Being a Xennial kid, I draw my inspirations from different places. That’s why one of Mesh’s inspirations is a PBS show called ‘Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?’ (WitWiCS) and you can find old episodes on Youtube. While Mesh is written to be thrilling, not educational, I still feel obligated to communicate information to readers that may be otherwise difficult for them to find.
In Mesh’s case, I want readers to come away with ideas about friendship, leadership, resilience, and responsibility while learning about cool DIY tech like cryptograms, steganography, and other secret communications. Like WitWiCS itself, the best way to teach is often by assuming the readers’ knowledge and letting their natural curiosity and sense of wonder to fill in the blanks. Take a look at the show below and see how they do it:
Subtle, but sweet. The Chief starts out with some fun facts about hockey in Edmonton before the jokey criminal act and off they go. You came away knowing that Edmonton is the home of Wayne Gretzky and that hockey has been played there since 1972 and you weren’t even trying.
Here’s why the show’s producers developed ‘Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?’ According to Wikipedia, The show was created partially in response to the results of a National Geographic survey that indicated Americans had alarmingly little knowledge of geography, with one in four being unable to locate the Soviet Union or the Pacific Ocean. In 2001, TV Guide ranked the show at No. 47 on its list of 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time.
There were a ton of things to love about WitWiCS – from Lynne Thigpen as the Chief, Rockapella’s awesome real-time comedic soundtrack, guests hosts including Joe Biden. The main thing is that you came away with an increased knowledge of geography even if you had no idea why or how it happened. That’s ultimately the purpose behind any great story or learning system, communicating knowledge while retaining that sense of wonder.
So, of course Mesh is meant to be fun. But along the way, why not open some doors to the amazing world of technology that you might not hear about otherwise? Geeky, nerdy people make the world go round and it’s often the shade-tree, garage-based hackers that make the biggest difference. I’m proud to say that ‘Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is a Mesh inspiration and feel free to check out more of their episodes on Youtube! You’ll be glad you did.
