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5 Good Things: A Hit Show That is Making ‘Zillennials’ Nostalgic
CNN 5 Things
Mar 28, 2026
The countdown to the inaugural Women’s Professional Baseball League’s season starts. These critical pollinators are making a major comeback. Trauma doctors say the first patient in the world to receive this treatment wouldn’t be here today without it. What started as an idea behind bars turned into a service for people in need in Philadelphia. Plus, a show that still hits home 20 years later.
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Host/Producer: Krista Bo Polanco
Producer: Eryn Mathewson
Senior Producer: Felicia Patinkin
Editorial Support: Jacqueline Howard, Sofía Hanalei Sanchez
Episode Transcript
Krista Bo Polanco
00:00:00
Hey there, welcome! I've got some extra pep in my step this week now that spring has sprung. And if you're not there yet, don't worry, these stories will help you get there. I'm Krista Bo Polanco, and this is CNN 5 Good Things. Not only are cherry blossoms in bloom, a critical pollinator that's been in decline for decades is making a comeback.
Maria Jose Villanueva
00:00:19
Nature's telling us, give me space, give me opportunity, and I will bounce back. And later on...
Ronald Farms
00:00:25
By all science, I shouldn't be here. By all medical personnel, I should not be here." That's what every one of them have told me. It was a miracle.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:00:33
Meet the first patient in the world to receive a treatment that could change trauma care. And in Philadelphia, what started as an idea behind bars is now making a difference for people in need. Plus, you get the best of both worlds. Zillennials like me had a blast this week, looking back at a show that meant so much to so many. When we come back...
Kelsie Whitmore
00:00:53
We've always been here. We've been playing. It's just now we're finally being seen.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:00:59
The new pro league stepping up to the plate.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:01:03
While Major League Baseball season starts this week, a league seven decades in the making is finally taking the field.
WPBL Field tape
00:01:11
Take a pitch!
Krista Bo Polanco
00:01:14
The Women's Professional Baseball League just wrapped spring training last week in Fort Myers, Florida.
Kelsie Whitmore
00:01:19
Being out there also was such a blessing, especially when you're so used to being only female on your team, right?
Krista Bo Polanco
00:01:25
'Kelsie Whitmore, the league's number one overall draft pick by San Francisco, says it's a moment the pitcher and outfielder has been dreaming about ever since she was six-years-old.
Kelsie Whitmore
00:01:34
It's one of those things that you're like, wow, like everything in the past, the adversity, the struggles, the rejections, the redirections, it was all worth it in the end because now I don't have to worry about trying to be someone I'm not in order to feel worthy enough to play this game.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:01:49
'The league will have 60 players across four teams, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston. The eight-week season officially starts August 1st in Springfield, Illinois. And it's arriving at a moment when women's sports are seeing some major dividends. This week, the WNBA's players agreed to a landmark seven-year collective bargaining deal. ESPN reports the average player's salary is around four times higher than last year's. And for the first time ever, they get a share of the league's revenue. So Kelsie says the WPBL couldn't have come at a better time.
Kelsie Whitmore
00:02:18
We've always been here. We've been playing. It's just now we're finally being seen. There's gonna be so many young girls who now can see us and they can now believe in themselves that they can be a professional baseball player.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:02:34
Spring has sprung. In fact, in southern parts of the U.S., you might start spotting some monarch butterflies flying by. And this year, after decades of decline, the orange and black beauties are making a major comeback.
Maria Jose Villanueva
00:02:46
We're very happy to share that the population this year showed an increase of 64% from last year, an important step forward in conservation of monarch butterflies.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:03:00
That's Maria Jose Villanueva with the World Wildlife Fund Mexico. Every winter, millions of monarchs travel nearly 3,000 miles to a forest mountain range about 60 miles north of Mexico City. The conservation group has tracked how many make that remarkable journey for decades.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:03:16
They don't count each butterfly one by one. Instead, they measure the area they cover on trees. And the amount of coverage went from nearly four and a half acres last year to more than seven this year. That's the equivalent of just over seven football fields.
Maria Jose Villanueva
00:03:30
Nature's telling us, give me space, give me opportunity, and I will bounce back.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:03:35
So what's behind the rebound? Two things. The humid climate helped milkweed, the only plant monarchs lay their eggs on, grow more widely, giving the next generation a better chance at survival. And secondly, Mexico's been protecting the forest where butterflies spend the winter from deforestation. Now monarch populations are still down sharply from the 1990s, and they still remain vulnerable to climate change, pesticide use, and habitat loss across North America. So Maria says the crucial work to protect them continues.
Maria Jose Villanueva
00:04:03
Monarch butterflies are pollinators. 75% of the food that we eat come from pollinaters. And I always do this analogy, humans are playing Jenga. Each species, each process that we make more vulnerable or lose, that is making more unstable our structure. We should be rejoiceful that the population is bouncing back.
Ronald Farms
00:04:29
Doc, how you doing?
Dr. Preston Hewgly
00:04:31
Good to see you.
Ronald Farms
00:04:32
Good to you too. You look great, man. Thank you.
Ronald Farms
00:04:36
By all science, I shouldn't be here. By all medical personnel, I should not be here, that's what every one of them have told me. It was a miracle.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:04:44
'CNN exclusively spoke to Ronald Farms, the first person in the world to get a life-saving treatment for internal bleeding called ResQFoam. From car crashes to gunshot wounds, the futuristic foam is meant to give patients a better chance of surviving major trauma cases when minutes matter most.
Dr. Preston Hewgly
00:05:01
'So ResQFoam is like a human Fix-a-Flat. Fix-a-Flat is designed to fill the tire and seal the hole so that you can get to a gas station to repair it. And rescue foam is designed to fill the abdomen and stop bleeding temporarily until you can get to an operating room.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:05:17
'Dr. Preston Hewgley was the trauma surgeon who treated Ron last August after he suffered severe internal bleeding from a really bad car crash. When Ron arrived at the hospital, Dr. Hewgley said the then 34-year-old was in and out of consciousness, and time was of the essence. Doctors immediately knew he could be a candidate for ResQFoam.
Dr. Preston Hewgley
00:05:36
'When a patient comes into the hospital in shock from intra-abdominal bleeding, the only way we can treat that is to rush them to the operating room as fast as possible and perform surgery. And ResQFoam is designed to just give us a little extra time. The foam has to be extracted through the same type of surgery we would use to treat intra- abdominal bleeding. So we only wanna use it in someone we know is gonna go to surgery.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:06:03
And it worked!
Ronald Farms
00:06:03
Dr. Hewgley and them had told my family that I would possibly, even if I made it through the surgeries, I would never walk again. But lo and behold, here I am walking.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:06:13
More research is needed to learn more about potential side effects, but Dr. Hewgley believes the benefits outweigh the risks. He believes ResQFoam could be a game changer.
Dr. Preston Hewgley
00:06:22
'The side effects that we see from ResQFoam usage are manageable compared to intra-abdominal hemorrhage, which is oftentimes fatal.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:06:32
I just thank the Lord that He gave the knowledge, the gifts, the talents to these people to help save my life.
Joe Richardson Dunston
00:06:44
If I see somebody in need and I have a service that I'm offering, you know, why not offer it to them?
Krista Bo Polanco
00:06:50
Joe Richardson Dunston knows what it's like to fall on hard times, and now he's using that experience to lift others up. He's the owner of Spin and Go, a mobile laundry service bringing clean clothes directly to people in need across Philadelphia.
Joe Richardson Dunston
00:07:03
Whether you have money or don't have money, it's just an opportunity to have clean clothes. It's kind of like going to the barbershop or getting your nails done. It's therapeutic for people that are struggling, you know, going through hard times.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:07:16
Twice a week, you can find him parked near City Hall or Love Park, washing clothes for people experiencing homelessness, families in shelters, single mothers, anyone who needs it. Joe charges clients a dollar a pound, but he won't turn anyone away if they can't cover the cost. He even gets some financial support from his local church. It's his way of helping people in need with basic necessities.
Joe Richardson Dunston
00:07:36
This idea was created in my mind in 2010 when I was actually incarcerated. I realized that it was time for a change and to do better things with my life.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:07:47
In September 2024, he launched his laundry business with one washer and one dryer, and today he has four of each. He says he's able to help about 50 people a day. So what started as an idea during his lowest moments is now helping others get through some of theirs.
Joe Richardson Dunston
00:08:01
I just wanted to help people one load at a time.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:08:05
Up next, why one show is still resonating with a generation 20 years later.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:08:12
If any Zillennials in your life are feeling particularly nostalgic this week, it may be because Disney icon Hannah Montana is celebrating her 20th anniversary this week. The series ran from 2006 to 2011 and followed a middle schooler living a double life as a famous pop star. So even if you've never seen the series, the energy around it was hard to miss.
TikTok 1
00:08:32
It's Hannah Montana week everybody.
TikTok 2
00:08:34
I just finished the Hannah Montana special and I'm sick with nostalgia, but me and my friend have been texting.
TikTok 3
00:08:39
I could fix the flat on your car, I might even be a rock star
Krista Bo Polanco
00:08:42
From dressing up like its star Miley Cyrus to posting tributes online, fans and even new viewers tuned into a special that reunited some of the cast on Disney Plus and Hulu. The teaser amassed over 100 million views alone.
Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Teaser
00:08:55
It's home sweet home. Home sweet home
Krista Bo Polanco
00:08:58
'CNN's Sofia Sanchez spoke with fans at a Hannah Montana look-a-like contest in New York City. And for them, the character meant more than just a TV role.
Sophia Parizadeh
00:09:06
I was a tomboy growing up, so she made me feel more comfortable in my femininity and just seeing how she can be two things at once. I was just drawn to the whole plot, the concept, and her as a person.
Ariana Parizadeh
00:09:19
I also love the confidence she displayed. I think that was a good example for young girls as well.
Chloe Chu
00:09:25
Miley to me was just like such a bright like a bubbly person that I wanted to be and like she was the it girl of that time.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:09:35
'Lorian De Sousa grew up in France and says he started watching the show with subtitles when he was six-years-old.
Lorian De Sousa
00:09:41
When I fell in love with this character, I also fell in with the person behind it. She was sassy, she knew what she wanted and that was like inspiring to me because I was always like a little shy.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:09:54
'Now, at 25, he runs the viral Instagram account @outofcontextHannahMontana.
Lorian De Sousa
00:09:59
The clothes, the double life, the wig, and the music, of course, and the iconic references, the memes. Whenever she does something, my mom is gonna talk to me about it. She's like a member of our family at this point.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:10:11
For a deeper look at the fans and why the show still resonates, check out Sofia's story on cnn.com. The link is also in our show notes.
Krista Bo Polanco
00:10:22
All right, that's all for now. Thank you so much for listening. There's more goodness where that came from if you sign up for the CNN 5 Good Things newsletter. The link to subscribe is in our show notes. And join us tomorrow for the next edition of CNN One Thing, all about the landmark verdict in a trial that could reshape social media as we know it. Have a good day. Till next time.
