Decoder Ring

How Protein Muscled Its Way to the Top

Americans are currently besotted with protein. It’s touted as being good for muscle growth, weight loss, skincare, mental acuity, longevity, and much else besides. It’s sold to men, women, children, the elderly— you can even buy protein for your pets. The protein supplement market alone is worth $21 billion and growing—and extra protein is being added to coffee, cereal, pasta, beer, ice cream, and popcorn [https://khloudfoods.com/collections/popcorn?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22471967737&gbraid=0AAAAA_bFvACNpVJJitwIWX24a1ezOKVRk&gclid=Cj0KCQiArOvIBhDLARIsAPwJXOb2TWK4ZcuUW5ZhmgdLxC2AKjL7a4kenLu1mzP66PAXoAX80tQEubkaAjjVEALw_wcB]. But as frenzied as we currently are about protein, this is not the first protein boom—or even the second. Protein has been promoted as a charismatic, cure-all nutrient for nearly two centuries. In this episode, with the help of Samantha King and Gavin Weedon, the authors of Protein: The Making of a Nutritional Superstar [https://www.dukeupress.edu/protein], we look closely at all our protein crazes and their associated protein products—from beef tea to whey powder—and see what they can tell us about our current protein mania.  This episode was produced by Max Freedman. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin, Katie Shepherd, and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. We had editing support from Josh Levin and fact-checking by Sophie Summergrad. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com [DecoderRing@slate.com]  or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/decoder-ring/id1376577202] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3vYNA0Ki5sUHnYC9QwQnKl]. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Decoder_Ring&utm_source=episode_summary] for access wherever you listen. Sources for This Episode King, Samantha and Gavin Weedon. Protein: The Making of a Nutritional Superstar [https://www.dukeupress.edu/protein], Duke University Press, 2026. Baker, Ryan. “Protein has become America's latest obsession. Companies like General Mills and PepsiCo are capitalizing on it [https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/07/22/protein-craze-general-mills-pepsico-kraft-heinz.html],” CNBC, July 22, 2025. Brock, William H. Justus von Liebig: The Chemical Gatekeeper, Cambridge University Press, 1997. Callahan, Alice. “The More Protein, the Better? [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/well/eat/protein-fact-check.html]” New York Times, April 9, 2025. Draper, Kevin. “America’s Protein Obsession Is Transforming the Dairy Industry [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/business/whey-protein-dairy-industry.html],” New York Times, July 16, 2025. Gayomali, Chris. “Big Food Gets Jacked: How protein mania took over the American grocery store [https://www.grubstreet.com/article/high-protein-diet-food-grocery-stores.html],” New York Magazine, Feb. 12, 2025. “The Great Protein Fiasco [https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/the-great-protein-fiasco/id1535408667?i=1000533846093],” Maintenance Phase, Aug. 31, 2021. Liebig, Justus von. Researches on the Chemistry of Food, Taylor and Walton, 1847. McLaren, Donald S. “The Great Protein Fiasco,” The Lancet, 1974. Oncken, John. “Stingy, 'half-way' dairy farmer's curiosity changed the world [https://www.wisfarmer.com/story/opinion/columnists/2022/04/27/stingy-half-way-dairy-farmers-curiosity-changed-world/7386432001/],” Wisconsin State Farmer, April 27, 2022. “Subject of Whey Disposal Discussed in UW Bulletin.” Wausau Daily Herald, Aug. 28, 1965. Torrella, Kenny. “You’re probably eating way too much protein [https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24049505/protein-intake-fiber-plant-based-vegetarian-vegan-meat],” Vox, Jan. 30, 2024. Wilson, Bee. “Protein mania: the rich world’s new diet obsession [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/04/protein-mania-the-rich-worlds-new-diet-obsession],” The Guardian, Jan. 4, 2019. Wu, Katherine J. “Should We All Be Eating Like The Rock? [https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/08/how-much-protein-diet/675156/]” The Atlantic, Aug. 28, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Slate Culture Gift Guide

Hark, the holiday season is upon us—and with it the most solemn of festive traditions: a gift guide! In this video and podcast special, Slate hosts Dana Stevens, Chris Molanphy, and Willa Paskin beam-in from their collective hearths to deliver unto the internet their favorite gifts for culture lovers this holiday. In addition to sharing gifts, they also discuss the cultural artifact that is the “holiday gift guide,” and its history going back to the early 20th century, up to the modern day. See the entirety of the 1910 gift guide Our Special Holiday Gift-Book [https://wearinghistoryblog.com/2015/12/my-christmas-gift-to-you-1910s-holiday-wish-book-catalog/] from Greenhut-Siegel Cooper, and Esquire’s ultra-mod gift guide from 1961. [https://www.peculiarmanicule.com/esquire-gift-guide] Check out our gift recommendations below: Dana Stevens’ Cozy Movie Night-In:  * The Salbree Collapsible Silicone Microwave Popcorn Popper [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CMT8DFU/?tag=slatmaga-20] & Amish Country Popcorn [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001J3ZUQ6/?tag=slatmaga-20] * L'agraty Chunky Knit Blanket Throw [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3XRF6ZN/?tag=slatmaga-20] * The Adventures of Antoine Doinel, The Criterion Collection Box Set [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F4YDQPXQ/?tag=slatmaga-20] Chris Molanphy’s Hit Parade Collection:  * The Beatles’ Revolver CD Box Set [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BB3F4J1J/?tag=slatmaga-20] * Mad Men Blu-Ray Box Set  [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013BPR7OC/?tag=slatmaga-20] * Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year, by Michaelangelo Matos [http://www.amazon.com/dp//?tag=slatmaga-20] Willa Paskin’s Fruit-Themed Trompe-l'œil Housewares: * Cantaloupe-shaped bowls in the style of Bordallo Pinheiro [https://www.etsy.com/listing/57290874/tall-cantaloupe-bowl] * 4-Pack Orange-Shaped Candle Stocking Stuffer [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FHWMVMDV/?tag=slatmaga-20] * Cherry-Shaped Toilet Brush [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJNY3B2L/?tag=slatmaga-20] The Slate Culture Gift Guide is produced for Slate Studios by Benjamin Frisch and Micah Phillips, with Meryl Bezrutczyk and Andrew Harding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Cozy Autumn Mysteries

Autumn may have more cozy signifiers than any other season—though we all have our own favorites. Maybe for you it’s sweater weather, football games, spooky season, apple picking, leaf peeping, or mainlining candy corn. Whatever it is, in today’s episode we’re looking closely at three of these autumnal staples. First, we get to the bottom of a recurring complaint about the taste of the pumpkin spice latte. Then we gaze deep inside the enigma hiding inside colorful fall leaves. Finally we ask some hard-hitting questions about the seasonal availability of an elusive cookie. Snuggle up and enjoy! In this episode, you’ll hear from author and podcaster [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333] Don Martin [https://bydonmartin.com/] who has a new audiobook out about loneliness called Where Did Everybody Go? [https://bydonmartin.com/where-did-everybody-go%3F]. We also speak with Simcha Lev-Yadun [https://biology-and-environment.haifa.ac.il/?page_id=2867&lang=en], professor of botany and archeology; Susanne Renner [https://biology.wustl.edu/people/susanne-s-renner], botanist and honorary professor of biology at Washington University in St. Louis; and Prospect Park Alliance [https://www.prospectpark.org/tlc-for-trees-in-brooklyns-backyard/] arborist Malcolm Gore. And you’ll also hear from Lauren Tarr [https://midlifemoxieandmuscle.com/mallomar-obsessed/], who runs the blog Midlife Moxie and Muscle [https://midlifemoxieandmuscle.com/], and her mother Grace Dewey, along with Caroline Suppiger, brand manager at Mondelēz [https://www.mondelezinternational.com/]. We’d also like to thank Brian Gallagher, Tom Arnold, Sylvie Russo and Laura Robinson. This episode was produced by Katie Shepherd. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin, Max Freedman, and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com [DecoderRing@slate.com]  or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/decoder-ring/id1376577202] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3vYNA0Ki5sUHnYC9QwQnKl]. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Decoder_Ring&utm_source=episode_summary] for access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Red String Board Conspiracy

There’s a ubiquitous prop in just about every police procedural and conspiracy thriller: a cork board pinned with documents, newspaper clippings, and Polaroid photos, all connected by a web of red string. They go by many names, including pin boards, string boards, evidence boards, investigation walls, conspiracy walls, and walls of crazy. These boards can be vehicles of insight or manifestations of madness—and in many cases, both. But where did they come from? And can they really solve a crime? In this episode, we try to unwind the red string board all the way to its center. To aide in our investigation, we enlist the help of Aki Peritz, a former CIA analyst and the author of Disruption: Inside the Largest Counterterrorism Investigation in History [https://www.amazon.com/Disruption-Largest-Counterterrorism-Investigation-History/dp/1640123806]. You’ll also hear from Shawn Gilmore, editor of The Vault of Culture [https://www.vaultofculture.com/] and creator of the Narrative String Theory [https://www.vaultofculture.com/nst] project; and Dr. Anne Ganzert, author of Serial Pinboarding in Contemporary Television [https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-35272-1]. And we learn about the intricacies of building a string board from production designers Michael Scott Cobb [https://www.scottcobbdesign.com/] (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and John D. Kretschmer [https://www.johndkretschmer.com/] (Homeland). This episode was written and produced by Evan Chung, Decoder Ring’s supervising producer. It was edited by Willa Paskin. Decoder Ring is also produced by Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com [DecoderRing@slate.com] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281. Sources for This Episode Benson, Richard. “Decoding the Detective's 'Crazy Wall',” Esquire, Jan. 22, 2015. Coley, Rob. “The case of the speculative detective: Aesthetic truths and the television ‘crime board’ [https://necsus-ejms.org/the-case-of-the-speculative-detective-aesthetic-truths-and-the-television-crime-board/],” NECSUS, May 28, 2017. Ganzert, Anne. Serial Pinboarding in Contemporary Television [https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-35272-1], Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. Gilmore, Shawn. “Narrative String Theory [https://www.vaultofculture.com/nst],” The Vault of Culture. McGarry, Andrew. “Did Orwell's nightmare Nineteen Eighty-Four inspire the Snowtown murders? [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-21/were-the-snowtown-killings-inspired-by-george-orwell/11087930]” Australian Broadcasting Corporation News, May 21, 2019. Peritz, Aki. Disruption: Inside the Largest Counterterrorism Investigation in History [https://www.amazon.com/Disruption-Largest-Counterterrorism-Investigation-History/dp/1640123806], Potomac Books, 2021. Peritz, Aki. “The FBI Is Going Crazy-Stringboard Crazy [https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/02/fbi-crazy-stringboard-recruiting-campaign.html],” Slate, Feb. 1, 2022. Stiehm, Jamie. “My So-Called Bipolar Life [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/opinion/my-so-called-bipolar-life.html],” New York Times, Jan. 17, 2012. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/decoder-ring/id1376577202] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3vYNA0Ki5sUHnYC9QwQnKl]. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Decoder_Ring&utm_source=episode_summary] for access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

What the Cuck?!

Earlier this year, a tweet went out from the official account of the Democratic Party, tagging the Trump advisor Stephen Miller. It was an image of what appeared to be a simple hotel room chair. But for those in the know, it was much more than that: It was a “cuck chair,” an online meme straight out of a popular genre of hardcore pornography in which a man watches his partner have sex with another man. How did we get to a place where the Democrats could flame a political opponent with an image out of cucking porn and have millions of people immediately understand it? In this episode we trace the complicated and intricate history of the cuck. It’s a history that includes everything from Jacobean dramas to World War II pilots to, yes, pornography, as well as a host of deeply American prejudices that have become a lot less submerged over the last 10 years. And we also situate the cuck within a larger context, one in which porn is the elephant in the room of American culture. It’s a potent force, shaping and reflecting our very wants and desires and it is constantly seeping into mainstream culture—and yet we don’t analyze, critique, or even talk about it very much because, well, it’s porn. In this NSFW episode, you’ll hear from: Slate staff writer Luke Winkie [https://slate.com/author/luke-winkie] who wrote about the tweet that kicked this episode off [https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/06/democrats-cuck-chair-joke-x-stephen-miller.html]; Samantha Cole [https://www.404media.co/author/samantha-cole/], one of co-founders of 404 Media [https://www.404media.co/] and the author of How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex [https://www.amazon.com/How-Sex-Changed-Internet-Unexpected-ebook/dp/B09TGQFXZM];  Jennifer Panek [https://wwnorton.co.uk/authors/544/Jennifer%20Panek], professor of English at the University of Ottawa; sex therapist and clinical psychologist Dr. David S. Ley [https://www.davidleyphd.com/]; Dr. Justin Lehmiller [https://www.sexandpsychology.com/], social psychologist, senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute, and podcast host [https://www.sexandpsychology.com/podcasts/]; Mireille Miller-Young [https://femst.ucsb.edu/people/mireille-miller-young], associate professor of feminist studies at UC Santa Barbara and the author of A Taste for Brown Sugar: Black Women in Pornography [https://dukeupress.edu/a-taste-for-brown-sugar], and New York Magazine tech columnist John Herrman [https://nymag.com/author/john-herrman/].  This episode was written by Willa Paskin. It was edited by Josh Levin and produced by Katie Shepherd, Willa Paskin, Max Freedman, and Evan Chung, Decoder Ring’s supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director, and we had help from Sophie Summergrad. We’d also like to thank Gabriel Roth, Talia Lavin, Tatum Hunter, Rebecca Fasman, Jessica Stoya, Aiden Starr, Perrin Swanmoore, Sophie Gilbert, and Kevin Heffernan, who was a fount of knowledge.  If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com [DecoderRing@slate.com] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/decoder-ring/id1376577202] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3vYNA0Ki5sUHnYC9QwQnKl]. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Decoder_Ring&utm_source=episode_summary] for access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]