5 Good News Stories - happiness and fun
Every day the news feels heavy. 5 Good News Stories is your daily antidote — five short, uplifting stories about human kindness, scientific breakthroughs, unexpected heroes, and moments that remind you the world isn't as broken as the headlines suggest. Hosted by John McDermott, each episode is under 10 minutes and designed to start your morning right or reset your afternoon. If you're looking for a positive news podcast, a feel-good daily listen, or just five minutes of happiness — this is your show. New episode every day. Follow wherever you listen to podcasts.
Episodes
Adam Vinatieri Kicks Highest Altitude Field Goal
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, cr
The Inconvenience Store
David Rush Sets New Cup-Flipping Record as Scotland Cycling SurgesJohnny 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 statewide (up 25% year over year) and strong impact from Edinburgh’s e-bike rental program, which has logged 1.5 million trips since last fall. In North
The most popular Halloween Costume the year you were born
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
Candy Corn Pizza????
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’
There's a new kind of cat!
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
Tim McGraw Songwriter Helps Rescue Nashville Foxes
Tim McGraw Songwriter Helps Rescue Nashville Foxes as Bison Return to Mexico ReserveJohnny Mac shares five good news stories: 48 bison were reintroduced after 200 years to the El Santuario Wildlife Reserve within Mexico’s Cuatro Ciénegas Biosphere Reserve, where their hooves, coats, and dung help break compacted soil, spread seeds, and fertilize the desert oasis ecosystem. In Nashville, 78-year-ol
Costco’s Smashable Chocolate Frankenstein, Starbucks Black Cat Frappuccino, and Candy Corn Beer
Johnny Mac shares five good news Halloween stories: Costco is selling a 5.5-pound Belgian chocolate Frankenstein head that comes with a wooden mallet and contains a pound of body-part-shaped gummy candies for $55, though it’s sold out and being resold for up to $100. Lego released a 323-piece Halloween Pumpkin Lantern set that lights up when the stem is pressed and includes a spider and glow-in-th
70,000 Pints of Guiness gone missing!
Johnny Mac shares five upbeat stories: a 15-year-old, Derek, survives two days on an overturned fishing boat in Alaska’s Bering Sea and is rescued by a Coast Guard crew and a nearby vessel; the Metropolitan Opera hires a boa constrictor named Princess (with understudy Nala) for a Mozart production reset at a 1950s Coney Island carnival after singer Zoe auditions the snakes; in Hungary, 19 teams co
Florida Steakhouse Offers Nude Dining
Host Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a Hollywood, Florida steakhouse called Class Soiree Steakhouse will host a nude dining experience the first Monday of every month, with clothed staff, rules including no touching, robes and seat covers provided, and pricing of $250 for men, $150 for women, and $300 for couples for adults 18+. An engineering prodigy in Florida, Nathan Thomas, became th
Bride rides a cow into church wedding
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories, including a farmer bride, Victoria, who rode a Swiss cow named White Chocolate Button into Holy Cross Church after arriving mostly by tractor, then returned to the farm to milk cows with her new husband Mike before their reception. A Cincinnati Animal Care kitten, Gelato, previously seen using a homemade wheelchair, received a custom 3D-printed wheelchair
Taylor Swift Halloween Costume Idea Tops 2026 Picks
The episode delivers five upbeat Halloween items: Variety’s 2026 costume ideas, including Nikki from “Obsession,” Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl bushes, Athena or Odysseus from “The Odyssey,” Madison Square Garden Knicks celebrity row (highlighting a Taylor Swift Knicks shirt), doctors from “The Pit,” and Dolly Parton. Chicago Cat Tours announces a Halloween neighborhood cat-walk event on Saturday, Octobe
How to win at Wordle 99% of the time
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Binghamton University researchers used Shannon entropy to create a Wordle strategy that solved 99% of puzzles in simulations by maximizing information gain rather than guessing the most likely answer, though it requires running a side program. Researchers in Thailand found Asian elephants can resist impulsive reaching and adapt to a rotated clear box to ac
1,000 pairs of underwear buried across 25+ countries
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: the Ig Nobel Awards in Zurich honored unusual research including a project burying 1,000 pairs of underwear across 25+ countries to study soil health by measuring fabric breakdown, alongside studies of cockroach milk, nose-blowing mechanics, and the evolution of kissing, with paper airplanes thrown as part of the ceremony. In Florida, deputies found a buck
48-Year-Old Freshman Football Player
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a supposed new island in British Columbia’s Williston Reservoir that vanished and reappeared 18 miles away, which BC Hydro says is actually unstable driftwood and decaying debris; Chardonnay, a four-year-old Australian shepherd, setting a Guinness World Record by jumping across 56 people’s backs in 16 seconds at an Alberta Riverhawks baseball game with 44
Horse Plays Guitar
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: in Los Angeles, singer-songwriter Mikaela collaborates with Youppi the Horse, who plays guitar with his nose and also experiments with other instruments while they work toward an EP. New York City is funding an $800,000 study to test a transit thermal energy network at the Brooklyn Bridge and Chambers Street subway stations that would capture platform heat
The Cat With 29 Toes
Johnny Mac presents five good news stories: a Wisconsin Maine Coon named Erebus Anomaly sets a Guinness World Record with 29 toes due to polydactyly, surpassing previous record-holder Jake (28) and a kitten named Toby who matched 28. A Dutch TV host Klaas sets the fastest motorized clog record at 70.05 mph in a polyester-and-fiberglass clog built on an electric go-kart frame with help from invento
Cezanne's "Still Life with Cherries" recovered from art thieves with stolen tractor!
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Lu and his wife, partially paralyzed due to diabetes, began driving China’s coastal provinces in 2014 and are still traveling more than a decade later in a camper Lu outfitted with living essentials while serving as her full-time caregiver. In Italy, police recovered stolen paintings by Renoir ("Fish"), Cezanne ("Still Life with Cherries"), and Matisse ("O
What's worse than a mouse in your mouth? A bat!
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories, starting with a Virginia doctor who woke from a dream of a mouse entering her mouth to find a bat on her face; her husband captured it, she went to the ER with the bat, and it tested negative for rabies. Two men metal detecting at New York’s Great Sacandaga Lake found a Red Creek High School class of 1988 ring and, after contacting the school, returned it
Hey, where did that island come from?
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
Punch the Monkey!
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Punch, a Japanese zoo monkey abandoned by his mother and rejected by other monkeys, went viral with a stuffed toy and now comforts and protects younger monkeys struggling to adjust, acting like a big brother. In England, 76-year-old John fought a parking company for over two years over a 90p fee after a machine printed only part of his plate; a judge dismi
The Squidpocalypse closed the highway
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: France has banned unsolicited telemarketing calls unless consumers opt in, with fines up to 75,000 euros per illegal call and limited exceptions for consent or existing contracts. Dale “Graybeard” Sanders, 91, became the oldest person to complete the 2,193-mile Appalachian Trail, finishing Aug. 31 after 71 falls, injuries, and a hospital visit, encouraged
La Tomatina : the festival where you throw tomatoes
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., earn
OnlyMarms: OnlyFans with wholesome marmot videos
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Colorado researchers studying yellow-bellied marmots launched “OnlyMarms,” a free OnlyFans account with wholesome marmot videos that has drawn about 1,700 fans and roughly $6,000 in tips, plus events like Fat Marmot Week and a fundraising beer called Marmot Tears. Desertas Island land snails, once thought to have only 21 left under a single rock in Portuga
Goosey the hero goose
Johnny Mac presents five good news stories: an Italian lottery player in Bitonto won about $1.15 million but mistakenly threw away the ticket after a store scanner said it was “non-payable,” and a local garbage company safely sorted the collected trash to recover the intact winning ticket; a juvenile Kemp’s ridley sea turtle found stranded in Wales in December 2023 was rescued by Anglesey Sea Zoo
Runaway Bull Rodeo Rescue
Johnny Mac presents five good news stories: the University of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx opened Dax House, a renovated convent residence offering housing-insecure women private rooms for $250 a month, a permanent address, and case management through a partnership with the Sisters of Charity of New York and DePaul USA. Chester Zoo in England celebrated five endangered secretary bird chicks af
Bottle of Guiness from 1864 Found
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories, including a TikTok-viral baby sea turtle named Franklin in Barbados that safely reached the ocean after onlookers let nature take its course, with a marine biologist explaining the beach crawl’s developmental importance. Two former teenage pen pals, Jo Ellen and Eiko (Agnes), reunite after 50 years when Jo Ellen uses Google to find her in Illinois and they
30 Year Old Fish Sauce Cleanup
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: St. Mary’s, Canada begins removing about 330,000 gallons of fermented fish sauce left in an abandoned Atlantic Seafood Sauce Company factory, with crews draining tanks, mixing the liquid with peat moss, and burying it in a prepared pit. In upstate New York, the Salamanca City Central School District postpones introducing “Sally,” a $60,000 robot teacher’s
Why a concert will take 639 years to finish
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a 639-year performance of John Cage’s Organ2/ASLSP in a medieval church in Halberstadt, Germany, begun in 2001 and scheduled to end in 2640, using an electric blower to sustain notes and drawing crowds for rare chord changes while helping fund church repairs; Paralympic medalist Mohammed completing the Triathlon Across America by swimming around Manhattan,
A Golden Retriever and her best friend Louie the duck
Barley, a golden retriever whose seizure medication dulled her personality, regains her spark after bonding and playing with Louie, a duck acquired via Facebook Marketplace for Justin’s garden center; 67-year-old Claire cycles 6,835 miles from Portugal to Norway on her bike “Margaret” to honor her father and raise awareness of motor neuron disease, noting strangers’ generosity and an encounter tha
Churro the Burro returns after VIP Ferry Adventures
Johnny Mac delivers “five and a half” good news stories, starting with his dogs safely getting back inside on their own. In British Columbia, a five-year-old is reunited with his pink stuffed donkey after BC ferry staff turned it into a social media star, renaming it Churro the Burro. In Illinois, a maintenance worker is stranded 130 feet up inside a gas station sign for about five hours after a b
The crazy reason Spider-Man was there to direct traffic
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a man dressed as Spider-Man for Superhero Day helped a wheelchair user cross a busy Arkansas intersection and the act went viral after police posted traffic-camera footage; a Nebraska family reunited with their missing dog, Chung, found 642 miles away after five years despite a microchip complication; the Phenom 300 EV business jet will add Garmin’s emerge
Jimothy the raccoon gives back!
Edinburgh’s Hilda Houseplant Hospital, created by Rosanna, treats struggling indoor plants through diagnoses such as repotting, trimming, pest treatment, quarantine, and even liquid drips, plus tips like watering by pot weight and moving plants from direct sun during heat waves. Julie, Portugal’s last circus elephant, begins retirement at the Pangeia Elephant Sanctuary after Portugal’s wild-animal
A Bear Takes A Peach At A Military Base, and guess what it left
A black bear wandered into the Exchange mall at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, ate a peach, was caught on security cameras pooping, and was safely escorted back to the woods with no injuries. In Australia, a city gathered over 600 trombone players to perform “76 Trombones” in an attempt to break the Guinness record of 368 set in Washington, DC in 2012. In India, 15-year-old Parth creat
Please do not bring any grenades
Johnny Mac: OPP Grenade Warning, 600+ Trombone Record, Outback Barber, Oldest Water Skier, Denmark Santa Congress Ontario Provincial Police remind the public not to transport found explosives after someone brought an unexploded WWII grenade into Ottawa police, advising people to leave such items in place and call police for disposal. In Australia, Ipswich City Big Band organized a Guinness World R
Teen and Mom Tracked a Scammer to His Restaurant
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: 19-year-old Blake in England was scammed selling his MacBook on eBay but, after police were unhelpful, he and his mom went to the delivery address (a restaurant) and got the laptop returned, though he advises others not to do the same. In downtown San Jose, the long-unsolved “San Jose Semaphore” puzzle atop Adobe’s headquarters was decoded by Brian as pixe
Cheeky License Plate SQZ A55 - PLUS Pitbull fans set record
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a 76-year-old Florida woman received the license plate “SQZ A55,” initially demanded a replacement, then decided to keep it after family and friends encouraged her; a Colombian theme park set a Guinness World Record with the world’s largest ceramic piggy bank, which accepts coin donations for local animal shelters and includes an interior exhibit and obser
Two Bears Stole a Set of Golf Clubs
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: International Skinny Dip Day, officially recognized by the American Association for Nude Recreation, has raised over $60,000 for the Fistula Foundation since 2019, funding surgery for about 96 women, with 571 participants at Blind Creek Nude Beach in Fort Pierce, Florida. In Rhode Island, Centerville Bank gave employees $100 gas gift cards, and many chose
Pole Dancer floods apartment
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: A Myrtle Beach restaurant buyer found $12,000 in $100 bills hidden in a cabinet left by the previous owner, contacted a local TV station to help locate the owner, and returned the money. Paris is expanding an underground cooling network that pumps cool water from the Seine through about 120 kilometers of pipes to chill thousands of buildings, with plans to
How to become your dog's favorite person
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: vet Dr. James Greenwood says dogs can have a favorite person based on personality and energy match, with clues in body language like a full-body wag, “helicopter tail,” excited greetings, and choosing to sit close; daily walks help build the bond. In Canada, former fisherman Sean founded the Clean Harbours Initiative in 2018 after seeing seafloor debris,
The Vending Machine That Sells Original Artwork
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Kansas City’s 120-year-old Rock Island Bridge over the Kansas River has reopened as a $20 million destination with restaurants, event space, walking paths, and panoramic views, after engineers found its steel structure largely intact. In Kent, England, two garden ornaments thought to be concrete were identified as rare 18th-century Italian marble busts fro
Renew your vows on the Water Slide
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: John and Keisha renewed their vows atop a 60-foot water slide at Land of Natura Water Park while attempting Guinness records, including six slide trips in wedding attire, as part of a 30-day cross-country vow-renewal tour. Engineers at the University of Texas at Austin created a prototype jacket that pulls moisture from the air to produce about three-quart
A Man Fell Into a Toilet Ditch. He Wants His Sunglasses Back.
The script presents five upbeat news items: Spoodles, a parakeet aged 32 years and 86 days, is recognized as the world’s oldest living parakeet, having been with her owner Amanda since 1997 and still saying “Pretty bird.” In Las Vegas, Domino’s employee Richard from Virginia wins World’s Fastest Pizza Maker by assembling three large pizzas to company standards in 31.22 seconds, earning $5,000, a t
The Celebrity Seal Is Disrupting Traffic Again
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: In Tasmania, Neil the Seal, a five-year-old 2,200-pound southern elephant seal, returns for his annual molting visit, causing minor damage and prompting officials to urge people to keep a safe distance. In North Carolina, dozens of apples (and some oranges) drift ashore, likely from a cargo ship; volunteers collect them to protect wild horses from choking
The Fox That Only Eats Hot Dogs
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: In Australia, strangers lifted a car to rescue Tyler, a motorcyclist pinned after a crash, leading to hospitalization for broken ribs and a punctured lung, and he later reunited with and thanked the rescuers on TV. A son, Shane, surprised his father Daniel with a restored white 1969 Mustang Mach 1 for Father’s Day, honoring sacrifices made raising six chil
Giraffes Are Better at Math Than You Think
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a Spain and Germany study testing four Barcelona Zoo giraffes suggests they can track additions of carrots and choose the larger amount about 68% of the time, though they struggled when carrots were removed. Scientists in China developed a solar-powered desalination system using engineered nanomaterials that produced over five gallons of drinking water dai
The Bear That Walked Into an Occupied Hotel Room
A bear let itself into a hotel toom. Space balls wash up on the beach. A bull brings a cricket match to a halt.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/5-good-news-stories-happiness-and-fun--5747537/support.5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
Why Is This Seal Purple?
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: French police recovered a stolen Pablo Picasso portrait worth about 12 million euros during a drug-dealer investigation near Paris; four suspects were arrested in thefts tied to a Paris storage warehouse, and the authenticated artwork will be returned to its owner. Duke University researchers restored retinal function in mice by injecting lab-grown human r
The Vibrating Suitcase at Airport Security
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a Columbia University study of 11,000 office workers finds the best way to counter sitting is a five-minute walk every hour, boosting mood, alertness, and productivity; University of South Florida researchers report toxins tied to Antarctic sea squirts show early promise against melanoma, killing cancer in mice without harming them, though producing enough
The Titanic Items Going Up for Auction
RMS Titanic Incorporated, which holds salvage rights, is seeking to auction over 100 recovered Titanic artifacts, sparking debate between funding expeditions/exhibitions and preserving the wreck as a memorial; England research from Queen Mary University of London reports young women vaccinated for HPV at 12–13 have close to zero risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30, with an estimated 200 l
Earth Might Survive the Sun Exploding
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a new study suggests Earth might avoid being swallowed when the sun becomes a red giant because mass loss could weaken solar gravity and tidal effects may be weaker than once believed, potentially letting Earth drift outward (though Mercury and Venus would not). In Portland, Sunshine Division opened a free food market in Slabtown that lets families choose
TSA Is Now Letting People Bring Ranch on Planes
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: the TSA reminds World Cup travelers that ranch dressing over 3.4 ounces must go in checked luggage, while Kraft offers TSA-compliant travel kits of individual ranch packets. In Ireland, a cat named Billy became a World Cup predictor by choosing between flags and correctly picking 19 non-draw match winners, though distractions like a fly disrupted one attem
There's a Loose Giraffe Somewhere in Texas
Harry Styles Supports UK Runner’s 850-Mile Tribute, Plus Four More Good News Stories Host Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Loz ran about 850 miles across the UK in under 17 days (about 50 km daily) to honor his parents, raising a goal of £8,000 for four charities tied to cancer, heart disease, children’s healthcare, and mental health; after Loz posted daily updates inviting Harry Styles t
Bears get snow day in San Diego
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: the San Diego Zoo gave rescued grizzly bear brothers Scout and Montana a snow day with industrial snowblowers, highlighting the need to secure food and trash in bear country; Scotland’s Dalrymple family sold Bass Rock—home to major seabird colonies and described by David Attenborough as a top wildlife wonder—to conservationists so groups like the RSPB can
AI Found Breast Cancer Doctors Missed
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Swedish researchers analyzing nearly 89,000 mammograms from over 31,000 patients found that three commercial AI mammography systems could spot subtle breast-cancer warning signs and elevated risk scores up to six years before diagnosis, while cancer-free patients generally scored low. In Germany, archaeologists uncovered an exceptionally rare Celtic prince
Orange cat interrupts Romeo and Juliet
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Steve, a paralyzed miniature Australian shepherd in Denver whose wheelchair was stolen from a porch, received a donated new 2026 model from Walkin' Pets after the plea on Instagram drew over 150,000 views. In the UK, early clinical trials at University College London Hospitals found CAR-T therapy can reset the immune system and put severe lupus into remiss
Fake butts and other items left behind in Ubers
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Uber’s 10th Annual Lost and Found Index lists common forgotten items like phones and wallets alongside oddities such as dentures, breast milk, an ankle monitor, live fish, butterflies, a fake butt, and even two trees; New York City tops the most forgetful cities, Sundays are worst, and July 17 is the most forgetful date. In Sydney, a concertgoer named Ster
The 48 foot tall soccer ball
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: A Washington police department found a mother bird nesting with four eggs inside a training motorcycle’s storage compartment at its new headquarters and chose not to disturb it; two eggs have hatched. Researchers reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology that the experimental pancreatic cancer pill D-A-R-A-X-O-N-R-A-S-I-B helped metastatic pati
German Shepherd drifts out to sea in inflatable kayak
Johnny Mac presents five oddball good-news stories: a famed Masterton, New Zealand fernery (dating to 1924 and housing 60+ fern varieties) is temporarily closed for deep cleaning after several incidents of people pooping there despite nearby public toilets; a New Zealand grocery store draws visitors for a rare half-red, half-yellow apple estimated to occur in fewer than one in a million fruits; Gu
Petition to stop ketchup packets and napkins
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories in a July 4th message: two German shepherds, Maya and Liv, sniff out two kittens hidden by a shed, and the kittens are taken to a local caregiver and cleared healthy by a vet; in Argentina’s Iberá National Park, a wild jaguar named Ombú is spotted for the first time in 70 years as conservation work grows the population from zero to 50; Colorado sophomores E
Blackie the Anteater escapes!
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories ahead of July 4th: YouTuber Carlos “The Malibu Artist” was shocked when a great white bit an underwater camera off Southern California, cracking its dome and producing footage from inside the shark’s mouth. In Denver, the Food Matters Restaurant Challenge helps restaurants cut waste and costs, including Blue Sparrow Cafe re-steeping chai spices to save $2,5
Bear Buffet, Hot Dog Fox, and Five Good News Stories
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a black bear in Red River, New Mexico was filmed calmly eating birdseed from a porch, prompting the Red River Marshal’s Office to remind residents to remove wildlife attractants. In Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, police investigated a barbecue-goods “theft” and found the culprit was a red fox with stolen hot dogs. In Portugal, the charity Pangeia has developed E
The Restaurant Where You Pay What You Can"
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories, starting with Unscrambler.com’s analysis of Google searches for spelling help, led by “bougie,” followed by “favorite” and “through,” plus state-by-state examples like Florida searching “school” and Georgia “chihuahua.” He highlights The Long Table, a restaurant with one or two dishes nightly where everyone sits together and pays what they can; it served 3
Scientists Built a Sound System for Elephants
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: RMIT researchers in Australia are adding about 1% cigarette butt material to clay to make bricks that need less kiln energy, are lighter, and insulate better, helping address the over six trillion plastic, toxin-leaching cigarette butts discarded yearly. At Zoo Atlanta, a Georgia Tech PhD student designed an audio enrichment system for elephants—computer v
Charlie the Cow Was Saved at the Last Minute"
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Charlie the Cow, raised in a Florida 4-H program, was at risk after a weigh-in found him too skinny, but animal lover Leslie raised funds (including paying out of pocket) to buy and transport him to Bell Family Farm sanctuary in Polk City with help from donor Sarah; researchers at the Mayo Clinic developed an AI model that detects early signs of pancreatic
Pigeons Navigate Using Their Liver
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: actor Belmont Cameli’s two abdominal scars are from donating a kidney in 2018, triggering a 14-person paired exchange that gave seven patients transplants and eventually helped his childhood friend Brendan after six years waiting; 88-year-old Michigan veteran Ed Bambas, who returned to work as a grocery cashier after his wife died and his pension was cut,
The Mister Rogers Stamp Is Coming Back
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: the USPS is reissuing the 2018 Mister Rogers Neighborhood stamp after it won an encore contest by over 40,000 votes, returning as a Forever stamp with souvenir sheets. In San Francisco Bay, an AI detection system called Whale Spotter uses thermal cameras to spot whales day and night and alert ships to slow down, addressing a rise in gray whale deaths, many
Someone Built the World's Largest Blanket Fort
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a Canadian group celebrated the World Cup by setting a Guinness record for human foosball with 254 people attached to giant rods; a Noah Kahan lyric highlights Strafford, Vermont’s Elizabeth Mine cleanup and its 20,000-panel solar farm producing about 8.7 million kWh—powering over 1,300 homes; Southern California’s Wallace Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over
You Can Hire Someone to Stand in Line for You
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Safe Haven for Donkeys named a foal “Gervase” after Ricky Gervais donated £100,000 as part of £2.5 million split among 22 animal charities; the charity treats donkeys across Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, and parts of Egypt, and rescued a pregnant donkey, Debra, who gave birth at its Israel sanctuary. A McDonald’s employee says the drive-thru is usually fast
Each State has its own Replica Liberty Bell
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: in 1950 the Treasury commissioned 2,080-pound Liberty Bell replicas for each state as part of a savings bond drive—cast in France with matching markings and a fake crack—touring on flatbed Ford trucks before being given to states; bell hunter Tom has tracked down 40 via tomlovesthelibertybells.com, while the Washington, DC bell has been missing since the e
A Nature Festival Had to Tell People to Wear Clothes
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Organizers of England’s Cumbria Nature Festival clarified on social media that it’s for naturalists, not naturists, asking attendees to dress appropriately and offering genuine refunds to anyone expecting a nudist event, though none have been needed. In Durham County, North Carolina, the sheriff’s office warned residents about a very large pig on the loose
The World's Richest Cat Is Broke
Johnny Mac shares five stories, including that Karl Lagerfeld’s famed cat Choupette has not received the reported $1.5 million inheritance seven years after his death due to a dispute involving the estate and French tax authorities; under French law pets can’t inherit directly, so money would go to her caretaker, who says she has received nothing and works part-time to support the cat. In Miami, 5
KITT from Knight Rider gets a ticket in NYC
The car from Knight RIder got a ticket in New York City!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/5-good-news-stories-happiness-and-fun--5747537/support.5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media
The Jacket in the Carpool Lane
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: In Chicago, two automated delivery robots—one from Serve Robotics at Grand and Racine and another from Coco Robotics at North and Halsted—crashed into bus shelters and shattered glass, with no injuries reported, prompting a petition to end the program with nearly 4,000 signatures. Pickle the pony, rescued at nine months old in critical condition with stran
Someone Paid $812,000 for a Bottle of Wine
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: a single bottle of 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti sold for $812,000, a record driven by its last pre-replant vintage from century-old Burgundy vines, and John calls it the greatest wine he has tasted. A 19-year-old mustang named Gringo set a Guinness World Record by performing 38 tricks in 2:47 using clicker training and positive reinforcement. In North
Scientists Turned Used Diapers Into Toilet Paper
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Japanese towns facing shrinking landfill space recycle used diapers into new diapers and even toilet paper by having residents separate and label waste, then washing, shredding, breaking it down, and sterilizing pulp with ozone gas to meet strict hygiene standards. Luis, a 45-year-old with MS symptoms and past vision loss, is alerted by his guide dog Jerry
The Goldfish that can Drive a Car
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: In the Netherlands, engineer Thomas built a motion-sensing car with a water-tank seat for his goldfish Blub, who drove 40 feet 3.46 inches in one minute to set a world record; Thomas hopes the technology can be useful for mobility issues. In New York, 270 people in Mario costumes gathered at a GameStop on March 10 to celebrate Mario’s holiday and beat the
Dog fights off bear, saves chickens!
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: In New Mexico, Honey, a 12-year-old half-blind dog, fought off a bear threatening a chicken coop and her family, suffered serious head and neck injuries, and recovered after emergency surgery. In Australia, conservationists helped endangered regent honeyeaters relearn their mating song by placing wild adult males with captive young birds so they could lear
Zeus the Zebra escapes twice in four days
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: Aubrey, a manager at an Applebee’s in Michigan, guided staff and dozens of customers into a windowless prep kitchen and pulled people in from outside just before a tornado hit, with glass shattering as it passed. In Venice, the Galleria dell’Accademia is letting visitors watch conservators restore Giovanni Bellini’s 500-year-old "Madonna and Child Enthrone
The World's Deepest Marathon
Jenny Mac shares five good news stories: a Guinness World Record for the deepest marathon, run 3,669 feet 10 inches underground in a mine by 55 runners from 18 countries over 11 laps in hot, humid, dusty conditions, raising about $1 million for charity; an English woman whose German Shepherd’s unusual sniffing led her to a scan that found a golf-ball-sized stage-one lung tumor that was removed, hi
Catman walks across Australia
Host Johnny Mac shares “five good news stories” (ultimately “four”): a Japanese man nicknamed Catman completes a 4,000-mile, two-year walk across Australia from Carnarvon to the Sydney Opera House in a full-body cat costume, pushing a wheelbarrow, raising about $50,000 for children’s cancer research, and gaining 850,000 Instagram followers; inspired after a breakup, he describes harsh, smelly cond
