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It Burns By cover art

It Burns

By: Marc Fennell
Narrated by: Marc Fennell
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  • Summary

  • "

    Winner of the Best Audio Program at the 2019 James Beard Awards

    Silver winner of the Best Documentary Podcast Trophy at the 2020 New York Festivals Radio Awards

    Nominated for the 2019 Rose D'Or award for Audio Entertainment

    Please note: contains mature themes and graphic imagery.

    Written and hosted by Marc Fennell, It Burns is the story of a 10-year scandal-plagued international competition that will take listeners from the Australian Coast to South Carolina (via an Indian Research Facility).

    It's a war filled with larger than life characters. There will be sledging, accusations of cheating, theft and performance enhancing drugs. And allegations that Australia was cheated out of a Guinness World Record. In the process of charting the scandal-plagued race to breed the world's hottest chilli, the audio documentary lifts the lid on the subculture of ""ÀúChilli-heads', hardcore chilli fans spread across the globe who compete in chilli eating and breeding competitions.

    The internet is filled with videos of grown men being reduced to tears by a square millimetre of chilli. The docu-series asks: what motivates someone to breed and eat a demonic nugget that is so hot it no longer has flavour? At what point does this stop being cuisine and start being an endurance sport?

    This humorous series shows that all this has never really been about chilli. It's been about how people use pain to shape themselves, define themselves and make themselves feel alive.

    This is an Audible Original Podcast.  

    "
    ©2019 Audible Australia Pty Ltd. (P)2019 Audible Australia Pty Ltd.
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Episodes
  • Ep. 1: Some Like it Hot

    Ep. 1: Some Like it Hot
    May 9 2019

    Marc Fennell’s quest to find the world’s hottest chilli begins in the middle of a tropical storm in Arizona while grown men and women weep before him. Which seems normal, right? In this episode Marc finds himself drawn into an international dispute and has a euphoric chilli-fuelled epiphany on a New South Wales freeway.
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    33 mins
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  • Ep. 2: Sgt. Pepper

    Ep. 2: Sgt. Pepper
    May 9 2019

    In this chapter Marc travels to the Mexico border to meet the man who accidentally kick started a race to breed super-hot peppers. But does the Carolina Reaper - the world’s current record holder - really deserve it’s title? Has someone cheated?
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    30 mins
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  • Ep. 3: Bad Seeds

    Ep. 3: Bad Seeds
    May 9 2019

    No other mammal on Earth is dumb enough to eat chillies - except humans. The internet is filled with astonishing videos of grown men being reduced to tears by a square millimetre of a chilli. It’s a global gastro-masochist obsession. In this chapter one of the world’s leading chillheads exposes a life turned inside out by tragedy.
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    32 mins
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Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions Gastronomy Food & Wine
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Featured Article: The Best Podcasts for Ravenous Foodies


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Featured Article The Best Podcasts for Ravenous Foodies

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good

nice one .. interesting and must listen best way to listen to good story .

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Profile Image for Vinny (from Wake Forest)

Surprising and intriguing

Love stuff like this where at first blush it seems like a shallow topic but there are so many dimensions to a seemingly simple thing. The author does a fantastic job at giving everyone a voice with the same unbiased and joyful tone. Well done.

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nice

nice one .. interesting and must listen best way to listen to good story .

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Surprised

This was way better than expected. A great listen that takes you across the globe, history and the human condition.

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good

nice one .. interesting and must listen best way to listen to good story .

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Profile Image for Chris Kennedy

Very interesting look at the subculture of the Chile/Pepper Community

Marc has a good insight into the psychology behind the obsessive chileheads. I work in mental health and am also a member of the PLC (Pepper Lovers Community). I think he nails several factors that draw people into the pepper community. Culture, Ego, Trauma, Testosterone, etc... I have observed in our groups everything he talks about and thought his podcast is spot on. However, it does largely focus on the extremes of the pepper world.

Perhaps another series on the history of chiles in our culture would be something he might consider. One thing I have loved about all my gardening has been learning about the history and backstories of what I am growing - something mentioned by Jim Duffy in this series.

This was definitely enjoyable and highly interesting to listen to if you have an interest in either chiles or psychology!!

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Love it

Marc’s storytelling, openness and relatability make this so easy to listen to. As an Aussie living in the USA, it is a pleasure finding Aussie content on the American platform. That and you will always be ‘That movie guy’ to my ears

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Profile Image for Lyons House

Great Story

I initially was interested in this based on Marc’s other podcast “Nut Job”, to learn about chili industry and hottest pepper. Instead this was a great story about human nature.

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