NyQuil Chicken with Katie Notopoulos

Welcome to Panic World. For our premiere, we're going back a few years to explore the panic that grew around "Sleepytime Chicken" aka NyQuil Chicken. Along with friend of the pod Katie Notopoulos, Ryan will explore the origins of the recipe on 4chan back in 2017 and chart its start as a joke to ultimately causing everyone from CNN to the FDA to issue warnings against it. But were the nation's youth really cooking — and eating — this cough syrup-soaked fowl? And what does the spread of the trend from 4chan to the mainstream tell us about our relationship with the internet and social media these days?

You can follow Katie Notopoulos's work at Business Insider, or @katienotopoulos. And give us a follow wherever you listen to podcasts to help Panic World go viral.

Want even more content? Like ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and access to the Garbage Day Discord? Sign up for a membership at ⁠Patreon.com/PanicWorld⁠.

Want to sponsor Panic World? Ad sales & marketing support by Multitude http://multitude.productions.

00:00 - Background on Sleepytime Chicken

01:25 - Introduction to Katie Notopoulos

03:18 - 4chan history

06:23 - Gatorade Broccoli

08:01 - Gorilla Food

11:10 - DinoTendies

16:54 - Sleepytime Chicken origin story and recipe

22:23 - Reemergence in 2020 as “NyQuil Chicken”

28:39 - TikTok “challenges” and trend culture

31:35 - Butter Board

34:20 - 2022 return with a new viral video that makes it into the mainstream news

38:00 - Jimmy Fallon mentions NyQuil Chicken

41:07 - FDA issues a warning against eating NyQuil Chicken

47:38 - US Government investigates TikTok’s influence on children

52:16 - Did anyone ever actually try eating NyQuil Chicken?

1:04:00 - Trolling vs. baiting content