1 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Favor production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,640 Speaker 1: and Stuff Media. I'm Annies and I'm Lauren voc Obaum, 3 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,240 Speaker 1: and today we have a classic episode for you about popcorn, 4 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,280 Speaker 1: one of my all time very favorite foods. Yes, and 5 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:21,920 Speaker 1: this is one of my all time very favorite episodes, 6 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: I think. Yeah, it was a really fun one. And 7 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,319 Speaker 1: I didn't realize that popcorn played such a huge role 8 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,239 Speaker 1: in our our movie industry here. Yeah. Yeah, because it 9 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 1: kind of is responsible for movies surviving, the film industry 10 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: surviving through the depression. Yes, and right now we are 11 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,279 Speaker 1: in kind of a big movie season. Uh. We got 12 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: Frozen too, Star Wars is coming out. Um, but there's 13 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,240 Speaker 1: also a lot of Oscar contenders. Yeah. And as part 14 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: of that, Lauren and I actually got to guest on 15 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: a friend of the show and one of the hosts 16 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: of Stuff you should know, Chuck co worker Chuck his 17 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: show movie Crash, and we talked about Knives. Yes. Yeah, yeah, 18 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: So so Annie and and I and our our coworker 19 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: Casey all went to a showing of Knives out together. 20 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: Annie had already seen it, but she was just as 21 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: excited the second time around. Um, and yeah, we got 22 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 1: to sit down on a panel with Chuck and just 23 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: discuss how much we heck and loved the film because 24 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 1: it was delight and also, I mean, it was delightful. 25 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: And also I got a giant, giant tub of popcorn. Yeah. 26 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: I was very happy about that because I didn't get 27 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,319 Speaker 1: any and you were after me in the concession line, 28 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: and you know, I was having that I've got popcorn. 29 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: Then I turned around and Lauren, you it up. Oh yeah, 30 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: I got up sold really hard. Um. Yeah, I noticed 31 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: that you didn't get any, and I was like, all right, 32 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: thank you. You knew I wanted it deep down, and 33 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: I did. But I've been having five been seeing a 34 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: lot of movies lately and it's been fun. Um. But 35 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: the panel was also. Yeah. And if you if you 36 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: are a human who enjoys film culture and technical discussions 37 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: and interviews with really awesome human people, um, then yeah, 38 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,799 Speaker 1: check out the movie Crush podcast. It's called movie Crush. 39 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:14,079 Speaker 1: It's available wherever fine podcasts are found. Um and uh yeah, 40 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: enjoy this this classic episode about popcorn. Hello, and welcome 41 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: to food Stuff. I'm Lauren Vogelba and I'm Andy Reese, 42 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: and today we're talking about popcorn. Popcorn is one of 43 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: Annie's very favorite things on the planet. Like she's just 44 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: sitting she's sort of vibrating right now. I know Lauren 45 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:49,639 Speaker 1: recently gave me some popcorn and I had three bags 46 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: in it, and I ate all three bags that day, 47 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: like not even it was maybe two hour period. I 48 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: realized after I left that day that like, maybe I 49 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: shouldn't have left you with that much microwave popcorn. I 50 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: can't resist. I probably mentioned popcorn at least once a day. 51 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:12,640 Speaker 1: I don't know how. Um, I love it. It's delicious. 52 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: There's a place downstairs that's really good popcorn. Oh oh yeah, yeah, 53 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: it's dangerous. I know. Every day I'm like, I could, 54 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 1: I could go down. They could just be there right now. 55 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: And I also recently just went into a movie theater 56 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:26,839 Speaker 1: to get the popcorn and the guy was like, so well, 57 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: which he was going to direct me to. The theater 58 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: was like, oh no, this is this is all I'm 59 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: here for. I'm leaving. I just got my popcorn. That's 60 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: all that's all I wanted. Um that aside. We are 61 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: currently recording this uh in November, and in a round 62 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: this time of year, a lot of big movies come 63 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: out popcorn is a thing at movie theaters. It is, 64 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: and that is the thing that we will be talking about. Yeah, 65 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: that story is great. Yeah, but also if you're like me, 66 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: maybe you just eat popcorn all the time movie or 67 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: not you think about it all the time. Maybe or not. 68 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: In either case, popcorn? What is it? What is it? Well, 69 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: it's a type of corn kernel scientifically known as zamis 70 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: everta that when dried and then exposed to heat, pops 71 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: into this lovely cloud like thing. There are about varieties 72 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: of corn that do this, but the two that we 73 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: use the most are rice popcorn the kernels kind of 74 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: looked like rice, huh, and pearl popcorn. Guess what they 75 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: look like? Pearls. Yeah. So you've got the outside, this 76 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: hard hull, and then outer indo sperm, which surrounds the 77 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: starchy white inner in indo sperm with an ideal moisture 78 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: of about thirty five percent. The moisture is important because 79 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: at around two and twelve degrees fahrenheit are one hundred 80 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: degrees celsius. The moisture turns the steam until it causes 81 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,039 Speaker 1: the kernel to rip apart inside out like, increasing in 82 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:50,719 Speaker 1: size by about twenty to forty times giving you popcorn handling. 83 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: An exposure to air can impact the moisture content, which 84 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: is why you're advised historic kernels and an air tight container. 85 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: If the package has been opened until you're to pop them. 86 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,920 Speaker 1: That's because the steam alone will not make a popcorn 87 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: kernel explode. Every successful kernel of popcorn is a tiny 88 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: pressure cooker. The hull holds in the moisture and the 89 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,920 Speaker 1: increasing heat because you're not just heating the kernels two 90 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: waters boiling point. You take them all the way up 91 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: to a d eighty degrease celsius or three hundred and 92 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,599 Speaker 1: fifty six degrees fahrenheit. I'm being precise about this because 93 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: this is the number. This is the number at which 94 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: the vast majority of popcorn Colonel's pop uh so so 95 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: pressure okay, builds up inside the kernel all the way 96 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 1: to a hundred and thirty five pounds per square inch, 97 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: which is, by the way, about twice as much pressure 98 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: as there is inside of a bottle of champagne or 99 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: semitruck tire oh champagne reference um. The pressure overwhelms the 100 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: structural integrity of the hull, and the whole thing bursts. 101 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: If you mess with the whole you'll wind up with 102 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: the dad. You don't want a dad. You don't want 103 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,600 Speaker 1: to dad. But why does the kernel go off luffy? 104 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: The trapped steam basically gelatinizes the content of the kernel, 105 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: so when the whole bursts and the contents spill out, 106 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 1: air is forced into that matrix of proteins and starches, 107 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: creating a foam that rapidly cools into that solid fluff. 108 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: And timing is key here. Heating popcorn too quickly doesn't 109 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: give the insides time to gelatinize, but heating it too 110 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: slowly will make the tip of the kernel soft, allowing 111 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,799 Speaker 1: steam to leak out instead of building up. The distinctive 112 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 1: noise that popcorn makes when it pops was only figured 113 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: out for certain in when researchers out of France used 114 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,679 Speaker 1: high speed imaging and audio recordings to take a closer 115 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,480 Speaker 1: look at popcorn. Uh. It's the noise of water vapor 116 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:45,279 Speaker 1: escaping rapidly, amplified by the cavity that it's leaving inside 117 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: the kernel. They also found that the colonels jump when 118 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: they pop because the first like leg of expanding starch 119 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: that escapes from the hull uh and and hits the 120 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,799 Speaker 1: pan or the bag will first compress from the change 121 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: in pressure and then expand rapidly, and this action work 122 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,919 Speaker 1: like a springer or like like your leg, vaulting the 123 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: kernel into the air. The researchers developed this imaging equipment 124 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: not to study popcorn, but rather to study the physical 125 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: dynamics of living plants, like how trees break during storms. 126 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: They bent it towards popcorn to give physics teachers a 127 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: fun way to demonstrate difficult principles to their students. They 128 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: told the l A Times, this literally gives an appetite 129 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: for science. That's excellent. M and it is a very 130 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: popular snack food at the movies, like we mentioned, but 131 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: also more generally. When I was in threw it was 132 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: served before a lot of my meals. It's kind of 133 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: like you know, your chips. They had popcorn, and people 134 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: purchased one billion, one million, two sixty two thousand pounds 135 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: of popcorn. And Americans eat about thirteen billion quarts a year, 136 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: which comes out to forty two quarts of persons. I 137 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: bet a lot of that's most of the world's popcorn 138 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: has grown in the American Midwest, and the best time 139 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: for sales is in the fall. It's the official state 140 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: snack of Illinois State snacks. Still don't understand it. You've 141 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 1: got a lot to learn, Lauren. The popcorn industry comes 142 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: with its own set of fun terminology. Oh yeah, the 143 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: kernel is called the flake. Popability refers to the percent 144 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: amount of popped kernels. The two basic popcorn shapes are 145 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: butterfly and mushroom. Mushroom is a sturdier and more often 146 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,679 Speaker 1: used in candy wild Butterfly is bigger and more pleasing 147 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: to the eye. So when you get straight up popcorn, 148 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,719 Speaker 1: it's probably butterfly. Un pop popcorn are called spinsters, but 149 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: they should be called Bachelorett's right, and a quality popcorn 150 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: should yield less than two percent of those And who 151 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: could forget the bridesmaids are the kernels that partially pop Well, 152 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:50,199 Speaker 1: I didn't know that we were going to run into 153 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: such like weirdly gendered. I know, terminology and the popcorn episode. 154 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:57,960 Speaker 1: It's everywhere we can make we can make everything weird. 155 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: That's great, And hey, that's a great transition to go 156 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:05,719 Speaker 1: to a break for a word from one of our 157 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:20,720 Speaker 1: lovely and not weird sponsors. And we're back, Thank you sponsor. Okay, 158 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:23,199 Speaker 1: so here's where we get into the history of popcorn, 159 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: which is not going to be a history of corn 160 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: too much, way too much. Well, come back on a 161 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: later date, all right. The type of maze that gives 162 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: us popcorn was domesticated around five thousand BC in Central 163 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: and South America. Researchers think that all early corns might 164 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 1: have been popcorn. Non popping varieties would really only be 165 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: developed later through cultivation. And it wasn't that folks didn't 166 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 1: like popcorn and we're trying to cultivate away from it. 167 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: It's it's just that popcorn is generally inedible when it's 168 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: raw due to the thickness and hardness of the hull, 169 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: so you'd have to either end it into a flower 170 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: or pop it in order to make some use out 171 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 1: of it. Ancient corn cobs found on Pru's northern coast 172 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,600 Speaker 1: suggests that people have been eating popcorn for over six thousand, 173 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 1: seven hundred years. They most likely would wrap the corn 174 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,079 Speaker 1: and place it on coals or roasted in a fire, 175 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:19,959 Speaker 1: and it wasn't something they would have enjoyed frequently. Right. 176 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 1: That evidence seems to say that it was either a 177 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: delicacy or just an occasional addition. To the diet. Colonels 178 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: and popcorn discovered by Herbert Dick and Earl Smith in 179 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: in a cave called the Bat Cave in New Mexico. 180 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:40,839 Speaker 1: Wait that bat cave? Are we sure? Yeah? Not that 181 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:45,960 Speaker 1: bat cave? Wow? Still probably pretty interesting place. Oh yeah. 182 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: The kernels and popcorn discovered there were carbondated to five thousand, 183 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 1: six d years old. The colonels were in such good 184 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,560 Speaker 1: condition they could still pop. They didn't pop them, they 185 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 1: studied them, but they could have popped them. Oh man, Yeah. 186 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: Circup three hundred CE Mexico. Funeral urns with images of 187 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:07,959 Speaker 1: Amaze God show him sporting a headdress decorated with popcorn. 188 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: Signs of popcorn pop up all over Central and South 189 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:18,680 Speaker 1: America over the next centuries, especially prevalent in Mexico, Peru, 190 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:26,200 Speaker 1: and Guatemala. The web blow and Iroquois for sure consumed popcorn. 191 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,559 Speaker 1: French explorers wrote that the Iroquois placed colonels and pots 192 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: filled with hot sand to pop them. I love all 193 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: these like innovation ways to find pop popcorn. According to 194 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: a couple of historians, some Native American tribes believed each 195 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: popcorn kernel housed peaceful spirits. Well, they were peaceful until 196 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 1: you started heating out their house, which made them shake 197 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: the kernels with increasing anger, until pop they bust out, 198 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: leaving a cloud of steam in their week. And I 199 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: think I read somewhere I don't believe this is true, 200 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: but I read that, like when you say someone steaming 201 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: with anger, that's what it's about. Um. And that brings 202 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,080 Speaker 1: us to the early sixteenth century when popcorn was a 203 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: particular significance to the Aztecs. Talking about the Aztecs again, 204 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: Apart from snacking on it, they use popcorn as a decoration, 205 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:16,679 Speaker 1: as embellishments for ceremonies, ornamental decoration on statues of their gods. 206 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: Bernardino de Sahagoon wrote in his observations of popcorn's importance 207 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:25,559 Speaker 1: to the Aztecs. Quote and also a number of young 208 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: women danced, having so vowed a popcorn dance. As thick 209 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: as tassels of maize were their popcorn garlands. Yeah, popcorn dance. 210 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,439 Speaker 1: Another written account by a Spanish observer of an Aztec 211 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 1: ceremony described it thusly. They scattered before him parched corn 212 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 1: called mono kittle, kind of corn which burst when parched 213 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: and discloses its contents, and makes itself look like a 214 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:50,439 Speaker 1: very white flower. They said these were hailstones given to 215 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: the god of water yep. And there was even a 216 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: word in the Aztec language for the sound of several 217 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: colonels popping at the same time, Toto PoCA, speaking of 218 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: the Spanish. After Cortez invaded the Aztec Empire in fifteen nineteen, 219 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,440 Speaker 1: one of the spoils he spread around the world was popcorn, 220 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,560 Speaker 1: and slowly people started to figure out how it worked. 221 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: Felix de Zara encountered popcorn during his exploration of Paraguay, 222 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,439 Speaker 1: writing world and fat are oil. The grains burst without 223 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: becoming detached, and their results a super bouquet fit to 224 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: adorn a lady's hair at night without anyone knowing what 225 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,680 Speaker 1: it was. I've often eaten these burst greens and found 226 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: them very good. Well wow, what words of praise. As 227 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 1: colonists arrived to the New World, the Native Americans introduced 228 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: them to popcorn, a snack they adopted as their own. 229 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: The colonist and also sometimes added milk and sugar too 230 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,640 Speaker 1: as a sort of popcorn cereal yeah first first air 231 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 1: popped breakfast cereal yeah. And also also sometimes they would 232 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: pop it with some molasses to make something kind of 233 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:58,200 Speaker 1: like today's kettle corn. And guess who enjoyed the whole 234 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:05,720 Speaker 1: popcorn as a cereal. Years later, one John Harvey Kellogg, Yes, 235 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,200 Speaker 1: that killer. He approved of something he did heck and 236 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 1: his wife Ella, She called it an excellent food. And 237 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: John lauded popcorn as quote easily digestible and to the 238 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 1: highest degree wholesome, presenting the grain in its entirety, and 239 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: hints superior to many d natured breakfast foods which are 240 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: found in the market. Yeah, well, there you go, Kellogg, 241 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: always popping up. I didn't even mean to do it, Okay. 242 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: By the eighteen twenties, popcorn colonels being sold under the 243 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: names pearl or non par yell. Never know how to 244 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: pronounce that, for sure, but it's the same word used 245 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: for sprinkles in the Eastern US, and John Russell Bartlett 246 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 1: included popcorn and his Dictionary of Americanisms. Despite being a 247 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: popular snack in the colonies, they found it not only tasty, 248 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: but entertaining. You had to get your entertainment somehow. In 249 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, people didn't really have a great way 250 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 1: to pop popcorn. They tried all kinds of things, though, 251 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 1: including throwing kernels and hot ash into kettles of hot 252 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: lard or butter, or into these wire boxes attached to 253 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: a long wooden handle, and then you'd stick them over 254 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 1: a fire. That was the most popular way. Enter Charles 255 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 1: Creeturs of Chicago's Seas, of Chicago's Sea, Creeters and Company, 256 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 1: that's a lot of seas and creatres showed up to 257 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: Chicago's World Columbian Exposition with general Please, I don't know 258 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 1: if you could hear that, but it was there a 259 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:37,479 Speaker 1: mobile popcorn machine. Scientific American described it like this. The apparatus, 260 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: which is light and strong and weighing but four hundred 261 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: or five hundred pounds, can be drawn readily by a 262 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: boy or by a small pony to any picnic ground, fair, 263 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 1: political rally, et cetera, and too many other places where 264 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 1: a good business could be done for a day or two. 265 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,200 Speaker 1: Creeters was the owner of a candy store, and he 266 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: got the idea for the mobile popcorn machine after working 267 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: on improving his peanut roasting machine. Seen both were powered 268 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: by steam and by He brought horse drawn popcorn wagons 269 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:11,400 Speaker 1: to the scene. Uh and cracker jacks. Cracker jacks such 270 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: as for those of you don't know, it's the snack. Um. 271 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 1: It's a mix of molasses covered popcorn and peanuts. It 272 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: debuted in the eighteen nineties. Um. That name, by the way, 273 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: probably comes from the popular sling at the time meaning 274 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: first rate or excellent cracker jack, cracker Jack. Yeah. And 275 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: the song take me out to the ballgame with the 276 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: line buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks came out 277 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: in nineteen eight and we still sing this at baseball 278 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: games in the US. Yeah, yeah, what do you sing 279 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: in baseball games in other countries? Let us know exactly 280 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: we had that thought as as as I was saying. 281 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: The American Popcorn Company was founded by Cloyd Smith and 282 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: Sioux City, Iowa, in nineteen fourteen, and they released America's 283 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: first popcorn brand, jolly Time, Jolly Time, Jolly Time. They 284 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: started selling it in cans with the ambitious slogan guaranteed 285 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: to pop. Oh yeah, that's not what it was at 286 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: the time. Really, No, it really wasn't. Due to its 287 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 1: low price, relative abundance, and ease of preparation, popcorn experienced 288 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: bumps during times of hardship like the Great Depression and 289 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:14,439 Speaker 1: World War Two. In fact, it was one of the 290 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: few businesses that thrived during the Great Depression, with stories 291 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: like this one. One Oklahoma banker, newly out of a 292 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,159 Speaker 1: job after his bank closed shop, bought a popcorn machine 293 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 1: and started selling it outside of a theater, and from 294 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:29,399 Speaker 1: that alone, he made enough money to buy back three 295 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:34,640 Speaker 1: farms he'd lost in two years. That's kind of stunning. Yeah, 296 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: and this all ties into how popcorn became like the 297 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: ultimate movie theater snack, right, So how did that happen? Well? 298 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,919 Speaker 1: At first, movie theaters really turned up their noses at 299 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: the idea. They were not excited about it. They didn't 300 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: want people getting popcorn all over their beautiful auditoriums. They 301 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:56,840 Speaker 1: wanted it to be a place for the elite, attracting 302 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: all those rich movie goers, and they didn't want the 303 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 1: loud and munching a popcorn are the unsightly trash it 304 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:08,159 Speaker 1: would generate, impating that. In seven though, the talkies or 305 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,919 Speaker 1: movies with sound, start grazing theater screens, which meant a 306 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: wider audience since viewers no longer needed to be literate 307 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: to enjoy a film, and by nineteen thirty ninety million 308 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 1: people a week, we're going to the movies. Theater owners 309 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:22,199 Speaker 1: were thinking of ways to capitalize on this, and with 310 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,960 Speaker 1: the introduction of sound, selling snacks didn't sound like such 311 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:28,200 Speaker 1: a terrible idea anymore, but still the potential from mess 312 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: really concerned them. Sometimes hawkers would go around the theater 313 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: owners walk govern down the aisles selling popcorn. However, the 314 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:41,479 Speaker 1: Great Depression changed that people could still afford to go 315 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: to the movies, and they could also afford a five 316 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 1: to ten cent bag of popcorn, you know, one of 317 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: those small luxuries like like lips write something exactly um. 318 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: For the theater owners, they could get years of popcorn 319 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 1: from a ten dollar bag of kernels. Street vendors with 320 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: their own popcorn carts camped outside of theaters to sell bags. 321 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: Patron went in. This is one of my favorite facts 322 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 1: of the episode. This practice was so rampant. Movie theaters 323 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:09,000 Speaker 1: had signs that requested movie goers check their popcorn with 324 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,119 Speaker 1: their coade. What check your popcorn? Check your popcorn if 325 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:16,160 Speaker 1: there was a sign up. Now, like, there's been times 326 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:18,880 Speaker 1: where I like popcorn in my first I gotta check 327 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 1: my popcorn. Um. At the time, most movie theaters didn't 328 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 1: have the ventilation to house popcorn machines, but they couldn't 329 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: ignore the siren's call of popcorn profits as more and 330 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 1: more of their customers walked in with bags of the stuff, 331 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: so they leased what they called lobby privileges to vendors, 332 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: charging them a daily fee to sell popcorn in the lobby. 333 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 1: This arrangement saved a good chunk of theaters from going 334 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:46,320 Speaker 1: underder them during the Great Depression. That didn't stop theater 335 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,399 Speaker 1: owners for looking for ways to get rid of the 336 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:52,360 Speaker 1: vendors and making their own popcorn and massively increasing their profits. 337 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 1: One example of how lucrative the popcorn business could be 338 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,399 Speaker 1: in theaters. Dallas Movie Theater Chain invested in popcorn machines 339 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:04,680 Speaker 1: for eighty of their theaters, but in five movie houses 340 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: they considered their best, they abstained, believing it would tarnish 341 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:11,479 Speaker 1: their fancy pants reputation. The ones without the popcorn machines 342 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:13,720 Speaker 1: almost went under in the next two years, while those 343 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: theaters with the popcorn machines saw their profits shoot way up. 344 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,399 Speaker 1: Movie theaters realized this popcorn thing and snacks in general, 345 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: or where the money was. It's so so popcorn basically 346 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: like made the movie industry possible. Yeah, it's they're so 347 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:34,680 Speaker 1: tied together. This growth couldn't be sustained, however, and theater 348 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,359 Speaker 1: saw steady decrease in profits in the fifties and sixties. 349 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 1: And what was to blame the television. More and more 350 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: Americans were staying at home and watching the mood Tube 351 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 1: in the comfort of their own home, at their home, 352 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:50,720 Speaker 1: in their home. Uh. And they were doing this rather 353 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,119 Speaker 1: than going out to the movies. And this meant trouble 354 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,480 Speaker 1: for popcorn too, because it wasn't easy to make it 355 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: at home. Yes, in you three easy pop appeared in 356 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 1: our grocery store shelves. All you had to do was 357 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,640 Speaker 1: placed the covered aluminum pie plate looking thing over heat 358 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: source for one minute, the aluminum foil covering would kind 359 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 1: of balloon one out popcorn. A little later they changed 360 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 1: their name to one you might recognize, Jiffy Pop. And 361 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 1: this always makes me think of the movie screen. Oh, yeah, 362 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: that that opening, that opening scene. Yeah, poor Drew Barrymore, 363 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:27,640 Speaker 1: Poor Drew Barrymore. Oh. I wanted to put in here 364 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: one of the notes that I found while I was 365 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: researching um food. Timeline dot Org has this clip from 366 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 1: a nineteen sixty two issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune 367 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: which describes a package of of this one brand of 368 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 1: popcorn TV time that included a feedbag for kids to wear. 369 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: It was like a plastic apron with this big pocket 370 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: across the front. So I guess you could carry your 371 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: popcorn around with you. I mean I would, The writer 372 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:58,879 Speaker 1: was suggesting a second use for the apron is like 373 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: a trick or treating excess three feedbag for you know. 374 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:06,639 Speaker 1: It sounds um lovely and I'm sure you you were 375 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 1: the coolest kid on the street if you went chicken treating. 376 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, but you've got your popcorn in one pocket 377 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:14,399 Speaker 1: candy in the other. I mean, clearly you have to 378 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: organize these. Oh yeah, yeah, you've got to. But that's 379 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:18,640 Speaker 1: a good. That's a good, you know, you know, keep 380 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: keep yourself sustained for the entire trick or training. But 381 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:26,639 Speaker 1: I'm sure you could laugh a lot longer. Yeah. Meanwhile, 382 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: farmers and food scientists were busy working on growing the 383 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: least wasteful, best popping popcorn possible. The first commercial popcorn 384 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 1: hybrid was released in nineteen thirty four, and the U. 385 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: S d A's Bureau of Plant Industry got pretty heavily 386 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: involved to help out. Between the nineteen fifties and today, 387 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 1: agricultural research would reduce the rate of unpopped kernels by 388 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: s wow. By the nineteen seventies, more and more American 389 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,200 Speaker 1: households owned a microwave, and as you might guess, this 390 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: is a big deal for in home popcorn make and eating. 391 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:06,160 Speaker 1: Orville Redd and Bocker. That Redden Bocker. Yep, that Redden Bocker. Uh. 392 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:08,399 Speaker 1: This is a family of farmers that survived through the 393 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: Great Depression thanks to popcorn. They released their namesake popcorn 394 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy. By one microwave popcorn was commercially available, 395 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: with General Mills snagging the first patent for the microwave 396 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:23,399 Speaker 1: popcorn bag. The association of movies and popcorn didn't go 397 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: away once it became easier and a lot more common 398 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,200 Speaker 1: to make popcorn at home. No way. If you look 399 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: at the packaging of a lot of microwave popcorns, they 400 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 1: might have things like filmstrips on them, or they might 401 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,400 Speaker 1: be called movie theater popcorn, or they might advertise directly 402 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: with movies or in commercials or promotional images for things 403 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,119 Speaker 1: like Netflix. The viewers and these things are often eating 404 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: popcorn as they watch whatever they're watching. Not only that, 405 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: but this relationship has changed the type of popcorn were 406 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: more likely to eat free movies. A majority of popcorn 407 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: souls came from a variety of white corn, but those 408 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: sneaky movie vendors liked the yellow variety because it was 409 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 1: bigger when popped. I mean, you got a lot more 410 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 1: volume for less money. And since it was yellow, customers 411 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 1: thought it was covered in butter. And though some were 412 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: advertising and worth more. Yeah, it reached the point where 413 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: a lot of people wouldn't buy white popcorn and stores 414 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 1: because they didn't think it would taste as good as 415 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,400 Speaker 1: movie theater popcorn, and that persists to this day. Ten 416 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: percent of commercially grown popcorn is the white variety. Of 417 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:27,840 Speaker 1: the rest is that yellow, the yellow flavor hover yellow, 418 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 1: it's in your brain, Oh my goodness. To this day, 419 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 1: popcorn and other concessions are the primary drivershop profit for 420 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: movie theaters, with an estimated profit of of total theater 421 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: profit all from all from the concessions, a lot of 422 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:48,640 Speaker 1: which is popcorn. All right, so that was our popcorn history. 423 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,439 Speaker 1: We do have some popcorn science for you, but first 424 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,679 Speaker 1: we've got another quick break for a word from our 425 00:24:53,720 --> 00:25:08,439 Speaker 1: sponsors and we're back, Thank you sponsors. So, nutrient wise, 426 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,480 Speaker 1: popcorn is a whole grain, and it's thirty calories perk 427 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: up for air pops and thirty five for oil popped. 428 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,199 Speaker 1: But this is the home made stuff important, not the 429 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 1: movie theater, baseball game variety. Different. Yeah. Yeah, a word 430 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,440 Speaker 1: on that in a second. But but but you know, popcorn, 431 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,920 Speaker 1: being a grain, is mostly low sugar, cob or hydrates 432 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,200 Speaker 1: with a little bit of fiber, plus about ten percent 433 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: each fats and proteins makeup wise. Those fats, by the way, 434 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 1: are the good fats. It's not going to fill you 435 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: up for very long, but it is certainly not the 436 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: worst thing for you. Nutritionists tend to like it because 437 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:41,880 Speaker 1: the volume and the crunch can make it feel more 438 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:46,919 Speaker 1: satisfying than similar snacks that have higher caloric punches. Of course, 439 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:49,400 Speaker 1: what you do with your popcorn once it's popped does 440 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:51,679 Speaker 1: make a huge difference. If you're using it mostly as 441 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:53,720 Speaker 1: a vehicle for salt and butter, you're gonna be eating 442 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:55,960 Speaker 1: a lot of salt and butter. Yeah. Yeah, it's not 443 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:57,959 Speaker 1: a particularly bad thing as long as you don't have 444 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:00,919 Speaker 1: a condition that makes it advisable to avoid salt. If 445 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 1: you're in good health. Salt is basically fine as long 446 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,679 Speaker 1: as you remember to hydrate and um, as long as 447 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 1: you're using real butter, which is a high calorie food 448 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,040 Speaker 1: but totally fine in moderation. M yeah, but hey, speaking 449 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 1: of real butter. Yeah, since we talked about movie theaters 450 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,560 Speaker 1: and popcorn so much, we thought we should briefly talked 451 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: about the yellow sledge called in heavy quotes butter butter 452 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:31,200 Speaker 1: offered as a popcorn topping at movie theaters. Okay, so first, 453 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: that whole health thing, this doesn't hold true for the 454 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:38,119 Speaker 1: popcorn you get the movie theaters because it's usually popped 455 00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: in coconut oil and then it's heavily salted and often 456 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: topped with butter. For a medium bucket of popcorn, which 457 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: holds about twenty cups, you're looking at twelve hundred calories, 458 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:54,480 Speaker 1: sixty grams of saturated fats, and nine eight milligrams of sodium. 459 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,520 Speaker 1: That's that's a bunch. Yeah. For reference, that recommended daily 460 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,040 Speaker 1: value of saturated fats for the average adult is twenty 461 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: four grams, So a third of that or half that 462 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,240 Speaker 1: I see that that that second thing that I said, right, 463 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:13,560 Speaker 1: and that butter, it's actually a mixture of flavor call 464 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: and butter flavored topping. Yep, butter flavored topping. Slavor call 465 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:21,199 Speaker 1: is a fine salt that's been colored yellow to get 466 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:24,200 Speaker 1: popcorn the illusion of being coated with butter. The butter 467 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 1: flavored topping is a combination of things like beta caroteen, 468 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: soybean oil, and of course buttery flavoring. Mm hmm. It's 469 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,480 Speaker 1: some type of chemical that mimics butter flavor. And it's 470 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 1: twenty more calories for tablespoon than real butter. Yeah, and 471 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: that's you know, different types of fats interact with your 472 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 1: body differently. Um. It's generally best to avoid anything that's 473 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:52,280 Speaker 1: labeled as containing trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils um, 474 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:56,400 Speaker 1: which is what this stuff is made of, instead of butter. Yeah, 475 00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:59,440 Speaker 1: because it's shelf stable. We talked about that and also 476 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: about artificial butter flavoring a little bit in our butter episodes, 477 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:04,920 Speaker 1: of which there are two. We had a lot to 478 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 1: say about butter um. Basically, there are two compounds that 479 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 1: make butter taste like butter di settle and as a 480 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:16,479 Speaker 1: to in in old fashioned cultured butter. These compounds are 481 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:20,120 Speaker 1: excreted by a friendly lactic acid bacteria during the process 482 00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: of turning cream into butter. But if you want to 483 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:28,119 Speaker 1: add butter flavoring to less expensive, non cultured butter or, 484 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: in the case of movie theater butter, some kind of 485 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 1: vegetable oil, you've got a couple options. Um, you can 486 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:37,000 Speaker 1: either farm a whole bunch of bacteria or yeast and 487 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 1: then collect that diacetal and acid to in those are 488 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: called natural butter flavorings. Or um, you can synthesize those 489 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:49,240 Speaker 1: molecules or others that will create similar flavor experience, like 490 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: a subtle propianal in a lab, thus producing what's called 491 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 1: artificial butter flavoring. And uh, you may have heard about 492 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: artificial butter flavoring a special in microwave popcorn causing health problems. 493 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 1: That is a real thing, but the story kind of 494 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: got sensationalized in the press. Factory workers who breathe in 495 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,920 Speaker 1: like a whole lot of di setle do have an 496 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 1: increased risk of this one particular type of lung disease. 497 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:19,360 Speaker 1: And there was this one guy who was popping like 498 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,520 Speaker 1: two to three bags per day every day for a 499 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: whole bunch of years who successfully sued a lot of 500 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: microwave popcorn producers after contracting this disease. It's called popcorn lung, 501 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,800 Speaker 1: which sounds adorable, but it's not. And there is no 502 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 1: risk in in breathing in the amount that you'd a 503 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: realized from popping a bag of popcorn in your microwave. 504 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: Like every now and then, uh like, consider sticking with 505 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: the types of microwave popcorn that feature little to no flavoring. 506 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,360 Speaker 1: Add whatever flavorings you want after it's popped. Also, make 507 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,600 Speaker 1: sure your kitchen is well ventilated if you're worried about 508 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:53,760 Speaker 1: this kind of thing. I mean, that's a good tip 509 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:57,960 Speaker 1: all around. Like, well, vento laid kitchens are a cook's friend. Yeah, definitely. 510 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:03,800 Speaker 1: Also concerning microwave popcorn, will it give me cancer? Oh? 511 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: I hope not. Okay, Well that's sort of my short answer. Yeah, 512 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 1: it's it's it's no, jeez, I hope not. Um that 513 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:13,239 Speaker 1: the long answer, Oh okay. The long answer is that 514 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:15,800 Speaker 1: for many years and one of the materials that the 515 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 1: food industry used and a whole lot of wrappings was 516 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: oh I did this to myself. Um. Per fluoro octane 517 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:26,240 Speaker 1: sulfonate also known as pfos because it's so much easier 518 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 1: to say. P f OS is great because it prevents 519 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:32,120 Speaker 1: oils from leaking out through paper products. It's also terrible 520 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,400 Speaker 1: because it can leach into your food and mess with 521 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: your hormones and contribute to thyroid disease in various cancers. Yeah, 522 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,000 Speaker 1: much of the food industry voluntarily started phasing out pfos 523 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 1: starting around in light of all of this medical research. However, 524 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:51,240 Speaker 1: sort of similar stuff like polyfluoro alkal substances uh p 525 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: f A s S are still used and can also 526 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: leak into food and have been associated with some negative 527 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:00,640 Speaker 1: health effects. Um. The f d A says that they 528 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:02,880 Speaker 1: are safe at the levels at which they are used, 529 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 1: but some researchers are still calling for more work to 530 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: be done. Again, the real danger here is to folks 531 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 1: who work in manufacturing and get exposed to like huge 532 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:17,880 Speaker 1: amounts of these chemicals. But if you're concerned about this, UM, 533 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,360 Speaker 1: just pop your popcorn in the old fashioned way, not 534 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: in a microwave, but on a stovetop. That's my preferred way. Yeah, 535 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 1: pretty delicious that way too, And I I wrote microwave 536 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:35,760 Speaker 1: popcorn button question question question, question, excliation point, exclation point, 537 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:43,400 Speaker 1: excluition for and then just left Lauren to Okay, all right, 538 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:49,160 Speaker 1: so you've probably seen on a microwave a microwave popcorn button. Yeah. Um. 539 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 1: On most microwaves, this is just a timer and like 540 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,160 Speaker 1: maybe a power setting that may or may not help 541 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:59,000 Speaker 1: you avoid burning the holy heck out of your popcorn. Um. However, 542 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 1: in the incredible future, your microwave might be able to 543 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:07,320 Speaker 1: listen to your popcorn to help you out. Worldpool released 544 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,719 Speaker 1: in microwave that could monitor the time between Colonel pops 545 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: and it would automatically shut off when that length hit 546 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:17,200 Speaker 1: hit that length of time hit hit a certain length. Yeah. 547 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: Most most brands of my group Popcorn in the Meanwhile 548 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 1: recommend just doing that the old fashioned way with your ears. 549 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: Well that's always cracked me up. That on the instructions 550 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:33,160 Speaker 1: of popcorn bags. It's like, do not button, what is 551 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:37,200 Speaker 1: it for? What are you thinking? Silly you? Um? And 552 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:42,640 Speaker 1: popcorn was I think that I can't remember his name. 553 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:46,280 Speaker 1: It was a general who helps invent the microwave. He 554 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:50,480 Speaker 1: used popcorn and a lot of his tests. Yeah, and 555 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:52,080 Speaker 1: he I think he was the one that it's like, 556 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: there should be a popcorn button anyway. For World War two, 557 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,120 Speaker 1: they were working on this. Wow, that's starting at a 558 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:01,840 Speaker 1: very high level. That's like, yeah, you're just diving right in. 559 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: Okay real yeah, alright, so that's our science segment. Yeah, 560 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:11,800 Speaker 1: which brings us to some random slash culture stuff like 561 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: popcorn balls. Popcorn balls. I have never done this, have 562 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:19,640 Speaker 1: you done this? Lord? Um? Not first I've received a 563 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:22,560 Speaker 1: popcorn ball as a gift from family members who made 564 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,960 Speaker 1: them themselves. Okay, Well, this is a practice that started 565 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,000 Speaker 1: in the nineteenth century and it was all the rage 566 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 1: into the early twentieth century. If you couldn't guess from 567 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 1: the name, it's like balls of popcorn. Yeah, yeahy're they're 568 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:38,120 Speaker 1: usually um, lightly sweetened with sugar molasses of some kind 569 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 1: and kind of it's it's all sort of ripped into 570 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 1: into this sort of ball shape that sounds ball shape. Um. 571 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:53,880 Speaker 1: The first known written recipe appeared in a eighteen sixty 572 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:57,360 Speaker 1: one cookbook. Popcorn is a popular holiday decoration, largely due 573 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,000 Speaker 1: to its cheapness and also its color. This was especial 574 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,960 Speaker 1: true around Christmas, where it was also a fairly common gift. 575 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:08,000 Speaker 1: From this sprung up a whole industry of popcorn ball makers. 576 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:11,880 Speaker 1: Nearly every cookbook had at least one popcorn ball recipe 577 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 1: with the dawn of the New century, and Victorian families 578 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:18,560 Speaker 1: used them as decoration. So it had like a very 579 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:23,479 Speaker 1: brief but very intense yeah popularity. Yeah um. And there's 580 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,839 Speaker 1: such a fun story about how the first popcorn ball 581 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,239 Speaker 1: was made. This is like a truly tall tale kind 582 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:33,399 Speaker 1: of thing. Yes, it's excellent, okay. Um. So the story 583 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,880 Speaker 1: comes to us from the corn husker state of Nebraska, 584 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:40,680 Speaker 1: where another big crop is sorghum. There was one summer 585 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,560 Speaker 1: during the mid eighteen hundreds that was so wet and 586 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,840 Speaker 1: so hot that the rain combined with the sorghum to 587 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:50,120 Speaker 1: make a syrup that drained off to a nearby corn field. 588 00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:53,480 Speaker 1: And on that field, the heat caused the kernels to 589 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:56,600 Speaker 1: dry out and pop, and then a tornado came through. 590 00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:00,160 Speaker 1: Oh yes, out of all of this weather chaos us, 591 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:05,080 Speaker 1: the farmer found a one hundred foot mountain five of 592 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:10,840 Speaker 1: popcorn balls. Lucky but no one other twyst grasshoppers ate 593 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:15,960 Speaker 1: all of them, devouring the proof. Oh yeah, but the 594 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: secret of of the popcorn ball was revealed to him. 595 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:25,160 Speaker 1: It was and some grasshoppers. Grasshoppers eat popcorn balls anyway, 596 00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:29,400 Speaker 1: I'm sure yeah, Billy, just about anything, right. Yeah. According 597 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:32,240 Speaker 1: to the edition of the Guinness Book of World Records, 598 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,319 Speaker 1: the largest popcorn ball ever created comes to us via 599 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:41,600 Speaker 1: the Indiana State Fair. And this behemoth was eight feet 600 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:46,960 Speaker 1: in diameter two point five and wade six thousand pounds. 601 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,759 Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. Also, this was probably a duck to 602 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:51,840 Speaker 1: everyone else, but I had no idea a Guinness Brewery 603 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,560 Speaker 1: was behind the Guinness Book of World Records. And I 604 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:56,839 Speaker 1: freaked out a little bit about it. I think any 605 00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,200 Speaker 1: like texted me or something or she maybe there was 606 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 1: an email, I don't know. Yeah, yeah, it was just 607 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:05,759 Speaker 1: like it was just the surprise face emoji, like fifteen times. Yeah, 608 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:10,640 Speaker 1: I should have known. Um. And aside, popcorn the game 609 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,359 Speaker 1: both classroom and trampoline, I've never heard what what what's 610 00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:20,200 Speaker 1: the popcorn game? What? Um? Popcorn in in classroom is 611 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:24,960 Speaker 1: when um usually like if you're reading something aloud in 612 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:29,800 Speaker 1: class um, you pop to someone so you're reading and 613 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:32,719 Speaker 1: then you want to be done. It's popcorn, um. And 614 00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:34,520 Speaker 1: it was annoying because there was always that one kid 615 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:37,400 Speaker 1: that read like one sentence and then popcorned over to you. Anyway, 616 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:40,560 Speaker 1: and on a trampoline it's when you are like you 617 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,000 Speaker 1: wrap your arms around your knees and you make yourself 618 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 1: into like a kernel, like a small, tiny little ball, 619 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:47,840 Speaker 1: as much as you can, and then your friends just 620 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:51,399 Speaker 1: try to make yours come apart and you bust open 621 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:55,520 Speaker 1: into popcorn. That's great. Yeah, and then only slightly hazardous, 622 00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:03,520 Speaker 1: only slightly, so that's popcorn. That's popcorn. Man, I'm gonna 623 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:05,040 Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to go get some popcorn. And then 624 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:07,320 Speaker 1: I'm not upset about it at all. Yeah. No, this 625 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:09,320 Speaker 1: is this is one of those food cravings that I 626 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:15,840 Speaker 1: think is totally okay. Yeah, I think so. And that 627 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:19,879 Speaker 1: brings us to the end of this classic. Um, I'm 628 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:22,920 Speaker 1: curious if anybody makes popcorn balls, which came up in 629 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:25,520 Speaker 1: a recent in our Candy Cane episode. I'd love to 630 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:27,640 Speaker 1: hear about that. Yeah, I want to live through you. 631 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:31,319 Speaker 1: Show me the pictures, tell me about your process. Um. 632 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:34,480 Speaker 1: And uh, if you're seeing a bunch of movies this 633 00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:38,000 Speaker 1: this season, we hope that you got some popcorn, popcorn 634 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:40,640 Speaker 1: and future. Yeah, and that you and that you enjoy them. 635 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:45,279 Speaker 1: You enjoy both popcorn and the movies, Yes, indeed. Um, 636 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:48,239 Speaker 1: And if you would like to contact us, you can 637 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:51,200 Speaker 1: our email is hello at favorite pod dot com. We're 638 00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 1: also on social media. You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, 639 00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:56,719 Speaker 1: and Facebook at favorite pod and we do hope to 640 00:37:56,760 --> 00:37:59,200 Speaker 1: hear from you. Savor is production of I Heart Radio 641 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:01,399 Speaker 1: and Stuff Media. Were more podcasts from my Heart Radio. 642 00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:03,840 Speaker 1: You can visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 643 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:07,080 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as 644 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:09,800 Speaker 1: always to our super producers Dylan Bacon and Andrew Howard. 645 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:11,560 Speaker 1: Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots 646 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:12,920 Speaker 1: more good things are coming your way