This episode was suggested by a listener, Emily. If you'd like to suggest a topic, you can do so on

Facebook and Instagram at Morbid Curiosity Podcast, on Twitter, at Morbid Podcast, and on our website,

www.morbidcuriositypodcast.com. This episode contains discussions about bowel movements, the consumption of live animals and

cannibalism.

If any of these topics aren't something you want to hear about, this may be a good episode

to skip. Humans are fascinated by gore and violence, but even more so the mysterious and unsolved.

Interest in these disturbing and unpleasant subjects is called morbid curiosity, and it has gripped hundreds of people throughout

the ages. I am one of those people. My name is Hallie, and this is the Morbid Curiosity

podcast.

...and this is the Morbid Curiosity podcast. Have you ever watched an eating contest and been disgusted but also fascinated? You can't stop watching as the participants consume copious amounts of food as fast as they

can.

These eating challenges are more common today online.

Hundreds of people participated in challenges on YouTube where they consumed food and non-food items, such as

heaps of cinnamon and tidepods. Don't eat either of these, by the way, it's not safe and

sometimes results in death. This type of challenge, however, is nowhere near new. Consuming

strange things for cash was not uncommon in the 17th and 18th centuries.

As part of side shows for quack medicine peddlers, known colloquially as snake oil salesmen,

eaters would travel the country consuming things like rocks, large amounts of food, and

sometimes live animals.

Grusomely, cats were a popular choice for these events.

An example of one of these

professional eaters was Nicholas Wood, also known as the Great Eater of Kent. It was recorded

...