The mystery of the mummified Twinkie

Short Wave

NPR

Nature, News, Astronomy, Science, Daily News, Life Sciences

4.7 • 6.5K Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2021

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

A box of Twinkies, left alone for eight years, held some surprises for Colin Purrington. Upon having a sugar craving, combined with being "just so bored, with the pandemic," Purrington opened the box a few weeks ago. Like many people, Purrington believed Twinkies are basically immortal, although the official shelf life is 45 days. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce talked to Purrington and explains how two scientists got involved and started unraveling the mystery of the mummified Twinkie. (Encore episode)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, short waivers, Emily Quang here.
0:02.2	So, in DC, it is unmistakably fall.
0:06.6	There are Halloween decorations popping up everywhere.
0:09.2	I'm so excited.
0:10.4	And it got us thinking, remember those mummified Twinkies we talked about last year?
0:15.0	That was delightfully creepy.
0:16.3	And we think worth a seasonal revisit.
0:19.2	So here's that story I did last year with Nell Greenfield Boys about what happens
0:23.2	when Twinkies live past their expiration date,
0:26.1	like way past their expiration date.
0:28.3	And the scientists who study them.
0:31.2	You're listening to shortwave from NPR.
0:35.4	Hey everybody, Emily Quang here with NPR Science Correspondent Nell Greenfield Boys.
0:40.7	Hey Nell.
0:41.2	Hey Emily.
0:42.0	So today's story starts with a sugar craving.
0:45.2	That's right. The guy with the craving, this happened a couple of weeks back,
0:48.4	was Colin Perrington, who lives in Pennsylvania.
0:51.9	If you're in a house with no desserts, you get desperate.
0:55.3	Yeah, that's why I maintain an emergency chocolate stash at all times.
0:59.6	Many kinds of chocolate.
1:01.2	So what did Colin do?
	...

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