease-covered overalls?
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, you made it. That's our special guest.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Hey there. Brenda Brannock, brain mechanic. I've worked on all kinds of brains. Speed racers, long haulers, deep thinkers, and daydreamers, you name it.
MAISY: Well, we were talking about boredom and how it feels bad.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Uh, yeah, classic case of a brain that can't get into gear.
MAISY: Brains have gears?
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, not literally, but brains do have different systems. Some systems control things you don't even think about like breathing and pumping blood. Others are involved in stuff like language or memory.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Correcto, perfecto. Here, let me show you using my 1967 Chevy Impala.
[ENGINE STARTS]
See, I've got this little baby all tricked out to help you understand the brain.
MAISY: Whoa, instead of fuzzy dice, there are fuzzy brains hanging from the rear view mirror.
MOLLY BLOOM: And is that a brain-shaped air freshener?
BRENDA BRANNOCK: You bet your bumper stickers, it is. Sadly, it doesn't smell like actual brains. It's bubble gum scented.
MOLLY BLOOM: Mm, it smells delicious.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Now take a look here at the gearbox. I can use this stick shift to switch into different modes of driving, kind of how your brain can switch into different modes too--
[ENGINE REVS]
Like reading mode--
[ENGINE REVS]
--or sleep mode.
[ENGINE REVS]
Now, some brain researchers think one way boredom happens is if you're trying to shift your brain into concentration mode.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's a mode that's good for doing things that take a lot of brains power, right? Like homework or solving a puzzle.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Exacto dactyl. So let's say you need to do something that takes a lot of concentration, like writing thank you cards to everyone who attended your wrench-themed birthday party as a totally random example. You try to shift into concentration mode and--
[ENGINE REVS AND DIES]
--no luck charmarino.
[ENGINE STARTS]
You keep at it, but it's a grind.
[ENGINE DIES]
It just won't work. You can't get in the right gear.
MAISY: Ugh, it sounds so frustrating.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: It's mondo frustrado. Some researchers think that's what's happening when you feel bored. Whatever you're doing just isn't interesting enough to keep your concentration. Comprende? But get this, when you get really bored, something cool happens.
MAISY: Something cool? That's kind of hard to believe.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: All right, just hear me out. When boredom takes over, your brain shifts to something called the default network, or as I like to call it, daydream mode. Primo system right there.
MAISY: The daydream mode? OK, that does sound pretty cool.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Right? Daydream mode is kind of like cruise control because when you're in it, the activity in your brain goes down and you switch from paying attention to the outside world to paying more attention to your own thoughts and ideas.
MOLLY BLOOM: Right. And scientists have linked this mode to creativity. Like Brenda said, it's related to daydreaming but also remembering the past, planning for the future, and general mind wandering.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Yeah. And when you're in daydream mode, your brain mobile can take you to some really interesting places. You might dream up a solution to a problem you've been stuck on like how to make a hammer that never misses the nail or maybe you'll come up with a love story between two engines that fall for each other even though they come from totally different car manufacturers.
MOLLY BLOOM: Some people think it's this daydream mode that helps us come up with great ideas when we're doing sort of boring things like taking a shower. Maisy, you talked about that earlier when you were doing something boring, cleaning your room, you got a new idea to play that game with your stuffies, right?
MAISY: Yeah.
MOLLY BLOOM: Does that ever happen to you another time?
MAISY: Yeah, I was cleaning up my TV room. I was going to go upstairs to put something in my room. And I saw my whiteboard, and I thought, well, maybe I could play school after this.
MOLLY BLOOM: Excellent idea. But boredom isn't always a good thing. Remember that emotions expert we heard from, Heather Lynch? She says, for some people, boredom can sometimes lead to bad decisions.
HEATHER LYNCH: You know, it can drive you to take risks. You know, people that experience chronic boredom are more likely to gamble. They're more likely to drop out of school and struggle in school. So there are a lot of new experiences that you can fill your boredom with, and not all of them are good for you.
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Yeah, when I used to get bored, I would try unscrewing Phillips head screws with flat head screwdrivers just to see if it would work. Real bad idea there. Stripped so many screws that way. Yeesh, would not recommend.
MOLLY BLOOM: Right. Like Heather said before, boredom isn't a good feeling, so people will do all kinds of things to get rid of it. We'll give you some tips on how to bust boredom in a good way in just a bit.
[HOOTING]
BRENDA BRANNOCK: Sorry, sorry, that's my line for emergencies. Hello. Oh, you went to get something from the kitchen then forgot what it was? [CHUCKLES] Classic brain fart. You got brain gas, my friend. I'll be right over with some degassing solution. Hang tight, duderino. All right, pals, I've got to jet ski. Later, carburetors.
[ROBOTIC CHIME]
ROBOTIC VOICE: Brains On.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here's something that always grabs my attention. It's the--
[MECHANICAL WHISTLING]
CHILD (WHISPERING): - Mystery sound.
MOLLY BLOOM: Are you ready for the mystery sound, my friend, Maisy?
MAISY: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here it is.
[RUSTLING SOUND]
What do you think, Maisy?
MAISY: It sounded kind of like if someone was, like, knocking things over.
MOLLY BLOOM: Great guess. I have no idea what this is either. Should we hear it again maybe and see if it gives us any other clues?
MAISY: OK.
[RUSTLING SOUND]
MAISY: Maybe something hard. It could be like-- like, maybe they could also be something that, if hit the ground, it was loud like a box.
MOLLY BLOOM: Those are all really good thoughts. OK, we'll hear it again and get another chance to guess and hear the answer after the credits. So stick around.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We're working on an episode about memory and we want to hear from you. Do you ever use a song or a rhyme to help you remember something? We'd love to hear it. Maisy, do you use a song or rhyme to remember something?
MAISY: Yeah. Like in kindergarten, we sang this song about the continents.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, how did it go?
MAISY: I think it started with North America and South America.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, you know what's a song that's really helpful to me to remember stuff, and I use it, like, all the time? Is the alphabet song.
MAISY: Oh, yeah, I do that too.
MOLLY BLOOM: It's the only way I can remember alphabetical order. I've got to sing the song every time.
MAISY: [CHUCKLES]
MOLLY BLOOM: Like sitting there at the library and I'm like, I've got to find this book. A, B, C, D-- and I go through the whole alphabet.
[BOTH CHUCKLING]
MAISY: Yeah, I do that sometimes. Like once I was at a Harry Potter camp and we were doing ancient runes, and I wanted to write them in the alphabet. I was like, A, B, C, D--
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly, very useful song. Well, listeners, please record yourself singing or reciting your rhyme. It can be one you invented to remember something very silly. Whatever you want. Send it to us at brainson.org/contact. And while you're there, you can send us mystery sounds, drawings, and questions.
MAISY: Like this one. Why do we need oxygen to breathe?
MOLLY BLOOM: Again, that's brainson.org/contact.
MAISY: And keep listening. You're listening to Brains On. I'm Maisy.
MOLLY BLOOM: And I'm Molly. Today, we're talking all about boredom. We just heard how boredom is an emotion that people usually avoid.
MAISY: Yeah, it can help you get creative, but it also doesn't feel great, so people usually try to bust their boredom as quickly as possible.
MOLLY BLOOM: These days, we have a lot of ways to do that-- games, videos, TV, movies, surfing the web.
MAISY: So you'd think we'd be the least bored people in all of history. But I have a feeling that's not the case.
MOLLY BLOOM: Me too. It turns out the idea of boredom wasn't really a thing until sometime in the 1800s.
MAISY: But people were around for thousands of years before that, and they definitely felt bored sometimes. But people who study this think that those people just assumed it was normal to have dull times.
MOLLY BLOOM: These days, we have so many quick ways to avoid feeling bored. When things slow down, we think, why not just grab a tablet or a phone right away?
MAISY: But when you do this, you usually stop yourself from getting into a deep state of boredom, like that daydream mode.
MOLLY BLOOM: Right. Here's an interesting story. During the pandemic, scientists studied a group of people who were stuck at home with very little to do. They found that these people were-- you guessed it-- often really bored. But some of them got really bored, like mega bored, like super duper bored. And for a lot of these people, it pushed them to take up hobbies or learn new things.
MAISY: Like carpentry or baking or making wigs for cats.
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly. But other times when people got bored, they quickly turn to social media, and so they never got really super duper mega bored. Sure the boredom went away, but the researchers think it also stopped them from getting motivated to do bigger, cooler projects. Maisy, do you remember getting really bored during that time? Did you take up any new hobbies?
MAISY: Well, I did start going for a lot of walks to try to find cats, but that was basically it.
MOLLY BLOOM: [CHUCKLES] Did you make those cats wigs?
MAISY: No.
MOLLY BLOOM: No?
MAISY: But there was this one certain cat that was-- we thought his name was Franklin, but then it was actually named Frankie.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh.
MAISY: He was really cute anyway.
MOLLY BLOOM: That is really cute. Yeah, for me, during that time, I got really into baking cakes. I was like, I'm going to bake. I got time. And they were delicious. It was a good way to pass the time. Our emotions expert Heather Lynch thinks when you use devices to beat boredom, it's only a short-term fix.
MAISY: She says when boredom inspires you to do stuff that's important to you, you feel more accomplished afterwards, and that can feel really good.
MOLLY BLOOM: Totally. Now, if you're looking for some productive ways to beat your boredom, you're in luck. We asked Sanden to come up with some ideas. Take it away, Sanden.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Hey there, Brains On pals. Have you ever been bored out of your gourd? Like, there wasn't anything fun to do on the whole planet? [SCOFF] You're not alone, right, Wombat Pete?
WOMBAT PETE: Oh, true story, Sanden. I sometimes have days where nothing feels interesting, not even playing wom basketball, watching The Wom Bachelor or treating myself to a nice, soapy wom bath.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Ugh, I call that yucky mopey. Nothing interesting feeling the blorgs.
[WACKY MELODY]
Like, ugh, blorg. It's raining and I'm stuck in my Burrow.
[WACKY MELODY]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Or, no, the skate park is closed today. Ugh, total blorg.
[WACKY MELODY]
When I was a kid, the blorgs used to really bum me out. After all, it's tough when you're young because you haven't learned all the ways to manage your boredom yet.
WOMBAT PETE: Right. But don't you worry because Sanden and I are old.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Well, I mean, not that old.
WOMBAT PETE: Like ancient, so old.
SANDEN TOTTEN: OK, come on now.
WOMBAT PETE: And in our many years, we've learned to beat the blorgs.
SANDEN TOTTEN: [FIGHTING UTTERANCES]
WOMBAT PETE: That's right. And we'll train you too, that's why we're wearing matching wrestling onesies. Now cue the training montage.
[ROUSING MUSIC]
Round one.
[BELL CHIMES]
Take a look around you and see what you're working with. Got a couch? Great. Build yourself a rad cushion for it and imagine you're camping in the woods.
[FIGHTING UTTERANCES]
Imaginary campfire and double decker s'mores. Nice. If camping isn't your style, create an obstacle course and challenge your family to a race. Hopscotch down the hallway, but scoot down the stairs, crawl on all fours to the kitchen, and finish with a somersault. Round two.
[BELL CHIMES]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Grab a pencil and a paper and give your imagination a workout. Write a silly poem. Design your dream treehouse or your dream wombat Burrow. Better yet, draw me and Sanden partying down at Wombat Fest. Whoo! Yeah! Next, try writing a list of your favorite types of cheese in alphabetical order. Bonus points if you can make a cheese quilt out of them. Create a book of bedtime stories for your family. Draw a picture of something amazing that you want to do someday.
[FLIPPING THROUGH PAGES]
Check it out, Wombat Pete, here's one of my drawings. See, that's me, and I'm flying a kite shaped like a fire truck while I'm riding a yak named Boris.
WOMBAT PETE: Hey, you know, Boris? I know Boris. He's the best. Final round.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Time to finish off those blorgs with some rapid fire ideas.
WOMBAT PETE: Dance party. Crank some tunes and have a dance off.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Grab a laundry basket, a broom, and some rolled up socks, play a game of sock hockey.
WOMBAT PETE: Make a batch of pudding then make a finger painting out of pudding then lick the painting.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Stick googly eyes on rocks and hide them around your neighborhood.
WOMBAT PETE: And if none of those things sound like your cup of tea, think of something that makes you smile, giggle, go hmm or even eww.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Yeah. You might even be inspired to start a new project or hobby.
[BELLS CHIME]
Whoo hoo! [CHUCKLES] Great work. We beat the blorgs. Give me paw, Wombat Pete.
[CLAP]
WOMBAT PETE: My dude!
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
SANDEN TOTTEN: Oop, yikes, Molly's coming. You know, she's a real stickler about that wombat insurance. Uh, quick, hide in the closet.
[CLOSET DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES]
[DOOR OPENS]
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, hey, Sanden. Maisy and I were just going to go set up a very non-boring slip 'n slide outside, and we thought you might want to come hang. Wait, why are you in a wrestling onesie? Are we interrupting something?
MAISY: [SNIFFS] It smells kind of like wombat in here.
SANDEN TOTTEN: [CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY] Wombat? No. LOL. That's so funny you would say that. Random. Uh, it's just me in here and I was sweating to the oldies. And I had broccoli for lunch and a lot of sauerkraut. Whoops, and beans. Toot toot [CHUCKLES] Sanden Totten, more like Sanden Tootin', right?
MOLLY BLOOM: [CHUCKLES] Tootin', good one, buddy. Come on outside when you're ready.
[DOOR CLOSES]
[CLOSET DOOR OPENS]
WOMBAT PETE: Did she say slip 'n slide? Let me get my wom bathing suit.
SANDEN TOTTEN: Wait, Wombat Pete, hold on a second. We're not insured for that!
[FOOTSTEPS RUSHING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: Boredom is an emotion, just like sadness, happiness, excitement, or fear.
MAISY: We feel it when our brains aren't interested in what's going on around us.
MOLLY BLOOM: It's good for you to feel some boredom.
MAISY: It can inspire you to be creative or learn new skills, and it gives your brain a rest.
MOLLY BLOOM: Social media and screen time might seem like boredom busters, but they can sometimes make your brain feel worse. It's good to just let yourself be bored sometimes.
MAISY: And you can use that feeling to dream up all kinds of new ideas.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's it for this episode of Brains On.
MAISY: This episode was written by Sanden Totten and Anna Goldfield, with production help from Molly Bloom, Anna Weggle, Rose DuPont, Aron Woldeslassie, Nico Gonzalez Wisler, Ruby Guthrie, and Marc Sanchez.
MOLLY BLOOM: This episode was edited by Shahla Farzan and sound designed by Rachel Breeze. Beth Perlman is our executive producer. The executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati, Alex Schaffert, and Joanne Griffith. Special thanks to Carla Wozniak, Brian Charles, Samia Schwartz, Andy Doucette, and Eric Ringham.
MAISY: Brains On is a non-profit Public Radio program.
MOLLY BLOOM: There are lots of ways to support the show. Head to brainson.org
MAISY: While you're there, you can subscribe to our Smarty Pass which lets you listen to ad-free episodes and other awesome bonus content
MOLLY BLOOM: And you can submit your questions and fan art. Have we mentioned how much we love your fan art? It's the best. OK, Maisy, are you ready to listen to that mystery sound again?
MAISY: Yes.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK, here it is.
[RUSTLING SOUND]
MAISY: I still say that sounds like stuff being knocked over.
MOLLY BLOOM: I'm going to make a wild guess about what it is being knocked over. I think it's the wombats having a party in the backyard. And they erected some kind of structure to dance on and it fell over.
MAISY: Oh, OK, OK.
MOLLY BLOOM: What do you think?
[BOTH CHUCKLING]
Is that possible? I mean, it was sent by one of our listeners. Maybe they had a wombat party at their house too.
MAISY: OK.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK, it's a good a guess as any. OK, so we're still thinking metal falling down.
MAISY: Or anything that's, like, hard that will hit the ground.
MOLLY BLOOM: All right, let's hear the answer.
OSCAR: Hello. This is Oscar and Felix from France. That mystery sound was us putting away puzzles.
MAISY: I would never have guessed that in a million years.
MOLLY BLOOM: I would never have guessed that either. Putting away puzzles. Those must be very heavy puzzles.
MAISY: Yeah, probably.
MOLLY BLOOM: I'm giving you partial credit because they had to be heavy to make that noise. And for all we know, they were made out of metal. Felix and Oscar did not specify. So you know, who knows?
MAISY: They sounded pretty loud.
MOLLY BLOOM: [CHUCKLES]
[PUZZLES CLATTERING]
Now it's time for the Brains Honor Roll. These are the incredible kids who keep the show going with their questions, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives.
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
We'll be back next week with more answers to your questions.
MAISY: Thanks for listening.
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