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It Burns
The Scandal-Plagued Race to Breed the World’s Hottest Chilli
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Narrated by:
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Marc Fennell
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By:
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Marc Fennell
About this listen
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. You can download all 5 episodes to your Library now.
©2019 Audible Australia Pty Ltd. (P)2019 Audible Australia Pty Ltd.Critic Reviews
"Entertaining." (Guardian)
"A cheerful Aussie version of Louis Theroux, [Marc] roams around the globe and digs deeper and deeper into a subculture that, while merely a tad eccentric on the surface, conceals some much murkier goings-on." (Times T2)
"If Pumping Iron had been about scoffing scotch bonnets." (Esquire)
What listeners say about It Burns
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Russell Copeland
- 24-05-2020
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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- kwarburton
- 14-08-2023
A great listen. Interesting with just enough twists and turns
Great listen. Well read and a good storyline. Really enjoyed it. Good characters and scenery
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 04-07-2020
Amazing
A great insight into the chilli head world. Good storytelling. I liked the in-depth research into the mentality of chilli eating.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Craig Berry
- 02-12-2019
What a load of Crap
I’m a chilli lover but not to hear him Wally on about the heat. It all could be said in one paragraph
What a waste of $16
Craig Berry
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matt Noosa
- 15-04-2021
If you like it ‘hot’ this chilli story will satisfy your taste buds
Love all of Marc Fennell’s podcasts. Great story with many side stories intertwined. Marc delivers his podcasts in a very natural and entertaining way that gets you hooked from the very beginning.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mick
- 25-07-2019
Brilliant!
This was not what I expected and I am so glad I listened. Do yourself a favour and give it a go!
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sydney
- 08-10-2019
Hot diggity I loved this!
I’ll freely admit to having a girl crush on Marc for years. He is an amazing storyteller. It Burns is hands down one of my favourite podcasts ever.
Do I care about chillies? Not really
Am I now fascinated by chillies? Abso -bloody-lutely!
Marc inspires me to be a better storyteller no matter what the subject matter.
Congrats to Marc and the production team.
More please!
Shelly
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mitchell Arthur
- 18-08-2022
Another great LitRPG
After finishing Dungeon Crawler Carl I was really keen for more of the same and this doesn’t disappoint - same sort of world, but completely different approach! Would recommend to anyone who likes DCC or he who fights with monsters.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kirstyn
- 21-08-2019
So entertaining
I was so close to not downloading this omg I would have been missing out, have had this audible account for about 2-3 years now and this is definitely in top five listens of anything I have so far. Loved the narration and the content both, amusing light listening while still educational- highly recommend!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alexandra Colwell
- 19-10-2020
MF at his best
Marc is invariably entertaining, intelligent, thoughtful & thought provoking but here with the careful placement of narrative & insertion of the personal it’s off the scoville chart of hot awesomeness. Loved it!! 🤗
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