Chocolate

Episode notes

Alex Schmidt is joined by comedy writer Lydia Bugg (1900HOTDOG, the ‘Trailer Park Boys’ comic anthology) and bestselling author Jason Pargin (‘John Dies At The End’ series, ‘Zoey Ashe’ series) for a look at why chocolate is secretly incredibly fascinating.

Visit http://sifpod.fun/ for research sources, handy links, and this week’s bonus episode.

LINKS FOR THE GUESTS:

• Lydia Bugg on Twitter
• 1900HOTDOG
• Lydia Bugg on Reductress.com
• Trailer Park Boys Get a F#¢*!ng Comic Book! #1
• PREORDER the new novel by Jason Pargin! It’s called If This Book Exists, You’re In The Wrong Universe. Here’s a preview quote from the novel.
• Jason’s blog post about the new novel, and the value of pre-orders.
• Zoey Punches The Future In The Dick by Jason Pargin
• Jason’s website
• Jason’s Substack
• Jason Pargin on Twitter

RESOURCES USED TO INFORM THE EPISODE’S LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

• native-land.ca
• U.S. Department Of Arts And Culture
• The True Native New Yorkers Can Never Truly Reclaim Their Homeland (Smithsonian)
• Mapping Manahatta: 10 Lenape sites in New York City (6sqft)

RESEARCH SOURCES:

• Chocolate: A Global History by Sarah Moss and Alexander Badenoch
• Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga Of Dark And Light by Mort Rosenblum
• “How to harvest chocolate” (YouTube / The Fairtrade Foundation)
• YouTube video of chef Amaury Guichon making a “chocolate sea dragon”
• Celebrating Not-So-German Chocolate Cake (NPR)
• This Is the Real Secret Behind Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream’s Name (Reader’s Digest)
• ‘You Are Not So Smart’: Why We Can’t Tell Good Wine From Bad (The Atlantic)
• The “Chemical of Love” (McGill University Office of Science and Society)
• Why Do We Give Chocolate For Valentine’s Day? (Mental Floss)
• History Shows Us Why We Love Chocolate on Valentine’s Day (University of Texas at Austin News)
• Does Hot Chocolate Have Caffeine? Here’s What You Need to Know (CountryLiving.com)
• 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
• The Bittersweet Story of Vanilla (Smithsonian Magazine)
• Cocoa’s child laborers (The Washington Post)
• Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts

Pictures of cacao tree pods, and the raw beans inside them: