Episodes

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Finland won the World Olive Picking Championship in Croatia, with team captain Petri celebrating an unlikely victory despite Finland having no olive trees, harvesting 122.1 pounds in 45 minutes (Czech Republic second, Poland third). Skateboarder Diego set the Guinness World Record for fastest standing downhill skateboard speed in Quebec, reaching 94.34 mph after passing on a 91.27 mph run to chase 93 mph. In New York, Queens resident Joshua cleaned a dum...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: In a small English village with speeding problems, a resident knitted life-sized “police officers” in hi-vis uniforms, and drivers slowed down due to quick visual recognition of the uniform; local police didn’t object. Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station researchers studying reefs in American Samoa observed some corals recovering full color from bleaching in as little as seven weeks, suggesting variability and possible genetic or structural advantages in c...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: researchers confirmed wild Spix’s macaws in Brazil for the first time in 24 years, with DNA and behavior indicating successful reproduction after coordinated captive breeding and reintroduction efforts. In Nigeria’s Niger Delta, Martha and a women’s group in Rivers State have replanted over 40 hectares of mangroves, helping fish and juvenile sea life recover. Cambodia’s Mekong Irrawaddy dolphin population reached an estimated 118 after six new calves, ai...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: fishermen and forest officials in West Bengal rescue a 3–4-day-old Asian elephant calf from floodwaters, reunite it with its herd, and confirm it is healthy; Zoe leaves a $75,000-a-year mechanical design job in Chicago after visiting Yellowstone to work as a seamstress for Xanterra, earning $19.25/hour with $96/month dorm housing; Yellowstone’s geology team collects 280 hats and other lost items from geothermal areas, including lens caps, sunglasses, Inv...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: two first-ever recorded olive ridley sea turtle nests were found in Seal Beach and Huntington Beach, California, with 204 eggs moved to the Aquarium of the Pacific as scientists link the event to warming ocean temperatures pushing species north. In southeast Mississippi, veteran April runs Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary for 22 rescued primates and a veteran program called Unplugged that uses trust-building with animals to help veterans heal. In Borneo, Bor...

John shares five good news stories: an emu named Sideneck escapes an open gate at Tuckin’ Hay Farm and is brought back after a spirited chase and negotiation while the alpacas watch; Fat Bear Week draws over 100,000 votes and is won by 20-year-old Bear 89 “Backpack,” estimated at 1,000–1,200 pounds and known for staying out of drama; 12-year-old Sloan in Phoenix runs her fifth annual diaper drive, exceeding her 22,500 goal by collecting 30,000 diapers for Nourish Phoenix; Field Museum researcher...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: In Australia, prisoner Andre, 55, won a Supreme Court of Western Australia ruling that denying him Vegemite was an unjustified infringement on his cultural rights, overturning a prison ban based on potential fermentation into alcohol. In Finland, the national broadcaster’s silent livestream “Pennalive,” featuring Hikka the Lagotto Romagnolo and six puppies, drew over six million viewers and is linked by researchers to oxytocin release. In Colorado, a 209...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: North Canton Police and an Ohio Department of Natural Resources officer rescue a white-tailed deer tangled in a backyard hammock, freeing it uninjured; a man buys a $30 Gertrude Abercrombie painting at a Milwaukee-area estate sale that is authenticated as “Alderman Merriam’s Shells” (1951) and opens at $75,000 at auction; NBC and Telemundo’s 12-year “Clear the Shelters” campaign, spanning 1,200+ shelters in 47 states, matched 135,000 animals this summer—...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Victoria, Australia added three national parks—Mount Buungar, the Pyrenees, and Wombat-Lerddergh—protecting over 250 square miles of forest and mountain habitat, including old-growth trees needed by endangered greater gliders, after advocacy dating to 2010. A small marble study by Trevi Fountain sculptor Pietro Bracci, made around 1736 for Pope Clement XII and long missing, resurfaced after decades in an English garden and was identified at auction. Doll...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Tanzania’s government officially designated a 14-kilometer-long, 200-meter-wide wildlife corridor in April 2025 after the Southern Tanzania Elephant Program mapped a route and compensated 368 landowners; cameras recorded at least 1,440 mammals, including 529 elephants, and Reforest Africa planted 100,000 native trees with 50,000 more planned. In southern Norway, melting glaciers studied by the Secrets of the Ice project have yielded 73 archeological site...

Johnny Mac shares five Halloween-themed stories: a pediatric dentist lists eight candies worst for kids’ teeth, emphasizing that days of post-Halloween snacking are the real problem, and naming sticky chews, sour candy, taffy/caramels, hard candy, licorice-type candies, pure sugar candy, candy corn, and chocolate with caramel/nougat. Major League Soccer shifts most Saturday night matches to Saturday afternoon or Sunday for trick-or-treating, except the Colorado Rapids. In Westland, Michigan, vis...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Zoë, a KLM pilot who started flight academy at 17, unexpectedly co-piloted a flight with her father Michel, a 35-year KLM veteran, while her mother Marjan served passengers on the same plane. In India, Julia Roberts visited a sanctuary in 2009 and named a rescued sloth bear Odum; now 26, he lives calmly at Wildlife SOS’s Bear Rescue Center. At Kenya’s Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Nursery, orphaned black rhino Titan and zebra Noddy became close companions as ...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: wildlife workers in Massachusetts found a rare two-headed (bicephalic) baby diamondback terrapin that is being monitored at the Cape Wildlife Center; archaeologists in a Paris hospital courtyard on the Seine discovered a 2,000-year-old Gallic fortification wall and related finds dated to around Julius Caesar’s 52 BCE conquest; a bear wandered into an Aspen market, ate bread from a booth, climbed a tree when authorities arrived, and left on its own; New Y...

Johnny Mac shares five Halloween-themed stories: Sydney Sweeney revives her Euphoria character Cassie Howard’s controversial look to promote a Halloween costume for her brand centered on a $269 Date Night Satin Corset with a lace-up back and structured silhouette, plus dog ears, collar/leash, and matching bracelets. In Boise Beach, residents report rats eating porch pumpkins; a pest-control worker advises moving pumpkins indoors near windows, avoiding straw, and focusing on removing food sources...

Tim Dillon | Five Good News Stories: Floodwater Shark, Dinosaur-Age Mammal Find, School Shooting Prevention, Rescued Deer, Nepal Tigers Surge Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: after a New Jersey nor’easter flooded Surf City, video showed a shark swimming through driveway floodwater, later identified by a biologist as a harmless smooth dogfish likely headed toward Barnegat Bay; a small 66-million-year-old skeleton found in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert and later reexamined at Stony Brook challen...

Johnny Mac shares five Halloween-themed good news stories: Tropical Smoothie Cafe launches its first Halloween drink, the bright orange Fanta Phantom smoothie topped with purple vanilla popping boba and served in a clear cup; Rivian adds a limited-time Ghostbusters Halloween mode via over-the-air update through November 2 with themed lights, sounds, lock tones, a scavenger hunt, and a Mini Puff “Mallow Mash” game; United Way and local partners in Muscatine County provide free Halloween costumes ...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a whale watch boat off Massachusetts spotted an 18-foot whale entangled in fishing gear and towing a buoy, prompting a response from the Center for Coastal Studies Marine Animal Entanglement Response Team and the Coast Guard. In England, the National Trust transformed the Sandal Lands coastal golf course into a wetland of about 45 football fields, and birds began nesting there before the project was complete. In Pennsylvania, 17-year-old Alexander built ...

Johnny Mac shares five Halloween-themed good news stories, starting with candy reviews: Hi-Chew Mystery Mix is praised for flavors like green apple, cotton candy, and orange creamsicle (with a mystery flavor unrevealed until Halloween), while Brach’s Mellow Cream Spooky Graveyard is panned across its flavors and shapes; Kit Kat “Counts” are highlighted as a Halloween standout despite thicker chocolate, and Keebler Spooky Fudge Stripes are criticized. He then spotlights Aldi’s Halloween cheeses, ...

Host Johnny Mac shares five good news stories centered on Halloween season trends. He recaps a cleveland.com look at the unloved orange-and-black “Peanut Butter Kisses,” originally Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses, tracing their makers’ decline and noting Milster Candies as the sole current producer selling them online. He highlights Halloween-themed Nike and Jordan Brand sneaker releases, including models tied to Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant with various spooky c...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories, led by Adam Vinatieri kicking a 33-yard field goal at Jungfraujoch in the Swiss Alps (11,317 feet) to earn the Guinness World Record for highest altitude American football field goal, organized by the Patriots to promote their game vs. the Lions in Munich. In Ecuador, the 1997 discovery of the Jocotoco antpitta led Robert Ridgely to protect its habitat, creating the Jocotoco Foundation’s network of 19 private reserves safeguarding 123,000 acres and docum...

David Rush Sets New Cup-Flipping Record as Scotland Cycling Surges Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Bicycles outnumbered cars on Edinburgh’s Leith Walk during a morning count for Cycling Scotland’s 48-hour survey, with 67,000 bike journeys...

Johnny Mac shares five Halloween-themed good news stories: Spirit Halloween’s annual costume trend report, noting fandom-driven picks like Toy Story, K-pop demon hunters, Spider-Man, The Backrooms, and Fortnite alongside staples, and that 70% of shoppers buy Halloween items before September with Home Depot’s 12-foot skeleton often sold out before Labor Day. Chewy pet lifestyle expert Whitney says funny pet costumes are popular, with wigs rising and a new baked potato costume, plus simpler option...

Johnny Mac shares five good news Halloween stories: Tombstone Pizza is selling a limited-edition Candy Corn Pizza kit via online drops, offering a cheese or pepperoni pizza plus candy corn for $1.31 shipped; in New York City, Heidi Klum’s limited Butterfinger dessert pizza is available all month at Crazy Pizza in SoHo with samples planned for the Village Halloween Parade on Oct. 31. Fifteen Tommy’s Express locations in Michigan are running a “Tunnel of Terror” haunted car wash. DoorDash data sho...

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: researchers in Bolivia confirmed a newly documented wild cat species, locally called “Chilkayo,” genetically distinct from the oncilla and split from its nearest relative about 1.4 million years ago. At Chimp Haven in Louisiana, 54-year-old chimp Pierre, blinded by cataracts, was trained with positive reinforcement to cooperate with care and then underwent successful cataract surgery, quickly reconnecting with caregivers and his companion Jill. Emma’s fa...