Producers Anna Goldfield and Anna Weggel have so much in common. They both love boardgames, they both adore sunsets and they’re both named Anna! They also love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but one likes peanut butter more while the other likes jelly most of all. And when two people like differing things at Brains On HQ that means it’s time for a sneak attack!
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ROBOTIC VOICE: Now entering Brains On Headquarters.
[BEEPING, MECHANICAL DOOR OPENS]
MOLLY BLOOM: Hey, Smarty Pal. Did we have two Anna's working here at Brains On Headquarters? We have producer Anna Weggel and we have producer Anna Goldfield. Two Anna's. It's a full on Anna-rama.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Molly, did I just hear you say my name?
ANNA WEGGEL: And my name?
MOLLY BLOOM: Look. It's both Annas. I was just explaining how you two have the same name.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: I know, right? Anna and I have so much in common. Right, Anna?
ANNA WEGGEL: That's right, Anna. We both have the same name and we both love board games.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Ooh, and we both love sunsets.
ANNA WEGGEL: And we both love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: That's right, we do. I love peanut butter.
ANNA WEGGEL: And I love jelly.
MOLLY BLOOM: Wait. Do I sense a disagreement?
ANNA GOLDFIELD: I-- I mean, not really.
ANNA WEGGEL: Yeah, I mean, I think we just like different things. If anything, it means that we--
MOLLY BLOOM: It means it's time for a Sneak Attack.
[KARATE NOISES]
MOLLY BLOOM: Sneak Attack.
ANNA WEGGEL: No, it doesn't, Molly.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Oh, we're getting tired of these random Sneak Attacks.
ANNA WEGGEL: It's not right.
MOLLY BLOOM: For this Sneak Attack, we'll play Random Line. In this game, the two of you will debate which is better, peanut butter or jelly, except throughout the debate, whenever you hear a bell--
[BELL DINGS]
--you'll have to read a random line, a sentence that I'm going to give you that you've never seen before. And you have to make that sentence part of your argument no matter how weird it is.
ANNA WEGGEL: So we're going to argue with each other and you'll be giving us random things to say?
MOLLY BLOOM: Yep.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Even if those things don't make sense or sound silly?
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly.
ANNA WEGGEL: And why would we play this ridiculous game?
MOLLY BLOOM: Because if you do, I'll give you each a PB and J sandwich from Sanden Totten super secret sandwich stash
ANNA WEGGEL: [GASPS] He only uses Himalayan jelly
ANNA GOLDFIELD: And his peanut butter is made in Milan by peanut monks.
ANNA WEGGEL: Fine, we'll play.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes. Time to begin peanut butter versus jelly debate.
[TRIUMPHANT MUSIC]
Up first, we have Anna Weggel debating in favor of jelly.
ANNA WEGGEL: Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about jelly which can be used in so many things. Peanut butter and jelly is obviously-- toast, cookies, pastry filling, a topping for desserts, sauces--
[BELL DINGS]
It tastes like outer space, and that's just one of the many, many flavors it can be. You've got the heavy hitters. You've got grape, strawberry, raspberry, mixed fruit, but you can get wild with it like jalapeño, lavender, or watermelon. What would jalapeno peanut butter taste like? Sick.
[BELL DINGS]
I'd like to spread it on the bottoms of my feet. That's how disgusting jalapeño peanut butter would be, but luckily we and my feet will never know because peanut butter is basically just crushed nuts. That's it.
Listen, let's talk about the texture of jelly, OK. It keeps life exciting. One bite, it could be as thin as water. The next might have a big, juicy clump in it. Is jelly like--
[BELL DINGS]
[LAUGHING]
"By George" is the hip way to order it at diners. Yeah. The texture might feel like a blood clot, but if you--
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHS]
--orger it at a diner, it's fun, it's variety, and, by George, you're going to have a smile on your face. Now, let's--
[BELL DINGS]
They named a popular dance after this tasty treat. It's the Jelly Jim Jam Joyful--
[LAUGHING]
[HOLDS BACK LAUGHTER] --Jam. The Jelly Jim Jam Joyful Jam will make you the single most popular person at your school dance, OK? It's going to slide you to the left. It's going to shimmy you to the right. You're going to be making friends all over the gym because everyone's going to want to look just like you.
Plus, making jelly is science. You need your fruit. You need to juice it. You need the lemon juice. You need fruit pectin, which is a soluble fiber. You have to extract the juice, combine, stir, and cook the ingredients together, add sugar, taste for doneness, skim off the foam. It goes on and on and on. What do you do for peanut butter?
[BELL DINGS]
Ow, my knee. Literally, it's so simple how to make peanut butter that my knee hurts.
[LAUGHING]
It hurts. It's hurting me. My knee is offended at how easy it is to make peanut butter. You just crush nuts. It's boring. It's bland. It's blah.
MOLLY BLOOM: Wow. An amazing argument. You've offended Anna's knee, peanut butter.
[LAUGHING]
Oh. Oh, no.
MOLLY BLOOM: But Anna Goldfield, it's your turn. Please tell us why peanut butter is the Smash, Boom, Best.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: I will do that, and it's really easy because, despite the simplicity-- and I would not hesitate to say the purity of peanut butter's composition-- it's so easy to make. It's easy to digest. It's easy to chew because you don't really have to chew it. And that's one of the big things that makes peanut butter so useful. So it's got--
[BELL DINGS]
A little birdie once landed on my head while I was eating a peanut butter sandwich, and I shared it with the birdie. And now, we're best friends. And--
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHS]
--we love having peanut butter together. It's my personal favorite flavor for ice cream. It's way up there on the personal favorite cookie flavor chart-- Top five, at least. Top three.
You can use it to make it look like a dog or a horse is talking. A little dab of peanut butter up on the inside of that mouth. Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. And then, you dub over it, and then you're the smash hit on your hands.
Plus, peanut butter has a really cool history. So the earliest version was made by the Inca around 1,000 years ago, and--
[BELL DINGS]
Is it your birthday? Because I'm about to drop so many gifts of knowledge about peanut butter.
MOLLY BLOOM: It's not but--
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Oh. It's an early present.
And so peanuts are originally from the area of the Andes in South America, where the Inca empire thrived, fueled obviously by how amazing peanut butter is. And peanut butter helps people. In 1896, former enslaved man George Washington Carver patented a version of peanut butter to--
[BELL DINGS]
Jeepers creepers. Boy, did he help people because he wanted to use peanut agriculture to help Black farmers prosper post slavery. And it's also versatile in the kitchen. Talk about-- I mean, jelly. Sure you could put it on a dessert, but peanut butter can be savory and sweet. Peanut butter and pickle or a peanut butter and iceberg lettuce. Both extremely delicious--
ANNA WEGGEL: Ugh
ANNA GOLDFIELD: --and underrated sandwiches
[LAUGHING]
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Don't knock it till you try it. They are incredible.
[BELL DINGS]
Old MacDonald had a farm. And on that farm, he grew peanuts, which was a really great decision because anywhere in the world he would be welcome as a holder of peanuts as a beautiful crop. Used all over the place in South Asian cuisine, West African cuisine. You get this big nutty toasty flavor without a lot of sugar. Better for your teeth. Better for your body.
And you have nothing but choice. You can choose texture, saltiness, whether it's sweet peanut butter or not. And there are multiple household uses for peanut butter it can get--
[BELL DINGS]
Great Scott are there so many uses for peanut butter. I just had to exclaim about it once again before starting to list the things. You can remove gum from your hair with peanut butter. You can get odors out of pots and pans. You can get your dog to take their pills. If you use smooth and not chunky, you can use it as shaving cream.
And I think really the versatility of peanut butter both as a substance and as a delicious treat and as something that has helped many, many, many people, I think that is why it is the superior spreadable.
MOLLY BLOOM: And that's the debate. I am all out of random lines.
ANNA WEGGEL: Does that mean we get the sandwiches?
ANNA GOLDFIELD: A deal's a deal.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah, but you're going to have to help me break into Sanden's office to get them.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: We're stealing his sandwiches.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, no. He said we could have them. I just like to make it interesting.
[THEME MUSIC]
ANNA GOLDFIELD: That's it for this Smarty Pass episode. It was made by Aron Woldeselassie and Anna Goldfield. Our executive producer is Beth Perlman. And the executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati, Joanne Griffith, and Alex Schaffert.
Brains On! is a non-profit public radio program. Thanks, Smarty Pass friends. We appreciate you. Goodbye.
ANNA WEGGEL: Jelly.
(SINGING) Oh. Better than the rest. It's the Smash Boom, Best. It's the Smash, Boom, Best.
ANNA WEGGEL: Ow. My knee.
[BEEPING, MECHANICAL DOOR OPENS]
MOLLY BLOOM: Hey, Smarty Pal. Did we have two Anna's working here at Brains On Headquarters? We have producer Anna Weggel and we have producer Anna Goldfield. Two Anna's. It's a full on Anna-rama.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Molly, did I just hear you say my name?
ANNA WEGGEL: And my name?
MOLLY BLOOM: Look. It's both Annas. I was just explaining how you two have the same name.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: I know, right? Anna and I have so much in common. Right, Anna?
ANNA WEGGEL: That's right, Anna. We both have the same name and we both love board games.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Ooh, and we both love sunsets.
ANNA WEGGEL: And we both love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: That's right, we do. I love peanut butter.
ANNA WEGGEL: And I love jelly.
MOLLY BLOOM: Wait. Do I sense a disagreement?
ANNA GOLDFIELD: I-- I mean, not really.
ANNA WEGGEL: Yeah, I mean, I think we just like different things. If anything, it means that we--
MOLLY BLOOM: It means it's time for a Sneak Attack.
[KARATE NOISES]
MOLLY BLOOM: Sneak Attack.
ANNA WEGGEL: No, it doesn't, Molly.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Oh, we're getting tired of these random Sneak Attacks.
ANNA WEGGEL: It's not right.
MOLLY BLOOM: For this Sneak Attack, we'll play Random Line. In this game, the two of you will debate which is better, peanut butter or jelly, except throughout the debate, whenever you hear a bell--
[BELL DINGS]
--you'll have to read a random line, a sentence that I'm going to give you that you've never seen before. And you have to make that sentence part of your argument no matter how weird it is.
ANNA WEGGEL: So we're going to argue with each other and you'll be giving us random things to say?
MOLLY BLOOM: Yep.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Even if those things don't make sense or sound silly?
MOLLY BLOOM: Exactly.
ANNA WEGGEL: And why would we play this ridiculous game?
MOLLY BLOOM: Because if you do, I'll give you each a PB and J sandwich from Sanden Totten super secret sandwich stash
ANNA WEGGEL: [GASPS] He only uses Himalayan jelly
ANNA GOLDFIELD: And his peanut butter is made in Milan by peanut monks.
ANNA WEGGEL: Fine, we'll play.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes. Time to begin peanut butter versus jelly debate.
[TRIUMPHANT MUSIC]
Up first, we have Anna Weggel debating in favor of jelly.
ANNA WEGGEL: Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about jelly which can be used in so many things. Peanut butter and jelly is obviously-- toast, cookies, pastry filling, a topping for desserts, sauces--
[BELL DINGS]
It tastes like outer space, and that's just one of the many, many flavors it can be. You've got the heavy hitters. You've got grape, strawberry, raspberry, mixed fruit, but you can get wild with it like jalapeño, lavender, or watermelon. What would jalapeno peanut butter taste like? Sick.
[BELL DINGS]
I'd like to spread it on the bottoms of my feet. That's how disgusting jalapeño peanut butter would be, but luckily we and my feet will never know because peanut butter is basically just crushed nuts. That's it.
Listen, let's talk about the texture of jelly, OK. It keeps life exciting. One bite, it could be as thin as water. The next might have a big, juicy clump in it. Is jelly like--
[BELL DINGS]
[LAUGHING]
"By George" is the hip way to order it at diners. Yeah. The texture might feel like a blood clot, but if you--
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHS]
--orger it at a diner, it's fun, it's variety, and, by George, you're going to have a smile on your face. Now, let's--
[BELL DINGS]
They named a popular dance after this tasty treat. It's the Jelly Jim Jam Joyful--
[LAUGHING]
[HOLDS BACK LAUGHTER] --Jam. The Jelly Jim Jam Joyful Jam will make you the single most popular person at your school dance, OK? It's going to slide you to the left. It's going to shimmy you to the right. You're going to be making friends all over the gym because everyone's going to want to look just like you.
Plus, making jelly is science. You need your fruit. You need to juice it. You need the lemon juice. You need fruit pectin, which is a soluble fiber. You have to extract the juice, combine, stir, and cook the ingredients together, add sugar, taste for doneness, skim off the foam. It goes on and on and on. What do you do for peanut butter?
[BELL DINGS]
Ow, my knee. Literally, it's so simple how to make peanut butter that my knee hurts.
[LAUGHING]
It hurts. It's hurting me. My knee is offended at how easy it is to make peanut butter. You just crush nuts. It's boring. It's bland. It's blah.
MOLLY BLOOM: Wow. An amazing argument. You've offended Anna's knee, peanut butter.
[LAUGHING]
Oh. Oh, no.
MOLLY BLOOM: But Anna Goldfield, it's your turn. Please tell us why peanut butter is the Smash, Boom, Best.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: I will do that, and it's really easy because, despite the simplicity-- and I would not hesitate to say the purity of peanut butter's composition-- it's so easy to make. It's easy to digest. It's easy to chew because you don't really have to chew it. And that's one of the big things that makes peanut butter so useful. So it's got--
[BELL DINGS]
A little birdie once landed on my head while I was eating a peanut butter sandwich, and I shared it with the birdie. And now, we're best friends. And--
MOLLY BLOOM: [LAUGHS]
--we love having peanut butter together. It's my personal favorite flavor for ice cream. It's way up there on the personal favorite cookie flavor chart-- Top five, at least. Top three.
You can use it to make it look like a dog or a horse is talking. A little dab of peanut butter up on the inside of that mouth. Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. And then, you dub over it, and then you're the smash hit on your hands.
Plus, peanut butter has a really cool history. So the earliest version was made by the Inca around 1,000 years ago, and--
[BELL DINGS]
Is it your birthday? Because I'm about to drop so many gifts of knowledge about peanut butter.
MOLLY BLOOM: It's not but--
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Oh. It's an early present.
And so peanuts are originally from the area of the Andes in South America, where the Inca empire thrived, fueled obviously by how amazing peanut butter is. And peanut butter helps people. In 1896, former enslaved man George Washington Carver patented a version of peanut butter to--
[BELL DINGS]
Jeepers creepers. Boy, did he help people because he wanted to use peanut agriculture to help Black farmers prosper post slavery. And it's also versatile in the kitchen. Talk about-- I mean, jelly. Sure you could put it on a dessert, but peanut butter can be savory and sweet. Peanut butter and pickle or a peanut butter and iceberg lettuce. Both extremely delicious--
ANNA WEGGEL: Ugh
ANNA GOLDFIELD: --and underrated sandwiches
[LAUGHING]
ANNA GOLDFIELD: Don't knock it till you try it. They are incredible.
[BELL DINGS]
Old MacDonald had a farm. And on that farm, he grew peanuts, which was a really great decision because anywhere in the world he would be welcome as a holder of peanuts as a beautiful crop. Used all over the place in South Asian cuisine, West African cuisine. You get this big nutty toasty flavor without a lot of sugar. Better for your teeth. Better for your body.
And you have nothing but choice. You can choose texture, saltiness, whether it's sweet peanut butter or not. And there are multiple household uses for peanut butter it can get--
[BELL DINGS]
Great Scott are there so many uses for peanut butter. I just had to exclaim about it once again before starting to list the things. You can remove gum from your hair with peanut butter. You can get odors out of pots and pans. You can get your dog to take their pills. If you use smooth and not chunky, you can use it as shaving cream.
And I think really the versatility of peanut butter both as a substance and as a delicious treat and as something that has helped many, many, many people, I think that is why it is the superior spreadable.
MOLLY BLOOM: And that's the debate. I am all out of random lines.
ANNA WEGGEL: Does that mean we get the sandwiches?
ANNA GOLDFIELD: A deal's a deal.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah, but you're going to have to help me break into Sanden's office to get them.
ANNA GOLDFIELD: We're stealing his sandwiches.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, no. He said we could have them. I just like to make it interesting.
[THEME MUSIC]
ANNA GOLDFIELD: That's it for this Smarty Pass episode. It was made by Aron Woldeselassie and Anna Goldfield. Our executive producer is Beth Perlman. And the executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati, Joanne Griffith, and Alex Schaffert.
Brains On! is a non-profit public radio program. Thanks, Smarty Pass friends. We appreciate you. Goodbye.
ANNA WEGGEL: Jelly.
(SINGING) Oh. Better than the rest. It's the Smash Boom, Best. It's the Smash, Boom, Best.
ANNA WEGGEL: Ow. My knee.
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