His mother must love him: Pete Jordon found his calling some 12 years ago as a (drumroll)…dishwasher! He was, in fact, so enthusiastic about it that he set out to wash in all 50 states, chronicling his journey both in magazine articles and segments for NPR’s This American Life. He’s now consolidated his efforts into a book, Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in All 50 States, which takes the American infatuation with bad people in kitchens (don’t tell me you haven’t watched Hell’s Kitchen!) to a whole new place, which Jordon describes as “the heart of the kitchen…the dish pit!”

Think very carefully if you plan on eating out again and then listen to Jordon’s interview with Michele Norris, in which he discusses the vermin he shares the Dish Pit with, a Chinese restaurant in which the owner insisted washing water glasses was a waste of time, and the inherent racism in the New Orleans’ dish-washing scene.