logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2023
27m 53s

The Last Big Mac In Iceland

Dan Pashman
About this episode

When Alexandra Yingst plopped down at a bar in Reykjavik after a 10-hour drive through a blizzard, she saw something unexpected: a Big Mac, in seemingly perfect condition, under a glass dome. It turns out that Big Mac tells us a lot about Iceland’s economy and national identity. Our friends at the Atlas Obscura podcast explore the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places — and this week they’re bringing us two of their best food stories. You’ll hear about Iceland’s last Big Mac, and the world’s oldest edible ham, located in Smithfield, Virginia. (The fact that it’s 120 years old might not even be the weirdest thing about it.)

Special thanks to the Atlas Obscura team. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Up next
Today
How Long Should You Wait For The First Bite?
Dan Pelosi and Negin Farsad join Dan to settle your food disputes! One couple can’t agree on when they should take the first bite of a meal: when the food is fresh and piping hot, or once they’re sitting down at the table? Another couple struggles over how to reheat leftovers to ... Show More
44m 7s
Aug 22
The Sporkful Dating Game! (Reheat)
Could listening to The Sporkful be the fertile soil out of which true love grows? We put out the call for Sporkful listeners looking for love, and hundreds of you responded. This week, we listen in on two blind Zoom dates that resulted from our extremely unscientific matchmaking. ... Show More
32m 58s
Aug 18
On The Hunt For The Elusive Pawpaw
An email from Sara Bir set us off on an adventure. She’s an author and recipe developer who’s obsessed with pawpaws, the largest fruit native to North America. “Pawpaws are tricky in the kitchen,” Sara wrote to us. “You can't buy them in stores. Occasionally they cause people to ... Show More
38m 48s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2022
We travel to Iceland with its first lady on International Women's Day
There is an Icelandic word, sprakkar, that means outstanding women - and those women are at the heart of the book Secrets Of The Sprakkar: Iceland's Extraordinary Women And How They Are Changing The World. Iceland's first lady and author, Eliza Reid, interviewed women from all wa ... Show More
8m 17s
Mar 2024
The Automat: The Amazing Story of America's Five-Cent Cafeteria
Before McDonald’s or KFC, there was the Horn and Hardart Automat—a cafeteria-style restaurant where you could buy everything from creamed spinach to lemon meringue. This week, filmmaker Lisa Hurwitz tells us the story of the rise and fall of the Automat—with a little help from Me ... Show More
50m 8s
Sep 2018
Iceland: What Happened Next?
Iceland is a small island nation of just 340,000 people, but at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008, it was the scene of one of the biggest banking collapses in history.Ten years on the economy has recovered, thanks to the millions of tourists who now visit every ye ... Show More
50m 18s
Nov 2021
Comfort food, with Danny Meyer
This weekend, we talk about food and home. Lilah has lunch with restaurateur Danny Meyer, chief executive of Union Square Hospitality Group, known for the likes of Gramercy Tavern and the $3bn Shake Shack empire. They eat at his favourite classic New York restaurant, Sparks Steak ... Show More
27m 4s
Nov 2023
Volcanic rumblings in Iceland
Increased tremors have been felt in Iceland, and concerns about an impending eruption have led to the evacuation of the town of Grindavik. Geophysicist Dr Freysteinn Sigmundsson reveals more about the events and whether this area of Iceland may be entering a new period of volcani ... Show More
29m 38s
Feb 2023
What's the big deal about fine dining?
Noma – considered by some to be the ‘world’s best restaurant’ - has announced it will close in 2024. The news has prompted headlines around the world and a renewed discussion about the culture of fine dining, and whether it is sustainable as a business model. In this programme, R ... Show More
28m 46s
Aug 2022
Wed. 08/10 - Mary Shelley & the Cryogenic Tabloid Star
The story of the 197-year-old frozen gentleman–––a tale that will take us from unprecedented weather events and the 19th century version of misinformation to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, a 1980s medical miracle, and brief shout-out to the OG velocipede. Plus, Austrian Burger King ... Show More
20m 40s
Mar 2022
A Personal Tour of Modern Irish History
Fintan O’Toole was born in Dublin in 1958, the same year that T.K. Whitaker, a member of the Irish government, published an influential report suggesting that Ireland open its doors economically and culturally to the rest of the world. O’Toole’s new book, “We Don’t Know Ourselves ... Show More
51m 46s
Jun 2019
6. Easter Island - Where Giants Walked
On one of the world’s most isolated islands, hundreds of vast stone statues lie mouldering in the grass. In this episode, we take a look at one of archaeology’s most enduring puzzles: the mystery of Easter Island. Find out how this unique community grew up in complete isolation, ... Show More
1h 43m
Mar 2024
Iceland w/ Dan Soder | You Be Trippin' with Ari Shaffir
SPONSORS:- Visit https://TheFreezePipe.com and use code: TRIPPIN for 10% off your entire order plus free shipping. Welcome aboard You Be Trippin' hosted by Ari Shaffir! This week Ari is joined by comedian Dan Soder on a trip to Iceland with some pitstops to Stockholm and Amsterda ... Show More
1h 2m