Hello, and Happy New Year!

And in case that New Year party was a real rager, here's what you need to know.

You're listening to Gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the lens of science

and history, I'm Nicola Twilly.

And I'm Cynthia Grayburn, and we are working hard on new episodes for this bright new year,

and as we do so, we thought we'd share some other shows we enjoy.

Today, it's all about those bowls of dried bits of leaves and flowers that used to be so

popular to freshen up a room.

And these talking about popery, folks.

And some of our youngest listeners may not even know what this is, because honestly, it seems

to have vanished.

But growing up, there was always a dish of random dried stuff that smelled vaguely floral

in the downstairs guest toilet.

That's exactly where popery always was.

And I haven't really thought about it for decades, but the folks that Outside In have,

we are running a fun guest episode from them for all of you.

If you're not familiar, Outside In is an awesome show all about the natural world and how

we use it.

But you don't have to be a super outdoorsy type who spends your weekends, mountain climbing,

and snowboarding, and white water rafting.

You can just be someone who's interested in such random but fascinating questions as whether

animals get seasonal allergies too.

...