WEBVTT - How Twinkies Work 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.920 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.640 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you Should Know 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:12.200 from house Stuff Works dot Com? Hey, and welcome to 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:15.560 arguably the most important podcast Chuck Bryant and I will 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.880 ever record. I'm Josh Clark. This is stuff you should know, 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:23.200 and brother, I am jacked up me three. You're ready? Yeah, 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:27.040 I'm speaking for Jerry. So she's the Marcel Marcello our group. Yeah, 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:31.440 she's always wears the gloves. Hate mins? I actually don't 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:34.760 hate monsisistic cliche to say you hate mins. Minds are cool? 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:38.720 It says who that minds are cool? Yeah? I just 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:42.440 said it, jerk. Chuck and I have clearly been eating 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:48.800 far too many Twinkies in preparation of this. Yes we have, yeah, Chuck, Yes, 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:51.559 what do you know about the twinkie? Let's talk about twinkies. 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:54.600 Let's talk about twinkies. Everyone knows the twinkie is a 0:00:54.640 --> 0:01:00.200 popular junk food snack cake. Yes, legendary junk food snack egg. 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:02.960 I would say, I would say legendary as well. I'm 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:09.200 glad we're doing something light like this. Just lighten Yeah, 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:13.040 and Chuck, how long is it twinkie. Twinkie is uh 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:15.440 four inches long? How wide is it? Twinkie? Inch and 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:18.880 a half? Did you know that originally it was first 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:23.560 invented it was made with banana cream filling. Indeed, let's 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:26.160 get into this, buddy. Those are just some teasers, all right. 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.680 So the twinkie was first invented in the nineteen thirties. Yes, 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:33.040 Continental Bakeries. Yeah, they're the vice president of Continental Bakeries, 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:35.560 which is already doing business as Hostess, which we know 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:38.360 and love, is the maker of Twinkies and what I 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.040 consider to be the greatest snack food of all time, 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:46.080 the crumb cake. Really a fan. I like the nutty bar, 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:49.520 the Little Debbie nutty bars. We're not we're talking host 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:53.440 is here, buddy? Yeah? Um, they will assassinate you. What 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:57.240 are those? They're like pink balls? What are those snowballs? 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:04.040 Chucks on it? Alright, So back in the vice president 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.720 of Continental Bakery he's a guy named James. What is it, 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:12.080 James Dooer. James Dooer not a Scotch maker. His brother 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:17.600 could have been. Um. He decided that the company's idle 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:21.639 machinery that was used to make a strawberry filled little 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:25.200 shortbread Fingers was the brand name. Um could be put 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:28.960 to better use. Well, the machines were idle because sea yeah, seasonal, 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:31.040 because strawberries only grow certain times of the year, right, 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:32.720 so the rest of the year that they would just 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:35.760 sit there. And this bug doer and he decided to 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:37.800 do something about it. So he came up with a 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:42.840 little uh, little yellow cake filled with creamy filling jammy 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:46.320 frosting if you were, that could be made year round. Um. 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:50.560 And apparently on his way to a marketing meeting for 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:54.799 this snack cake, he passed a billboard for twinkletoe shoes, 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:57.600 which I gotta tell you, I would never buy shoes 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:02.720 called twinkletoe shoes. Sure you would, you dream sailor totally would. Uh. 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:04.799 And that was it. He had the name right there, 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:07.440 and Twinkies were born. Yeah, there's always a cute story 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.760 behind names like that. Anytime the words twinkle and toes 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.160 are putty together, it's a cute story. Yeah. Um, so 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.239 twinkies were born, and uh, as I said, they were 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:21.240 made with banana cream filling, right for a while, Yeah, 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:23.880 until World War Two. Yeah, I didn't this. I thought 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.480 this is pretty interesting. They quit doing that because there 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:30.720 was a shortfall of bananas during the war. Yeah, I 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:33.519 had no idea. No, I can see rubber and and 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:36.720 you know, iron steel and yeah, I know, men, maybe 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:42.920 it's from all the banana bombs we were dropping confetti missiles. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Um, 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:47.560 so that they replaced the banana with vanilla frosting, right, 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:51.200 and it's stuck. Yeah, it definitely stuck. Although um every 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:55.560 once in a while Hostess released the banana flavored Twinkie 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:58.240 and like the limited run, and every time they did 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:02.320 they noticed sales increased, which is pretty substantial. And now 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:06.960 it's permanent as of two thousand seven. Yeah, let's talk 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:10.000 about the early twinkie and the pure goodness that was 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:13.560 the early twinkie. Yeah, it was in the early days, Josh. 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:17.000 It was made with eggs, milk, butter, as you would 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:19.240 expect it to be because it was cake and it 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:21.160 had a shelf life. The problem there was had a 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:23.520 shelf life of what like two days two days, so 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:26.919 the salesman had to rotuate the stock every two days. 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.160 And that was cool because it tasted good. But Doer said, 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:32.680 you know, this isn't I'm not making as much money 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:36.000 as like a chuck. Can you imagine how divine a 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:40.200 twinkie made with like real butter and milk and eggs 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:43.680 would be. It's called it's called cake. Well yeah, but 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:48.279 cake with like real vanilla frosting and in that shape too. Yeah, 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:50.520 that would be great. I would love for someone to 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.680 make and send me a real original twinkie. That would 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:55.839 be awesome. Yeah. I just zoned out for a second 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:59.240 thinking about that. I know, seriously, you just glazed over. Okay, 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:02.839 So these days it's actually up to thirty nine ingredients, 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:06.280 and most of them come out of labs, right, Yeah. Unfortunately, 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:08.000 there's a lot of chemicals going on. You've got like 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.240 yellow number five. There's still sugar in plenty of sugar, 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.680 just corn syrup of course, our old friend. And uh, 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:19.680 there's also bleached wheat flour and I think sugar and 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:23.440 flour the two biggest ingredients in it, right right. Uh. 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:27.880 Monoglycerides and diaglycerides have replaced the eggs, yeah, which act 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:31.680 as emulsifiers. Smulsifiers, they stabilize the cake batter and enhance 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:36.159 the flavor. Yeah, apparently for the filling they use to 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:41.400 achieve the same and polyscerbate sixty, which does much it 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:46.120 emulsifies the frosting. Same thing. Yeah, and there's hydrogenated shortening 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:49.640 instead of butter, although there is artificial butter flavor and 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.800 artificial vanilla flavor, and both of those are actually made 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:56.880 from petroleum. Yeah. When I read that, I was I 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.400 was a little taken aback, to be honest. Yeah, I'm 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:02.200 not a big I mean to eat twinkies now anymore? Well, 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:04.359 you know, I don't eat at all, but I do 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:06.760 occasionally enjoy a twinkie for sure. I haven't had a 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.880 twinkie in a long time. Did you treat yourself? And 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:11.760 I'm not opposed. I mean, I'll down the Ben and 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:14.840 Jerry's and I'm not opposed to eating fattening goodness. I know. 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.640 I think part of it is twinkies are associated with youth. Yeah, 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:20.640 i'd agree with that. I'm telling you, go back and 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.960 eat a twinkie. You'll love yourself. Well, you know, my 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:28.160 mom used to make um strawberry shortcake with twinkies. Nice. 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:31.880 Yeah it was good, monte, very nice seventies dessert too. Yeah, 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.040 you know, before the key party, load the kids up 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:37.159 with a twinkie strawberry shortcake. And apparently she's not the 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:40.760 only one to experiment with twinkies. I have a Twinkies 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:43.600 cookbook at home, actually sorts of crazy stuff in there. Yeah, 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.640 you should have brought that in. I should have. I 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:47.640 don't have the kind of foresight that you expect me 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.400 to have. You had the deep fried twinkie. I used 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:52.680 to make them and sell them at this beer festival 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:55.279 the last couple of years. Oh dude, I can make 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:57.640 a fried twinkie like you would not believe. How do 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:00.680 you do that? It's incredibly simple. So you have like 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:04.520 a vat of oil. I think peanut oil. Maybe peanut 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:06.080 all is the best. It's the worst for you, but 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:09.440 it tastes the best. Um. And you just take like 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:14.440 pancake batter or fry batter, right, um, and you make 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:19.040 the batter up better up, and you you just dip 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:21.600 the twinkie in the batter, throw it in the deep fryer. 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:25.440 I just throw it in there. Wo man, that sounds good. 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:27.920 Pull it out, throw some powdered sugar on there. Oh 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:32.000 my god. Actually you'll see. God, it's like a funnel cake. 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:36.040 Turbo funnel cake is what it really is. No, not 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.960 at all, not at all. It's like it's like a 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.440 funnel cake with a Twinkie inside. It's the greatest thing 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:44.520 you'll ever have. And I can make a good fried 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.920 oreo too. Really, huh, you never cook for me. I 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:50.280 will sometimes you'll have to come over. We'll shave some 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:54.880 years off our life. Seriously, Uh excuse me? Should we 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:57.440 talk about the the process of how they make it 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:00.600 in the factory. It's kind of cool. Yeah, So, Josh, 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.680 we're in the Twinkie factory. This is Jerry's big chance 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.080 to add some sound of thags. We're in the we're 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:07.760 in the Twinkie back You look good in the hairnut. 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:09.800 But what I appreciate that what they do is they 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:12.240 have these metal pans in the shape of Twinkie shape 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:15.960 holes upside down. Twinkies are baked up. What you would 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:21.400 consider upside down golden brown bottom is actually upside There's 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:23.800 a lot. I actually used to hear that they weren't, 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:27.080 in fact baked brown, and that was added color. Not true. 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:30.200 They are baked brown on the bottom. Indeed, Yeah, you 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:33.000 talked to the widow of James Dowert about that, didn't 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.760 you did it? Spoke to her personally. So they throw 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:38.120 the battery in there. It's baked at a cool three 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:42.800 fifty fahrenheit for nine to twelve minutes. Cool three cool, 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:48.200 uh the after after cool's They you know the famous 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:50.280 three holes in the in the bottom of the twin tie, 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:55.120 those are from the manufacturing process. They're cream filling injectors, 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:57.760 and they stick those three things in there and squirt 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.960 in the cream, which I wish they just scort that 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:02.640 in my mouth. So you just want to lay down 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.360 on the conveyor belt and go down the twinkie line. 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:07.880 How the stuff sported in your mouth straight from the 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:11.360 the try injection? Yeah, how that sounds good. It does. 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:14.199 So that's pretty much it. Man. They seal it air 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:18.400 tight in the package. And um, apparently that the ceiling 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:22.360 process is really where the preservation comes in, right, because Chuck, 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:26.240 if there's anything that everyone agrees on with Twinkies, it's 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:30.120 that they will last indefinitely. Not true, No, it isn't. 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.400 And actually there's only one ingredient in the twinkie that's 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:37.320 added specifically to preserve it, and that's sorbic acid. Right. 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.719 There are there are some preservative properties of some of 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:45.560 the other ingredients, um, but ultimately there's only one added ingredient. 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:48.280 That's meant to preserve it. And it's actually, like you said, 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:51.680 the air tight package that makes a Twinkie last. And 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:54.719 there are all sorts of urban myths about the one 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:57.480 I like this is that the they're still selling the 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:01.480 original run of Twinkies, which actually is clearly alive because 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:06.200 they would be banana flavored. Um. But the Hostess company 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:09.080 says that Twinkies have a shelf life twenty five days, yeah, 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:12.839 not twenty five years. No, no, but yeah, there there 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:17.599 have been some experiments that indicate to the contrary. Um. 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:20.840 There's actually these kids who very recently this last school 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.199 year out in uh what is it, Wallowa County, Oregon, 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:29.400 two little kids, Logan Waldron and c J. Horne. Um. 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.760 We're talking about whether or not twinkies could last indefinitely, 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:35.600 how long they could last? Um. And they have a 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.760 very encouraging bus driver who I must say, based on 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:42.319 this picture, is the arguably the best looking and most 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:46.120 stylish bus driver on the planet. And her name is 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:48.319 Lisa Morris. And she said, you know what, why don't 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:51.280 you guys do a scientific experiment. That's that's a bus driver. 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:54.679 I know it's quite a babe. I know, I must say, 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:58.960 I know. Um, she encouraged them to uh to to 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:02.320 conduct their own experience. So they put a double pack 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:06.520 my favorite kind of Twinkies in a Mayonnai's jar, closed 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:08.040 it and put it in a rock crib, which I'm 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.760 not sure what that is, but they basically buried it. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:13.760 And the kids were planning on doing it until they 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:19.640 were eighteen, but they just you know, they're like nine exactly. 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:22.120 But she kept encouraging them to wait at least until 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:23.440 the end of the school year, and they did so. 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:27.040 Nine months later, they popped it open, eight the twinkies, 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:30.280 one each. They both said they were fine. One kid 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:32.120 said he got a belly ache from it. The other 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.600 kid said he was fine. So they are now encouraging 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.599 teachers around the country science teachers they conduct similar experiments. 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:42.200 But yeah, so as far as these two are concerned, 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:46.720 a Twinkie shelf life is at least nine months greater days. Yeah, well, 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.240 I know you just mentioned the double pack. I know 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:51.960 you like the double pack because there's two of them. No, 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:54.240 because of the little cardboard in there, and you can 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:58.320 scrape the little uh kakey goodness off the cardboard and 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:00.240 eat it. I just lick it off the car board. 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.640 It's like the cheese paper and a on a cheeseburger. 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.600 Do you really eat all that stuff? Oh? Dude, who 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:10.720 doesn't take the paper from a McDonald's cheeseburger and scrape 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:12.600 the cheese off of it and eat it? People who 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:17.160 want to live? Shut up, you've had McDonald's in your day. Pal, 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:21.440 Twinky Man, Twinky the Kid, let's talk about Twinkie the Kid. 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:25.400 I just totally shocked you with that. Yeah. I had 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:29.200 a Twinky the Kid t shirt when I was those 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:31.439 It was awesome. I wish you still had it. Yeah, 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:33.800 I'm sure they're still out there. Yeah, I wonder what 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:36.600 why Twinkie the Kid? It's famous. Uh if you've never 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:38.560 seen it, and I'm sure everyone has, it was a 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:42.960 cowboy motif lasso on a hat and boots. And I 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:45.080 saw a dude online today that had a Twinky the 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:48.319 Kid tattoo. That's a pretty cool tattoo, my friend. Yeah, 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:51.480 that definitely beats taz or a dolphin or a turtle, 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:57.320 sunburst barbed wire around your arm. Yeah, so Twinkie the Kid, 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:01.360 cool tattoo, even cooler T shirt. I remember seeing twink 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:05.040 of the Kid ads in between acts of thunder, the 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:09.560 barbarian and hanker for a hunk of cheese. Remember that, 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:16.000 what was that house rock? Now was like the nutrition people? Yeah, exactly, 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:18.679 I got a hanker for a hunk of pocket full 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:21.840 of something. Yeah, because hunk of cheese is really healthy 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:26.840 for you. That was clearly the dairy Association. So, Chuck, 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:29.520 let's talk about twinkies and pop culture. Yeah, this is 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:33.280 good stuff. Well, no, not pop culture, real culture history. Yeah, 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:36.280 my friend, have you heard of Twinkie Gate? Yeah, go 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:38.120 ahead and break that one down. That's good. So there 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:41.640 was a guy who was seventy one back in five 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.400 was running for a place on the Minneapolis City Council. 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:49.080 His name was George bel Air, and he was actually 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:53.160 indicted for bribery because at a I guess a candidate 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:54.959 for him. He was the lone candidate for it. I 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:59.320 guess it was. He hosted it, he provided, he he 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:05.160 provided coffee, kool Aid and twinkies for these senior groups 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:08.880 that were there, um, and he was indicted for bribery 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.800 trying to constituency. They didn't call it kool aid Gate, no, 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:16.400 And I was thinking about that too there. I think 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:24.720 kool Aid had its run one pop with Jonestown. Oh sure, yeah, 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:29.760 will forever be enshrined within about drinking the kool aid. Um, 0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:32.280 that's an Alexicon. Now drink the kool aid. Definitely, It's 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:37.760 got its own thing. Twinkies are much more versatile, you know. Um, 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:42.200 it's such an ironic twist to crime. You know, but 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:44.720 that's not the only crime that they've been associated with. Well, 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:48.480 can I cover this one please? In the nine Dan 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:53.200 White of San Francisco famously shot and killed Harvey Milk. 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.640 It was was he a city councilman. He was and 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.920 a and a supervisor and the first, yeah supervisor, I 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:04.640 first openly homosexual public officeholder in the country was Harvey Milk. 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.680 And the mayor also got capped. Mayor also got capped, 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:10.960 and Dan White is who did the deed. And the 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.720 famous twinkie defense was used in his case because they 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:17.960 said he was under a severe depression at the time 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:22.360 and as evidence they used the fact that he uncharacteristically 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:26.440 was wolfing down twinkies and junk food. Junk food. Apparently 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:28.880 twinkies was mentioned. It does show up in the in 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:31.360 the court transcripts, but it was one witness who used it. 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:35.040 In passing and actually ding Dong's and ho Hoes were 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:39.960 mentioned way more. But yeah, the guy was apparently um 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:45.240 homicidal depression brought on by a poor diet, and it 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:49.040 actually worked. Rather than first this is premeditated murder, he 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:52.480 got manslaughter and eight years that was that, yep, and 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:54.840 that the media ran with it in the twinkie defense. 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:56.520 Speak you still here, But again, why not the ding 0:15:56.560 --> 0:15:59.760 dong defense. It's even funnier the ho ho defense. Sure 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:02.040 that that would be confused with Santa Claus probably you 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:07.920 know why, because twinkies are an American icon, me and 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:13.040 you and former President Bill the Lady Killer Clinton. Really yeah, 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.920 he actually selected a Twinkie to be placed in the 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:20.840 Millennium Time Capsule in alongside the complete works of Louis Armstrong. 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:23.800 It works at William Faulkner the state flag of Hawaii. 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:26.920 There's a Twinkie in there too. So in a hundred 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:29.000 years people will really be able to find out just 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:32.160 how long the shelf life is for twcase, how about 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:37.480 half a twinkie that even at perfect Yeah, you've got 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.680 the thumb out your teeth. Uh So that is the 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.720 twinkie defense. And um, Harvey mel that was the millennium capsule, 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:49.080 So we've moved millennium falcon. Thanks for thanks for coming, Chuck. Uh, 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:52.160 should we talk about the T W I and K 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.720 I E S Project? I can't wait. Pretty cool he's 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:59.760 got and this is university, right, yeah, Rice University. It's 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:02.840 kind of a while ago. These students, as college students, 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:06.600 are so fun. It was called the test with inorganic 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:11.280 noxious cakes with a K in extreme situations, which spells 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:14.040 out twinkies. And let's let's go over a couple of 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:17.399 things that they did with twinkies. You tell them yours first, Okay, 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:20.640 let me. I want to do the water test. Uh. 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.280 What they wanted to do was, um, see what happened 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:26.440 when you put it twinkie in water? Straightforward enough, let's 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:28.560 sit there, and they said this and this is on 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:31.080 their website. As soon as the twinkie was placed in 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:34.200 the water, it swelled to approximately twice its normal size. 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:38.400 A quick tactile observation indicated that the twinkie immediately began 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.760 to lose its structural integrity. The color of the twinkie 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:44.520 paled to an off white color, while the water below 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.720 the twinkie turned a dark yellow brown, while the water 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:51.040 above the twinkie remained clear, which is interesting, and they 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:53.439 showed pictures. So basically they left it in there for 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:56.679 forty eight hours. They said the creamy filling somehow oozed 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:59.080 out of the center and collected on the surface of 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:03.199 the water and basically it turned into a lump of 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:07.000 goo by the end of it. So that was the conclusion. 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:11.120 The conclusion, Actually, you don't have the observation. I think 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:13.800 the observation was it turned into a lumpy goo of 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.640 mess in the water. You got my other favorite one 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:20.960 second favorite dropping off the building. Did you print that out? No? 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:23.280 You do that one? I got another one? Okay, Yeah. 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:26.119 They did the gravity test on two twinkies get to 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:29.080 find out whether or not twinkies are subject to gravity. 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:31.720 I think they would float up when then been cool. 0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:34.720 So they released twinkies off the sixth floor and I 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.600 like the picture of the twinkie circle and drop, and 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.879 they said that upon impact there was a loud splut sound, 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:44.640 a small crack opened on one side of the twinkie. 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:47.959 There was no noticeable change in the control. So they 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.520 dropped the twinkie again. The same split sound was heard. 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:53.399 Then they dropped the same twinkie. Yeah, and this is 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:55.600 that love this line. The fissure in the side of 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:59.920 the twinkie wide and again no noticeable change. And basically 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:04.640 the twinkie and the control twinkie didn't really completely split 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:06.520 up in it, just kind of some of the stuff 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:10.440 oozed out. But they are affected by gravity. I did 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:12.919 have the conclusion in this week, however, the reaction on 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:16.439 impact is much smaller than expected, and they maintain maintain 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:19.480 a good deal of structural integrity from such a lofty fall. Yeah. 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:23.959 Six stories yea. My favorite actually, um was that they 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:26.760 wanted to find out whether twinkies were sentient or not, 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:30.440 and they decided to run this test last because they 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:32.560 had killed a lot of twinkies, as they put it, 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:35.200 and they didn't want to know that they were sentient 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:38.720 while they were dropping him off six you know story buildings. 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:43.119 So they actually administered the Turing test, which is normally 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:45.480 used to test whether or not a computer has developed 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.960 an artificial intelligence. Right, if you put a person in 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:51.919 a computer in another room or whatever, and you direct 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:55.800 questions to both of them simultaneously and both answer. If 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:58.560 you can't tell the difference, then the computer has developed 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:03.160 artificial intelligence. So they conducted a turn test or turn 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:07.760 sorry test on a sophomore at the college and a twinkie, 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:11.880 and they put them behind a sheet you couldn't see 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:15.280 who is who, and they asked certain questions. Um, like 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:20.800 they asked in the students. Yes, so question one was 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:24.200 what would you describe as the purpose of your existence? 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:28.000 And uh, subject B, which was the guy. Uh the 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:31.960 answer was to woo women and subject A in parentheses 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:35.400 no answer. And it just kind of goes on like that, like, um, 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:37.920 they wanted to know how the both of them felt 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:41.600 about their mother. Um. They did some free association, like 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:46.800 the word health prompted the answer sex for free association 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:51.720 from subject B. Um, the the word spam prompted no 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:54.360 answer from subject A, and so on. So they determined 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:57.600 that twinkies are not in fact sentient, that they do 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:01.840 not have intelligence. Is a relief? Wouldn't that be unnerving? Yeah? 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:03.920 As a vegetarian, I think, or a vegan, you would 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:06.320 have to stop eating twinkies. Oh I'm not a vegan, No, 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:10.560 of course not. Okay, Yeah, I am so chuck. Most 0:21:10.840 --> 0:21:14.200 twinkies ever eaten by a person? You want to guess 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:19.399 who it is? Uh? Jerry our producer. She's close. Okay, 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:22.800 she's very close. Um. Actually, there is a guy who 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:26.159 is eighty nine, and I believe he lives in Indiana, 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:28.760 and his name is Lewis Browning. He's been eating a 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:32.640 Twinkie a day since nineteen. He's up the twenty thousand 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:38.280 wow dwarfed by the creator of the Twinkie, James Dewart. 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:41.520 He lived to be eighty eight and he ate an 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:46.119 estimated forty thousand twinkies in his lifetime. Not bad, not 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:48.240 bad at all. So it hats off to both of 0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:50.359 those men. And I actually I was thinking maybe I 0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:52.679 should start eating a twinkie a day and see what happens. 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:54.320 You know what they say, Josh, a twinkie day keeps 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:56.640 a doctor away. That's not true. That's not true because 0:21:56.640 --> 0:21:58.239 they're really not great for you. But I think if 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:00.320 you in anything in moderation you don't got nut till 0:22:00.320 --> 0:22:02.680 the twinkies, you're probably all right. But there's Chuck's final 0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:09.080 thought on twinkies, which means twinkies are done right. I'm done. 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:11.840 I'm done too, so we'll be done with twinkies now. 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:14.720 I really, actually I wanted to go eat a twinkie yeah, 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:16.880 we should have brought them up here, agreed. I told 0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:18.560 you too. And you're too cheap to go buy him 0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:21.159 for it could have expensed it, dude. Yeah, all right, 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:25.120 well maybe afterwards. Yeah. Okay, So Chuck Twinkies is done, 0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:30.600 which means it's listener mail time. Josh, I'm gonna call 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:35.040 this listener mail from Amsterdam, alright, one of my favorite places, 0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:38.360 as you know, I do know. Uh. This comes from 0:22:38.600 --> 0:22:42.520 Robin in Portland, Oregon, and Robin was recently an Amsterdam. Actually, 0:22:42.520 --> 0:22:45.119 the funny thing is Robin's friends Steph Stephanie wrote in 0:22:45.760 --> 0:22:48.720 and told us the story and said, you know, my 0:22:48.760 --> 0:22:50.800 friend Robin's to Chicken to write in for some reason. 0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:52.840 And I said, you know what, tell Robin right in 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:54.960