Endless Thread - Hot (and not) fruit takes

Episode Date: January 30, 2026

What temperature do you like your fruit? What is the correct way to peel a banana? This week on Endless Thread, Ben and Amory cherry pick a couple of the hottest fruit debates taking place on Reddit. Show notes: My husband is mildly infuriated that I open a banana from the antenna side! (Reddit) CMV: The only correct way to peel and eat a banana is from the bottom. (Reddit) Microwaving fruit is the way to go (Reddit) I believe that fruit is better microwaved. (Reddit) This content was originally created for audio. An auto-generated transcript is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Heads up that some elements (i.e. music, sound effects, tone) are harder to translate to text.

Support for endless thread comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink Software, to design and develop engineered systems, accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at Mathworks.com. Support for WBUR comes from Is Business Broken, a podcast from the Marotra Institute at Boston University that explores questions like, why is innovation in healthcare so hard? Is ESG just greenwashing? of course, is business broken? Listen, wherever you get your podcasts. WBUR Podcasts, Boston. Emery, what are all your hot fruit takes? Do you prefer your fruit hot or not? We might be going in the same direction on this one, I think, judging by the question you just asked me. No, no, no, no. That was a joke, so now I'm really excited. We're about to talk about hot fruit. Maybe. Okay.

All right. I prefer my fruit at all temperatures, depending upon my mood. Oh, that's interesting. I waver towards room temperature. Really? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Do not want to bite into a cold apple.

Do not want to bite into a cold strawberry? Oh, terrible, cold strawberries. This is so interesting because this is a perfect set up for the conversation we're about to have, or that we are now officially having. Because I'm a cold, cold or nothing person. I want my grapefruit chilled. I want my apple as crispy and chilly as possible. I want my oranges cold.

I want my grapes cold. Even better frozen. A citrus fruit, I will say, like, that is good, slightly chilled, not too cold. And I do like a frozen grape, but you must not have very sensitive teeth. Because like a cold apple to me, that's horrible. It can get you. And you're not supposed to refrigerate your apples, right? I'm not a big apples in the summer person.

So by the time I'm eating apples, it's pretty cold in my house already. So it's kind of like on the counter, they're already kind of chilled. Does that make any sense? Maybe not. I don't know. I think you should heat your house is what I think. Put on a sweater. All right.

So would you like to go first or should I go first? I'll go first. Okay. Because I've found multiple posts about this now. But the first one that caught my attention was in the unpopular opinion subreddit, which I really, I love that place. Same. And someone, forsaken bread, 6034, forsaken bread. Their post says, microwaving fruit is the way to go.

What? This person writes, Microwaved fruit feels like a warm hug from the inside. It's also fun to experiment with taste and texture post-microwave. Berries turn into hot juice bursts. Bananas taste like dessert. No. When apples turn soft.

Add some water to the bottom of the plate for extra mush. Drizzle some honey on top for dessert. Sprinkle some cinnamon for a dash of spice. Okay. Well, the beginning of that to me sounded like pure rage bait. I'm sorry. I don't buy it. It sounds complete nonsense to me.

However, once they got into the like, sprinkle some cinnamon, put some honey, drizz some honey on there, I'm down with the drizz. Just need to enunciate really well when you say that. Drizz. D starts with a D. D. Dries. Driz.

But when you do that, I feel like specifically with a banana. With some drizz. Driss. Oh my God. That does sound like dessert. That sounds like a tasty hot dessert to me. Or a drizzert, if you will. A drizzert, yeah. A lot of people commented that that's just what like pie is, right? You want you want your hot fruit. But of course, many people said it's obscene. Delete this. Someone says, I've literally never heard of this. I'm disgusted in parentheses. but willing to try it. One of the reasons why I cherish the unpopular opinion subreddit is because it's one of maybe the only subreddit where an upvote validates how bad your opinion is, how unpopular your opinion is.

The only sub where being wrong makes you a winner. So there were a lot of people who posted some version of what this one person says, which is this take absolutely. sucks. Take your upvote, weirdo. So it's a popular post just because most people are grossed out by it. But it actually makes a lot of sense to me that you might want to microwave some fruit.

And other people then were curious to try it. So one person said, mushy microwaved apple with cinnamon sprinkled on top of it. I'm looking forward to it already. And the O.P. is like, love that. Update us on your success when you're done. Some people need a testimony.

This person never comes back to update, so another person comments, he never updated. The microwaved fruit probably got him. But I experimented with it just now. Okay, okay. Yes, I did the apple slices. I wish I'd had a banana because that does sound a little strange. Although when you freeze banana slices, they do taste like candy. They taste more like.

Yeah. Like banana flavored things than a regular banana does. So I would imagine that heating it up does the same. Well, you know, I mean, bananas foster is a thing, right? Like, there's, there's. Are they hot in that, though? Yeah. Oh, I guess I've never had bananas.

They're on fire. Bananas. They're on fire. Okay. It's like a liquor in a pan with some bananas and voila. Okay. So I'm not a, not a honey gal in particular. But I did take the suggestion of adding a little water to the bottom for extra mush, as they say.

I sliced and peeled a pink lady apple if people care about the specific kind of apple. Sprinkleed some cinnamon and some lemon juice because someone else had recommended lemon juice. Popped it in the microwave for like 40 seconds flipping the slices over halfway through. I have one left. I'm not going to eat it on the microphone because I know people will hate me if I do that. So I'm backing away for a moment. Okay. Verdict is delicious.

I find this to be truly a treat. A hug from the inside, as the OP said. I mean, a hug from the inside isn't even a hug from the inside to me. That's just a weird phrase. Don't like it. But I like a room temperature apple. I now know that I like a microwaved warm apple. I will try the banana trick and report back,

because now I feel like I have to. And I don't care what temperature people eat their fruit as long as they eat fruit. Okay. Do you have a banana handy? No, I wish. I would have microwaved it. Okay. Do you have a banana handy? I don't. Producer Frady Monaghan, do you have a banana handy?

I'm actually allergic to raw bananas, but maybe I need to start buying bananas to microwave them because I can eat them once they've been heated. Oh, interesting. Okay. Okay, but maybe also don't risk it. We can just report back. Not yet. I'm not putting your life on the line here. Yeah. All right. None of us have a banana handy.

So we're just going to have to imagine this and or talk about it. So take a minute while we go to this break and just picture a banana in your mind. Let's start there. Drizz or no drizz? Whatever, whatever floats your boat if you want. I want to have some drizz on that banana, please. You sick, sick weirdos out there, please. Drizz the banana.

And come back, please. And I'll tell you a little tale about bananas. At Radio Lab, we love nothing more than nerding out about science, neuroscience, chemistry. But we do also like to get into other kinds of stories. Stories about policing or politics. Country music. Hockey. Sex.

of bugs. Regardless of whether we're looking at science or not science, we bring a rigorous curiosity to get you the answers. And hopefully make you see the world anew. Radio Lab, adventures on the edge of what we think we know. Wherever you get your podcast. There is something powerful about the sound of the human voice. Beautifully produced audio has the unique power to connect and inspire.

Tell your organization's story with a custom podcast from CitySpace Productions, the Creative Studio from WBUR's business partnerships team. Become a thought leader. Recruit new talent. Reach new audiences. Whatever your goal, we can help. Discover how the magic is made at WBUR.org.org slash creative studio. Okay, we're back.

We have already decided that yes, microwaved fruit, Amory can be a hug from the inside, which of itself is a phrase I'm suspicious of. I'm down. If you say it warmed up is good, I'm willing to try myself. This, when I saw this post, I a little bit lost it. And this is another one that to me, when I first looked at it, it seemed very rage baity to me. Okay.

So Amory and Frannie, please look at the thing I just sent you. This, to me, I was like, this cannot be real. This is in the mildly infuriating subreddit. And it's, the username has some fruit in it. Evening Tangerine 2-2-2. I like that. Nothing like an evening tangerine. Nothing like an evening tangerine.

An evening tangerine. The rest of this episode should just be an improv. An improv song. Evening tangerine. Evening. Tangerine. Tanger evening, Tanger evening.

Exactly. You hear that potential? It's good. It's good. Okay, I'm very sorry. Continue. All right. This post from evening,

Tangerie, Evening Tangerine 2-2 says, My husband is mildly infuriated that I open a banana from the antenna side. He says it should be open from the other side. side like monkeys. How do you open a banana? A, antenna side. And I think everybody knows what that means, but that's like where the little. The little nub. The little nub. Well, it depends on your definition. The handle. The little antenna, if you will. The part that attaches it to the rest of

the banana plant. And then B, it says butthole side, which I don't know that we want to think about that when we're opening a banana, but whatever the case. It's fine as long as you put some drizz on it. Oh my God. So, okay, so what's your reaction to this? Well, I think the bottom should only be referred to as the butthole side from now on. I think. Jesus.

I actually, have I witnessed an ape or a monkey peel a banana? I mean, I guess if that's the way it's done, then that's the way you must do. it. But I mean, how do you do it? From the antenna side. Of course. And how have you ever seen any other human do it? Probably antenna side. Although you can't you like like squish it out the butthole side? Like you can you can hold it from the antenna side and squish it and it'll come out like if you were you know, it's like a fancy way of cracking an egg except it's a fancy way of removing the banana from its casing. This is too much. This is too much for me.

I'm noticing that this post got 40,000 up votes. Yes. It's clearly struck a nerve. I feel like this is crazy. Frannie, can we get an amen to the antenna side or are you? Yeah, no, I've heard about opening it from the butthole side, which I think also by calling it the butthole side, this O.P. is clearly leading with the survey here. but I like, I don't like mushing the banana.

Like when you do it from the antenna side, the banana is pristine. It hasn't been mushed. The banana is the perfect snack, even though I can't eat them because they come with their own wrapper and they're very clean. So. Excellent points all, Franny. But here's what's weird. Look at this next post that I've sent you.

This is from legit five years ago. Okay. And there are posts, when you look across Reddit, there are posts everywhere from like three years ago to seven years ago to five years ago to three months ago from one month ago. This is frequently posted about. I had no idea this was a debate. Same with microwaving fruit. I saw multiple posts. People really do take their fruit seriously.

But this says change. my view, it's from the Change My View subreddit, the only correct way to peel and eat a banana is from the bottom. Peeling and eating a banana from the bottom, I appreciate this description better than the butthole side, is the correct way to do so for a multitude of reasons. First off, a banana splits easier from the bottom, today I learned. So the likelihood of crushing part of the banana franny, due to it not opening like it does when using the stem is much lower. That makes sense to me. You think the banana's potentially more pristine if you open it from the bottom?

Yes, because haven't we all had the experience of peeling from the antenna side and it's not quite ripe enough yet or just something goes a little wrong and suddenly you've smushed the top of the banana. Yeah. I don't have a lot of banana experience. I'm sorry. I'm allergic. Yeah, stop asking your banana questions, Ben. This is very... It's triggering. If you were to try to asphyxiate yourself.

She's getting a hive's just thinking about it. Fair. Secondly, the stem of a banana is very clearly a handle and should be used as such. Having the extra area to grab onto makes it much easier to hold and eat overall. And when you are almost done eating it, you still have a solid, a solid place, I assume, to hold the peel by, rather than having to take the whole banana out of the skin. Thirdly, it's how the monkeys do it. While humans have evolved away from them,

they have had thousands of years to protect, to perfect the art of banana eating, and they do it from the bottom. Okay, final reason is a combination of the three previous. That's okay, that's not a number four. Come on. It's the way nature intended it, okay? Nature constantly creates structures

in the most efficient way, from honeycombs to ant tails or any number of other natural structures. They are made in a way that is the most efficient. So if you are not supposed to eat a banana from the bottom, why is the stem a handle and why does the bottom split easier and why do monkeys eat it the correct way? So please, incorrect banana eaters, bring me to your side and change my view. I'm not buying the handle business.

That's too tiny of a handle. You know, you're still going to end up holding most of the body of the banana. even if you peel it from the bottom or else you're really balancing that banana from that little teeny tiny stem. I don't buy it. I think what this makes me think about is like one of the beauties of Reddit

and other internet communities, but it seems very specifically Reddity to me, is like it just reminds me that there's whole debates that I just, I can't believe that I didn't know that there was another way to do it. Like, there's a whole new banana opening world that I didn't even know about. That is true.

And I can't believe that this first post that you sent, this couple that is supposedly married, did you scroll down and look at any of the comments? A little bit. Yeah. So the top comment is a great little gif of a chimp, and the comment is O.P.'s husband watching from the pantry. It's pretty funny.

And then O.P. responses, literally, I offered him a bite because I realized he was watching me. And he's like, no, I can't believe you right now. You opened it from the wrong side. Which really makes it seem like this is the first time that this married couple have ever witnessed each other engaging in the art of banana eating. Yeah. The other thing that's interesting or another positive way of spinning this is no matter how long. you've been with your partner, you're going to discover new things. That's right. Also, we don't do a lot of things that apes and monkeys do, for the record. So we can eat our bananas however the hell we want.

Yeah. As long as we microwave them. Listeners, we would love to hear from you on where you fall via both of these issues, microwaving fruit and which end of the banana. you doth open said banana from. Because it's important to Amory and I to know whose side you're on and whether or not you should be listened to in the future. Yeah.

And whether or not we should, honestly, because I open mine from the stem side and so does Amory. We may lose a bunch of listeners. Well, when I get my next banana, I'm going to. I'm going to open it from the butt side. I feel like you didn't want me to say butthole, so I said butt hole. But then I just said butthole, so here we are again. You know, whatever. I'm going to open it from the bottom.

Yes. And then I'm going to pop it right in the microwave, and I'll report back on both experiences. Okay. Okay. All right, great. I look forward to your exhaustive report. And nobody send Frannie out.

any fresh banana. No. Unless it has instructions to be microwaved. That's right. Banana bread, she'll take it all. Warm it up. Banana's foster? Sure.

Well, eat your fruit. Eat your fruit. There's nothing like an evening tangerine. Nothing like an evening tangerine. Nothing like an evening tangerine. You can have it cold or hot. Drizz a little drizz or not Still nothing like an evening

Tangerine Endless thread is a production of WBUR in Boston This episode was produced by Franny Monaghan And us, Amory Sebertson And Ben Brock Johnson, mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski, original music, aka Evening Tangerine, the song of 2026,

by us, production by Mike Mosquito. The rest of our team is Grace Tatter, Dean Russell, Chiosna Burtadoe, our production manager Paul Vicus, and our managing producer, Sumitajoshi. If you have a hot fruit take, a cold fruit take, any temperature of fruit take, hit us up.

Endless thread at WBUR.org. See ya. There's nothing like an evening, tangering. Nothing like an evening.