Banter Bites

The Power Of Pumpkin Spice

The funny thing about pumpkin spice "everything" is that pumpkin isn't even an ingredient!

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Fall has always been Red's favorite season. Growing up in New York, it meant chilly mornings, the start of earlier evenings, the brilliance of fall foliage, and mounds of leaves (first you rake, then you jump in). And the first hot chocolates of the season. But nowadays, it seems that pumpkin spice latte is the fall beverage, and "all things pumpkin spice" (not just food products) have become synonymous with fall.

Black, on the other hand, wonders if fall is still a season or has it been turned into a marketing campaign? And how does "pumpkin spice" (a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice – but no pumpkin) become a $500 million annual business? Starbucks and the fascinating history of its pumpkin spice lattes, aka PSL(that almost didn't happen), have led to a wide assortment of pumpkin spice products that sell us the smells and tastes and memories of fall. Pumpkin spice air freshener, anyone?

This is one of Red’s favorite Banter Bites in large part because of Black’s “corny” puns, but also because fresh corn is a summer staple – whether cooked on the grill or in the microwave, whether eaten on its own or as a primary ingredient in refreshing summer salads


This may be one of the corniest things you’ll ever read.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: It’s just a vegetable, so how can it possibly elicit such a strong reaction from Red, while, for Black, it’s more a source of amusement and even, it turns out, admiration?

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Think you can avoid artificial intelligence? Think again …

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Red already fights technology at every turn, preferring to keep her ostrich head in the sand, plus, she finds Artificial Intelligence (AI) scary; whereas Black knows ignoring reality merely postpones the inevitable, so she’s started playing with AI to understand it better …

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A man better known for his death than his life, although Red, the straight-A student and history lover, immediately thinks of the costly and controversial movie of his life. (Well, technically, it was the life of Cleopatra.) Black, of course, focuses on business – leadership lessons, including the power of words, although she surprises Red with some food trivia. But the fact July’s named after him is the perfect excuse to rerun one of Red’s favorite Banter Bites …

Quick! If someone says "Julius Caesar," what comes to mind?

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Almost everyone has heard of Julius Caesar, but how many of us really know much about him, or at least that's what Red starts to wonder when she receives the usual flippant, but still accurate, reply from her sister, after feeling very proud that she knew that July was named after the famous Roman.

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