Sept. 12, 2026

Hey, where did that island come from?

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Lithuania hosted the fifth annual Corgi Race of Vilnius, drawing 150 corgis from nine countries, with American corgi Gigi winning the 25-meter final, Mr. Corgington placing second and taking loudest bark, a costume parade won by Amigo, and Latvia’s Tora and Rusty winning a hidden treat search. In Abu Dhabi, Amira’s Ice Station serves date-based soft serve made with naturally sweet kollas dates after years of experimentation, and she is working on her 448th flavor. A May 2025 survey in India counted 891 lions, about a 70% rise since 2015, with expanded range and 17 lions now living year-round in Barda Wildlife Sanctuary. In British Columbia’s Williston Reservoir, a tree-covered floating island appeared July 20 and vanished by August 5, possibly driftwood lifted by rising water. In California, a pickup spilled a pallet of Utz cheese balls on the 105, worsening delays as drivers stopped to retrieve containers.

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Hey there, I'm Johnny Mac with five good news stories.

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Some came to sprint, some came to sniff. It was

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a race. Yeah, but not a regular race. It was

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an international corgi celebration, bringing 150 corgis from nine countries

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to Lithuania for a day of racing and, you know,

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athletic competition. It's the fifth annual Corgi Race of Linus.

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94 dogs entered the main race with American Corgi GG,

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short for Gustav the Girl Dog, winning the 25-meter final.

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Fellow American Mr. Corgington, love that name, finished a close second,

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followed by Lithuania's Mocha, the two-time former champion and hometown hero. Mr.

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Corgington didn't leave without a title, though. He won loudest bark.

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Are you sure he's not upstairs when I'm recording my podcast?

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I just had a shout at the dogs. Never mind.

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You'll think I'm a jerk. 38 corgis dressed for a

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costume parade featuring everything from dinosaur outfits to sportswear. A

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knight-inspired look earned Amigo top honors from both the judges

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and the public. Tora and Rusty from Latvia shared victory

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in the hidden treat search. Britain had their first entrant. Duke,

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he's 12. He didn't do the sprint, but he entered

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the barking contest. His owner joked he spent his whole

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life practicing for it. Sounds like a lot of fun.

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An ice cream class at age 53 gave Amira an idea.

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First of all, what's an ice cream class? Can I

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take this? Anyway, Amira wanted to know, could one of

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her country's most treasured fruits provide the sweetness for soft serve?

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The answer, of course, is yes, after several years of

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experiments and several broken ice cream machines. But she now

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has her answer at Ice Station in Abu Dhabi. Amira

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makes date-based soft serve using naturally sweet cola states instead

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of added sugar. Getting the recipe right took persistence. You see,

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sugar gives soft serve its smooth texture as well as

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its sweetness, so replacing it required more than simply mixing

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more fruit into the ice cream. She had to find

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a way to process the dates that would deliver creamy consistency.

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She's now working on her 448th flavor. John, did you

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say 448? John did say 448th. If you're in Abu Dhabi,

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check out the ice station and try all 448 flavors.

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Good news for lions in India. The lion population has

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grown by roughly 70% in a decade. A May 2025

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survey counted 800 lions in one particular area. That was

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up from 523 in 2015. The range of the lions

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has expanded to reaching nearly 35,000 square kilometers across 11 districts.

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Nice job by the Barta Wildlife Sanctuary, where lions returned

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naturally in 2023 after disappearing from the area in the

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19th century. There are now 17 lions living there year-round.

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Here's a mystery for the X-Files or maybe for the

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show Lost. A tree-covered island gave residents of British Columbia

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an unusual mystery. Where did the island come from and

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where did it go? All of a sudden, there was

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an island in the middle of Williston Reservoir. BC Hydro

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spokesperson Bob initially questioned the reports and was like, what

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are you talking about? There's no island. But satellite imagery

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from July 20th confirmed the island was real, but by

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August 5th, it was gone. Bob suggests it may have

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drifted into a sheltered spot along the shoreline, making it

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harder to locate. Also, where did an island come from?

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The theory is driftwood can collect near shore over several years,

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gradually decomposing into material where plants and trees take root.

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Rising reservoir levels may then have lifted the mass away

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from the shore and sent it floating, hence an island.

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If you see a guy named Ben, be very careful.

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All right, John, this bit's getting a little old. Why

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were you late for work this time? Well, you see, boss,

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I was there on the 105 in California, and there

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was a cheeseball spill. That's right. Rush hour traffic got

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a helping of cheeseballs when a pickup truck lost a

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pallet of cheeseballs. On the westbound lanes of the 105,

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video showed Utz cheese balls scattered across the roadway. But

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it wasn't just the cheese balls because, you know, just

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drive through them and squash them. But the highway patrol

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says some motorists stopped to retrieve undamaged containers, adding to

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the delays. And those are your five good news stories

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for today. Don't forget, I host a podcast called Daily

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Comedy News seven days a week. And if you would

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like this program or Daily Comedy News or Palace Intrigue

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about the royal family, if you'd like any of those

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without commercial interruption, use Apple Podcasts. And there's a banner

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what to do. Short version, five bucks a month. Have

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a great day.