From the very obvious to the extremely unusual, this episode bounced between so many different topics, we found ourselves, dizzy, hungry (not surprising) and, not to point any fingers, also a little creeped out thanks to Ragini and her segment on Creepypastas.

The episode took us from Marco Polo to Thomas Jefferson and beyond! We busted some myths about the former’s involvement in pasta popularisation and tell you some interesting facts about the latter’s part in it. From there we jumped into a strange and interesting phenomenon on the internet that never fails to enthrall but also into the real life incident that was sparked by it - that wasn’t enthralling, just plain disturbing. From the dark, we detoured into the light - the power of puns and how the absolutely ridiculous could turn into the seriously pious! We’re talking of course, about pastafarianism - about the Flying Spaghetti Monster and his devout followers who continue to fight the good fight to legitimise him. We’re not saying we’re converts but - May All Be Touched By His Noodly Appendage. Ramen!

Did you know that the BBC news had a sense of humour? We didn’t! Luckily there is televised proof of an April Fool’s Day prank they pulled on the whole country - and, you guessed it, it’s pasta related. Ragini reports on the deets.

We also talked about a pioneer who has risked the wrath of Italians everywhere by creating a new shape of pasta (like the over 500 current shapes weren’t quite enough) while simultaneously risking the wrath of lexicographers everywhere by using words of measurement including “forkability” and "sauceability”. Great job, Dan! *slow clap*

While most of our episodes leave us hungering for more, this one just left us hungry, full stop. So if you’re not planning on Italian before you listen to this episode, prepare to be scrounging through your fridge desperately looking for that hunk of parmesan you thought you spotted a month ago in an effort to rustle up a rudimentary pasta as a midnight snack.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Links of Interest:

Dan Pashman and His New Shape of Pasta (Salon.com)

Spaghetti Tree Hoax

Are You Interested in Our Pasta Saviour? Learn More Here.

Explore some of the history of pasta

Now stop trawling through this blog post for more info and listen to the episode!

Episode edited by: Mohit Shandilya

Music for the episode: Charita Arora