Ears as big as a stomach
These days, it seems, there’s a podcast for just about everything. If you need something to listen to while you’re in line at the drive-thru, there is a menu full of fast- food friendly podcasts to keep you satiated. Here are four of the best:
Doughboys: A recent guest on Doughboys summed up the comedy/food podcast like this: “You eat fast food and then... discuss it?” That’s about right. Since 2015, writer/comedians Mike Mitchell and Nick Liger have been eating and discussing fast food with their fellow comedian friends, irresistibly mixing together fondness, humour and, occasionally, disgust for their subject matter. Each episode is dedicated to a different fast-food chain or family restaurant, and begins with a brief history. From there, Mitchell and Liger use their latest fast-food meal as a jumping-off point to riff on everything from quirky facts to strange anecdotes.
The Nosh Show: Another fast-food review show – albeit slightly more earnest than Doughboys – The Nosh Show features Marvo, Eric, Ryan and Dubba, four junk- food enthusiasts (each has his own accompanying blog). Every episode, they try a bunch of unhealthy snacks and fast-food oddities so you don’t have to. And of course, they discuss everything they eat in detail.
Bite: For a more political take on what you put in your mouth, check out the Mother Jones podcast Bite. While it covers a wide variety of food issues, the podcast often tackles stories involving fast food chains, like their investigation into what happens when a chain like McDonald’s cozies up to a nutritionist. One of their more popular episodes was an interview with lawyer Bill Marler, who has gone up against the biggest in the industry including McDonald’s and Chipotle. Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDonald’s?: Equal parts a long-form troll of McDonald’s customer service employees, an earnest investigation into the titular question and a good-natured satire of podcasts in general, Los Angeles-based comedian Brian Thompson’s podcast is a trippy delight. He calls up McDonald’s employees at locations all over the world, grilling them about pizza with a uniquely determined deadpan patience. He announced the series would end at the beginning of March, but shortly revealed that “new information” required him to begin a second season. You can also follow his quest on Twitter at @PizzaAtMcDs.