Stonehenge (6/25/25)

Hey, it's your favorite secret host here from your favorite secret podcast. Today, we've got special sunrises, weird rock sounds, ancient archaeology, and a... surprise special guest along for the ride. Stay tuned. I'm Carly Q and this is Who, When, Wow Mystery Edition. Many things have brought us to this day As history has been compiled Some important details have slipped away We consider it our business to recognize I went looking for my coworker, Louis. Good morning!

See, I never really had the chance to talk with him since he saw me coming out of the time elevator, and I didn't want him blabbing to anyone, so I had to find him quick. Want me to give him a message? No message. Thanks. Nothing is up at all. Everything is totally cool and totally permanent. But I also had to play it cool with our other co-workers. Lewis did not catch me doing something that could get me fired from my job. Why would you even think that? No way. Gotta go.

Phew. Luckily, as soon as I got downstairs... Oh, hi, Carly Q. I found Louis there waiting for me. Louis! Hi, um, so, uh, about the... Yeah, I'm gonna cut right to the chase, Carly Q. Now that we both know you're secretly using the time elevator on your lunch breaks, I think it's time you bring me along with you. What? No! Yes!

If you're going back in time, I want to go too. You don't even know why I'm going back in time. Well, I don't know for sure, but my guess is you're going back to investigate time-sealed mysteries. You are so wrong. How does he know me so well? Lewis, how do you know me so well? Because you're not the only one who gets curious about all of the bleeped out files around here. And the light clockwork. Event, April 1920.

Well, look at that. Any idea what it's referring to? I'm not sure I should say. Is this a test? No. Maybe. Yes. You say first. Okay, so you have no idea either. H-Dad? H-Dad. Powering on. I entered in the keywords from the event and... Whoa. Tell us more. Tell us more. Analyzing. Analyzing. Analyzing. Is he always like this? Unfortunately, yes. But wow, a mysterious stone circle? I wonder what it's for.

Maybe predicting the future? Oh, oh, or teleportation! Or maybe it has something to do with aliens! Aliens? Seriously? Ugh, you sound like nibbles. Who? Speaking of nibbles... Just then, she popped up from the potted plant by my desk. I could tell by the way she was squeaking that she wasn't exactly thrilled about this whole Lewis situation. I know, I know, Nibs, but maybe he'll be helpful. Uh, first off, of course...

course I'll be helpful. And B, why are you talking to a rat? It can't understand you. And it's gross. She can definitely understand me. When we go back in time, she talks. Like... Human English talks, okay? When we go back in time? I sure hope that includes me, Carly Q. Otherwise, I'm probably gonna have to tell the bosses about this. Okay, fine. I'll let you come this one time. Come back down at lunch and I'll bring you along. Yay! Sounds great. See you then. I'm going on an adventure.

Once he left me alone, I was finally able to get some work done before lunch. All right, files, let's file some files. And a quick three and a half hours later. I'm here! We doing this? Is that a suitcase? What are you doing? What? This old thing. I just wanted to be prepared. I've got snacks, a hydro flask, camelback, lip balm, sunblock, change of clothes, first aid kit, personal flotation device, butterfly net, more snacks. You do realize...

Guys, we are only going for lunch break, right? Fine. I'll leave the suitcase here. But I'm bringing the lip balm. Nobody likes to be chapped. Obviously. Wait, have you tried their coconut flavor? And finally, along with Nibbles and H-Dad, we took off for the elevator. I find that it feels like an actual sea breeze upon my lips. Oh, maybe I should try again. Can we just give it a second chance? Hi, Odie. Hello, basement compagnon. Oh, Louis. Hello. Odie.

Hi. My arch-nemesis from the company bowling party two years ago. Wait, Louis is your arch-nemesis? That's so weird. He's my arch-nemesis, too. High five! I don't high five. I respect your boundary. Ahem. Um, I'm your arch nemesis. Never mind, you didn't hear that. Basement companion, what is this?

Louis figured out I've been secretly using the elevator, and he told me I have to bring him back in time with me today, or he's gonna tell the bosses. Just to be clear, I would never rat you out, Odie. Just her.

I don't approve of anyone ratting out anyone, but... Oh, folks, Nibbles is right here. Words matter, people. My apologies, Nibbles. Lewis, if Basement Companion wants you to come along, I won't stop you. But... you must heed the rules when you go to the past you can't try and change or stop anything you can observe witness ask questions but that's it and remember

That you can always return to the elevator to fast forward to another date on the file. Got it. This is where you also say got it. You can't tell me what to say. I can say whatever I want. Got it. There you go.

So when and where are you going? England, 1920, Stonehenge. Ah, yes. The mysterious Stone Circle in Wiltshire. Know anything about it? Not much. It's a fascinating monument, but it inspires many questions. How was it built? By whom? And why? Questions we are going to answer today. Thanks to me, I'm sure. Oh, brother. Just remember, you two, sharing the sun can move stone. I'm sorry, what? Okay, here you go. Oh, Louis. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Oh boy, is the elevator ride always so bumpy? You get used to it. Are you okay? I'm fine. I'm fine. I think. Just concentrate on your surroundings. Look at all the interesting grass around us and the rain clouds. It's clannier than a summer in San Francisco. The rat can talk! He can talk! Believe me now? Okay, so your rat friend can really understand you. Point taken. And we also just went back in time. This is a lot.

Smells like the 1920s to me. All around us was an empty plain. There wasn't anything very exciting, except for the big stone structure off in the distance. Okay, feeling better, I think. But that's it? That's Stonehenge? It's so... basic. It looks like caveman Ikea. Things in the past don't always look like you expect them to. Well, even if that's all there is, I guess we should go take a look.

Yeah? Look at this guy thinking he's running the show. Right? Okay, so? So, I guess we should go take a look. Great idea, Carly. As we got closer, we were able to make out more details. The site was made up of an outer ring of giant stone pillars, some of them with horizontal crossbeams on top, and then more stones in a circle in the center.

Some of the center pillars were even bigger than the outer ones, but there were a lot of smaller rocks scattered around too. It's not exactly in great shape. Why are so many of the stones all collapsed or falling over? Ooh, I don't know, Inspector. Maybe because it's, mm, thousands of years old? Okay, you two, play nice. How about if I just play possum and take a nap in the backpack?

Hey, that guy's waving us over. I don't like talking to strangers. You do today. Hello, you must be the additional crew sent over by the Office of Works. What? Ow! Yes! Yes, we are! Why did you just pinch me? Please excuse my associate here. It is his first day on the job. Ah, welcome! I'm Carly, this is Louis, and you must be... William Hawley, of course, the archaeologist.

Right, right, right. Yes, of course. Now, okay, could you remind us of what exactly you are archaeologizing out here? This land was recently transferred to public ownership. The government hired me to restore the falling stones and conduct some excavations. Okay. So you work with rocks. Got it. You're saying that Stonehenge now belongs to all of us? The people?

And that the government hired you to fix the broken parts? That's right. I've just mostly been doing it alone. Here, let me show you where to get started. William took us to a ditch over by the outer ring of stones. He gave us shovels and told us to start digging to see if there were any other stones buried under the soil. Carly, what is happening? We're working? Over lunch time? In dirt?

We are investigating. It's thrilling. I just... don't get it. This whole thing, it's just... rocks. You are hopeless. Oh, the archaeologist is coming back. So... What do you two know about the Blue Stones? The what? The Blue Stones. Those heavy stones you're working next to. They're not from anywhere around here. Where are they from? Uh, how about the earth? Duh. These rocks came from hundreds of miles away, at least. The ancient people who built this place had to laboriously drag them here.

It would have taken months. Why go to all that trouble? I mean, what exactly was Stonehenge even built for? Some archaeologists think the Romans built it as a temple to worship the gods. Others think it was the Druids. I'm sorry. Druids? Are they like a band or something? Ha. Um, no. The druids were the people who lived here earlier, around 300 BC. But I suspect all of this is even older. How much older? I believe construction here began more like 3000 BC. What?

That is old. And based on my recent discovery of cremated human remains here, I'm wondering if it wasn't a temple so much as a cemetery. Ooh, spooky. Maybe that's what's been time-sealed. This guy's just... of the human remains! Weren't you napping, Ratso? Shh, you do. And just yesterday, I found this antler pick buried in the soil. He held up a deer antler about the size of my arm. It looks like a stick. No, a pick.

It was used as a shovel to cut into the chalky ground. It's an old construction method, very old. It was used even before the Druids. helping prove my theory of how old this place is. Okay, all of this old druid antler talk is super interesting, and I'm... obviously loving all this hard digging work you're having us do, but we're still unclear.

Why was all this built in the first place? Right. Like, if it was just a cemetery, why drag the heavy bluestones from so far away? Well, the other main theory...

is that Stonehenge may have been an astronomical observatory. An observatory? Wait, what do you mean? Stonehenge is laid out in a very particular way, matching up to the sun and other stars. For instance, the layout of the stones perfectly lines up with the sunrise on the summer solstice. The summer solstice? Like in June? The longest day of the year. And a magical day here at Stonehenge it is.

On that one day, the sun rises right next to the Heelstone. That's the big stone over there. Just outside the main circle, with the sun's rays shining right into the heart of Stonehenge itself. Whoa. Uh, could you excuse us a minute? Lewis, over here. What's that? I think we gotta go see that summer solstice for ourselves. Oh. So, another trip in the elevator.

Fun. William, thank you for telling us all about this place, but we have to get going. What? I think there was a mix-up back at the office, but good luck with your work here. uh thank you you're welcome and i ran back to the elevator where i punched in the date for the next summer solstice okay so we're here in april 1920 so the summer solstice is just a couple months away June 21st, 1920, here we come! Let's go! Wait, Carly. Whoa!

I'm maybe starting to pay you soon. I'm proud of you, Lewis. After Lewis's stomach stopped gurgling, We started making our way back to Stonehenge. We could see a crowd of people gathered there. Locals and tourists and a few kids. Everyone looked very excited. That's it. That's the solstice celebration. Come on, let's take a look and see if we can collect some more evidence.

more info yet from your dad machine? Hmm, good call. Let's check. H-Dad, theories on why Stonehenge was built? Theory one, a symbol of peace and unity between warring tribes. Peace sign emoji. Mmm, a peace monument. I love it. Theory 2, a holy site for healing that ancient people would make pilgrimages to. Dr. Emoji, he works on my mainframe. Uh... A pilgrimage. It's like a religious journey to a special place. Like me, when I go to the cheese store. Exactly.

Oh, come on. You don't go to the cheese store. Well, not anymore. Now I just order online. We had finally arrived back at Stonehenge, but we still had a few minutes before sunrise. Great theories, H-Dad, but... The problem is none of those explain why it has to be here. Even if this area is special, like with how it lines up with the sunrise,

Why drag those heavy blue stones from so far away? Maybe it's something about the stones themselves. We maneuvered our way through the crowd until we found a stone. We inspected it very thoroughly, but it just felt like a regular rock. Let me take a sniff. Hmm, nothing unusual there. Well... So it doesn't look weird or smell weird or feel weird or... Don't look at me. I'm not tasting it. What about the sound? He picked up a small rock and tapped it against the bluestone. And to our surprise...

Good call, Lewis. Good call, Lewis. Did that rock just ring like a bell? Yes. Let's go test some more. They all do it. This is incredible. Oh, this one does it too. This one would. Oh, isn't it that? This actually sounds kind of beautiful. Oh, and this one, too. Oh, wow. Liz, could we release an album? I'm just curious. Oh, my gosh. Well, I want to be the lead of the band. H-Dad, what is this? How are these rocks ringing? Lithophonic stone.

Rocks that resonate like a bell when struck. Sometimes used for healing purposes in holistic medicine or religious ceremonies. Hmm, I... I wonder if this is the answer to why this is all here. You know, if the location is special because of the sunrise alignment and the rocks are special because of the ringing. Louis, are you following? Maybe this explains why they were brought here.

It would also explain Odie's riddle. That's right, of course. Wait, riddle? What riddle? You know, that little glorious nugget of wisdom that Odie dropped on us before sending us back in time? He's really got a lot of catching up to do, huh? Sharing the sun can move. Oh, that riddle! Hey, look! Sunrise! Look at it. It's beautiful. And it matches up perfectly to Stonehenge. The rays of sunlight...

are lining up directly with the stone pillars. This light is absolutely incredible. For once, Louis, I actually agree with you. It really makes my skin glow. Look, I'm not washed out or anything. Well, that didn't last long. Incoming message from Bot Headquarters. Oh, no. Lunchtime ends in five minutes. Finish the chowing, chewing...

All right, time to go. That's it? That's it. We hightailed it back to the elevator, and moments later... It looked like it was going to be a fun party, though. Oh, come on. There'll be more parties. All right, here we go. Oh no! Why didn't I take any picture?

Hi, Odie. Lewis. Hi, Odie. How was Stonehenge? It was incredible. An archaeologist taught us all about its history and how it lines up with the summer solstice. We saw a beautiful sunrise. Like, truly one of... the most amazing sunrises ever.

Top ten, definitely. And we figured out that the bluestone rocks all have a special ringing ability. Like a bell. I would never have thought to think about listening to the rocks. Yeah, the idea just came to me. And it was totally the right idea. Honestly, Louis, I am...

I'm impressed you broke the whole thing open. I know. Okay, relax. What a good team you two seem to make. Who, us? There's lots of theories for Stonehenge's true purpose, but I think you might have had an inkling yourself. Who, me? Yeah, with your riddle. Sharing the sun can move stone? You meant that building Stonehenge to align with the sun could have been what motivated the builders to drag the stones from so far away. Huh. I guess I did say that, didn't I?

I wonder what else I meant by that. Well, you two should probably be getting back to work now, eh? Ugh, do we have to? Yes, we have to. Come on, Louis. Have a pleasant rest of your day. What a fun lunch break. I mean, not like the most fun I've ever had, obviously, but a pretty okay time, I guess. Uh, nice try, Louis. I can see straight through you, and I know you had the best time. I mean, not the...

Best, best time. You know, if you want, I guess you could come with me again sometime. Wait, really? Yeah, it's like Odie said, right? Sharing the sun can move stone. The thing about her riddles, Louis, is that they mean more than one thing. So it's not just about Stonehenge, it's also about how a shared experience means you can do things together that are otherwise impossible.

So? So, maybe by sharing in these adventures, we can do some cool things together. Like, as a team. Huh. I guess that does sound pretty cool. But you're making me feel really bad for threatening to tell the bosses on you. That was... not the coolest thing I've ever done. Agreed. I'm sorry. I guess I should probably get back to work now, but...

Your secret is safe with me, Carly Q. I'm glad to hear it. See you later, Lewis. Well, that's what I call an adventure with a capital A, people. I can't believe I spent the whole day with Lewis and I actually kind of liked it.

I guess it just goes to show you never really know someone until you go back in time with them to explore an ancient megalithic monument. Anyway, I wonder what we'll get into next time. Until then, this is Carly Q. And Louis. Where'd you come from? Signing off? Signing off. And remember, you never heard this. But they did hear it. You know that doesn't make any sense, right? Lewis, just don't interrogate every inch of this. Come on. Oh, God.

H-Dev initiating end credits mode. Who and Wow Mystery Edition is an original Tinkercast production with help from Gen Z Media. Handshake emoji. High five emoji. For Tinkercast, the executive producers are Guy Raz, Mindy Thomas, and Meredith Halpern-Ranzer. The shows are written by Aaron Weissman, Danielle Nicky, Tom Van Calkin, Kenny Curtis, and Mindy Thomas. Carly Shiraki is a producing consultant.

Big shout-outs to Jed Anderson, Steph Sosa, Henry Moskell, Jessica Bode, Natasha Crandall, Rebecca Kaban, Sona Ali-Mohamed, Anna Daniker, Anna Zagorski, and the rest of the team at Tinkercast. Megaphone emoji. Applause emoji. Who Went Well's theme song was composed and performed by The Pop-Ups. For more information on their three-time Grammy-nominated all-ages music, find them at thepopups.com. Producers for Gen Z Media are David Kreisman.

Ben Strauss, Chris Terry, Claire McClanahan, and Amy Cervini at gzmshows.com. Sound design and editing is by Chris Terry and Oded Lev-Ari. Voice editing by Yoni Reckham. Headphones emoji. Microphone emoji. Thumbs up emoji. Original music was created by Jennifer Rokamp, and voice direction is handled by David Kreisman. Our main cast features Carly Shiraki as Carly Q, Brandon Salerno as Lewis, Melissa Vanderschiff as Nibbles the Rat,

Kenny Curtis as H-Dad, and Angela Desai as Odie. Want to explore Who Went Wow's mysteries even further? You can find free activities and resources And if you have a time-sealed mystery you want Carly Q to explore, email us at hello at tinkercast.com. H-Den, powering off. I was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery. Shh, it's starting.