C is for carrots? That time As It Happens interviewed the Cookie Monster about his new diet
'Me monster. Me eat anything,' Cookie Monster told former As It Happens host Barbara Frum in 1976
This article was published on July 3, 2020.
After rooting through our well-stocked pantry at As It Happens, we've emerged with a fresh batch of episodes for our summer series As It Happened: The Archive Edition.
The first episode is Food, Glorious Food — a buffet of stories from the past that prove there's no such thing as a best before date.
Whether you've got a hankering for a King Kong-sized mound of chopped liver or a slice of belly button cheese, you're sure to hear something that will whet your appetite.
Here's a taste of some of what you'll find in this episode.
"Me love carrots!"
Like any good archive, the As It Happens library of interviews is searchable by every food group. So why not start with everyone's favourite — dessert.
In 1976, former As It Happens hosts Barbara Frum and Alan Maitland spoke with Sesame Street's Cookie Monster after the news broke — or crumbled — that he might be going on a diet.
Recipe for success
No one can question Muhammad Ali's appetite for success. But As It Happens discovered the boxer's insatiable hunger for greatness also extended to sweets and treats.
In 1978, ahead of a rematch with Leon Spinks, Frum spoke with "The Greatest" about his junk food habit and how he planned to get his weight down before the fight.
À la carte catalogue
You might find a few forgotten and coffee-stained takeout menus kicking around the As It Happens office. But if cold pizza and stale doughnuts don't tickle your tastebuds, you're sure to find something in the University of Toronto's collection of 10,000 Chinese restaurant menus.
In 2016, guest host Helen Mann spoke with history professor Daniel Bender after the university acquired the collection.
You can hear these stories — and a smorgasbord of others — on the Food, Glorious Food episode of As it Happened: The Archive Edition.
