š We're hiring!
Answer in Progress is growing and it's kind of bananas!
š¤ Rapid Round Up
šØ Answer in Progress is hiring a production and operations coordinator. You can learn more about the listing below!
š§ Taha talks about learning for the love of it in an interview with for the official YouTube Blog.
šµ Sabrina tried to play some music and accidentally discovered the absolutely unexpectedly weird history of the recorder in this video.
āØ We have new bonus content including an extended interview with Alison Melville and some wallpapers from the recorder video. You can access them on our website using this monthās password! Itās in this monthās welcome email when you subscribe to this newsletter :)
š¢ Announcement
Weāre Hiring!
Weāre looking for a Production and Operations Coordinator who can keep the team on track and reduce the amount of time it takes us to make stuff!
The past 4 years, weāve been figuring out how to make ālearning thingsā a full time job but we actually achieved it (wahoo š). Now weāre expanding the team and looking for someone to help us with the complexities of this weird job!!
Weāre starting off small with a part-time position but weād love to find someone we can grow with.
If youāre excited about celebrating the adventure of curiosity and like problem solving and organization - youāre just the type of person weāre looking for!
Weāre working with our team at Ziggurat XYZ to find the right person for this role so youāll be directed to a new page.
š Patreon Unlocked
Sabrinaās 24 Hour Travel Day
When you support us on Patreon, you gain full access to a bi-weekly podcast that is a mix of what weāre working on, what weāre thinking about working on, and occasionally something totally random.
This is one of those episodes detailing a very unfortunate travel day Sabrina had recently.
š§ Mixtape
Fairy Folk
This playlist started off by Taha looking for viral songs that he actually liked. It ended up being a folk-adjacent playlist filled with yearning. Oh, and āSprinterā by Dave and Central Ceeā¦ but we cut that.
š¬ Extended Interview
A Chat with Alison Melville
In Sabrinaās recent video, she got to chat with Alison Melville, a professional recorder musician. While the full interview needed to be trimmed down for the main video, we have a longer cut for yāall Melville-heads. This includes an extended interview, a look at all her recorders, her playing Ode to Joy on a wooden recorder, and more!
š Fact Check by Sabrina Cruz
What Flavour is Banana Flavour?
You may have heard that artificial banana flavour is based on the now-extinct Gros Michel banana variant and thatās why it doesnāt taste like the usual Cavendish banana variant that dominates grocery stores.
Unfortunately, there are 4 problems with this rumour:
Artificial banana flavour is primarily isoamyl acetate, a volatile that basically everyone agrees gives all bananas their banana-y flavour.
The Gros Michel was sweeter and simpler than the Cavendish, which meant it was coincidentally similar to artificial banana flavour.
The Gros Michel isnāt extinct, it just canāt be mass produced to the commercial scale we see in grocery stores because of its vulnerability to Panama disease.
We actually have way more banana variety than you probably think. While the Cavendish is popular is a lot of northern nations, South America and Asia actually have a wide away of bananas to choose from!
So, artificial banana flavour happens to taste similar to the Gros Michel which is not extinct and is just one of the many banana varieties that exist around the world!
Heard a rumour your want us to fact check? Submit one with the Google Form below and we might answer it in the next newsletter!
To learn more about flavours and food, check out Flavour Added a blog by Dr. Nadia Berenstein
š¦ Creator Spotlight
Team Recorder & Suzy
If you havenāt gotten you recorder fix after Sabrinaās recent video, you should check out Sarah Jeffrey who makes everything from recorder tutorials to whimsical chaos like this video below.
If that still isnāt enough, check out Suzy playing Rush E on the recorder. This is their only video on the internet and they really made it count.
āļø Up Next
š§ Taha takes a closer listen to the world of sound and foley arts.
š„¦ Melissa bites into the history of food guides to find out why theyāre weird.
š Sabrina tries to run a 5k in 30 minutesā¦ at any cost.
š Thank You
Thank you for subscribing and following our chaotic little journey - see ya next month!
from ur neighbourhood nerds,
Sabrina, Melissa, and Taha<3