The Mystery Of The Mummified Twinkie

Short Wave

NPR

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4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2020

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

Happy Hallo-Week! Today we have the story of Twinkies that were left alone for eight years. One grew a moldy spot and another shriveled up in its packaging, almost like a mummy. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce explains how two scientists unraveled the mystery of the mummified and moldy snack cakes.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:04.8	Hey everybody, Emily Kwong here with NPR Science Corp. Nell Greenfield Boys.
0:10.0	Hey Nell.
0:11.0	Hey Emily.
0:12.0	So today's story starts with a sugar craving.
0:15.0	That's right. The guy with the craving, this happened a couple of weeks back, was Colin
0:18.9	Perrington, who lives in Pennsylvania.
0:21.6	If you're in a house with no desserts, you get desperate.
0:24.8	Yeah, that's why I maintain an emergency chocolate stash at all times.
0:29.4	Any kinds of chocolate.
0:30.9	So what did Colin do?
0:32.9	So Colin does not have an emergency stash of chocolate.
0:35.6	It would be good for him, maybe if he did.
0:38.2	His dessert pantry was totally bare.
0:40.0	So for some reason, maybe pandemic related boredom, he decided his best option was an
0:46.3	eight year old box of twinkies in his basement.
0:50.1	That is a little strange.
0:51.5	Why would he have that box of twinkies?
0:54.0	Well, this was back in 2012.
0:56.8	I'm sure I heard on NPR that the company hostess that makes twinkies was going bankrupt.
1:04.1	Oh, okay.
1:05.1	So we're responsible for this.
	...

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