Is It OK To Eat All Your Popcorn Before The Movie Starts? (Reheat)

The Sporkful Family Food Court is back in session. A husband and wife debate when to eat movie popcorn, and a mother and daughter argue over whether eating salad dressing makes you an adult.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Dan Pashman?

  There's nothing quite like Aruba. The white sand beaches are truly unlike anything you've seen. But what really stands out is the food. Because Aruba's not like other Caribbean islands. French pastries, Spanish paella, Peruvian barbecue, papardelle that has no business being that good that far from Florence. Not to mention the local fair. Aruba's food scene pulls you in with its astonishing variety of cuisines and beyond satisfies you with its unexpected flavors. So plan your escape to culinary delight at aruba.com. Your taste buds will thank you. Start the day strong with Quaker protein products. Quaker makes it easy and delicious to get a good source of protein. No matter what the day has in store, Quaker protein products give you a variety of ways to reach your protein goals.

• 0:45Dan Pashman?

  Oatmeal, granola, bars, and rice snacks in flavors you already love, like maple and brown sugar and blueberries and cream. Quaker protein helps fuel you to start whatever's next. Get your protein with Quaker, available at a store near you.

• 1:02Speaker 01

  Sirius XM Podcasts.

• 1:10Dan Pashman?

  Hey, everyone. It's Dan here with another Sporkful reheat for you. Now, our main episode this week is a brand new one about the history of popcorn at the movies in the U.S. and France. So I hope you'll check that one out. For today's reheat, we're sticking with that popcorn theme. This is a listener call in show where I mediate a marital dispute about the optimal time to start eating popcorn at the movies. Do you eat it as soon as possible? Should you wait till the movie starts? We're tackling the big issues today. And hey, remember that if there's an episode of the Sporkful you want us to pull out of the deep freezer and reheat, send me an email or voice memo to [email protected]. Tell me your first name, location, what episode you want us to reheat and why. So grab a bucket of popcorn and enjoy.

• 1:59Dan Pashman?

  From WNYC Studios, this is The Sporkful. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show, we obsess about the details of eating to uncover truths about food and people. Today on the show, I'm taking your calls about family food disputes. But first, a quick reminder, you too can be a caller on The Sporkful. Do you have a big food debate you want me to settle? A great food-related story you want to share? Maybe you disagree with something you've heard on the show in the past. I want to hear from you. Drop me a line, [email protected]. Now, let's get to the phones. Hi, who's this?

• 2:31Speaker 02

  This is Emily from Reno, Nevada.

• 2:33Dan Pashman?

  Okay, Emily, what's on your mind?

• 2:35Speaker 02

  My husband and I have a dispute about movie theater popcorn.

• 2:39Dan Pashman?

  Oh, okay, all right, go on.

• 2:42Speaker 02

  Whenever we go to the movies, I wait until the movie starts and he starts eating right away. And I think you should wait, and he thinks you should eat right away. So it's every time it's a dispute because there's never any popcorn left over for me when I'm ready to eat it.

• 2:58Dan Pashman?

  Why do you think it's better to wait until the movie starts?

• 3:02Speaker 02

  Well, it's just when you can see the movie or the big screen glistening off of the grease and the popcorn, and you just know it's there and you know it's going to taste so good and it's going to be so salty and buttery and crunchy. And it's so much better when you wait because you're just so excited for it.

• 3:23Dan Pashman?

  You're married now, but how long you guys been together?

• 3:26Speaker 02

  We've been together for about seven and a half years.

• 3:28Dan Pashman?

  Okay, and married for how long?

• 3:31Speaker 02

  We've been married for almost three.

• 3:32Dan Pashman?

  Okay, tell me about the very first time that you guys went out to the movies together and what happened with the popcorn and the snacks.

• 3:38Speaker 02

  He started eating before we even found a seat. And when we sat down, I told him, no, you have to wait until the movie starts. And he looked at me like, who the hell are you? He did not, he was absolutely not even willing to try at all.

• 3:57Dan Pashman?

  And about how long had you been dating up to that point?

• 4:00Speaker 02

  Weeks, probably.

• 4:02Dan Pashman?

  So this is very, very early in the relationship.

• 4:04Speaker 02

  Very early.

• 4:05Dan Pashman?

  Okay, let me, let me talk to Danny. I want to hear his perspective. Put him on the line, please.

• 4:09Speaker 02

  Okay. Hey, Dan.

• 4:12Speaker 03

  What's it, Danny?

• 4:13Dan Pashman?

  Hey, Danny, it's Dan. How are you?

• 4:15Speaker 03

  Good, how about you?

• 4:15Dan Pashman?

  Good, good. So I've been talking to Emily. She's telling me about the situation with the popcorn. Make the case to me, why is it more delicious? Why do you get more enjoyment from your popcorn when you start eating it right away instead of building some anticipation?

• 4:29Speaker 03

  Uh, you don't sit and stare at your dinner after they set it on the table. You immediately eat it as soon as they set it down, right?

• 4:36Dan Pashman?

  Yes, and I'm the same way. Like, I start eating the popcorn the second I get my hands on it. Tell me, though, Danny, what were your recollections from the first time you and Emily went out to a movie together?

• 4:46Speaker 03

  Uh, yeah, she, she said you have to wait till the movie actually starts. And I, all I could say was, uh, why?

• 4:54Dan Pashman?

  But this is early on in, in dating. This is sort of, you know, sometimes people don't let, let them choose, let their true selves show. So did you say, well, for, you know, I'm gonna do it her way, early on, just to try to impress this, this woman that I'm trying to impress, or just eat it?

• 5:12Speaker 03

  Uh, not at all. I just went after it and completely threw that idea out the window. I knew I was gonna have to make many more compromises if this relationship went anywhere. Anywhere. And I was not, this was not gonna be one of them.

• 5:27Dan Pashman?

  So what are some of the compromises you have made?

• 5:32Speaker 03

  Well, we have two dogs. I didn't want any.

• 5:38Speaker 03

  We have a kid. I was still on the fence about having a kid. It's all worked out well.

• 5:44Dan Pashman?

  Right, right.

• 5:45Speaker 03

  Popcorn would, would work out well.

• 5:46Dan Pashman?

  But this is where you draw the line. You'll bring human beings into the world.

• 5:51Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 5:52Dan Pashman?

  To compromise, but you will not wait to eat your popcorn.

• 5:56Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 5:59Dan Pashman?

  Do you find that once the movie has started, you are at all distracted by the movie and that you notice and enjoy the popcorn less?

• 6:08Speaker 03

  Yes, very much so. Because this weekend, we actually, I tried it her way and that was something that happened.

• 6:15Dan Pashman?

  Oh, so you did, so you did an experiment, you tried it her way and, and walk me through it. Tell me exactly what happened.

• 6:20Speaker 03

  I waited till the movie started and stared at the popcorn the entire time and really wanted to eat it the whole entire time and then the movie started and I didn't eat nearly as much because I was a wee bit distracted by the actual movie.

• 6:37Dan Pashman?

  So you felt like, at least popcorn wise, it was a missed opportunity?

• 6:41Speaker 03

  Definitely.

• 6:42Dan Pashman?

  But did, was that first bite of popcorn better because you had waited for it?

• 6:48Speaker 03

  No.

• 6:52Dan Pashman?

  Alright, can I talk to Emily again, please?

• 6:55Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 6:58Speaker 02

  Dana, I have a counterpoint that I'd like to make.

• 7:00Dan Pashman?

  Okay, please. I'm ready.

• 7:04Speaker 02

  Okay, so he said, you don't wait and just stare at your food before you eat your dinner.

• 7:08Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 7:08Speaker 02

  But that's not true. You do wait when someone else doesn't have their dinner. You sit there and wait. There's an appropriate time to start eating and that's why I think, and that's when the movie starts.

• 7:19Dan Pashman?

  Do you not feel though, Emily, that you're a bit distracted once the movie starts? Do you feel like you're able to fully focus on the deliciousness of the popcorn?

• 7:31Speaker 02

  Yes, I, I do, I do savor it, yeah.

• 7:35Dan Pashman?

  Even though the movie's already started?

• 7:36Speaker 02

  I can see I can think it's distracted, yeah.

• 7:37Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 7:38Speaker 02

  But I eat less because the movie just takes my attention away.

• 7:41Dan Pashman?

  E- either that or the popcorn doesn't taste, you eat less because it doesn't taste as good because you're not paying attention to it. He- he- here's what I feel about this, Emily. I th- I think you got a couple of options. The first option is, you could just get two small popcorns.

• 7:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:59Dan Pashman?

  I know that doesn't exactly make, make sense from a financial perspective. You're gonna pay a lot more for the same amount of popcorn, but that may be the price of marital bliss.

• 8:08Speaker 02

  It could be.

• 8:09Dan Pashman?

  While it's possible that the very first bite of popcorn is better with your approach because there's more anticipation, I think that the average pleasure per bite over the course of a large popcorn is going to be diminished. Because it's distracted eating.

• 8:24Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 8:24Dan Pashman?

  And I'm actually going to play for you a clip. I interviewed Deepak Chopra on the topic of eating alone. But it's sort of a, what he said is sort of, this is general advice about eating mindfully and getting maximum pleasure from your food.

• 8:38Speaker 04

  Sit down quietly, take a few deep breaths, experience gratitude for the abundance of the universe, and then enjoy the food with full awareness and in silence. Feel your body, feel the sensations that are aroused without forcing anything. And don't treat your body as a garbage can.

• 9:01Dan Pashman?

  What do you think of that?

• 9:03Speaker 02

  I think eating movie theater popcorn is the exact opposite of what you want to.

• 9:11Speaker 02

  He said, "Don't treat your body like a garbage can." And you picture anybody eating popcorn in a movie. It's like eyes open, looking at the movie.

• 9:20Dan Pashman?

  Right.

• 9:20Speaker 02

  Just handfuls shoving in your face.

• 9:22Dan Pashman?

  It's mindless.

• 9:23Speaker 02

  It's mindless. You're not there to eat popcorn. You're there to enjoy the movie. The popcorn's there just as an enhancement.

• 9:30Dan Pashman?

  But why not get maximum pleasure from the popcorn? Why not?

• 9:35Speaker 02

  Because you're going to miss the movie.

• 9:37Dan Pashman?

  Not if you start eating it before.

• 9:44Dan Pashman?

  And I would also encourage you and Danny to attempt my bullfrog method of popcorn consumption, which is a single kernel at a time. Hold the kernel in front of your mouth, one inch away, stick your tongue out to the popcorn and like zap it, grab it like a frog grabs a fly.

• 10:00Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 10:01Dan Pashman?

  And also look at the popcorn. Popcorn is beautiful. There are actually two different types of popcorn kernels, Emily. There are mushroom kernels and butterfly kernels. And they form popcorn in different ways. The butterfly popcorn makes the sort of more irregular oblong shapes, the little starbursts. The mushroom popcorn kernels turn into the balls, like the sort of Death Star shape of popcorn. And they're both beautiful in their own way. They have different properties. They, I think, create different textures in your mouth. And they are to be appreciated and admired. And so not only do I recommend that you enjoy the flavor of every popcorn kernel individually, I recommend that you enjoy the beauty, the visual, aesthetic beauty of each one individually.

• 10:44Speaker 02

  Well, I think you definitely brought a better argument to the table than Danny ever.

• 10:51Speaker 02

  His is just impatient. Yours is a whole spiritual experience.

• 10:56Dan Pashman?

  There you go. There you go. All right. Well, Emily in Reno, Nevada, thanks so much. Enjoy your next movie and your next movie popcorn.

• 11:03Speaker 02

  Thanks, Dan.

• 11:09Dan Pashman?

  Coming up, a call from a mother and daughter looking to bury the hatchet after a decades-long dispute over salad dressing. Plus, a follow-up on our show about eating and drinking in the shower. You guys will never guess what legendary Hollywood leading man loved to eat in the shower. I'll tell you. Stick around.

• 11:37Dan Pashman?

  When you're cooking, ingredients matter, right? You use higher quality ingredients, you usually get better results. And if you're listening to this show, you're probably the kind of person who puts some thought and effort into your ingredients. But ingredients don't just matter with food, they also matter with laundry detergent. Of course, the cleaning job needs to get done. The odors and stains have to be tackled. And I want to feel good about the detergent and the ingredients in it. Because remember, whatever's in your laundry detergent is essentially in your clothes. And then you're putting those clothes on, you want good stuff in there. And All Free Clear uses only essential ingredients. It's 100% free from dyes, perfumes, parabens, and irritating residues. Check out the label and see for yourself, it lists all the ingredients and what they do. We've been using it in my house. We're very happy with it. And let me tell you, family of four, two teenagers, we do a lot of laundry.

• 12:22Dan Pashman?

  So we have put All Free Clear to the test. It's a powerful clean that you can feel good about. All Free Clear is the number one detergent brand recommended by dermatologists for sensitive skin. When it comes to laundry detergent, the choice is clear. All Free Clear. Pick up a bottle for your next laundry day. There's nothing quite like Aruba. The white sand beaches are truly unlike anything you've seen. But what really stands out is the food. Because Aruba is not like other Caribbean islands. French pastries, Spanish paella, Peruvian barbecue, papardelle that has no business being that good, that far from Florence. Not to mention the local fair. Aruba's food scene pulls you in with its astonishing variety of cuisines and beyond satisfies you with its unexpected flavors.

• 13:06Dan Pashman?

  So plan your escape to culinary delight at aruba.com. Your taste buds will thank you. As we turn to fall and the weather starts to cool down, I think of things like crunching leaves. I think of sharing from the sidelines of a soccer game, walking the dog in the woods. And when I think of doing all those things, I'm usually wearing something from LL Bean. Whether it's my puffer vest, my puffer coat, my scarf, whatever you're doing outside this year, you probably need something from LL Bean. Whether it's their boots, their Scotch plaid flannel, their rugged field coat, or more. Grab the layers and people you love and get outside. Visit llbean.com to shop the fall collection. LL Bean, be an outsider. Start the day strong with Quaker Protein Products. Quaker makes it easy and delicious

• 13:50Dan Pashman?

  to get a good source of protein. No matter what the day has in store, Quaker Protein Products give you a variety of ways to reach your protein goals. Oatmeal, granola, bars, and rice snacks in flavors you already love like maple and brown sugar and blueberries and cream. Quaker Protein helps fuel you to start whatever's next. Get your protein with Quaker. Available at a store near you. Welcome back to another Sporkful Reheat. I'm Dan Pashman. You ever like go to our show page in your podcasting app and you're scrolling back and you're like, oh, that that's a good episode. Why, how did I miss that? Well, you missed it because you're probably

• 14:32Dan Pashman?

  not following our show in your podcasting app. And it's really important that you do. So please do this right now. Go to our show page in your podcasting app of choice. If it's Apple Podcasts or Spotify, you click follow. Other apps, maybe it's a plus sign or a heart or a favorite or the word subscribe, whatever it is in your app. It's really important that you click it. That way you won't miss great episodes. It's super quick and easy. You can do it right now. Thank you so much. Now, back to this week's reheat.

• 15:08Dan Pashman?

  Welcome back to The Sporkful from WNYC Studios. I'm Dan Pashman. We did a call-in show a couple of months ago about drinking and eating in the shower, where I talk to people who go way beyond the classic shower beer. I'm talking like ice cream sandwiches in the shower, beef jerky in the shower. Now, some of you were disgusted by this episode. Some of you were upset by the idea that water was being wasted. Although, in fairness, nobody suggested taking a longer shower, just a more delicious one. But many of you, I dare say, were inspired. Here's a voicemail we got from Lisa in Stonemass.

• 15:44Speaker 05

  I love coffee, and I lived for a while in my twenties with a very kind man who, because of the rhythm of our mornings, would bring me a beautiful, fresh, steaming cup of hot coffee, which is the only way I will drink it, hot and just brewed. Right when I turned the shower off, he would hand me my cup of coffee. So I'm listening to your eating and drinking in the shower episode, and I loved it. I thought it was quirky and amazing and lovely, and I thought, wait, I could bring my coffee into the shower. It had never occurred to me. I have no idea why. Somehow, it was like the coffee had to magically appear when I got out of the shower.

• 16:29Speaker 05

  But why couldn't I brew my coffee and then get in the shower? And the day after your podcast came out, I started bringing my coffee into the shower, and it has changed my mornings. Coffee in the shower is the best thing of 2016 by far. So, thank you.

• 16:50Dan Pashman?

  Well, thank you, Lisa. And I heard this from others, too. Jill in Hoboken, New Jersey loves coffee in the shower in the morning. She says, "It's like being wrapped in a warm hug while being given a pep talk about how much ass you're gonna kick today." I also got a note from Wade in Berkeley, California. He shared a link to a story from the Milwaukee Sentinel. This is February 1985, before it was the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. All right, that's how long ago this was. Headline, "Newman Munches Melon in Shower." And the article reads, "Most people just sing in the shower, but actor Paul Newman likes to eat cantaloupe while showering in his Westport, Connecticut home." After his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, complained about the rinds,

• 17:32Dan Pashman?

  which you've just gotta take a moment there and just picture Joanne Woodward comes into the shower and there's melon rinds all over the place. And it's like, Paul, I told you not to eat melon in the shower. And the article goes on to say that Newman tried unsuccessfully to have a garbage disposal installed in their tub, according to Ladies Home Journal. Now, if you're a Seinfeld fan, this reminds you of the time that Kramer actually did install a garbage disposal in his tub.

• 18:01Speaker 06

  Mmm, this food is fantastic, Kramer.

• 18:04Speaker 07

  Yeah. And here's to David Putty for helping me install a much-needed and much-appreciated garbage disposal in my bathtub.

• 18:15Speaker 06

  You have a garbage disposal in your bathtub?

• 18:17Speaker 07

  Oh, yeah, and I use it all the time. Yeah, I made this whole meal in there.

• 18:24Speaker 06

  This food was in the shower with you?

• 18:26Speaker 07

  Mm-hmm. I prepared it as I bathed.

• 18:32Dan Pashman?

  I wasn't able to confirm whether Paul Newman actually inspired the Seinfeld plotline, but it makes me really happy to assume that he did. So that's the follow-up on shower eating and drinking. Thank you all for your responses. Clearly, this topic hit a chord. And for those of you who thought this was just a little too weird and a little too freaky, Paul Newman did it, okay? Paul Newman did it. Paul Newman, shower eater. Now, let's get back to the phones. Hi, who's this?

• 18:57Speaker 08

  Hi, this is Mary from Brooklyn. I have a bit of a family dispute about salad dressing. My mom, Carol, is on the other line to kind of be the other side of this.

• 19:10Dan Pashman?

  Okay. Hi, Carol, how are you?

• 19:12Speaker 08

  Hi, I'm fine.

• 19:14Dan Pashman?

  Good. So, Mary, you go first. Tell me what the issue is.

• 19:18Speaker 08

  Okay. So, you know, as a child, you kind of get like plain vegetables, you get kind of plain stuff, and then as you grow older, you kind of graduate to more complicated foods. And somewhere around the age of, I don't know, maybe about like nine, 10, 11 years old, there kind of started to be this household thing of, well, now it's time for salad dressing on your salads. And somewhere along the line, I just decided I didn't want it. And there ended up being a bit of a dispute of like, no, you have to have salad dressing in order to be an adult and do adult things. But I'm an adult now and I still don't use salad dressing and I found my life to actually be a lot easier that way.

• 20:03Speaker 09

  Well, it's hard to just like really go to the mat, you have to have salad dressing. But at the time, it seemed like the sort of thing that you needed to learn to like. In retrospect, I'm not really sure why it was so. We were, I remember being emphatic about it, but I don't remember, in retrospect, I'm not really sure why it's that big of a deal.

• 20:24Dan Pashman?

  Right. Well, I have a feeling that a lot of parents probably feel that way about a lot of things.

• 20:29Speaker 09

  Yeah, there's a long list. I think there's a pretty long list.

• 20:31Dan Pashman?

  Right, like, why did we make such a big deal of that again? I don't remember.

• 20:34Speaker 09

  Santa Claus is on that list.

• 20:37Dan Pashman?

  But so Carol, the first time Mary said, no, Mom, I don't want any salad dressing on my salad, like, what did you think?

• 20:44Speaker 09

  I think I just, I said, okay, now, but then she would learn to like it and then I would just keep trying.

• 20:50Dan Pashman?

  You thought, oh, it's just a phase?

• 20:51Speaker 09

  Right.

• 20:52Dan Pashman?

  And Mary, do you remember, what was the reaction from your family when you first started saying, I don't want any salad dressing at all?

• 20:59Speaker 08

  I, you know, I, while I have trouble remembering one specific incident, I kind of remember like, almost like a little montage of incidents. And I do remember like confusion, a little bit of like, why don't you want salad dressing? Like, it was something like unheard of, that you don't want salad dressing on your salad? And I was like, no, I just kind of like the taste of vegetables as they are.

• 21:22Dan Pashman?

  How do you think your life would have turned out differently if you ate salad dressing?

• 21:27Speaker 08

  I feel like I would have had a slightly higher anxiety around, again, especially in college and restaurants and stuff, and what kind of salad dressing would you like? And they list five dressings and none of it's what I wanted and huh. And so I just feel like it'd be more of an ordeal.

• 21:43Dan Pashman?

  You feel like people who like salad dressing, they're constantly flummoxed by the paradox of choice.

• 21:48Speaker 08

  Yes.

• 21:49Dan Pashman?

  Carol, thoughts?

• 21:50Speaker 09

  I will say, well, the only thing I'll say, I mean, I do see her point. But the salad dressing, if it's a good one, it really makes a good salad better. And so I'm sorry that she's missing out on that deliciousness.

• 22:04Speaker 08

  Because it's like some tragedy.

• 22:05Speaker 09

  No, but I know, but-

• 22:06Dan Pashman?

  Yes, and if I can jump in here, you know, isn't it so tempting as a parent to, it's like you feel like you, you feel like you really know the better way to do something? Oh, definitely. And you so badly, like you get certain pleasure out of something, and you so badly want your kid to get the same pleasure from the thing that you get this pleasure out of.

• 22:28Speaker 09

  Very, yeah.

• 22:28Dan Pashman?

  And then they just start saying, no, they don't want to do it. And it's so maddening.

• 22:31Speaker 09

  It is mad, it is.

• 22:33Dan Pashman?

  And Mary, may I ask how old you are now?

• 22:36Speaker 08

  I'm 24.

• 22:37Dan Pashman?

  Okay. Do you have any kids?

• 22:40Speaker 08

  Nope.

• 22:41Dan Pashman?

  Do you have any thoughts about how you want to raise your children with respect to salad and salad dressing?

• 22:46Speaker 08

  To salad dressing. Well, if this hypothetical husband that I have has salad dressing in his life, then I suppose I will offer that to them. But otherwise, it probably just won't come up. I'd be like, oh, well, I have oil and vinegar in the house separately. Would you like that on your salad? But otherwise, I'm probably not gonna, you know, they can do their own thing.

• 23:08Dan Pashman?

  What if your husband's at work and your son or daughter comes home from school and says, mommy, all the kids are eating salad. They say it's the coolest. I want to eat a salad with dressing. And you're like, but I don't know how to make dressing. I don't know how to put it on the salad. I'm paralyzed. Call your grandma.

• 23:25Speaker 08

  Well, that's a great idea is to call grandma.

• 23:31Dan Pashman?

  Right. Are you at all worried, Mary, that you're going to be lacking in this crucial parental life skill?

• 23:37Speaker 08

  Not particularly, because in other ways, I'm fairly culinarily adventurous. So hypothetically, in the future, if the internet still exists, I could just go on the internet, find a array of salad dressing recipes, and try them out.

• 23:52Dan Pashman?

  And Carol?

• 23:53Speaker 08

  Mm-hmm.

• 23:54Dan Pashman?

  Imagine that day, however many years in the future.

• 23:58Dan Pashman?

  You get a call from Mary and she says, "Junior here wants some salad dressing."

• 24:03Speaker 09

  Oh, I'll grill him a nice grilled Caesar. And yeah, that'd be great. I really, that's a great, I like that idea. I never really thought of my future that way, but I really like it.

• 24:14Speaker 09

  My husband, he'll grill romaine lettuce on the grill. It's just delicious.

• 24:19Dan Pashman?

  Ooh, and then you make a nice Caesar dressing?

• 24:21Speaker 09

  And then a nice Caesar dressing. Oh, it's fabulous.

• 24:23Dan Pashman?

  Look, I don't really think that there's necessarily a right or wrong here. Carol, as a parent myself, I totally know how it feels to make an issue out of something and then look back on it and be like, "Why did I make an issue of that? I have no idea." So I get that. And Mary, it sounds to me like in your own way, Mary, you are an iconoclast.

• 24:42Dan Pashman?

  Are there other ways in which you rebel against society's expectations?

• 24:46Speaker 08

  Oh, yeah.

• 24:48Dan Pashman?

  What do you do for a living?

• 24:49Speaker 08

  That is a good question. So I have a variety of kind of jobs to pay the rent. But what I'm trying to do with my life and my career is I'm an actor and a fight choreographer.

• 25:00Dan Pashman?

  If you're a fight choreographer, does that mean this whole dispute with your mom is just an entirely fake thing that you made up to get on this show?

• 25:09Speaker 08

  No, it would be a lot more interesting and dramatic if my mom...

• 25:14Dan Pashman?

  Well, I'll leave you with a favorite quote of mine, Mary, because I admire the fact, you know, your mom felt like you have to eat salad dressing to be an adult, to fit in, to make your way in the world, and you said no. And you've chosen a somewhat unconventional path. And as a person who works in theater, I'm sure you're familiar with the works of George Bernard Shaw, who said, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

• 25:51Speaker 08

  Yay!

• 25:53Dan Pashman?

  And progress is certainly one of the goals here on The Sporkful. So I wish you guys both the best. Mary in Brooklyn, Carol on Long Island. Thank you guys so much for calling in.

• 26:03Speaker 08

  Thank you.

• 26:10Dan Pashman?

  That's it for calls this week. Thank you to everyone who called in. And remember that if you have a food dispute that you want me to settle, an innovation to share, or maybe just have a great food-related story, I want to hear from you. Drop me a line, [email protected]. This show is a production of WNYC Studios and The Sporkful. It's produced by Anne Sannick and me, engineering help from Bill O'Neill, music help today from Black Label Music. Special thanks to Joanna Solotaroff and Paula Schuman. Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.

• 26:37Speaker 10

  And I'm James Velitis in Essex, England, reminding you to eat more, eat better, and eat more better.

• 27:03Dan Pashman?

  This reheat was produced by Gianna Palmer. The team that produces The Sporkful today includes me along with managing producer Emma Morgenstern. And senior producer Andres O'Hara. Our engineer is Jared O'Connell. Music help from Black Label Music. The Sporkful is a production of SiriusXM Podcasts. Our executive producer is Camille Stanley. And hey, did you know you can listen to The Sporkful on the SiriusXM app? Yes, the SiriusXM app, it has all your favorite podcasts, plus over 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, plus live sports coverage. Does your podcasting app have that? And there's interviews with A-list stars and so much more. It's everything you want in a podcast app and music app all rolled into one. And right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful.

• 27:48Dan Pashman?

  Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.

• 27:55Speaker 11

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• 28:26Speaker 12

  This podcast is supported by Nurtac ODT. Remedy Pant. We know you didn't ask for an interruption, but migraine doesn't wait for the right moment to interrupt either. It just barges in, takes your time, and throws everything off. So when migraine takes your time, take Nurtac. It's for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults. Nurtac can provide pain relief in two hours, which can last up to two days. Ask your healthcare provider if Nurtac is right for you, because your time is for you, not migraine. Don't take if allergic to Nurtac ODT. Allergic reactions can occur even days after use. Get help right away for trouble breathing, rash, swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or throat. High blood pressure and Raynaud's syndrome can occur. Get help for high blood pressure, numbness, coolness,

• 29:10Speaker 12

  pain, or color changes in fingers and toes. Common side effect is nausea. For full prescribing information, call 1-833-4-NURTC or visit Nurtac.com. All right, back to your podcast, playlist, or whatever's keeping you going today.