Venus: There are three gangs on the street, right?
Arnold: Yeah, yeah, three gangs.
Venus: And this... [points to a blank wall] ...this right here is the territory. Now here is the neighborhood. [draws a big circle] You got that?
Arnold: Yeah.
Venus: And right in the middle of this neighborhood is a gang called the “new boys”. [draws a small capital N in the center].
Arnold: Yeah. The “new boys”. Good name.
Venus: OK. [points to the outer circle] Out here on the outside of the neighborhood, on the edge of the neighborhood, is another gang. You know these are real negative dudes, really negative. Right?
Arnold: Right, right.
Venus: Now they call themselves the “elected ones”. [draws a small capital E on the circle at about 1 o'clock].
Arnold: All right, the “elected ones”.
Venus: You got that? Really negative. They don't like nothing. [Runs his hand around the circle several times and draws another concentric circle outside it]. Now they're all the time out here circling around the neighborhood, just circling, you know? Checking out the “new boys”. [Taps the N in the center]. Now the “new boys” see this, and they figure something is wrong here. [runs his hand between the N and E several times] So, they make a deal with another, another gang. A gang of very happy go lucky guys. They call themselves the “pros”. The “pros”. [draws a small capital P next to the N in the center]. Now the “pros” are very positive cats. They've got all the good looking women, right?
Arnold: Yeah!
Venus: Right. [laughs] See now, the “pros” and “elected ones”, here's what they think - they hate each other. So much so that they keep the same number of members in the gang just in case. You dig?
Arnold: Right.
Venus: So, if I've got ten “elected ones”, how many “pros” do I have?
Arnold: Ten.
Venus: All right. Now how many gangs do I have?
Arnold: Three.
Venus: Name them.
Arnold: The “new boys”, “elected ones” and the “pros”.
Venus: All right. [Points to the circle]. Who's here?
Arnold: The “elected ones”.
Venus: All right. Now, what are they? Negative?
Arnold: Yeah, negative.
Venus: All right. Now who is positive?
Arnold: The “pros”, and you're running out of time.
Venus: All right. You see right here? [points to the P and N area] The “pros” and the “new boys”, they call their hangout the “nucleus”. [draws a small circle around the P and N] Yeah. Now, see? That's a real tough word. It's Latin. But I think it's Swahili and it means center.
Venus: It's “nucleus”. Say it!
Arnold: Nucleus. Is that really African?
Venus: Say it!
Arnold: Nucleus.
Venus: You got it?
Arnold: Yeah.
Venus: All right. Give you another Swahili word. It's, ah, it's tron. It means dude.
Arnold: Yeah, tron. Dude.
Venus: All these gangs like that name so well that they all decide to use it. For instance, the “pros” right here in the middle start calling themselves the “protons”. And the “new boys”, well, they start calling themselves the “neutrons”. And out here on the edge here, the elected ones, they start calling themselves the “elect...”?
Arnold: The “electrons”. The “protons” and the “neutrons”.
Venus: Yeah. [circling his hand over the empty area between the center and outer circles]. And all this right here... this is the neighborhood. This is block after block of nothing. You understand block after block of nothing, don't you?
Arnold: Yeah, yeah, I know all about that and your time is up, professor DJ.
Venus: [dusting his hands and walking away from the wall] Good. I was finished anyway. Now you go on back to school, man.
Arnold: School? Man, all I know about is a bunch of damn gangs that live in a round neighborhood.
Venus: Arnold! That's the atom! That's it, man! That's it. [points to the center and starts rapid fire questions again] What's this right here?
Arnold: Protons and neutrons.
Venus: [points to the little circle] And they call this the what?
Arnold: Nucleus.
Venus: [points to the E] All right, what are these guys up here?
Arnold: “Electrons.”
Venus: Are they positive or negative?
Arnold: Negative.
Venus: And how do they move?
Arnold: Round and round.
Venus: And if I've got two of them, how many protons do I have? [points to the center]
Arnold: Two.
Venus: Now, are protons positive or negative?
Arnold: Positive.
Venus: [points to the empty area] All right. And what's all this right here?
Arnold: Ah, that's the neighborhood.
Venus: Which is?
Arnold: Nothing.
Venus: You've got it, man. You get an A.
I bet the radio host didn't learn anything about the atom from this.
An atom. Beautiful.