Binchtopia

Is our food getting shittier, literally? Join Julia and Nick as they conduct an investigation into the complicated and deeply gross history of food safety. From murderous milk and The Jungle to RFK Jr. and diarrhea lettuce, they unpack the creation of our modern food system, America's addiction to ignoring science, and how one contaminated farm can suddenly become everybody's problem. Digressions include Johnny Crunkleseed, the FDA's young hoe era, and Insect Fragments George.
This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette. 
To support the podcast on Patreon and access 50+ bonus episodes, mediasodes, and more, visit patreon.com/binchtopia and become a patron today.
SOURCES
A Brief History of Milk Hygiene and Its Impact on Infant Mortality from 1875 to 1925 and Implications for Today: A Review
A Historical Look at Food Safety 
A microbiological comparison of poultry products obtained from farmers' markets and supermarkets in Pennsylvania
A Treatise on Adulteration of Food and Culinary Poisons (1820)
AFDO Exec speaks about expanded food safety roles for state and local governments  
Analysis Shows FDA Foreign Facility Inspections Hit Historic Low After Trump Admin Cuts
Bad Bug Book: Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganisms and Natural Toxins (2nd ed.)
Bill to lift ban on transporting raw milk is back
Both Handwashing and an Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizer Intervention Reduce Soil and Microbial Contamination on Farmworker Hands during Harvest, but Produce Type Matters
Bugging Out: Chocolate Allergy Linked to Roaches
CDC cuts back foodborne illness surveillance program
CDPH Warns Consumers Not to Eat Jarred Erewhon Soups due to Botulism Risk
Colonization resistance: the role of gut microbiota in preventing Salmonella invasion and infection
Congress Urged to Prevent FDA Traceability Rule Delay, Which Could Have Helped Cyclospora Outbreak Investigation
Contamination of fresh produce by microbial indicators on farms and in packing facilities: Elucidation of environmental routes
Contributing Factors of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks — National Outbreak Reporting System, United States, 2014–2022
Cyclospora Case Data
Cyclospora Outbreak Linked to Iceberg Lettuce 
Danger Zone (40°F – 140°F)
Detecting Outbreaks with Whole Genome Sequencing
Disgust as an adaptive system for disease avoidance behaviour - PMC
Dozens of varieties of deli style salads recalled because of Listeria 
Dr. Heidi Overton appears before Senate committee for confirmation hearing as next FDA commissioner
E. coli and Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Alfalfa Sprouts | E. coli infection | CDC
Environmental Assessment of Factors Potentially Contributing to the Contamination of Romaine Lettuce Implicated in a Multi-State Outbreak of E. coli O157:H7
Erewhon cafe in Santa Monica reopens after public report finds 'vermin infestation'
Everything Sprouts, LLC Recalls Alfalfa Sprouts Due to Potential E. Coli and Salmonella Risk | FDA
Exemptions Relevant to Produce Farms under the Produce Safety Rule and Food Traceability Rule
Fact Sheet #12: Agricultural Employers Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
FDA and USDA staff cuts under Trump raise food safety risks
FDA begins inspection of Taylor Farms lettuce operation in Mexico
FDA chasing after voluntary recalls, but doesn't often take mandatory route
FDA closes probe into lettuce-linked cyclosporiasis outbreak, detects Cyclospora in Mexico
FDA food inspector vacancies near 20% after Trump hiring freeze
FDA found cyclospora at Taylor Farms Mexico site and where lettuce was grown
FDA nominee says vaccines are safe despite Trump efforts to overhaul childhood shots
FDA will reduce food and drug inspections due to federal layoffs
Federal food safety oversight still lacks cohesive plan: GAO
Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) 2021–2022: A Demographic and Employment Profile of United States Crop Workers
Food Defect Levels Handbook
Food for Thought 2026
FOOD SAFETY AND FARMER'S MARKETS 
Food safety becomes an election issue as major outbreaks and recalls cause concern
Food safety in the 21st century
Food Safety Was Slipping in the U.S. Then Came Mass Layoffs
Food Safety: FDA Should Strengthen Inspection Efforts to Protect the U.S. Food Supply (GAO-25-107571)
Food Safety: Status of Foodborne Illness in the U.S. (GAO-25-107606)
Foodborne Diseases: Overview of Biological Hazards and Foodborne Diseases
FoodNet Timeline
From guacamole to jalapeños, here's how 2026 food illness outbreaks compare to other years
FSMA Final Rule on Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods
Fundamental Food Microbiology
GAO to FDA: Inspect more domestic, foreign food facilities to ensure safe food supply
General Overview of the Causative Agents of Foodborne Illness
Heat Stress Is Killing Workers. States Can Protect Them.
Hey, Salad Lovers: It's OK To Eat Romaine Lettuce Again
Hillshire recalls 58 million pounds of corndogs, sausages because of pieces of wood
Historical Perspective on the Use of Food Safety Criteria and Performance Standards
History, development, and current status of food safety systems worldwide
How Deadly Burgers Made Food Safer – The Impact of the 1993 E. coli O157 Outbreak
How Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle' Led to US Food Safety Reforms
Intestinal Bug Likely Killed Alexander The Great
Introduction to Food Safety and Microbiology
Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
Investigation of Multistate Outbreak of Cyclospora Illnesses: Iceberg Lettuce (July 2026) 
Is Farmers' Market Produce Safer During the Cyclospora Outbreak? 
Key Historical Milestones for Food Safety From Fire to Fridge 
Leaf Lettuce
Lettuce Help: USDA data on shipments of romaine lettuce can inform foodborne illness outbreak investigations and public health advisories
Legislators seek one agency for food safety
Lettuce Production and Trade
Low Food-Safety Risk at Northern California Farmers Markets
Maximum Line Speed Rates for Young Chicken and Turkey Establishments Operating Under the New Poultry Inspection System (proposed rule)
Meat and Poultry Recalls for Bacteria Hit Historic Low in 2025
Organic food no guarantee against foodborne illness
Our love for chicken fingers is harming poultry workers
Outbreak Investigation of Salmonella: Peanut Butter (May 2022)
Outbreak Investigation of Salmonella: Sprouts (September 2026)
Paneth cells, antimicrobial peptides and maintenance of intestinal homeostasis
Part 1: History of Food Safety in the U.S.
People at Risk of Food Poisoning
Produce Workers
Recall Litigation and Regulatory Trends: Worrisome Changes Bring Similar Results—For Now
Regulatory solutions and food systems thinking to counter food fraud in supply chains 
Sources and risk factors for contamination, survival, persistence, and heat resistance of Salmonella in low-moisture foods
STEC Outbreaks in Romaine Lettuce Peak in April and October, 1998 to 2018
Study Finds Many Farmers' Market Vendors Don't Follow Food Safety Practices
Study: Sanitary Conditions On U.S. Farms Improving, May Curb Foodborne Illness
Taste, Sickness, and Learning 
Taylor Farms Outbreaks Show Limits of US Ability to Safeguard Mexican Produce
The 19th-Century Swill Milk Scandal That Poisoned Infants With Whiskey Runoff
The Botulism Outbreak That Gave Rise to America's Food Safety System
The CDC quietly scaled back a surveillance program for foodborne illnesses
The dual role of microbes in food safety and human health: from pathogens to probiotics
The Echoes of Slavery: Recognizing the Racist Origins of the Agricultural and Domestic Worker Exclusion from the National Labor Relations Act
The Evolution of Stomach Acidity and Its Relevance to the Human Microbiome
The Historical Exploitation of Agricultural and Food Workers Needs to Stop
The Jungle
The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
The Science of Foodborne Illnesses and Outbreaks
The workers behind our food and the exploitation they face
US food, drink recalls "hit nine-year high"
US law to investigate foodborne illness outbreaks has been delayed for 15 years 
US FDA suspends milk quality tests amid workforce cuts
Wal-Mart Becomes First Nationwide U.S. Grocer to Adopt Global Food Safety Initiative Standards
Watch Out! Funding Cuts, Food Safety Surveillance, and Federalism
What You Need to Know about Foodborne Illnesses

In the aftermath of the Lindsay Clancy trial, Julia and Eliza lock in for an investigation of the postpartum period, exploring the seismic changes that happen to your brain and body after giving birth. The girlies trace the shocking history of postpartum care, the highly misunderstood conditions of postpartum depression and psychosis, and the abysmal state of parental leave in America. Warning — this episode will leave you mad as hell!!! Digressions include welcoming new binchie babies into the world, being freed from the psychic torture of Tyra Banks, and having empathy for bad British food.
This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette. 
If you're looking for postpartum support, Postpartum Support International offers support groups, provider directories, helplines, and other resources at https://postpartum.net/.
Carriage House Birth offers postpartum support groups and other resources at https://carriagehousebirth.com/.
To support the podcast on Patreon and access 50+ bonus episodes, mediasodes, and more, visit patreon.com/binchtopia and become a patron today.
SOURCES
A scoping study of postpartum mental health problems and associated factors: opportunities for research and practice
Beyond "Baby Blues"
Biological Aspects of Postpartum Depression
Brooklyn Mother Sentenced to 20 Years to Life in Prison For Killing Her Three Children
Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2025
Fact Sheet: Maternal Mental Health
From Pregnancy to Postpartum: The Dynamic Reorganization of the Maternal Brain
Google Benefits
Inequities in CPS contact between Black and White children
Maternal Mental Health Conditions and Statistics: An Overview
Matrescence: Lifetime Impact of Motherhood on Cognition and the Brain
Mother Who Drowned 3 Children at Coney Island Is Sentenced to 20 Years Drownings at Coney Island Mark the End of a Mother's Descent
Neuroanatomical changes observed over the course of a human pregnancy
OECD Members and Partners
Paid Family Leave Across OECD Countries
Paid Leave: State Family and Medical Leave Laws
Perinatal Depression
Physiology, Postpartum Changes
Postpartum Baby Blues
Postpartum anxiety is invisible, but common and treatable
Postpartum Care: An Approach to the Fourth Trimester
Postpartum Psychosis and Bipolar Disorder: Review of Neurobiology and Expert Consensus Statement on Classification
Postpartum Psychosis: Madness, Mania, and Melancholia in Motherhood
Pregnant mothers with strong family support less likely to have postpartum depression, study finds
Prevalence and Course of Unwanted, Intrusive Thoughts of Infant-Related Harm
Protecting body and soul in medieval childbirth
Rachel Moran, 'Making Sense of Postpartum Politics': Blue: A History of Postpartum Depression in America
Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health: Current Status and Key Issues
The Baby Pinks: What to Know About Postpartum Euphoria
The Effect of Spousal Support on Postpartum Depression and Quality of Life
The hospital and the postpartum experience: a historical analysis
The Impact of Motherhood on Women's Career Progression: A Scoping Review of Evidence-Based Interventions
The Important Role of Partner Support in Women's Mental Disorders During the Perinatal Period. A Literature Review
The Intimate History of Confinement
The Landscape of Parental Leave-Taking in the United States
The phenomenology of postpartum psychosis: preliminary findings from the Massachusetts General Hospital Postpartum Psychosis Project
Understanding Infanticide in Context: Mothers Who Kill, 1870-1930 and Today
Waffle House Careers
What are Postpartum and Perinatal OCD?
What data does the BLS publish on family leave?
When can I go back to work after having a baby?
Who is Andrea Yates? A Short Story About Insanity
Women Should Rest for a Month After Childbirth—Myth or Fact?
Women With Postpartum Depression Experienced Brain Changes During Pregnancy, Study Finds

Binchtopia is on a little post-tour vacation this week, so we're releasing this healing episode from the vault This episode was originally released on March 25, 2026 as a Patreon exclusive. Become a patron today to support the show, keep us ad-free, and unlock our backlog of 50+ bonus episodes at patreon.com/binchtopia.

Julia is joined by Carina Hsieh, Deputy Features Editor at Women's Health and the writer widely credited with inventing the term "situationship," to revisit the term's origins and assess the current state of modern dating. They trace the history of dating from courtship and going steady to hookup culture and dating apps, unpack the anxious-avoidant trap, and examine whether dating advice reels, and other online rules actually protect women from heartbreak or just give them more ways to blame themselves. Digressions include the bygone thrill of being pinned, men who self-report as securely attached, and the horror of buying a cheater a PS5 with your own money.
Check out more of Carina's writing at Women's Health and follow her on Instagram @carinahsieh!
WE'RE GOING ON TOUR!!!! Find tickets for the Shake Up Your Life Tour at https://binchtopia.com/tour
This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette.

Julia is joined by bestina and hospital chaplain Sarah Doumar to confront the only thing we are unfortunately promised in this lifetime: death. Together the girlies deconstruct how dying transformed from an intimate, familiar occurence to a hidden and medicalized taboo, unpacking the predatory funeral industry, the West's treatment of elders, and society's obsession with immortality. Plus, Sarah shares what sitting with dying patients has taught her about grief, fear, and spirituality. Digressions include tyrannical choir teachers, a sacred dream about Heath Ledger, and smoking hookah at the retirement village.
WE'RE GOING ON TOUR!!!! Find tickets for the Shake Up Your Life Tour at https://binchtopia.com/tour
This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette. 
To support the podcast on Patreon and access 50+ bonus episodes, mediasodes, and more, visit patreon.com/binchtopia and become a patron today.
SOURCES
A Third of Young Adults Are Still Living With Their Parents—as Old Taboo 
Aging Out by Lucy Schiller
Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life
Becomes the New Normal Amid Soaring Costs 
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande 
Death Is Having a Moment 
Death anxiety. The worm at the core of mental health. 
Does The Internet Change How We Die And Mourn? Overview And Analysis 
Good Grief 
Growing Old in America by David Hackett Fischer
It's Mourning in America
It's Time to Let the Five Stages of Grief Die 
Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging 
Mid-Late Victorian Mourning Dress
Mortal Remains: Death in America by Nancy Isenberg
Mourning during the Civil War 
New study challenges notion that aging means decline, finds many older adults improve over time 
Place of Death Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic 
Poor Relief and the Almshouse 
Senior Living History: 1930 - 1939 
TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY 
The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford 
The Denial of Death and the Practice of Dying 
The Hour of Our Death by Philippe Ariès
The FTC Funeral Rule 
The other side of sadness: What the new science of bereavement tells us about life after loss. 
The Trouble with Nursing Homes 
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
U.S. centenarian population is projected to quadruple over the next 30 years 
Western Attitudes Toward Death From The Middle Ages To The Present by Philippe Ariès 
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi