Tony's Freehold Grill: Politics on the side
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 8 February 2020
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The best place to hear about the twists and turns of the 2020 presidential election is over the countertop at an iconic New Jersey diner. Sandra Kanthal returns to Freehold to hear what the regulars at Tony’s Grill have to say about the presidential candidates, their campaigns and whatever else comes up for discussion regarding the state of politics in America. They have some astute observations and colourful tales to tell, though stories may be interrupted by important things like the arrival of coffee, ham and eggs or the daily special.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, how are you? Welcome to Tony's Grill, follow me. You're listening to the documentary on the BBC World Service. I'm Sandra Canthal. |
| 0:14.1 | All ready, here we go. |
| 0:17.0 | A little bit of everything. Here we go. |
| 0:19.0 | And your toast is coming and everything else is coming. |
| 0:24.0 | If you conjure up an image of the quintessential American diner, |
| 0:28.0 | Tony's Freehill grill would be it. It opened its stores in 1947. Long and narrow it has only nine booths and |
| 0:42.3 | 17 seats around the counter, where you can watch the |
| 0:45.5 | cuts preside over a constant flow of eggs, potatoes, bacon, and much else. It feels like a place out of time. |
| 0:55.0 | There's not too many small classic diners like this. |
| 1:00.0 | We haven't changed too many things. |
| 1:02.0 | Leslie Mildenburg manages the diner. |
| 1:04.7 | The stools and the counters are still the same. |
| 1:07.2 | And there's a menu up here that's from the original 60s menu. |
| 1:11.8 | So a lot of people get a kick out of that they in fact try and |
| 1:15.5 | order off it it's just the prices a hamburger for 35 cents a cheeseburger for |
| 1:20.8 | 40 cents they look at that and are like, oh that's great |
| 1:24.4 | until they see that it's nostalgic purposes only. Today a cheeseburger |
| 1:29.5 | cost just under $9. The prices may have changed but the charm of Tony's remains |
| 1:36.2 | the same. A place at the heart of a small town and the perfect spot to find out what |
| 1:41.6 | people really think about the presidential election |
| 1:44.9 | and the politicians who will be chasing their votes as the campaign unfolds over the next |
| 1:49.0 | nine months. |
... |
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