It Burns cover art

It Burns

By: Marc Fennell
Narrated by: Marc Fennell
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  • Summary

  • Winner of the Best Audio Program at the 2019 James Beard Awards

    Silver winner of the Best Documentary Podcast Trophy at the 2020 New York Festivals Radio Awards

    Nominated for the 2019 Rose D'Or award for Audio Entertainment

    Please note: contains mature themes and graphic imagery.

    Written and hosted by Marc Fennell, It Burns is the story of a 10-year scandal-plagued international competition that will take listeners from the Australian Coast to South Carolina (via an Indian Research Facility).

    It's a war filled with larger than life characters. There will be sledging, accusations of cheating, theft and performance enhancing drugs. And allegations that Australia was cheated out of a Guinness World Record. In the process of charting the scandal-plagued race to breed the world's hottest chilli, the audio documentary lifts the lid on the subculture of "˜Chilli-heads', hardcore chilli fans spread across the globe who compete in chilli eating and breeding competitions.

    The internet is filled with videos of grown men being reduced to tears by a square millimetre of chilli. The docu-series asks: what motivates someone to breed and eat a demonic nugget that is so hot it no longer has flavour? At what point does this stop being cuisine and start being an endurance sport?

    This humorous series shows that all this has never really been about chilli. It's been about how people use pain to shape themselves, define themselves and make themselves feel alive.

    This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members.

    ©2019 Audible Australia Pty Ltd. (P)2019 Audible Australia Pty Ltd.
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Episodes
  • Ep. 1: Some Like it Hot

    Ep. 1: Some Like it Hot
    May 9 2019

    Marc Fennell’s quest to find the world’s hottest chilli begins in the middle of a tropical storm in Arizona while grown men and women weep before him. Which seems normal, right? In this episode Marc finds himself drawn into an international dispute and has a euphoric chilli-fuelled epiphany on a New South Wales freeway.
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    33 mins
  • Ep. 2: Sgt. Pepper

    Ep. 2: Sgt. Pepper
    May 9 2019

    In this chapter Marc travels to the Mexico border to meet the man who accidentally kick started a race to breed super-hot peppers. But does the Carolina Reaper - the world’s current record holder - really deserve it’s title? Has someone cheated?
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    30 mins
  • Ep. 3: Bad Seeds

    Ep. 3: Bad Seeds
    May 9 2019

    No other mammal on Earth is dumb enough to eat chillies - except humans. The internet is filled with astonishing videos of grown men being reduced to tears by a square millimetre of a chilli. It’s a global gastro-masochist obsession. In this chapter one of the world’s leading chillheads exposes a life turned inside out by tragedy.
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    32 mins
Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions Gastronomy Cooking
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What listeners say about It Burns

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Profile Image for Daniel Ilic

Marc Fennel is Australia's Jon Ronson

It burns is a masterpiece. I assume that Marc has extremely good core strength. The timbre of his voice is very appealing It makes several parts of my body excrete fluid.

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

A great insight into the crazy world of chillies

Loved the story, but also Marc was entertaining and great interviewer, if you are interested in the chilli world, a great listen

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Profile Image for Katey Press

hot Hot hot

Amazing how Marc makes such an interesting story from unlikely topics! Fantastic listen, thoroughly enjoyed

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Profile Image for Russell Copeland

Fennel's one of Australia's greatest assets!

Absolute masterpiece. Nobody interviews as well as Marc Fennell. This is another example of his genius overlaid by encapsulated story telling. Thank you sir!

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Profile Image for Gege

Hot stuff, of course it is

Great podcast. I enjoyed the whole thing. Who would have thought that chillies could create such a heated debate.

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Profile Image for J. Bowey

Hilarious fun story

I enjoyed every minute! I hate chilli but the story was so compelling, and I loved it. The things people do!

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Profile Image for Kindle Customer

Not what I was expecting!

I thought I knew what to expect from a podcast about chilli eating, but I truly had no idea how deep the rabbit hole could go! Great balance of unexpected facts, complex (and sometimes whacky) characters and Marc's personal story.

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Profile Image for Michael

Interesting and fun insight

Fantastic sorry telling, easy to binge. Goes places you don’t expect and gives broad insight into the topic. Loved it.

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

beautiful personal a crazy story

taking you for great personal story and journey through pain passion addition and more and it's still about the chilli 😂

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Mad bastards

An enthralling storyteller surrounded by fanatical extremists bent on global domination. Partake before the movie comes out.

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