Scoville units. Nightshades. Hot ones. Sweet ones. Scandalous data. Pull up a seat for a wild, hot ride through New Mexico. Pepper expert, horticulturist, and Capsicumologist Dr. Paul “The Chileman” Bosland of New Mexico State’s Chile Pepper Institute dishes up stories of how chile peppers got from the wild into your mouth, what parts of peppers are the hottest, why mild peppers don’t get enough credit, how to grow peppers at home, how to recover from the burn, some lore behind your favorite hot sauces, red vs. green, Guinness World Records, Ig Nobel Prizes, why you can’t handle peppers but your mom can, hot foods in hot places, seeds, walls, piths, myths, bigger lips, pepper roulette, and so much more. Also: I abuse myself with Ashes to Ashes. 

Follow Dr. Bosland on Google Scholar

A donation went to NMSU Chile Pepper Institute

Visit the Chile Pepper Institute website and online store and follow them on Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy: Gustology (TASTE), Evolutionary Anthropology (METABOLISM), Thermophysiology (BODY HEAT), Dolorology (PAIN), Foraging Ecology (EATING WILD PLANTS) with @BlackForager, Ethnoecology (ETHNOBOTANY/NATIVE PLANTS), Pomology (APPLES), Cucurbitology (PUMPKINS), Scatology (POOP), Allergology (ALLERGIES), Optical Technology (HISTORY OF EYEGLASSES + MODERN DAY VISION), Ophthalmology (EYES), Nomology (THE CONSTITUTION), Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY)

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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn 

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