Sept. 6, 2026

La Tomatina : the festival where you throw tomatoes

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Spain’s Buñol hosted La Tomatina on August 26, with thousands throwing overripe tomatoes in an hour-long fight rooted in a 1945 food fight and popularized for some by a 2011 Bollywood film; inventor Diana created the iThrone, a waterless toilet that evaporates about 95% of the water in human waste and has been deployed in Uganda, Panama, and the U.S., earning a Global Citizen Wastelets Award and $100,000; ReShark released 82 young zebra sharks into protected Indonesian waters after estimates of only about 20 adults remained in 2019; missing dog Teddy was rescued after nearly three weeks on an English mountain and reunited with his owner; and a pickup spilled about 120 containers of Utz cheese balls on LA’s westbound 105, slowing traffic as some drivers stopped to collect them.

00:12 La Tomatina Tomato Fight
01:17 iThrone Waterless Toilet
01:57 Zebra Shark Comeback
03:01 Teddy Mountain Rescue
03:38 Cheese Balls Highway Spill

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WEBVTT

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Oh my, this sounds like so much fun. Hi, I'm

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Johnny Mac with five good news stories. The Spanish town

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of BuÃ±ol became a sea of red on August 26.

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Thousands of people had gathered for La Tomatina. The messy

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tomato fight. Trucks rolled through the streets delivering overripe tomatoes.

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Participants wasted little time throwing them at one another. I

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want to go to this next year. This sounds amazing.

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Music blasted as white shirts turned pink with many revelers

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wearing swimming goggles to keep the flying pulp out of

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their eyes. The tradition dates to a food fight from

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1945 and has grown into an international attraction held on

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the last Wednesday of August. For some visitors, the journey

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began at the movies. There's a 2011 Bollywood film whose

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title I can't pronounce follows three friends traveling through Spain,

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and that film introduced the festival to audiences far beyond Spain.

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Visitors Mazar and Sonia traveled from India after dreaming of

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attending the tomato fight for more than a decade. Participants

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were reminded to squash their tomatoes before throwing them to

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help prevent injuries. A cannon blast signaled the end of

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the battle, sending the tomato-covered crowds towards communal showers while

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crews hosed down the streets. The festivities lasted little more

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than an hour. Diana is an inventor. She recognized a

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challenge shared by many communities on Earth. How do you

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build a toilet that works without running water or sewer pipes?

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Her answer became the iThrone, a waterless toilet designed for

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places beyond the reach of conventional plumbing. The toilet evaporates

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approximately 95% of the water contained in human waste, reducing

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the amount left to collect and dispose of. It requires

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no flushing or sewer connection. The iThrone has been deployed

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in Uganda, Panama, and the United States. Her work earned

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a Global Citizen Wastelets Award, including $ 100, 000 to help her

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team expand the project and reach more communities. She actually

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started this working on a space toilet. Good news if

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you're a young zebra shark. Some shark nannies have helped

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young zebra sharks return to the wild. 82 young zebra

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sharks have been released into protected Indonesian waters. The releases

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are part of ReShark. I love that title. An international

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effort that brings together aquariums and conservation specialists to raise

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sharks for life in the wild. In Indonesia, researchers estimated

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that only about 20 adult zebra sharks remained in 2019. 20,

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he said. 20. Yikes. Now, captive breeding is helping giving

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these species a fresh start. There's just too many of

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these stories. We've got to take care of the planet, people.

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Participating aquariums send fertilized eggs to specialized nurseries where trained

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animal care experts, nicknamed shark nannies, Look after the hashlings.

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I feel like there'd be a good cable TV show

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called Sharknanny. Once the young sharks reach about a meter

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in length, they're released into a sprawling marine sanctuary. Good

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start so far. They're finding the released sharks are finding

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food and remaining within the protected area. But the challenge,

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zebra sharks take years to mature, and researchers need to

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see whether the released animals will eventually breed in the

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wild and establish a self-sustaining population. Good news for Teddy

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the dog. Teddy is back with his owner after spending

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nearly three weeks missing on one of England's highest mountains.

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Teddy was on a hike on August 2nd, disappeared, posters

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went up, volunteers were looking. No Teddy. Then, a couple

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weeks later, searchers heard barking from Dry Gill, which is

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a steep ravine on the mountainside. They found Teddy alive,

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but they couldn't reach him, so they had to call

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the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team. Seven team members took part

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in the rescue, which lasted about three and a half hours.

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They secured Teddy in a rucksack and gave him a

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little food before carrying him down to the parking lot.

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There he was reunited with his owner and taken to

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the vet. He had lost considerable weight, but was doing okay.

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All right, Johnny Mac, why were you late for work

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this time? Well, boss, you see, I was there on

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the westbound 105 around Linwood when suddenly a pickup truck

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lost a pallet of cheese balls on the highway. About

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120 containers spilled onto the westbound lanes of the 105.

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The California Highway Patrol shared video. The video showed Utz

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cheese balls scattered across the roadway, creating an unusual obstacle

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for drivers heading through the L.A. area. But the spilled

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cheese balls weren't the only reason traffic slowed. Highway Patrol

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officials said some motorists stopped to retrieve undamaged containers of

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cheese balls. But you know how the show works. Everybody

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was OK in the end. And those are your five

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good news stories for today. Have a great day.