This is an excerpt from the latest episode of Everyone & Their Mom, a new show from Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or listen on NPR One, and you can find us on Instagram.
Less skin and bones, more fruits and veggies
Adam Burke talks with host Emma Choi about the hottest new gossip from the Medieval era: those all-you-can-eat turkey legs you immediately think of? Lies! Medieval citizens were eating mostly fruits and veggies and rarely diving into juicy turkey legs and pigs on a spit.
Scientists analyzed over 2000 skeletons to discover medieval people, including royalty, mainly ate vegetables, bread and cereals. Think less Sausage Egg McMuffin, more Rutabaga Frosted Mini Wheats.
Knight in shining armor
Emma is joined by Philip La Croix, AKA Sir Philip, a professional knight from Medieval Times, which is basically NASCAR for people who are really into Henry V. Our Knight tells us about the (real!) deadly weapons he uses, the reasons behind his luscious mane and how we can live more like medieval knights.
I see dead people
We talked to Dr. Sam Leggett, the scientist who made the actual discovery, so we had to ask her the most pressing question we could think of: Are skeletons funny or scary? Dr. Leggett shared that they're "Funny, and I think quite nice in a way[...] I mean, you kind of get attached to these people. Most of them you don't have names for, and so it's kind of nice to kind of bring these stories to life."
She tells us more about Medieval people, including what their diets looked like and what kind of jokes they liked most (spoiler: it's the fart kind).
Listen to the full episode to hear more about secret messages and play along with our quizzes. Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or listen on NPR One, and you can find us on Instagram.
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