5 Good News Stories - happiness and fun

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 retinal blood vessel cells made from induced pluripotent stem cells. Gardener Graham set Guinness records with a 3 lb 13.7 oz elephant garlic bulb and the heaviest Swedish heirloom snow pea, adding to several prior records. A purple elephant seal at Ano Nuevo...

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 compound remains a challenge; Montana volunteers called the “Montana Bar Fairies” leave $5 coffee gift cards on cars left overnight at bars to reward people for not driving drunk; Kelsey becomes the first American woman to row solo from California to Hawaii, comp...

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 lives saved since 2008 and zero deaths among ages 20–24 from 2020–2024; conservationists in Queensland spotted a northern hairy-nosed wombat joey, raising the global population from 450 to 451; Dylan, once given eight months to live with stage four kidney cancer, graduated cancer-free after chemotherapy supported by Dr. Mary...

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 items like a grocery store and aims to serve up to 100,000 households, with about 80% of food donated. In Michigan, Titan Plumbing found an engagement ring in a sewer line and reunited it with Carol, lost...

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 attempt. Skateboarder Chad crossed the U.S. from Venice Beach, California to Jacksonville, Florida in 39 days, averaging 72 miles daily, breaking his own record and marking 10 years of sobriety. Scientists report chewing sugary gum after nitrate-rich vegetables like spinach, kale...

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 to run, Styles’ team invited him to a Wembley show and donated £2,000. Also in the UK, Iceland Foods created an unofficial record “Picky Bits” spread on a 65-foot table with 15,000+ items, including cocktail sausages, sausage rolls, Scotc...

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 better protect it; ETH Zurich researchers restored movement in mice with severed spinal cords using stem cells combined with magnet-responsive nanoparticles (“NPC bots”) guided by magnets to reconnect nerves; in Canada, Leah rescued a young crow...

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 princely tomb during solar project preparations, with heavy gold jewelry, weapons, amber/bronze/glass beads, and iron fittings from a ceremonial wagon, lifting a large block of earth to preserve artifacts. A psychiatric hospital near Paris reports positive results from therapy sessions with trained donkeys, expanded to other...

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 remission, with patient Katie describing dramatic improvement after 30 years of disease. In California, 24-year-old Ishan set a Guinness World Record by solving two Rubik’s Cubes during a single skydive, including one in 120 mph free fall, on his fi...

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 Sterling stepped in to sight-read and improvise as pianist during a La La Land score performance after the original pianist fell ill. A Norwegian underwater survey found a 72-foot shipwreck about 2,000 feet down with in...

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 patients live a median 13.2 months versus 6.7 with chemotherapy, and studies are exploring earlier use. MIT researchers found ranking three options can reveal richer preference information than choosing between two, potentially improving AI recommendations and public services. In Louisiana, a real estate agent en...

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; Guinness regular David Rush sets a record by balancing a running electric chainsaw on his chin for 4 minutes 1.44 seconds; Alicia earns the record for the world’s largest Wonder Woman memorabilia collection with 1,581 items; and a German shepherd drifting out to...

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 Erica and Dominic draft a “Skip the Stuff” sustainability bill to stop automatic inclusion of single-use items with food orders; Danville, California fourth and fifth graders campaign to raise $10 million...

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 $2,500 per cafe yearly, Olivia using whole eggs, and Pit Friend Barbecue stopping cucumber coring to save $1,600 a year. Wildlife SOS reunites misplaced leopard cubs in India by using monitored “safe boxes,” reporting over 95% success over 15 years. NPR tested NIO...

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 Europe’s first large-scale elephant sanctuary on a 1,000-acre former cattle ranch, welcoming Julie, Portugal’s last circus elephant, and Kariba from a Belgian zoo, amid broader concerns about solitary elephants and reduced zoo lifespans. A Californ...

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 38,305 meals last year, about half below cost and 10% free, and its founder Tom hopes others adopt the model. Next is a new Przewalski’s horse foal at the Bronx Zoo and the species’ recovery from extinction in the wild, including 2024 transfers f...

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 vision detects trunks entering a wall’s holes and triggers low-frequency tones that the elephants find stimulating even without food. A 98-year-old WWII veteran became the world’s oldest wing walker, standing atop a biplane for over nine minutes at 1,000+ feet a...

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 cancer on CT scans up to three years before typical diagnosis and performed three times better than human radiologists; high school girls on a Duke of Edinburgh Award hike in...

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, received over $1.9 million via a GoFundMe started by creator Samuel, and they’ve launched the “For Your Service” campaign to help 50 veterans in 50 states, raising over $1 million since May 1; scientists found pigeons’ navigation depends on iron-rich immune cells in t...

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 from ship strikes. A JAMA study reports tofersen (Qalsody) slowed and sometimes reversed symptoms in a specific form of ALS, with over 20% showing improved strength and function after three years, including a...

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 all 10 lanes of US 101, under construction since 2022, has already been used by a hummingbird and aims to help mountain lions; an Oklahoma family took in a pregnant stray cat whose litter unexpectedly included a baby rabbit the mother cat accepted; and Las Ve...

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 faster due to timed metrics, suggests ordering a double cheeseburger “dressed like a Big Mac” for less, and says some locations may give away leftover hash browns near 11 a.m. A 23-year-old professional queuer, AJ, charges about £250 to stand in l...

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 early ’80s. Scientists developed a hemp-based plastic alternative that can stretch up to 1,600% and withstand boiling water. Albany, NY is trying to protect its 28-foot, four-ton RCA “Nipper” dog statue atop a long-unused warehouse by adding it to hist...

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, urging people to report sightings but not attempt capture, and noting the owner is unknown. A long-running Quebec study of northern gannet eggs found levels of “forever chemicals” have dropped dramatically from a 1990s peak. Linda, 69, was confir...

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, 500+ soccer players and 5,000+ people broke a Guinness World Record by juggling a soccer ball in unison for 10 seconds to fund grassroots soccer upgrades in the US and Mexico. Apple says iOS 27 will bring an adva...

The car from Knight RIder got a ticket in New York City!

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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 network

John also hosts Daily Comedy News

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