Greetings, beloved Listeners, and happy Spooky October/Gnarly November!

As you may know, Molly has this newsletter called I’ve Got a Feeling, and for some reason she had a feeling that she wanted to interview me! We started out by talking about a hockey game and a Pixies album and ended up talking about how to give yourself permission to grow old and not turn into a jerk. Eddie Vedder wanders in at one point.

We even talk about some Big Ideas. Have you ever noticed that “Big Ideas” sounds like a semi-normal thing to say, but if you said “Large Ideas” you would immediately reveal yourself as a sleeper agent?

Molly has made the full interview available even if you don’t subscribe to the newsletter. Here you go!

The spoooookiest bonus episode

Listener Gina wrote in to request an episode on syrups. “Except cough syrup. Because that’s not a food. (Or is it?)”

It’s not a food, but it’s now a bonus episode! Here’s the official description:

This Halloween we are tasting the scariest flavor of them all—or we would have but Matthew forgot to buy it. Molly struggles against Matthew’s new alter ego as they contend with childhood fears and childproof caps. After some tingling tongues and meta-analysis we realize that the corn friends were inside us all along.

Listen now at magnumbonus.com (password: magnumbonum) or by adding the RSS feed to your podcast player.

We need to talk about about Canada

Recently we had comedian John Gabrus on the show talking Travel Food 2, which as everyone knows means “researching where you’re going to eat and what you’re going to do on a vacation.” As Producer Abby put it in the show description, one thing we talked about was the delights of boring cities.

WOTSL and I just spent ten days in Calgary. You’ll be hearing LOTS more about it on the show. Way too much. To the point where you’re going to want to go to Medicine Hat instead, just to spite me.

Now, look, I’m not going to say Calgary is boring. But here’s the best way to confuse a Calgarian:

Me: “I’m visiting Calgary.”

Calgarian: “Cool, how many days are you spending in Banff?”

Me: “Zero.”

Calgarian: …

Banff is a picturesque Rocky Mountain resort town about two hours from Calgary with skiing and hiking and presumably drinking hot chocolate in a chalet and stuff. We didn’t go there.

Instead, we stayed in Calgary for ten days and mostly just walked around. We ate poutine at a chain called The Big Cheese. We got a cheese plate from Peasant Cheese and ate it at our Airbnb. We even did some non-cheese-related activities: We spent a lot of time walking on pedestrian bridges across the Bow River, which is lovely and runs right through the middle of town. I became obsessed with the Black-Billed Magpie, a beautiful bird with iridescent blue or green pigmentation and a comically long tail. Black-Billed Magpies aren’t a rare sight in Calgary. They’re pests. I love them.

I hiked across Calgary’s largest urban park, Nose Hill Park (this is its real name), and found its most celebrated tourist attraction:

The Old Car of Nose Hill

Nose Hill Park is completely bizarre. When I saw it on the map, I was like, cool, Calgary’s got its own Central/Stanley/Volunteer park. It probably has a hot dog stand and an amphitheater and a Claes Oldenburg sculpture.

It has none of those things. It’s just a hilly, windswept grassland, home to about 200 wildlife species. The best way to enter the park is through one of the pedestrian tunnels along the east side.

A guy with a dog entered the tunnel a minute or so before me, and it’s a good thing they did, because my thought process went like this:

1. That looks like a death tunnel to Hell. I’m not going in there.
2. Hmm, that guy’s going in there. But he’s probably a murderer.
3. That’s a cute dog. A murderer wouldn’t have a cute dog.

We road bikes along the river and visited the fancy new central library. I took the train to the University of Calgary and got a Coffee Crisp Blizzard at the Dairy Queen. At the Canadian National Music Centre, I teared up at an essay by a guy whose roadie friend invited him to watch Rush soundcheck at the Saddledome. We watched half a dozen Hallmark-like romance movies on Netflix, and earned Producer Abby’s scorn for watching Christmas movies before Halloween.

Ten days is a long time—enough that we got to know our neighborhood pretty well, although we’re still not 100% sure whether it’s called Kensington or Sunnyside. So I highly recommend Calgary, but really, if you’re as old and boring as me, I recommend leaning into it, and taking a cheap vacation where you basically do all the same shit you would do at home but with better birds.

What else is new?

Did you know we have a new website? You can now get all the show notes for each episode right on the website where they belong, along with the transcript. And you can search past episodes! Now there’s no need to email me to ask, “Have you done a spaghetti episode?” (We haven’t?!)

Where have we been?

Aside from Travel Food 2, we recently did a Dried Fruit Showdown. I don’t remember who won, but probably prunes. Honestly, looking at this list of recent episodes, what is going on? Hot Lettuce? Corn-Based Cereals? I hope they’re good, because I don’t remember any of this!

Where are we going?

Molly and I both have busy falls ahead, so we’ve banked some episodes. How far ahead? Well, on December 15 I have it on good authority that I’ll be feeding Molly her very first Philly cheesesteak. And the following week (December 22), we’ll be talking about this “oat milk” that all the kids are into.

Last Thursday (October 27), we found ourselves talking Gnocchi, which I guess is our Halloween episode? I guess if you make them right, classic potato gnocchi look like fluffy little ghosts. Boo!

What are we into these days?

Molly: I’m into roasted cauliflower, Levi’s ’80s Mom Jeans, rewatching Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and enjoying it so much more this second time, a whole bunch of albums from 1970. (Editor’s note: Obviously I asked Molly which 1970 albums she meant, and she cited Grateful Dead, American Beauty, and George Harrison, All Things Must Pass. Then I made a joke about an album about cyborgs called Maybe Not All Things Must Pass and she ignored me.)

Abby: I’m into Midnights, rewatching Harry Potter during October, big pots of soup and reading many books. 

Matthew: At the National Music Centre in Calgary I was introduced to an amazing solo artist named Nuela Charles. She’s from Edmonton and writes and sings super-catchy soul-influenced pop songs. Start with her 2022 self-titled album!

Thanks so much to everyone who subscribed during the fall pledge drive, everyone who upgraded, and everyone who’s been with us for years. That adds up to all of you!

Love,

Host Matthew

Happy summer, for those who celebrate!

It’s Host Molly. For our latest bonus episode, we decided to watch an unbelievably bad movie and tell you about it. What’s that thing they say in commercials – we did [onerous task], so you don’t have to? You know, like, we washed the uniforms of a pubescent boys’ soccer team in Blah Blah odor-fighting detergent and then sniffed the pits, so you don’t have to! That’s exactly what watching this movie was like, beloved Listener. We sniffed the pit. The orchestra pit! Yuk yuk yuk.

What I’m trying to say is, we watched Grand Piano, a 2013 thriller written by Damien Chazelle (La La Land), directed by Eugenio Mira, and starring Elijah Wood as a concert pianist who played a wrong note once, a long time ago, and now he’s going to attempt a comeback performance. Will he hit the right notes this time? He’s got to, because if he fails, John Cusack, a locksmith-terrorist, will snipe him and/or his wife. Please note that this episode abounds with spoilers, and you’ll thank us for it. Also, Wikipedia tells me that director Eugenio Mira sometimes goes by the pseudonym Chucky Namanera.

As usual, to access all of our bonus episodes, visit magnumbonus.com, and enter the password magnumbonum. (Here’s the RSS feed, for your podcast player: https://www.magnumbonus.com/feed/podcast/ ).

My family said an unexpected goodbye to our dear dog Alice in late February. It was horrible, and I’ve got nothing funny to say about it. But, we got a puppy! His name is Gilbert, and he’s been a member of our family for a few weeks now. You’ll no doubt hear a lot about Gilbert in future episodes, unless Producer Abby cuts it all. (Producer Abby hates animals.)

Speaking of Abby, she’s been traveling in Europe, and we’re jealous. As of today, she is somewhere in the UK. I hope she’s made a priority of visiting the British towns whose names we like best: Netherthong, Nether Wallop, and Fingringhoe. Abby, send us a postcard!

In other travel news, my family has two camping trips planned this month. Three, even, if you count the one where we’re sleeping in a cabin. I can’t wait. Matthew wants you to know that he has zero camping trips planned, though he’s hoping to make it to Calgary, Canada, this fall. Personally, I’m disappointed that he’s going to miss the famous Calgary Stampede, which takes place in July and includes what it calls the World’s Largest Outdoor Rodeo. Matthew only goes to indoor rodeos.

Well, on June 2, we did a deep dive into Salad Spinners. Listen while you spin your greens, unless your salad spinner is as loud as mine. For dessert, how about some fresh fruit with Tajin sprinkled on top? We did an episode about that too, on June 9. Or perhaps you’d rather eat something hot, and cool down by making yourself sweat profusely? We can help with that too! Try our Japanese Curry episode, released on June 23. Matthew made a pot of curry for us to enjoy during the taping, and it was so delicious that I immediately went out and bought stew beef and a box of S&B Medium curry paste for my own household. Hey, have you ever played the game Silly Sally? Silly Sally loves curry in the summer, but she hates soup in the winter.

So much. Later this week, on July 7, we’re spending an entire episode on Box Graters. Bet you thought it couldn’t be done! Later this month, on July 28, we’ll talk about Smoothies, and if memory serves, I don’t think we did much slurping into the mic, though that seems unlike us. Listen and find out.

In addition to everything we’ve mentioned on Now But Wow…

Producer Abby says:

Music: Harry’s House, by Harry Styles

TV: I loved Amy Schumer’s new show Life and Beth. Oooh, and also Abbott Elementary.

Books: currently reading All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns, by Betty Gilpin, which is really funny and smart. 

Matthew says:

Music: Rolling Blackouts CF, Endless Rooms

TV: Kung Fu Season 2. 

Books: The Holiday Romance series, by Sandy Barker. 

Molly says:

Music: in the weeks since season 4 of Stranger Things came out, I have listened to Journey’s “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” one million times

TV: Heartstopper, The Essex Serpent

Books: recently inhaled We Run the Tides, by Vendela Vida

Silly Sally loves us,
Host Molly (and Host Matthew)

Happy Valentine’s Day, beloved Listeners!

Host Matthew here. Let’s start off with the deets on this bonus episode. Everyone still says “deets,” right?

Ever since we were kids, we’ve thought of Valentine’s Day as a holiday to spend with your favorite podcast. You can imagine how confusing this was for our elementary school classmates in the 80s, when we gave out cards with messages like, “Jenny, have you listened to the latest Death, Sex & Money? DM me! Love, M+M.”

Today’s bonus episode is a box of chocolates for your ears: WHITMAN’S SAMPLER. Don’t worry, you don’t have to have any idea what this is to enjoy the episode. We explain it all, sort of, and the important thing is that Molly and I each got to buy ourselves a box of chocolates and take a bite out of each morsel inside.

As usual, to access all of our bonus episodes, visit magnumbonus.com, and enter the password magnumbonum. (Here’s the RSS feed, for your podcast player: https://www.magnumbonus.com/feed/podcast/ ).

WHAT’S NEW

Other than giving out valentines to all the kids in my class, you know what else I haven’t gotten to do in too long? Get a new tooth.

Well, all that has changed! Early in January, my dentist shaved off about half of one of my molars and attached a temporary crown. Never has a modifier been so apt, because the temporary crown literally fell off while I was eating yogurt. Dental emergency!

Luckily, at the end of the month I got to go back in and have a permanent crown glued in place.

This process took a while, and while they were affixing the crown I got to have many thoughts, but because my mouth was otherwise occupied, I didn’t get to offer them in real time. No problem—here are some Crown Thoughts I would share if I were a slice-of-life nonfiction author:

• You’d think maybe there’d be a way to make sure the crown is solidly glued in place other than just pressing down really hard on the tooth with one hand and pressing up really hard on the patient’s jaw with the other hand. Apparently not!
• How heavy is the head that wears the crown? Like, in grams.
• If they can make a new tooth out of polymers(???) and stick in the place of a worn-out tooth, could they also just throw in a whole other row of teeth, like a shark? If people saw me coming and wasn’t sure if it was me or a shark until I got pretty close, that seems like it would be useful.

Anyway, I really like the new tooth so far. It can chew anything I throw at it, including Moose Munch brand caramel popcorn, which is very tasty.

I asked Molly and Abby if they have any new synthetic/bionic body parts lately, but they didn’t reply. If you do, we want to hear about it! This just in: Producer Abby says, “My character in Brandon’s Star Wars role playing game has a bionic arm, does that count?” It does.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW?

We had a great time recently dreaming of a Day of Perfect Snacks, which aired on January 13. And I got to take Molly for her first-ever visit to a Coke Freestyle machine for our Coke Flavors episode on January 27. She enjoyed it so much, maybe there’s a new tooth in her future, too!

And of course on February 10 we were lucky enough to welcome Bryant Terry, author of Black Food, to talk chili oil.

It’s a whole new year! And you know what we’ve always said: New year, new you. Check your front porch/lobby/corporate mailroom for a package the same size and shape as you. That’s probably the New You. Open it right away; don’t be like my neighbors who leave Hello Fresh boxes in the lobby for a week.

Note: We didn’t actually clone you. But we would if we could, Jenny! Love, M+M

MOLLY’S GOT A NEWSLETTER

Remember how you used to be able to read Molly’s writing every week? What if you could have a fresh slab of the good stuff arrive weekly in your inbox starting, I don’t know, right now?

If you haven’t already signed up for I’ve Got a Feeling, what are you waiting for? I’ll let Molly introduce it:

Each installment will be like taking a meandering walk, so to speak, with an idea, person, place, book, meal, or other thing that makes me feel hopeful. I hope it’ll make you feel hopeful, too — or at least better than you did before you read it. A friend recently referred to it as “a chronicle of enthusiasms,” and I liked that very much…

WHAT’S COMING UP

A whole lot! Roman food expert, co-author of Tasting Rome, and all-around cool person Kristina Gill joins us next week (February 24) to talk about perfect pasta dish Cacio e Pepe.

Then, in March, prepare yourself for not one but TWO episodes featuring friend of the show J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, who’ll be joining us to talk Oyster Sauce and Chili Crisp. His new book, The Wok: Recipes and Techniques, is available for pre-order now.

Of course, there are also plenty of just-the-two-of-us episodes coming up, too. Apparently there’s an upcoming episode about Cooking Smells…? Did we record this?

This Monday, it’s Buddies who Brunch as Molly and I tape an episode about mimosas! Mr. Etymology is sure to make an appearance.

WHAT WE’RE INTO

In addition to everything we’ve mentioned on Now But Wow…

Producer Abby says:

I’ve been watching the last season of Search Party (HBO) and its utter insanity. Each season plays with genre and format in completely unexpected ways and I love the costumes. Alia Shawkat 4 Ever.

Matthew says:

Okay, this is embarrassing, but remember how like two years ago everyone was talking about Baby Yoda? I vaguely knew this was a TV show, but I was like, I don’t want to pay Disney to watch a show set in space.

Sooo…. I didn’t realize I was capable of loving anything as much as I love Baby Yoda. I know his name isn’t Baby Yoda. I don’t care. I’m also mad at Giancarlo Esposito for being mean to Baby Yoda. Not his character—actual very talented actor Giancarlo Esposito.

The Mandalorian, on Disney+.

Molly says:

Ash and I are watching Cheer! Just started Season 2. And I’m reading the novel Outlawed, by Anna North, which is terrific.

Life is like a box with your clone in it,
Host Matthew

Happy Halloween, beloved Listeners!

Host Molly here. Today I’m celebrating by eating even more sour gummies than I usually do. To pregame for tonight’s festivities, Matthew, Abby, and I have been swapping memories of stuff from movies that scared us when we were kids. Matthew was terrorized by Large Marge in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, while I spent literal years expecting to be murdered by Chucky after I was forced to watch Child’s Play at a friend’s slumber party at the tender age of ten. But Abby was perhaps the most tender of us all: she was afraid of the entire Wizard of Oz. What are the spookiest stops on your memory lane, dear Listener? What nightmares are on your Elm Street? Tell us on reddit, if you dare.

WHAT’S NEW

On Saturday, October 9, 2021, Matthew laughed until he cried. It was his first time. The incident occurred while he and his family were watching Ted Lasso, and he immediately texted Molly with the good news. “[E]veryone thought I might need serious help for a second there,” he wrote. “It veered very slightly into actual crying.” But, he concluded, “It was very satisfying. I hope to do it again.”

WHAT ELSE IS NEW?

We’ve been taping in-person since June! The first time, we were so excited that we hugged. After that we went back to being awkward. But it’s been fun to taste things together again, after fifteen months of eating alone in our closets. 

Also, the pledge drive happened! Thank you to everyone who subscribed or upgraded, and welcome to the exclusive club of people who get this newsletter. We love you, even if this email is a weird way of showing it.

Here’s a better way: we’ve dropped a new subscriber-only bonus episode! We finally did what we’ve been promising to do: I gave Matthew a driving lesson. It wasn’t nearly as terrifying as I expected, but that’s only because I didn’t let him drive on an actual road. The scariest part of the day, actually, was the notion of drinking “plain slush,” an item we encountered on the menu at Sonic when we went there to fortify ourselves with onion rings before the lesson. So, did we order a plain slush? To find out, and to access all of our previous bonus episodes, visit magnumbonus.com, and enter the password magnumbonum. (Here’s the RSS feed, for your podcast player: https://www.magnumbonus.com/feed/podcast/ ).

WHAT’S COMING UP

In the regular feed, we’ll be talking about apéro, or French cocktail hour, on November 4th with guest Sutanya Dacres, host of the podcast Dinner for One. Sutanya is an American expat living in Paris, and we very much hope to apéro IRL with her one day. In the meantime, Matthew will be drinking kir royales like the old lady he is.

Also in upcoming episodes: American cheese, boxed soup, pears, and cinnamon sticks! (Doesn’t this sound like the start of one of those stunts where you have to cook a meal using only a handful of random ingredients that no one would otherwise dream of putting on the same plate? Thankfully, this is only a feast for the ears…)

WHAT WE’RE INTO

In addition to everything we’ve mentioned on Now But Wow…

Producer Abby says:

Books: I’ve read and loved a few fairy tale revamps recently: Bryony and Roses and Nettle and Bone, both by T. Kingfisher; and A Spindle Splintered, by Alix E Harrow

Shows: “Only Murders in the Building,” which is super fun. Always love a Steve Martin and Martin Short team-up.

Matthew says:

Song: Mitski, “Working for the Knife”

Book: Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe

Molly says:

Book: Priestdaddy, by Patricia Lockwood. I don’t laugh often when reading, even when reading funny things, but this has made me LOL.

Shows: “Midnight Mass,” on Netflix. So spooky. Also, Matt Saracen! I (still) have a crush.

Trick or treat,
Host Molly

Suggested by Listener Wilson! Better stand back, because we’re gardy-looing all the way to the Transfer Station.

No cap, this episode is snatched. Producer Abby joins us for a teen slang quiz, featuring “research” by Teenager of the Show December.

What does this have to do with anything? We’re not sure either, but be careful: there’s some sort of big cat on the roof.

We visit the finest restaurant in Seattle: the Costco food court! What is a chicken bake? Why isn’t there any real soda? Will Molly crank the onion dispenser? And we go into the store, where Matthew gets way too excited about curling and cheese formats.

Recorded on location, featuring the worst audio of any Spilled Milk episode ever.

Introducing our replacements: Iris Amster-Burton (15) and June Pettit (6-1/2)! They eat dumplings and discuss the serious issues: How do you get the soup out of a soup dumpling? How do you use chopsticks? What is a web site? Should some dumplings be in jail?

We striker a gusher of chocolate malt in this VERY scattered episode that finds us wandering aimlessly around Oklahoma City slurping milkshakes and talking about debutantes.