Horsemen of the Esophagus

Connecticut Public Radio | By Mark Oppenheimer

Published February 20, 2011 at 9:55 AM EST

http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Catie/Paper%20Trails%2002-21-2011.mp3

Today on Paper Trails, the new public radio show about books, author Jason Fagone discusses his book Horsemen of the Esophagus: Competitive Eating and the Big Fat American Dream, about the very, very weird world of competitive eating.

This is not your father’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest—this is the high- (okay, medium-) stakes world of dozens of corn dogs in five minutes, of hundreds of chicken wings at a time, of a sold-out Philadelphia Spectrum filled with crazed sports-radio fans transferring their love of hockey to their love of gluttony. Co-host Brian Francis Slattery and Binnie Klein join host Mark Oppenheimer in interviewing Fagone.

Tune in and listen—but maybe not while you’re eating a big meal.

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