Blue raspberries and harry berries

A Great Wolf Lodge, there's a adventure for the whole family.

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Sometimes you see stuff in nature that doesn't make sense.

Until it does, like a horse looking creature with a super long neck, seems impractical. Until you learn that these creatures also call giraffes, use that neck to eat leash from tall trees, or a flower that looks like a wasp, which is weird. Until you learn that this helps the flower trick real wasps into visiting it and pollinating it.

Which brings us to respires. Ever noticed they have little hairs on them? Are they growing fur because they're cold? Do they forget to shave? Turns out this is another case of something odd being something awesome when you understand

it. Stick around. We've got the scoop on this very delightful berry. Times are changing if you're a millennial like me, the world you grew up in no longer exists. Because in the world we grew up in, we were told everything online should be free.

We all knew it really wasn't free. People had to work hard to make funny videos, cool music and smart podcasts, but we got it all for free back then. Now we know better.

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You can even get a birthday message from me. So show the world that you support what you love, join SmartyPass at SmartyPass.org. Thanks! You're listening to Brain Zon, part of the Brain Zon universe. I'm Molly Bloom and my co-host today is Zoe Samara from Houston, Texas.

Hi! Molly! So it's Zoe Samara, you wrote to us with a very good question, pun intended. What was that question? The question was, if a blue raspberry isn't a real fruit, how did it become a flavor?

Such a great question, so what got you thinking about it? My friend actually inspired this question. She had a fruit roll-up and it was blue raspberry, and I was like, wait, it's not a real fruit. I was at a flavor.

That's so smart. So do you like blue raspberry flavor? Oh, I love blue raspberry flavor, it's an invention in your mouth. It's bloats. Absolutely.

And how about real raspberry? Do you like those too? I love red raspberry.

“They're very tangy, but kind of sweet, so I think that's a good mix.”

So what is your favorite way to eat them? I have two, so one of them. It's like I stick them in my fingers and I pretend they're like a family.

The second one I have this thing, it's called a coop, and it's like a whipped cream, but

it's unlike a tub. It's like I stick them in the tub and I eat them and it's like a really creamy and sweet goodness. Oh, that sounds so good, both of those ways of eating them. It's delicious.

Wonderful. So is there a fruit flavor that you like better as a candy than you do as a fruit? Oh, I really like strawberry, so I got to say like a strawberry candy, I think it's very sweet. Yeah, it is a really good flavor.

Um, it will be raspberries and then strawberries and then little bits of mango. Oh, so delicious, which has any kind of dairy product, you know, like yogurt or ice, maybe. I think maybe ice. Okay. Delicious.

Are there any fruits that you don't really like? I'm not a big fan of kiwi. I don't like the seeds. I don't think it's normal.

Yeah, kiwi's always like kind of hurt my tongue a little bit.

I don't know if you have that feeling too, but they're kind of like, we're not talking about that.

“I think I get unpleasant crunch because there's lots of seeds.”

Yes, am I just realizing that I'm allergic to kiwi during this conversation? It's a kiwi. So if you could have a personal mini farm with any fruit or vegetable ever, so you could always have a supply handy, what would it be? Okay.

For fruit, it would have to be raspberries and then strawberries and then mango and peach. I really love mangoes and peaches. I think they're sweet. And for vegetables, I really like Brussels sprouts, I don't think anybody else in the world died.

I love Brussels sprouts. Yay! Yeah! I have to have a friend. And then carrots and broccoli.

Oh, you have excellent taste in fruits and vegetables. Vegetables. I can't wait to come visit your farm. Thank you. Well, I don't know about you, but I am so ready to talk about raspberries.

Are you kidding? I was born ready. Okay, I was born a baby, so I was like, wow, wow, but now I'm older and I'm so ready. I got my berry bracelet on.

I'm sporting my raspberry beret, you know, the kind you get at a second hand store.

Totally. I also brought my snack pack back pack full of raspberry flavored snacks, of course. Ah, a fellow snack head, much respect. And check it out. I made a shirt that says raspberries are red, but the candy is blue.

I'm curious about this. How about you? Well, you are ready. Well, let's start by getting to know these little red rascals. Here's a fun fact.

Raspberries are closely related to roses. Yep, in fact, if you are lucky enough to see a raspberry bush in the wild, it's pretty thorny, kind of like a rose bush. Wow, raspberries have been growing for thousands of years. But researchers think they were first formed by Romans around the year 300.

From there, Romans helped to spread them across Europe, and eventually the type of plant was brought to America. They're also super healthy. These little berry bites are packed with fiber, vitamin C, and other super good for you things.

“That's why for centuries, people in Europe use them as medicine to treat all kinds of”

things. Ooh, you suffer from diarrhea, cramps, vomiting, swollen tonsils, a weakened heart. The answer to all of it is the bush of raspberries, consume it, and beeth well. Today we're not so sure how well it treats all of those things.

But we do know it's a powerful plant.

It's still used in herbal teas to help cramps, it's considered a super food, and the fruit is being studied for its high level of antioxidants. Those are nutrients that help protect our cells and keep us healthy. Now that we've covered some of the berry basics, it's time to tackle this question. Hi, my name is Amelia Soros, I'm from Renton, Washington, and my question is why raspberries

have hairs? My favorite way to eat raspberries is putting them on the tips of my fingers. And I started noticing when I was eating raspberries and I wanted to look close to them, and I saw they had hairs, and I wanted to tell brains on. We are so glad you told us, I love putting them on my fingers, too.

It's like they're wearing a tiny berry hat. An actual raspberry beret. Yes, so what is up with the hairs on raspberries? I can help with that! Whoa!

Who are you? And where did you come from? Hi, hi, hi, hi, I'm Bart, a berry barber. Oh, what? You know, a barber, but for berries.

I used to say I was a bearer, but people thought I shaved bears, which is so silly. Imagine that, someone shaved in bears. How ridiculous, no, no, no, I shaved berries and other fruit. In fact, here's my next client. Hey, Bart.

Hey, hey, hey, beach. Give me the usual. Shave the peach folds, you got it.

“Did you know there was a fruit barber shop in the studio?”

Honestly, I have no idea how it got there, but stranger things have happened, trust me. So, why would I shave this beach?

Get this.

“Raspberries are berries, but they are not true berries.”

Right, berry is a botanical word.

That means it's a plant science word, and in plant science, the definition is different from how we non-plant scientists use it every day. Yes, yes, yes, and a true berry is one that's just one little piece of fruit with multiple seeds. Braspberries, on the other hand, are technically a clump of a lot of little fruits.

I didn't know that, and I'm a peach, fascinating. Also, can you shave my back while you're at it? Of course, peach. How are raspberries a clump of fruits? Well, you know how when you look close, a raspberry is made up of lots of little red balls.

Those are called droops, and each one is a tiny fruit.

So, a single raspberry is actually a collection of tiny droop fruits.

“It's the same with blackberries, also not a true berry.”

Well, so, what is a true berry? Blueberries is just one plump little fruit, and weirdly enough, a banana is a true berry, so is a pumpkin, but technically speaking, but back to the raspberries. If you look really closely at them, you'll see they have two kinds of hairs, longest thing yellow strands that look kind of like many stems, and much smaller.

There's like a white fuzz on the berry. Oh yeah, there's one yellow hair sticking out of each lower right ball. Those juops you mentioned, but also the whole thing has a short soft white fuzz too. Correct, correct, correct. Those longer strands are called styles.

They're part of the plants reproductive system. They help to the flower get pollinated and become a fruit. What you are seeing is a leftover from that process, so those styles are stylish and style-portant. So what about the soft white baby fuzz?

“I'll tell you in a second, but first, how's it looking, PG?”

You shade me so well, I look like a nectarine, just how I like it. So if you'll excuse me, while I rinse and towel off Mr. Peaches here, then I'll finish telling you about raspberries. Well, that's a good excuse for us to take a break, too, and give a listen to the... You ready for the mystery sound?

Yes, here it is.

Hey, first of all, I got to say that was very aggressive.

I like to point that out. Second of all, I feel I feel like it was knocking on a door, or maybe bang something on a table. So why do you think someone would be banging on a table aggressively? Maybe, like, I don't know, till, like, trick us.

Like, it could be, like, something, but at the end, I guess something pulled down. I don't know. But I feel like it's closer to aggressively knocking on a door, because you can just hear the banging. Yeah, I also have no idea what this is.

Can we hear it again? Hmm, it gets louder. I'm getting a mix of drums and aggressively... Yeah, I was feeling drums that time, too, because it almost sounds... It's like, really cool.

Yeah, it's rhythmic, and, like, a little hollow sound in. So, yeah, I like drums, okay, aggressively, sporadically, plain drums. Yeah. Okay. We will hear it again, get another chance to guess, and hear the answer after the credits.

Keep listening! We have a book club, want to join, everyone in Smarty Pass is automatically a member. This time, we're reading a book called The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finn again by Jasmine Warga. Read the book, then join us for a chat with the author. We'll ask for your questions, and talk about the book together, plus you can nominate books for the next book club pick.

To be part of it, join Smarty Pass, go to SmartyPass.org to sign up. Happy reading everyone! [Music] Today's episode is sponsored by Bombus. It's the time of the year, we think about, "Hmm, what am I going to do differently this year?"

Maybe I'm going to read more.

Maybe I'm going to learn a new skill, but really at the top of my list is number one to get comfy.

“And that's where Bombus comes in. They're bringing a serious comfort to all my everyday go-tos.”

The all new Bombus sports socks are engineered with sports specific comfort for running golf hiking, skiing, snowboarding, and all sport. This year, I'm going to walk my dog more, longer walks, better walks, and these socks are going to help me stay comfy while I do it. And from my other resolutions, like going to the bookstore and picking out more books to read, I'm going to wear my new Squishy Saturday Swade slip-on shoes, which are super comfortable for being on the go. Head over to bombus.com/family26 and use code Family26 for 20% off your first purchase.

That's BOMBAS.com/family26 code Family26 at checkout. Today's episode is sponsored by Great Wolf Lodge. At Great Wolf Lodge, there's a adventure for the whole family.

You and your pack can splash away in the indoor water park where it's always 84 degrees.

There's a massive wave pool, a lazy river, and tons of water slides for your pack to enjoy it together. And the fun doesn't stop there. Get ready to explore and play at adventure-packed attractions from MaggiQuest, a live action game that takes place throughout the lodge to the Northern Lights Arcade. There's also a bunch of great dining options and complimentary daily events, like Nightly Dance parties all under one roof. And the best part, with 22 lodges across the country, you're always only a short drive away from adventure.

“So, bring your pack together at a lodge near you.”

Book your stay today at Great Wolf.com and strengthen the pack. [Music] Hey, I'm Molly. I'm Zoe Sumar. And we're talking about raspberries.

Hey, hey, hey, it's me. Bart, the berry barber. Barbering.

Ah, nah. I style fruits, snip snip strawberries, buzz, buzz, blackberries, you know, a common normal job.

We learned that raspberries aren't true berries, but they are truly delicious and truly healthy. They have two kinds of hairs, longer stands called Styles and a soft-white fuss. Yes, yes, yes. And that fuss is called Trichomes. They're kind of hard to see.

But it's the same fuss you see on peaches and kiwis. Very cool. I wondered about peach fuzz, so tell us about Trichomes. Well, when your hair is messy, try combs. I'm joking, yeah.

Trichomes are important for fruits.

Think of that white fuzz, like a mini suit of armor.

It gives us special chemicals that keep away bugs and even fungi. Plus, Trichomes make a waxy substance that helps keep water in the fruit. So your peaches and berries, they juicy. Well, thanks, Trichomes. Thank you, Trichomes, indeed.

Not only do they help fruit out, they keep me in business. Ah, my next client. Hello, Miss Kiwi. Hey, Bart. Just a trichome, Trim, please.

You got it. Well, thank you, Bart, the berry barber. That was super helpful. Yeah, I learned a lot. Thanks.

Yay, glad I could help. Okay, see you later now. Let's clip clip this kiwi. So raspberries have two kinds of hairs. Strands called styles and a fuzz called trichomes.

But sometimes you might notice a different kind of fuzz growing on your raspberries. Malt. Yeah, trichomes are usually kind of translucent or see-through. But if you notice a more solid looking fuzz growing on your berries, toss 'em. Yeah, it's probably mold.

It grows easily on damage berries. But if you see a few moldy guys in your berry carton and the rest look fine, it should be okay to just throw those moldy ones away and eat the clean ones. And to avoid more, don't stack too many berries on top of each other. And eat them pretty quickly after getting them. Say less, I'm already doing it.

These berries are voss.

“Coming up, what's the deal with the blue raspberry flavor?”

Is there actually a blue raspberry? We will find out. But first, male bag. This is the part of the show where we check out the cool stuff you all sent us.

Ivy from San Jose, California sent us a link to a podcast. She started herself.

“It's called, this is pretend what I'm about to tell you.”

And it's a story podcast about talking animals, flying houses, time travel, all the good stuff.

Here's a clip from the first episode about two kids named Luke and Mars at a playground.

Well, Luke is on the slide. Mars swings. Oak goes over the pool. She goes so high that he accidentally jumps off. She lands in a different world. She looks around and he sees this tiny village in front of him. He says, where is Luke?

Where is my friends? He looks around and he's not in the park. Oh, cliffhanger, I love it. To find out what happens, check out Ivy's podcast. This is pretend what I'm about to tell you.

We asked Ivy to tell us more about it. Hi, my name is Ivy. In the reason why I started my podcast was because I like storytelling. Making roads through my imagination. Also, I like sharing them with others.

Just like brains on. Thanks for sending this to us, Ivy. If you have something you want to share, get in touch. Go to brainson.org/contact. See you in the mail bag.

Today's episode is sponsored by Dell. Dell PCs with Intel inside are built for the moment you plan and the ones you don't. Therefore, those all-night study sessions, the moment you're working from a cafe and realize every outlets taken, the times you're deep in your flow and can't be interrupted by an auto update,

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plus you'll help make sure shows like these stick around. Just go to brainson.org/smartypass to join. Thank you. I'm Molly, with Zoe Samara. We're back and about to find out why blue raspberry flavor is a thing.

Yeah, all the raspberries I've eaten are red, but I've definitely had blue raspberry flavored slushes before. So why the blue hue? Raspberry's do come in different colors. Along with red, there are golden ones, pinkish ones, even purple ones.

“And it turns out there is technically a blue raspberry,”

or at least a kind of blue raspberry. It's called a white bark raspberry.

When it first starts growing, it's white,

but when the raspberry gets ripe, it becomes a dark, herbaly blue. But blue raspberry flavored things are usually a bright electric blue. They don't look anything like the white bark raspberry. They usually taste different than a white bark raspberry too.

For the story of the blue raspberry flavor, we have to time travel back to the 1970s. It was a time of bell bottoms, psychedelic music, phone detached to the wall with cords, and no internet. Just like now, back then people loved popsicles.

If it was hot out, you grabbed one of these cool treats, and they had all the classic flavors, like cherry, strawberry, water melon, and raspberry. But hold up, picture those pops. Cherry, strawberry, watermelon, raspberry, throw a red. Yeah, and back then, they were all pretty much colored the same way,

with a food dye called red dye number two. Not a very appetizing name. True. And it turns out there were some not very appetizing reports about it too. In 1976, the United States Food and Drug Administration

published a paper that found red dye number two was linked to increased cases of cancer. Oh no, red dye number two. So the government banned it to keep people safe, but this left food companies with a problem.

How are you gonna make things bright red? Lucky for them, they found another red dye to use instead,

but it didn't solve the first problem of all the ice pop flavors

looking the same. Imagine hoping to slurp up a raspberry pop, and you instead get a tongue full of cherry? No, thank you. So since people were switching up food dyes,

Why not try blue?

“There weren't many flavors that used to blue dye,”

mostly because there aren't many blue foods.

So someone came up with the idea of colouring raspberry flavored popsicles with the blue food dye, and it was a hit. Blue raspberry as we know it was a bone. Something about the raspberry flavor and that cool blue colour just worked. People didn't care if it was unnatural.

They still wanted it. Hey, pops, you got any more of those electric blue tasty treats in that far-out freezer, man. Make that too. I want to beat the hot summer blues

by looking some icy cool blues. There you go. You kids in your more than one colour having pops. In my day, everything was red, and we loved it.

So thanks to those pioneering pop makers,

blue raspberry caught on as a fake, but we'll take it colour and flavor combo.

“Today, you can find blue raspberry pops, gummies, gum, and more.”

The colour may be wrong, but the end result is also right. Speaking of, you got any blue raspberry treats in that snack pack backpack of yours. Do I ever? You want juice, suckers, flowers?

I got it all. Your commitment to snacking is really impressive. Raspberry's are not true berries, but rather a collection of a lot of tiny fruits. Those little fruits are called drips.

Each droop has a strand of hair like material called a style. And the raspberry itself is covered with fuzzy tricomes. These help protect the fruit. Blue raspberry flavor isn't based on real raspberries. Instead, it's a colour and flavor combination

dreamed up by ice pop makers. And today, it's a combo you see in lots of sweet treats. That's it for this episode of brain song.

“This episode was produced by me Molly Blue Mark Sanchez and Sandin Totten.”

It was sound design by Mark Sanchez who also wrote our theme music. We had voice acting help from Cathy Marescu and did you set the Big Island tour in Coco, special thanks to Shannon Harrison, Reba Teville, Faceman, and Alaya.

And can divorce the echo to the north for all of his website help. Okay, Zoe Samara. Let's hear that mystery sound one more. Time.

Any new thoughts? I'm still going with aggressive drumming. It's rhythmic but very loud. Yes. Maybe the person's listening to music on their headphones

while they drum? You know, yeah. I'm excited. I don't know. I don't know.

This is a tough one. I truly don't know. I like your drumming idea. I'm going with it. Should we hear the answer? Yes.

All right. Here's the answer. Hi, I'm Toby and I'm from St. Paul, Minnesota. And that was the sound of me tapping in balloon. I'm sorry, what?

What balloon was that? To tapping in a balloon. We got to hear it again. Hold on. Hold on.

like a filled up balloon, you know like the rubbery. I mean I guess I could kind of hear, but I don't think I hear. Was that a balloon? I forget it. It's an unusual way to terrible balloon. I've met a balloon. No piece of metal balloon. Oh, one of those shiny ones. It's it's an alien balloon. I don't believe

that's a balloon. I'll never believe it. But you know what? Here's why I'm giving us partial credit.

Blooms are hollow, drums also hollow, right? True, because they have nothing inside of yeah. So I'm giving us partial credit. First of all, thank you. I agree with that. Now it's time for the brains honor roll. These are the incredible kids who keep the show going with their questions ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and tie-fives. River from Santa Fe New Mexico, Jacob and Grace from Brooklyn, New York, Rosie from Booting, China, Valentina for Minneapolis,

James from Charleston, South Carolina, Helena from New York City, Ada from London, England, Sadius, and Persephone from Miller, Hill, Pennsylvania, Sylvia, and Fiona from Bar Harbor, Maine, orrest from Berlin, Germany. Edith and Maddie from Walnut Creek, California, Will from Flagstaff, Arizona, Karina from Maryville, Missouri, and Nathaniel from Topeka Kansas, Billy from Barry St. Edmunds, United Kingdom, Skylar from Roswell, Georgia, Cole from

Toronto, Clara from Jackson Heights, New York, Felix from South Bend, Indiana, Cordelia from Ottawa, Conal from Red Deer, Alberta, Cason from Vancouver, Island, Tran, Voutail, Mai from Hanoi and Vietnam, Lee and Leonide from Portland, Oregon, Jason from Regina, Alira from Lasberg, Virginia, Judah, and Grant from Skoki, Illinois, Laudie from Los Angeles, Arlo from Chattanooga, Tennessee, August from Jamal, California, Carmac from Dublin, Ireland, Dalia from Beverly Hills, Michigan,

Silas from Santa Rosa, Michigan, Dasty Caleb, and Jordan from Boston,

“L.A. from Leesburg, Virginia, Cecilia from Spring, Texas, McKenzie from Johnson,”

City, Tennessee, Mills from Bluffdale, Utah, a million harbor from Waaki, Iowa,

Alcia, and Eleanor from De Chora, Iowa, Eastern from Victoria, Australia, Leo, Huey,

“and Everett from Cleveland, Ohio, Pippa from Ritten, Washington, Apple from Austin, Texas,”

Iharo from Monterey Park, California, Darra from Vancouver, Iris and Tally from Needin,

Massachusetts, Daphne and Alister from Monterey, Jersey, Beth from Canada,

“Brooklyn from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Finley and Winston from Houston, Texas,”

Sala, and Enoch from Pine Lake, Georgia, Rodriguez from San Antonio, Texas, Carolyn, Emma and Frederick from Bothal, Washington, Lanna from Fort Riley, Kansas, and Zander from Bluffdale, Utah. Will be back next week with an episode about baseball. Thanks for listening.