I'm Shankar Vedantam, the host of a podcast called My Unsung Hero.

Each week we share a short story about an act of kindness that changed someone's life.

She cared enough to say something to me, something that probably wasn't easy to say, but

it was something that changed the direction of my life.

So thank you, Holly.

My Unsung Hero.

Listen and renew your faith in humanity.

Hey, Smarty Pants.

Guess what animals gonna be a guest on today's show?

I'll give you three hints.

Ready?

Number one, it's nocturnal, which means it's active at night.

Number two, they're thought to be wise.

And bad luck.

Number three, some of these animals lure their prey with lumps of poop.

Wow, out of all our amazing qualities, you had to bring up the poop.

Oh, hey guest animal, you startled me.

I didn't notice you come in.

That's because I'm incredibly stealthy.

You could have mentioned that, but nope, had to go right for the poop.

Well, a lot of animals are stealthy, but only a few, you know.

Not to mention, the listeners get a kick out of me mentioning poop.

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