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ITS BEEN a year since we published our homage to the addictively sweet and garishly bright Easter Peeps . Some might the episode the grocery world's answer to David Sedaris' Santaland Dairies. We just call it GROCERY HELL. The Easter with no Peeps.  Twenty-five years ago phones were connected to the wall, gasoline cost an average of a $1.23 a gallon and in San Francisco a small grocery chain had no peeps at Easter because its distributor was no good. Matt Levine recalls his time working as a sales representative for this incompetent distributor in this funny tale of grocery hell, featuring George the nasty manager and lots of candy too. The names have been changed. The candies have not. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

Twenty-five years ago phones were connected to the wall, gasoline cost an average of a $1.23 a gallon and in San Francisco a small grocery chain had no peeps at Easter because its distributor was no good. Matt Levine recalls his time working as a sales representative for this incompetent distributor in this funny tale of grocery hell, featuring George the nasty manager and lots of candy too. The names have been changed. The candies have not. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

Bottled water sold today is a new phenomena, not much older than quarter Tom Brady. Back in the 19th century there were lots and lots of bottled water companies in America. But the advent of municipal waters system in the early 20th century meant nearly of all these early brands disappeared. When Evian arrived in America back in 1978 experts wondered if people would buy bottled water in a country with clean tap water Evian huge success proved that they would. And after that it was off to the races as more and more and more companies started selling bottled water, which was mostly tap water to go.  That is until 2000 when Vitamin Water hit the market and despite being loaded with sugar and no real vitamin nutrition was a huge success and unleashed a never ending stream of so-called enhanced or functional waters. Despite the high price and the fact that common sense suggest these products don't make much sense America has embraced  as much as Beyonce or Taylor Swift.   And more bottled water meant and means more and more plastic bottles too. Only 12% ever get recycled.  Listen up and while we won't quench your thirst buds we're certain to make you think about good old H20 in a brand new way.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

In this episode we'll talk about John Harvey Kellogg and bacon, oat bran and coconut water as well as ask whether the Paleo diet makes sense. Spoiler alert- logic never matters when it comes to diet and food trends.   We'll examine a variety of food trends, how the grow and how they die, as well as the people pulling the levers behind the curtain manufacturing our desires and conventional wisdom too.  This episode is funny, informative and hopefully practical. Our hope is that when you're done listening you'll be far less flummoxed navigating  fast and furious food trends while shopping for groceries and deciding what to eat. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

In case you wonder why some people think eating spaghetti and garlic bread is as bad for you as pouring whiskey on your wheaties don't miss this episode. Actually, even if you pour whiskey on your wheaties or use it as pasta sauce, you should listen too.  As the title implies were going to take a look at keto and other high protein  diets, But not to praise or debunk them. But as a starting point to look at something nearly everybody seems to forget. That food trends come and food trends go. In this episode - Part 1, we’ll take at look how two cardiologists named Atkins and Ornish that illuminate why there isnt only ONE right way to eat, discuss why eliminating foods from your diet can can be profound and talk about the pleasure penalty. No the pleasure penalty has nothing to do with your ex or even your current lover. We'll get into it. And also dive into the dark and murky psychological muck to look at why people choose certain ways of eating. In Part 2, Episode 29 coming mid-week, we'll turn back the clock and look at oat brand and pomegranate juice, John Harvey Kellogg and bacon, the sugar industry and coconut too, as we explore the ways conventional wisdom isn't always what it seems. Yeah, trendy diets and foods sometimes are good for you but that people behind the curtain are never stop  looking to create the latest nutritional star as they manufacture new and usually more expensive desires.    --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

This is the first episode in our new series,  Cornucopia Express: Ten Items or Less (aka: A Podcast in a Hurry). In these four minute-ish episodes we will expand your understanding of the grocery and consumer packaged goods business as well leave you lots of time to beg your spouse for a foot rub, tell your teenager to turn down the  Ariana Grande, call your parents (and yeah we know you're hoping to get voicemail) and even scream into a pillow when nobody's looking.  In this episode we'll explain why the heck there are stickers on your bananas, granny smiths and other fruits. And a few other interesting tidbits too that will make you smile like eating chilled grapes on a hot summer day without a pandemic. Thanks for listening! And please let us know if like these express episodes or not. We'd love to hear from you.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

After listening to episode 26 The Easter with No Peeps here's a short and sweet bonus episode to help you get the taste of jelly beans out of your mouth.  Matt Levine talks to his ex-boyfriend David Adams too see what he remembers about Matt's grocery hell getting yelled at five days a week. They discover memories are deceiving, discuss pickles (no pun intended), a missing record album and some musical divas too. This episode is short and sweet like their relationship.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

Twenty-five years ago phones were connected to the wall, gasoline cost an average of a $1.23 a gallon and in San Francisco a small grocery chain had no peeps at Easter because its distributor was no good. Matt Levine recalls his time working as a sales representative for this incompetent distributor in this funny tale of grocery hell, featuring George the nasty manager and lots of candy too. The names have been changed. The candies have not.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

Originally this was going to be a bonus episode to Episode 23 Poor Jack Dorsey & The Search for Meaning Through Food. But once we bushwhacked through the billionaire weed patch it became clear that this required way more time. Because our local bamboozling billionaires were symbols, as well as the causes of a wide range of problems facing America today.  Massive inequality. Stagnant and unlivable wages. A declining middle class and increased poverty too. We start out with an illuminating discussion about what having a billion dollar means. Then take a look at the relative generosity of billionaire philanthropy (actually its not generous). Next we turn to Anand Giradharadas, author of Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing The World to help understand unprecedented inequality in America, and how elite philanthropy actually maintains the status quo. In other words think  of it as a 21st century opiate for the masses.  We then look at the way corporate social responsibility is a part of this charade, talk about local bamboozlers such as Uber, Apple, Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and once again poor Jack Dorsey.  While we won't be joined by any guests  we'll listen to clips from Giridhardas' interviews with Amy Goodman and Trevor Noah.  Catch a bit of fireworks between Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg in the Nevada Democratic Presidential Primary debate back February 2020 as well as some words from George Carlin, Dr. Martin Luther King and Franklin D. Roosevelt too.   Be sure to check out the Show Notes on our Blog on our websites for a comprehensive list of links and references.  And if you enjoyed this episode be sure to check out Episode 20. Amazon's Greed, Whole Foods, Costco and The Myth of the Good Wage.   Thanks for listening! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

If you've listened to episode 23, Poor Jack Dorsey and the Search for Meaning Through Food you heard our admonition that if you think we're being unfair to that lanky  fellow worth 15 billion don't troll us on Twitter until you listen to the Bonus Episode Bamboozling Bay Area Billionaires. Well it's not ready yet because there was so much juice in the bonus episode of a berry, that we are making this into a regular episode.Please know that we editing our fingernails off trying to hurry the hell up and get it posted.  By the way Square took a nose dive this week, so who knows how many billions he has by the time you read this, but if you see him waiting in line at St. Anthony's for a meal, you really have got to stop drinking so much.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

In this episode we take a look at the anti-Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey and his unconventional approach to living.  His  lifestyle offers something to marvel at -- okay, laugh at too -- but  also provides an opportunity for self-reflection. In other words he's not the only buying stupid things. Though his are way, way, way more expensive than the things most of us buy to “improve" our lives. One other thing. When we first wrote this episode we weren't going to dive into tech's impact on the city or Dorsey's vocal opposition to a small tax to aid programs for the homeless. But after several drafts we decided leaving it out was a bit like going to the oncologist's office just to read the magazines. In other words, some things are so important they can't ignored.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

As food shopping and grocery stores have become the center of so much of our pandemic life we thought it would be great to replay our pilot episode. In this episode we’ll look at the history of food retailing in America, how self-service replaced counter service, the way a couple of notable innovators changed how we shop and discuss how today’s retail landscape resembles a florescent-lit Hunger Games minus the bloody sword wounds and gratuitous sex. Plus what we discovered in our researching and writing is that the issues people are talking about today in regards to Amazon's ever growing power were on the minds of Americans dating back to the 19th century. In other words while the scope and pace of change is new the basis for change remains eerily familiar. Of course today we can buy groceries everywhere, even while wearing nothing but dirty underwear sitting at home. But not that long ago buying food at gas stations or drug stores was something new. Add in mass merchants, bodegas and corner stores and of course  blessed supermarkets too and in case you didn't figure it out before you'll now know why we call our show Cornucopia. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support