Confectionology (CANDY) with Susan Benjamin
Licorice opinions! War chocolate! Candy corn origins, circus peanut secrets, the sourest sourballs, and your great aunt’s purse. Stay until the very end for the biggest shocked laugh I have ever had on this show. The incredibly charming author, journalist, candy historian, and Confectiologist Susan Benjamin chats about everything from apothecary origin stories, ethnobotany, having horehound on hand, the warheads that could save you, vegan candy controversy, sugar sources from beets to corn, Turkish temptations, Roman flim-flam, marzipan mini-sculptures, sugar plum ballets, what she gives out for Halloween candy. and the best way to enjoy treats if you're trying to stay healthy. An absolute instant classic.
Listen via Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Podbay, Podcast Addict, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Visit Susan Benjamin’s historic candy company True Treats
Buy Susan’s latest book, Fun Foods of America: Outrageous Delights, Celebrated Brands, and Iconic Recipes, on Amazon or Bookshop.org
A donation went to Animal Welfare Society of Jefferson County
Links to things we discussed:
Valentine's Day History: How the Hershey's Kiss Came to Be | TIME
How Hershey Trademarked the Word "Kisses" | Mental Floss
The man behind the chocolate bar: An introduction to Milton S. Hershey 1857-1945
Kisses (confectionery) - Wikipedia
Turns Out Your Kind Bar Is Basically an Expensive Candy Bar
Nut So Fast, Kind Bars: FDA Smacks Snacks On Health Claims
Fda Reverses Stance, Affirms Kind Can Use “Healthy”On Its Labels
Food Rationing on the World War II Home Front
Life With Father: Milton Hershey
Sugarless Haribo Gummy Bear Reviews On Amazon Are The Most Insane Thing You'll Read Today
Industrialization, Labor, and Life
Charlie Chaplin - The Gold Rush (Trailer)
Charlie Chaplin eating his boot
In candy world, circus peanut is a riddle wrapped in marshmallow inside orange shell
What Are Those Foil-Wrapped Strawberry Candies Called?
Centuries-Old Maya Beekeeping Tools Unearthed in Mexico
Confectionery consumption in childhood and adult violence
The Chemical Brew of Criminal Behavior
Sugar Rush... to Prison? Study Says Lots of Candy Could Lead to Violence
Traces of ancient Mayan beekeeping found in Quintana Roo
The Science of Candy: The Cold Water Candy Test
The Power of Sour in Your Mouth
What You Should Know About Sugar Alcohols
Excess free fructose, high-fructose corn syrup and adult asthma: the Framingham Offspring Cohort
Brach’s Turkey Dinner Candy Corn
Free-produce movement - Wikipedia
Military chocolate (United States) - Wikipedia
Ration D Bars – Hershey Community Archives
Why the Candy Bar Market Exploded After World War I | HISTORY
The Clucking Sweet History of a Candy Bar Called Chicken Dinner | Mental Floss
Why Was Turkish Delight C.S. Lewis’s Guilty Pleasure?
NOAA: How much water is in that cloud?
The Science Behind Honey’s Eternal Shelf Life
Does honey ever go bad? | Live Science
The Snack With A Government Warning: Some Notes On Salty Licorice
Are Peanut Chews Vegan and Cruelty-Free?
How 18th-century Quakers led a boycott of sugar to protest against slavery
Does Too Much Fructose Help Colorectal Cancers Grow?
For sale: WWII US Army, Chocolate D-Bar ration
Chocolate and women's sexual health: An intriguing correlation
John Ross Edmonton Sr. Obituary
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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jacob Chaffee
Managing Director: Susan Hale
Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth
Transcripts by Aveline Malek
Website by Kelly R. Dwyer
Theme song by Nick Thorburn