Oysters: a Mysterious and Tragic Dramatic Reading

03/23/22 • 9 min

1 Listener

Overture, curtains, lights! Prepare to be mesmerized by Anna Van Valin’s and Lia Ballentine’s portrayals of the moving characters in this highly-lauded short play written by the world’s most creative storytellers — at the FDA. That’s right, in this bonus episode, we’re performing our much anticipated (and requested) dramatic reading of “Carlos’ Tragic and Mysterious Illness: How Carlos Almost Died from Eating Contaminated Raw Oysters.” In our episode, “Aphrodisiacs: Foods That Put us in The Mood,” our Foodlosopher Anna told us all about the FDA’s campaign to warn people about the dangers of eating raw oysters , which included this incredible one-act play/brochure/short story. And if you recall from our episode, “Arsenic & Eggnog: Poisonous Foods with Danny Murphy,” our Chef-Creator Lia filled us in on an annual celebration that happens every third full week of March: National Poison Prevention Week. So, in honor of National Poison Prevention Week and as a final attempt to warn you about/ruin raw oysters, we’re thrilled to bring you our dramatic reading of this remarkable play. Take your seats, everyone. And enjoy the show!
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Explore more info from the show:

Check out the actual short story/brochure/one-act-play from the FDA here!
Learn more about National Poison Prevention Week here.

Connect with us!

Want to support our women and BIPOC-created independent podcast? Buy us a coffee!
For more great content about the stories & foods we talk about on the show (plus a peek BTS) follow us at @FoodDayPod on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook or check out our webpage.
Join our mailing list for extra content and to keep up with all the exciting things we have planned for this season.

Check out the actual short story/brochure/one-act-play from the FDA here!
Learn more about National Poison Prevention Week here.

Connect with us!

Want to support our women and BIPOC-created independent podcast? Buy us a coffee!
For more great content about the stories & foods we talk about on the show (plus a peek BTS) follow us at @FoodDayPod on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook or check out our webpage.
Join our mailing list for extra content and to keep up with all the exciting things we have planned for this season.

Previous Episode

Honey: 2 Queens, 1 Hive

1 Recommendations

Anna and Lia have gotten themselves into a sticky situation - because this episode is all about honey!
First, Lia Ballentine, our Chef-Creator, tells us about the food holidays honoring our favorite all-natural sweetener like National Honey Month, as well as the hard-working bees that produce it. She also shares a bit of Norse mythology surrounding the origin of mead (the original mythical ingredients included blood and knowledge), and she reveals a swarm of famous women you may not know were beekeepers, like Michelle Obama and...Maria Von Trapp? Plus, hear about the summer Lia spent painting the backs of actual live bees (for science!).
In the Deep Dish, our Foodlosopher Anna Van Valin revisits one of our favorite topics: food crimes! She gives us the buzz on how a dramatic decline in bee populations has led to some to take desperate (and scandalous) measures - like the international honey tampering fraud scheme nicknamed “Honeygate,” and shocking hive heists, where beehive bandits actually steal hives for profit! But first, and most importantly, we ask: is Winnie the Pooh...okay??? Enjoy this SWEET episode! And let’s save the bees!
More info from the show:
- Watch the full video of Angelina Jolie’s “Women for Bees” initiative in partnership with UNESCO here.
- See a bee detective catch a thief on Vice News here.
- Learn all about mead and how hive theft affects beekeeping on this episode of The Drinking Horn Meadcast.
Connect with us!

Want to support our women and BIPOC-created independent podcast? Buy us a coffee!
For more great content about the stories & foods we talk about on the show (plus a peek BTS) follow us at @FoodDayPod on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook or check out our webpage.
Join our mailing list for extra content and to keep up with all the exciting things we have planned for this season.

Next Episode

Pretzels: Get it Twisted

1 Recommendations

Anna and Lia are tied up in knots — delicious, doughy knots — because this episode is all about pretzels! Lia Ballentine, our Chef-Creator, starts us off with the pretzel baking basics and tells us how changing the dough’s pH by boiling it in baking soda or dropping it in a lye bath (that’s right, a lye bath) is essential to achieving the perfect pretzel taste and texture. She takes us through the multiple pretzel-related food holidays on the calendar, including National Pretzel Day, which is day loved by all - especially our hero Stanley from The Office. Plus, she tells us why a region in Pennsylvania is known as the “Snack Belt,” how German immigrants started the pretzel boom in America, and highlights two important women in pretzel history: Helen Hoff and “Auntie Anne” Beiler. Yes, Auntie Anne is a real person! Then get ready for one of the wildest Deep Dish segments ever as Anna Van Valin, our Foodlosopher, tells us the fascinating story behind the bizarre religious history of the pretzel — starting from Middle Ages when monks baked pretzels as a holy treat for students, all the way to the 1970s when an ex-clown founded a movement to bring people back to the Catholic Church during a time when secularism was on the rise and made pretzels the center of it. Anna shares the fascinating story of Marlene McCauley, the founder of “Pretzels for God,” and how she believed the pretzel, with the spiritual guidance of a Native American saint Kateri Tekakwitha, could save our souls. Get ready to enjoy some crazy twists in this episode because these pretzel stories are ones you knead to hear!

More info from the show:

Take a tour of the Julius Sturgis Bakery in Lititz, PA.
Watch this interview with Anne Beiler, the real Auntie Anne.
Relive the excitement of National Pretzel Day with Stanley and the Dunder Mifflin gang.
Learn all about the "Pretzels for God" movement.

Connect with us!

Want to support our women and BIPOC-created independent podcast? Buy us a coffee!
For more great content about the stories & foods we talk about on the show (plus a peek BTS) follow us at @FoodDayPod on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook or check out our webpage.
Join our mailing list for extra content and to keep up with all the exciting things we have planned for this season.