April 29th – National Shrimp Scampi Day with Merk Nguyen

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Podcast Recommendations for National Shrimp Scampi Day

Bonus video: Mantis Shrimp Smashes Clam Shell

Today’s guest is Merk Nguyen, co-host of the Adult ISH podcast.

Use #NationalShrimpScampiDay for all things related to this day. 

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Podcast Gumbo is produced by Paul Kondo each week. Paul also writes the Podcast Gumbo newsletter where he recommends 3 unique podcast episodes every Wednesday.

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Transcript

Hey. This is Paul Kondo. This is the Podcast Gumbo podcast and I’ve got a rhetorical question for ya.

Are you like me and find those things we call National Days, like Cheeseball Day or worse, Moldy Cheese Day, amusing? Yeah, me too. So each week, I’ll have one of my podcast friends challenge me to find an episode related to one of those days and I’ll be releasing it on the actual day it occurs. 

So, let’s get to it. What is today’s National Day?

Hey Paul, it’s Merk Nguyen. I’m in the frozen food aisle of the grocery store because I have this huge shrimp scampi craving. I figured, ooh, this is a lot cheaper than going to the restaurant to get some. Anyway, can’t seem to find any so do you have any other suggestions on how I can satisfy this craving? 

Sooo, shrimp scampi. Interesting choice, Merk. At least it’s not fruitcake.

Today, April 29th is National Shrimp Scampi day. To tell you the truth, as I thought about shrimp scampi, I came to the conclusion that I probably haven’t had it since I was a child. I have no idea if it has a dairy-based sauce or not. Please don’t be upset at us old people.

To find out, I did a bunch of searching in my podcatcher and I came up fairly dry. I expected there to be cooking show episodes, but not really. There’s even a show called Shrimp Scampi but it has podfaded and from what I can tell, wasn’t about shrimp scampi at all. But not all is lost. Actually, it’s somewhat lost. I have nothing about scampi at all. 

For my first recommendation, I ended up on a Planet Money episode that took me about as far away from food as possible. No garlic to be found anywhere. Just shrimp.

In this episode called Shrimp Fight Club, we hear the story of one shrimp researcher who wanted a grant but was put in a congressional wastebook where one Senator considered it a waste of government spending. More importantly, we learn about the Mantis Shrimp that has some crazy powerful hammer to destroy clam shells with. You have to see it to believe it so I’ll put a video in the show notes.

So listen to the podcast, watch the video and fire up some shrimp with butter, garlic, lemon juice, and white wine and tell us all about it using the National Shrimp Scampi Day hashtag. 

Today’s guest is Merk Nguyen. Merk is a co-host of the Adult ISH podcast along with Nygel Turner. Adult-ISH is from YR Media and Radiotopia and is a culture and advice podcast produced entirely by folks who are almost adults. Hey, maybe I can get a job there. Most people would never confuse me with being an adult.

In the Asian ISH episode, Merk talks to other Asian Americans about their smelly school lunches. Think about it, most people that encounter kimchi and fish sauce, have a pretty negative reaction. I’ll admit it, I did too when I was younger. 

After that opening segment, Merk talks colorism with multiple people including actresses Asia Jackson and Peyton Elizabeth Lee. 

For our 3rd recommendation, Merk recommends The Internet Loves The Exclamation Point!! episode from Lexicon Valley. 

Merk says the episode made her think about her exclamation point usage and how she overused it prior to listening. She’s a fan of John McWhorter too — he’s a linguist and professor at Columbia University who hosts the podcast.

Now, here’s a side note that had me so confused. Two episodes ago, I had recommended an episode from The Allusionist about new rules in language and how people write. And I panicked for a second thinking I got my episodes mixed up. But we’re all good here. Radiotopians just making me lose my mind. 

Today’s Extra Hot Sauce is a promise that the next time I go to an Italian restaurant, I will order some Shrimp Scampi. 

So that’s it for today’s show. Stay tuned for my next episode that drops on May 9th. So, just a heads up, get your PJ’s ready for that one.

As always, take a look at the show notes for links to all the podcasts mentioned in this episode as well as other life-altering information. To make it easy for you, there’s also a link to a podcast playlist that will contain all the episodes ever mentioned in this show. 

See you next week sometime for another round of recommendations. 

Are you still listening? Do you still want more podcast goodness? If so, get on over to podcastgumbo.com and subscribe to my newsletter today. 

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