Smashing Pumpkin Myths: What's Big, Orange, and Having an Identity Crisis?

Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Science, Food, History, Arts

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2024

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s already begun: that time of the year now known across the land as Decorative Gourd Season. Squash are everywhere—carved into jack o’lanterns on front porches, adorning our sideboards and porches with strange shapes and autumn colors, and of course, baked into pies for fall celebrations. But get ready to rethink squash, because despite their slightly cheesy House Beautiful vibe and family-friendly pumpkin patch associations, they are—and we quote—"the most interesting plants in the world." Join us this episode as we explore our surprisingly long entanglement with the cucurbit family, from its star role as the very first plant domesticated in the Americas to the can of Libby's behind nine out of every ten pumpkin pies. Along the way, we figure out what on Earth the difference actually is between a squash and a pumpkin, and we get a sneak peek into the weird and wonderful world of giant pumpkins, where growers compete to break the two-ton barrier with fruits the size of a compact car. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Okay, this almost sounds like a setup for a joke. Why did this Harvard student get in a giant
0:09.1	pumpkin and row down the Charles River? A giant pumpkin floating down the Charles River, the man
0:14.3	inside guiding it, is a Harvard University senior. Benjamin Chang says it has been a
0:20.0	longtime dream of his to row a pumpkin across the Charles River and that dream
0:25.0	finally came true yesterday in front of cheering friends. I have crossed the
0:30.5	Charles River in Boston more times than I could possibly count, usually on the subway,
0:34.9	occasionally on a bike or in a car, never in a giant pumpkin.
0:38.8	Yes, the official start of autumn is only a few days away and while everyone else is satisfied with a few
0:45.3	decorative gourds Cynthia and I now want a giant pumpkin boat and since we can't
0:51.0	have that maybe a gastropod episode on pumpkins.
0:54.4	And we are indeed gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history.
0:58.6	I'm Cynthia Graber.
0:59.6	And I'm Nicola Twilly, and this episode is all about pumpkins or should I say
1:04.9	squash or both or is there even actually a difference that is something we will
1:10.3	definitely figure out this episode plus why, why is squash for dinner, but pumpkin is for dessert in the form of a pie?
1:17.0	And why do Americans all eat pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving?
1:20.0	Plus, how do you grow a vegetable so big it can actually become a boat?
1:25.0	Are pumpkinroids involved?
1:27.0	All that and why you call a cute little kid a pumpkin,
1:30.0	but if you want to insult someone you might call them a pumpkin head.
1:33.8	I actually never realized that was an insult and I'm rethinking some things right now.
1:38.8	Anyway, this episode is supported in part by the Alfred P. Sloane Foundation for the Public Understanding
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