To painters and poets in late-1800s France, absinthe was "the green muse" or the "green fairy," an almost magical potion that promised vivid dreams, wild ideas, and artistic inspiration with every sip. By the 1910s, this once incredibly popular herbal liquor was banned—not only in France, but in countries around the world. Condemned as the cause of both individual ruin and social decline, absinthe consumption was blamed for seizures, memory gaps, hallucinations, and even murderous rage. So what's the deal: is absinthe just a drink, or is it actually deadly? This episode, we've got the story behind the myths, from witchy distillers to women on bicycles, and military rations to pre-ban bottles. Join us for the trip! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
I was to audition for satine and.
I would taste my first glass of absinthe.
I am the green fairy.
Picasso sipped it.
Oscar Wilde compared it to a sunset and Ernest Hemingway wrote in a letter, got tight last night on absinthe.
Did knife tricks.
Ooh, absinthe.
The most dangerous drink in the world.
Am I right?
Well, a lot of governments have certainly thought so because they tried to keep all of us from drinking it for nearly a century.
But they cant stop us or really anyone these days.
We of course, are gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history.
Im Nicola Twilley.
And Im Cynthia Graeber.
And first, really, what is this magical, mysterious drink?
Why was it ever banned?
And if it was dangerous enough to be banned, why did it become legal again?
Can it really make you hallucinate and murder people?
Or paint masterworks and write epic poetry?
And is the absinthe you can find in bars today the same spirit that Oscar Wilde was sipping more than a century ago?