Guinness World Records: Behind The Book

From the most tattooed man and a 103-year-old skydiver to homemade LEGO limbs and the largest testicle in the animal kingdom, Craig and the team look back over a year of record-breaking at Guinness World Records. Join Craig for an eggnog or two in The Golden Plover, the virtual pub at GWR HQ. For this annual record-breaking round-up, Craig is joined by Social Media Manager Dan Thorne, who unveils the year's most explosive tweets, YouTube videos and Tik-Tok posts; Life Sciences Record Manager Megan Bruce returns with her favourite skydiving centenarian; Lewis Blakeman introduces us to two record-holders who've used technology to craft ground-breaking prosthetic limbs; Science Editor Ben Hollingum shares with us his favourite robotics record (and reveals that we DO have a record for first human killed by a robot!); and Animals Editor Adam Millward enlightens us on the animal that's spent the longest time in cryobiosis (as in, which creature has spent the longest time frozen before being defrosted and brought back to life... how festive!)

Who’s survived the highest fall without a parachute? How many lightning strikes did one man endure in his lifetime? And what happens when you’re stung more than 4,000 times by African killer bees? Join GWR Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday as he delves deep into the archives for the most remarkable, terrifying and life-affirming stories of human survival. Plus, hear from GWR’s Life Sciences Record Manager Megan Bruce, who shares with Craig a selection of eye-watering medical records, including the largest hairball removed from a human stomach and the largest object left inside a surgery patient. Find out more about Guinness World Records 2020: http://bit.ly/GWR_2020

In this week’s podcast, GWR’s Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday offers a quick-fire tour of the history of human speed records, taking you from sledges and skis to supersonic planes in the blink of an eye. Journey back 8,500 years to discover how our Neolithic ancestors satisfied their need for speed (clue: we still do it today!). And trace the exponential evolution from riding horses to riding steam trains as human inventiveness gradually catches up with our ambition to go faster. Along the way, you’ll meet the man who first broke the sound barrier and the three men who have travelled faster than anyone in history. And you’ll also find out what can happen when you lose control of a turbojet-powered car at 400 mph-plus. Travel through more than 10,000 years of land-speed records in just 20 minutes, with Craig Glenday at the wheel. Learn more about Guinness World Records 2020: http://bit.ly/GWR-2020

One Sunday morning a woman went to hospital. She has abdominal pain, a swollen stomach and problems breathing. When the nurse asked the patient about her medical history, she found out that just hours earlier the 23-year-old had eaten 19 lb (8.5 kg) of food including 500 g of mushrooms, 226 g of steak and 681 g of “poorly cooked” liver. The total weight of food she’d consumed was heavier than a bowling ball. Guinness World Records has monitored gastronomy - or eating – records since the first edition in 1955. But during the last 64 years they’ve changed substantially. In this week’s episode of Guinness World Records: Behind The Book, Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday explains the evolution of these records and how people train for competitive eating.. Learn more More about Guinness World Records 2020: http://bit.ly/GWR-2020

What’s life like when you’re more than 7 ft, maybe even more than 8 ft tall? Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief recalls meeting the world’s tallest men and explains why it’s less easy to confirm who the tallest women are. He explains how people get to become so tall and the challenges they face. But for some there have been some welcome spin-offs too such having bespoke shoes and crutches manufactured to make the simple act of walking easier. Then there’s the story about how the tallest man in the world (at the time) helped save the lives of two dolphins with plastic in their stomachs, all thanks to his record-breaking size. Learn more Find out more about Guinness World Records 2020: http://bit.ly/GWR_2020 A history of record-breaking giants: http://bit.ly/GWR-Robert100th