Why Desk Lunches Are Illegal In France

08/29/22 • 29 min

5 Listeners

In France, you either leave your desk during lunch, or you’re breaking the law. Which makes Kaitlin Plachy, an American expat in Strasbourg who secretly eats at her desk most days, an outlaw. So why do the French have this law? Our friends at the podcast Rough Translation found that one popular theory — that the law is meant to preserve French culture — is not as correct as many people believe. So what is the explanation? And can Rough Translation convince Kaitlin to take a break?

Rough Translation is a podcast that tells stories from far off places that hit close to home, and you can find all their episodes here.

Rough Translation is hosted by Gregory Warner. The team includes Adelina Lancianese, Pablo Arguelles, Katz Laszlo, Luis Trelles, Justine Yan, Tessa Paoli, Emily Bogle, Liana Simstrom, Bruce Auster, Josh Newell, Greta Pittenger, and Anya Grundmann, with help from Eleanor Beardsley, Robert Krulwich, and Sana Krasikov. The French news tape in the episode is from Radio France and Radio Monte Carlo. Music by John Ellis and FirstCom Music and Audio Network.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Rough Translation is a podcast that tells stories from far off places that hit close to home, and you can find all their episodes here.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Previous Episode

Sohla And Ham El-Waylly Settle A Pancake Dispute

Chefs and YouTube stars Sohla and Ham El-Waylly first met in culinary school, where they geeked out over hydrocolloids and molecular gastronomy. Since then they’ve gotten married, opened (and closed) a restaurant together, and spent countless hours collaborating in the kitchen, on screen and off. Dan talks with Sohla and Ham about their latest cookie obsessions and dream restaurant desserts. Then, they all try to solve a food dispute between listeners about ideal pancake size.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell, with editing help this week from Tanaka Muvavarirwa.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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This Man Can Identify Pizza From Its Grease Stain

By day, Scott Wiener leads pizza tours around New York City. By night, he shares his Brooklyn apartment with his world record-holding pizza box collection. Since going all in on pizza, he’s visited tomato farms in California and buffalo farms in Italy, and even planned entire vacations around visits to pizza box factories. This week, Scott schools us on the history of pizza — from its humble invention to its unlikely rise to culinary fame and fortune. Plus, he takes Dan out for a slice (or three), and they discover the one thing about pizza that divides them.

Visit the Scott's Pizza Tours website for more info about tours and online classes. You can also donate to Scott's nonprofit, Slice Out Hunger.

This episode originally aired on Jun 18, 2018, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini and Aviva DeKornfeld, and edited by Peter Clowney. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.