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Krista Bo Polanco

00:00:00

Hey there, welcome. Thanks for hanging out with us today. I'm Krista Bo Polanco, and this is CNN 5 Good Things.

Ben

00:00:07

That is really the connective tissue of fandom.

Cari Champion

00:00:10

It helps us remember what we love about sports, it helps us remember about times when we were young, it narrates moments in our lives.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:00:18

The NBA playoffs tip off today, so we asked some basketball fans why the greatest debate in sports never gets old.

Aram Matagi

00:00:26

Going into that competition did not assume in any way, shape, or form that I was going to be leaving with the date.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:00:31

'A heated rivalry look-alike contest turned into a real-life rom-com. Then we'll break down new research that identified a surprising and adorable ally in the fight against climate change.

Joshua Larsen

00:00:41

That's a massive gain for no expenditure.

Jen Clan

00:00:45

They're just amazing, these little critters. When we come back.

Edwin Canales

00:00:49

That was magical for me.

Jennifer Torres

00:00:51

She's breaking barriers and she's going to continue breaking barriers.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:00:55

It's a historic year for Latin artists on some of the biggest stages in music. All these stories and more after a quick break. Stick with us, we're having some fun here.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:01:08

'Colombian pop star Karol G made history by becoming the first Latina artist to headline Coachella in the festival's 27-year run. Known for her reggaeton hits, the multigrammy-winning singer takes the main stage again tomorrow for weekend two of the popular music festival in Indio, California. She joined fellow headliners Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber. For many of her fans, she puts on more than a concert. It's an invitation to celebrate their identity, culture, and roots.

Karol G Coachella Performance

00:01:36

I ascend for my Latina community and at the same time, I'm very proud because this brings out the best of us, unity, resilience, a strong spirit. Levanten esas banderas! Levanten esas banderas!

Krista Bo Polanco

00:01:53

She's telling the crowd, raise your flags, raise your flags because she invited fans to bring flags that represent them.

Edwin Canales

00:01:59

I am one of her biggest fan. I love her. She inspired me. She's amazing.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:02:06

'Edwin Canales traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina to see Karol G perform for the 10th time. He didn't bring a flag from his native El Salvador that night, but the 27-year-old literally went the distance to get the singer's attention. He flew to Colombia to find an outfit from the singer home country.

Edwin Canales

00:02:23

I find a perfect outfit, and I designed this hat. She saw my hat, and she come to me. She hold my hand. She sing to me, that was magical for me because I worked so hard to get her attention because it's my favorite artist.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:02:41

Nik Miller, a content creator from Los Angeles, started learning Spanish so he could sing along to her music better. His videos crossed Karol G's desk and her team gifted him a VIP ticket for weekend one.

Nik Miller

00:02:52

It exceeded my expectations. Just seeing the representation and like all the flags and she was like, I'm so proud of where I come from. You should be proud of your come from and I was like you know what? Yes, because we need to be proud of where we come from, even me. I'm from here and I'm proud to be from here.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:03:09

And fans who couldn't be there in person for either show, like Jennifer Torres, they could still experience the magic. She streamed last week's entire set from her home in Houston.

Jennifer Torres

00:03:18

The moments that the lights went off until the end of the show, it was just tears, happiness, so many emotions. For her to finally get her moment as a Hispanic person going through how we're going through right now in this world, I was like, she's breaking barriers and she's gonna continue breaking barriers.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:03:46

'That's not just any old Jumbotron moment. The winners of a "Heated Rivalry" look-alike contest are now dating in real life. And they just went on their second date at a hockey game. Their love story started two weeks ago when 24-year-old Felix Eller and 22-year old Aram entered a contest in D.C. To see who looked most like Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams. The actors who play Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander in the hit TV show, "Heated Rivalry." While Felix won the Ilya look-a-like contest, Aram broke a tie with a bold move.

Aram Matagi

00:04:19

In my head I'm thinking, I'm hearing everybody screaming and I'm like, there is only one way to top this. I have to just go for it. I don't know this man. I literally met him five minutes ago, but I'm gonna make out with him like we've known each other for nine years.

Felix Eller

00:04:38

You can't like right after a kiss be like, so are we like gonna hang out after that? Like you can't, like immediately. So I was like, let me test the monitors because I genuinely didn't know if it was mutual at all, if I was crazy.

Aram Matagi

00:04:49

He gave me his number and then sat down and talked with my friends for a little bit and that resulted in making plans for brunch the next morning.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:04:56

'Felix and Aram went on an eight-hour first date and found they have a lot in common, including how much they connected with the plot of "Heated Rivalry."

Felix Eller

00:05:04

When I was in school, there were closet queer athletes who quit the team because of the homophobic locker room talk and then stayed in the closet until they graduated. And so I think this show does a good job of saying like, they exist. Yes, we do need to support them. We need to be here for them.

Aram Matagi

00:05:21

When you see yourself in the character, you believe in what's happening to the character and that character is experiencing love and that character is engaging in love. And I think it was so hopeful for me to be like, Oh yes, me as an AAPI person can, can have these things happen to me.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:05:41

In the fight against climate change, new research suggests one of the most unexpected solutions is already hard at work.

Joshua Larsen

00:05:48

Beavers have an important part to play. I mean, they are really one of the most profound ecosystem engineers. They just create this massive explosion of life that simply wasn't there before.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:05:58

Joshua Larsen is a professor at the University of Birmingham in England. He led a study in Switzerland to find out what happens to planet warming carbon pollution when beavers get to work building dams and creating wetlands. It turns out those habitats beaver's create don't just help plants grow and wildlife thrive, they can also act as powerful carbon sinks, places that absorb more carbon than they release into the air. Researchers found a beaver engineered wetland stored more than a thousand tons of carbon in just 13 years. About ten times more than the same landscape without beaver activity.

Joshua Larsen

00:06:32

So if you imagine all those areas, if they're able to just turn some of those into really active carbon sinks, they could get about 2% of Switzerland's carbon emissions goals, which doesn't sound like much, but they're doing it for free. The Beaver's doing all that work on its own, so that's a massive gain for no expenditure.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:06:53

But the climate benefits from beaver dams don't stop at capturing carbon. In the U.S., they're also helping landscapes withstand some of the biggest threats from climate change—wildfires and droughts.

Jen Clan

00:07:04

Wildfires of course are getting more destructive, more severe with climate change. And beavers of course, are not a silver bullet, but having more beaver's on the land, creating more beaver dam complexes and more wetlands could slow wildfire down.

Jen Clan

00:07:23

Jen Clan is a wildlife conservationist with the Colorado Nature League.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:07:27

When we're suffering drought, a lot of our wildlife suffers as well. Beavers literally build the infrastructure that retains the water, that allows for this life to continue. They're just amazing, these little critters.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:07:43

'A blind man just ran a marathon without a physical guide by his side, and he did it using AI-powered glasses.

Clark Reynolds

00:07:52

I've done a marathon untethered but I've got a first person using smart glasses and an app called Be My Eyes, a world's first. It's an unofficial record, it'd be great if I had that certificate but in my mind it is a world first.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:08:08

Clark Reynolds, also known as Mr. Dot, completed the Brighton Marathon in the UK last weekend. Through a live stream on his glasses, he was able to connect with volunteers who could guide him through the course in real time.

Volunteers

00:08:19

Go, go, go! You're about to go through the finish!

Clark Reynolds

00:08:22

Without those volunteers in my ears, I would have probably given up around 15 mile marker. It's amazing!

Volunteers

00:08:28

Well done, Clark!

Krista Bo Polanco

00:08:29

Beyond racing, he believes this technology could help ease the isolation that often comes with vision loss.

Clark Reynolds

00:08:35

Being blind is a very lonely experience sometimes. And you could have someone who's been my eyes and they could like chat with you for five minutes, you know, and they can say, oh, you know there's some ducks in the pond or you know what I mean? You could have that experience and not feel lonely. And I think that's a real game changer for the sight loss community as well.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:08:54

The NBA playoffs are here, and so is the greatest of all time debate that never seems to go away. Up next, hear what one of the top contenders for GOAT status really thinks of that debate and why fans refuse to let it go.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:09:12

'The NBA playoffs start today, and for fans, that means big matchups and a debate that's never benched. Who is Basketball's GOAT? Some say the greatest of all time is Michael Jordan. Others say LeBron James. Bill Russell's name gets thrown out there. Everyone has an opinion, even Michael Jordan himself. The six-time NBA champion told the NBA on NBC show last month that he doesn't like to get caught up in the debate, especially since it can create animosity between players.

Michael Jordan

00:09:39

The whole GOAT term is never going to be something that I ever will get high or low about, you know. It just doesn't exist with me. It is a empty comparison. Is it absolutely never find the true answer to that question.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:09:55

But, agree or not, fans aren't letting it go.

Tom

00:10:00

With all due respect to MJ, who, by the way, is the greatest of all time, I don't think the NBA Goat conversation is pointless.

Alejandro

00:10:07

The NBA GOAT debate is so fun because there's no right answer and because it makes you appreciate the players more who played in all different times and all different eras. There's really no right answers because it comes down to what team they were on, the era in which they played, and what metrics you might even judge them by.

Kylie

00:10:31

There are so many factors, stats and numbers, social and societal impact, the longevity of the player, their media presence, it's just too difficult to say.

Ben

00:10:43

'Look, I hear Michael Jordan, and honestly, he's not wrong, but here's the thing, the GOAT conversation isn't for them, and it's for us. Because that debate, that is really the connective tissue of fandom. It's how a 60-year-old connects with their 20-year old kid over players that they never watched together.

Elena

00:11:05

Sports fans love to debate. I also think it's what makes players want to reach and achieve the status of GOAT.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:11:12

CNN contributor and longtime sports journalist, Cari Champion says Kobe Bryant is a contender and that the conversation continues because it's deeply personal.

Cari Champion

00:11:21

It helps us remember what we love about sports. It helps remember about times when we were young. It narrates moments in our lives. It helps understand why we're so passionate about the game, why we are so passionate about sports, why we so passionate about what we love.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:11:35

Sports sociologist Jay Coakley has been studying how sports influenced society and culture for decades. He says the debate taps into something deeper than stats.

Dr. Jay Coakley

00:11:44

Because it's fun. People get involved in those kinds of debates because it reaffirms their identities as fans. It's one of those things that brings people together. And that in itself is worth a great deal.

Krista Bo Polanco

00:12:02

All right, that's all for now. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you're feeling the good vibes. And if you are, send this episode to a friend so they can too. There's more goodness for that came from if you sign up for the CNN Five Good Things newsletter. The link to subscribe is in our show notes and join us tomorrow for the next edition of One Thing. CNN's David Rind speaks to climate scientist Kate Marvel about why she resigned from NASA amid the Trump administration's funding cuts and why she isn't giving up hope in the fight against climate change. Have a good day. Until next time.

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