The Happy Pod: Turning my toddler's tales into tunes
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 March 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Stephen Spencer has set his daughter's stories to music. What started as something he posted for his few followers has turned into a social media sensation, with fans around the world left smiling, laughing or even crying by the catchy tunes and often bizarre lyrics.
Also: how a chance conversation between two women on a train led to one donating her eggs so the other could have a baby. When Anita revealed her fertility issues, Ginny instantly offered to help.
A surgeon who successfully operated on a patient hundreds of kilometres away says it opens up new possibilities for people around the world. He was able to remotely control a surgical robot in real time, thanks to advances in technology.
In Singapore, medical students are learning to be more compassionate doctors by studying poetry. Those behind the course say it helps the students to understand nuance in how patients are feeling.
Plus are dogs that howl along to music actually singing, and how a sly fox accidentally made a transatlantic voyage.
Our weekly collection of inspiring, uplifting and happy news from around the world.
Presenter: Holly Gibbs. Music composed by Iona Hampson.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.4 | We definitely do not have quiet days anymore in American politics. |
| 0:12.5 | Our podcast will help you cut through all the noise. |
| 0:15.9 | Make sense of what's happening in the US, with new podcast episodes arriving throughout the week. |
| 0:20.8 | AmeriCast, Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:24.5 | This is the Happy Pod from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:33.2 | I'm Holly Gibbs, and in this edition, the man turning his three-year-old's tales into tunes. |
| 0:39.8 | We feel connected to the child in us that was able to speak freely and dream up what they |
| 0:45.2 | wanted to dream up without fear of being judged or having what they say be immediately evaluated |
| 0:50.6 | by people around them. A life-changing conversation on an underground train. |
| 0:55.3 | She sort of said the only way I can have children is if I have a younger woman donate eggs to me. |
| 1:01.9 | I was like, wow, I'd love to help someone like that. |
| 1:04.5 | And then she just went, would you help me? |
| 1:06.5 | We find out what happened next. |
| 1:09.2 | Plus, it brings equity of access. There is a humanitarian role and we hope |
| 1:14.0 | now that with the connections being much faster, the robots being much more intelligent, I think |
| 1:19.3 | this could bring in a new era for patients. The surgeon who operated on a patient, hundreds of |
| 1:25.3 | kilometers away. And can dogs actually sing? |
| 1:29.3 | We wanted to test an experiment if they were shifting pitch |
| 1:32.3 | as a way of coordinating what they're doing with another singing voice. |
| 1:36.3 | Woo! |
| 1:37.3 | And they did. |
... |
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