Watermelon vs Cotton Candy

**Molly Bloom** (0:02)
Lemonada.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:07)
Brains on Universe.

**Molly Bloom** (0:12)
Thinking critically is more important than ever. That's why we make Smash Boom Best. We want every kid to know how to spot a good argument and how to call out a logical fallacy. But none of it is possible without your support. Seriously, we could disappear if our listeners don't step up. But that part is easy. Just join Smarty Pass. You'll get access to ad-free versions of our shows, special online hangs with our crew, discounts on merch, and more. Plus, you'll feel great knowing you're helping us pay our debaters, sound designers, writers, and more.
Join now at smartypass.org. Thank you. Now, it's showtime.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:50)
From the brains behind Brains On, it's Smash Boom Best.

**Julia** (0:55)
The show for people with big opinions.

**Molly Bloom** (0:59)
Hi, I'm Molly Bloom, and this is Smash Boom Best, the show where we take two things, smash them together, and ask you to decide which one is best. Today, we've got two sweet treats that are delights to eat. On one side, we have the colorful fruit that's hydrating to boot, and on the other, the magical confection that's like an edible cloud. That's right, it's watermelon versus cotton candy.
Here to chomp down for watermelons is the host of Forever Ago, Joy Dolo.

**Joy Dolo** (1:28)
The Divine Rind is here to dissolve the competition.

**SPEAKER_6** (1:32)
Oh, that's so good.

**Brant Miller** (1:36)
Strong start.

**Molly Bloom** (1:36)
Strong start. That's all I got. It's all downhill from there.
And here to spin a winning argument for cotton candy is actor and video maven, Brant Miller.

**Brant Miller** (1:46)
A dissolvable candy on a stick?

**SPEAKER_8** (1:48)
Yes, please.

**Molly Bloom** (1:52)
And here to crown the superlative snack is Julia from Atlanta. Julia goes to Mandarin immersion school, can recite the alphabet backwards, and does three activities that start with F, fencing, flag football, and French horn. Hi, Julia. Hi.
So is there a phrase in Mandarin that doesn't really have a good equivalent in English that is your favorite?

**Julia** (2:12)
I don't know. One of my favorite Mandarin words, though I learned this the other day, it's kai xing guo, which is pistachio, and kai xing means happy, and because pistachios look like they're smiling because of the shell, that's why they're called kai xing guo.

**Molly Bloom** (2:27)
Love that. It's like a happy nut basically.

**SPEAKER_10** (2:29)
Yeah.

**Molly Bloom** (2:31)
They're called happy nuts to me from now on. So do you have a specific position you play in flag football?

**Julia** (2:36)
Yeah. On defense, I rush, and then on offense, I play center.

**Molly Bloom** (2:41)
Very cool. I don't know what that means.
What does the center do?

**Julia** (2:45)
You pitch the ball to the quarterback in the beginning of the game.

**Molly Bloom** (2:49)
So it's like hut hut hike, and then you pitch it back to them?

**Julia** (2:52)
Yeah.

**Molly Bloom** (2:52)
Very cool.
And then so for flag football, the difference between like tackle football is that instead of tackling, there's flags. Can you explain that?

**Julia** (3:02)
Normally, girls play flag football, and then the guys play tackle football. So you have like a flag around your waist, and then whenever you want to tackle someone with the ball, then you pull their flag, and then the ball is out of play.

**Molly Bloom** (3:16)
So that's like the equivalent of tackling.

**Julia** (3:18)
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

**Joy Dolo** (3:19)
Is there ever a part of you that just wants to reach over and just take them down?

**SPEAKER_8** (3:23)
Yes, oh my gosh.

**Joy Dolo** (3:25)
Just take them down, like, don't touch my flag.

**Julia** (3:28)
Yeah.

**Molly Bloom** (3:29)
Yeah, so how often do like, tackles accidentally happen?

**Julia** (3:33)
Oh my gosh, if you like, touch somebody, you get a red card.

**Molly Bloom** (3:36)
It's really bad. Wow, okay, so like, you gotta be careful.

**Julia** (3:40)
No, it's so annoying, like, I'll be running towards the quarterback to try to pull their flag, and then I'll accidentally hit them immediate red card.

**Molly Bloom** (3:48)
So does a red card mean you're, like, out of the game? Like, what are the consequences for the red card?

**Julia** (3:52)
So sometimes they'll, like, push you back, like, you have to go, or, no, like, the other team, like, if you're on defense and the other team goes forward, like, a down, or sometimes they just take you off if it's really bad.

**Molly Bloom** (4:04)
Ooh, okay, so like, if you were, like, were to tackle someone, they would probably kick you out of the game.