Our Haunted Podcast! Witches' Brew, The Candy Store Ghost, and The Secret History of Jack-o'-Lanterns

Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio

Milk Street Radio

Food, Arts

4.4 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We’re serving up an extra frightful hour of Milk Street Radio! Folklorist Lesley Bannatyne reveals the mischievous origins of the jack-o’-lantern, and Oaxacan tour guide Gabriel Sánchez shares memories from Day of the Dead celebrations. Candy historian Susan Benjamin recounts candy’s surprising history in America — and the ghostly encounters in her candy shop — and we uncover a modern recipe for the Witches’ Brew from Macbeth. And, to further satisfy our sweet teeth, Stella Parks hops on the phone with Chris to take on your autumn baking calls.

For more information the Witches’ Brew recipe from Macbeth, head here.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Milk Street Radio listeners, this year for Thanksgiving, we want to hear all about your most unusual Thanksgiving traditions.
0:07.1	Your antics, your games, your rituals, and unexpected foods that you think no one else makes.
0:11.9	To share your Thanksgiving story, please leave us a voicemail at 617249-3167, or send us a voice memo to Radio Tips at 177 Milkstreet.com.
0:23.5	Radio tips at 177 Milkstreet.com.
0:29.9	This is Milk Street Radio from PRX and I'm your host, Christopher Kimble.
0:35.9	Today it's our Halloween special.
0:38.3	To celebrate, we're uncovering the secret history of candy.
0:42.3	Once upon a time candy was so feared in America, some people swore never to touch it.
0:47.3	They blame candy on deaths.
0:50.3	They would say there was a raging fire and somebody went stumbling out of the building, eating candy.
0:55.0	And that's who set that fire because of the candy.
0:58.0	Coming up later in the show, the dramatic history of American candy,
1:02.0	as told by the owner of a haunted candy store.
1:05.0	I'm not really a ghost person. I don't track him down.
1:09.0	But I do interact with them. And I do tell them, you can't be
1:13.4	touching our customers and you can't be slamming doors. But first, let's talk about pumpkins.
1:21.0	Folkloreist Leslie Bennett-Tine returns to the show to share the real origins of the jackalanner.
1:28.9	Leslie, welcome back to Milk Street.
1:30.9	Thank you so much for having me.
1:32.6	I love legends.
1:33.4	I love Halloween.
1:40.6	We're going to talk about Jackal Anters, pumpkins, and where this tradition came from.
	...

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