If you've ever stopped at an airport convenience shop or gassed up at a truck stop or shopped at a gag-gift store, you've seen them: scorpion lollipops.

While they definitely fall into the category of curious novelty, they're also a big business, especially in Arizona. A lot of them are sold in the state, almost certainly more than you would think.

This week on Valley 101, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we spoke with Larry Peterman, the founder of the fantastically named Hotlix, a California candy company that makes them, and Reia Li, who wrote a story about the suckers in The Arizona Republic.

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