99% Invisible13 Feb 2024

The White Castle System of Eating Houses

White Castle has its own take on fast food hamburgers. For starters, the patties are square, with five holes in each patty. And they’re small, too –- two-and-a-half inch sliders. Just big enough to fit into the palm of your hand. And since they’re steamed on a bed of onions, everything is infused with this very specific onion-esque flavor.

Today, White Castles can be hard to find, depending on where you live. But KCUR's Mackenzie Martin, a producer at A People's History of Kansas City, says that it’s time to stop thinking of White Castle as a semi-obscure cultural punchline, because over a century ago, White Castle invented something that became so important and all-encompassing that, today, it touches pretty much every person in America. Sometimes several times a day. Something that, in other countries, has almost come to define American culture: it has a strong claim to being the first fast-food restaurant.

Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early.

Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(833)

The Problem With Football Helmets

Football helmets can prevent devastating injuries, but they may also help make an inherently violent game feel safer than it really is. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99%...

13 Okt 43min

(Not Just) Another Brick in the Wall

A closer look at the messy, beautiful bricks hiding across Chicago. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on...

6 Okt 28min

100 Objects #20: AA Sobriety Chip

Comedian, writer, and podcaster Jamie Loftus has always known about Alcoholics Anonymous. As a kid, she loved the album where her dad kept all his AA chips — that little piece of plastic that marks a ...

2 Okt 52min

Tootle of a Devilish Song

How a Swiss mountain call crossed the Atlantic and helped define the sound of country music. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early. ...

29 Sep 32min

100 Objects #19: Western Electric 500 Series

This episode is sponsored by Claude. For problems worth solving, get started with Claude at Claude.ai.The Western Electric 500 Series Telephone used to be everywhere. For over 50 years, it was the def...

25 Sep 38min

The Rocky Statue

How a movie prop became one of Philadelphia’s most beloved monuments, and sparked a decades-long fight over where it belonged. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisibl...

22 Sep 32min

100 Objects #18: Hair Relaxer

Somewhere between 85 to 95 percent of Black women in the United States have used a chemical hair relaxer at least once in their lifetime. It is a ubiquitous American product with a complicated legacy:...

18 Sep 35min

Doves Type

A legendary typeface, a spectacular friendship breakup, and one extremely committed act of revenge. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week ...

15 Sep 37min