Here at Pop Omnivore, Top Chef gives us lots to discuss. Sustainability? That’s in our wheelhouse. Regional cuisine? We eat that up! So it was with great interest that we followed finalist and pig-lover (note his tattoo) Kevin Gillespie this season as he talked about southern cooking and environmentally-minded eating. The twenty-five-year-old owner and executive chef of Atlanta’s Woodfire Grill spoke to us about those things—and about pork, of course.

Kirshtein, 25, who had to pack his knives and go in this week's episode, is the executive chef at Eno, an Atlanta restaurant whose décor is Euro-farmhouse meets urban chic (meaning big paintings of dice on some walls). In case you’re wondering, we ate: superb barley risotto with truffle oil and fennel fritters, sumptuous moist chicken that married beautifully with an array of wild mushrooms, and … a beet parfait, which had earthy undercurrents of flavor but a texture that seemed a bit gelatinous.

Is it?

See that globe in the picture above? It hangs over Jon Stewart's head as he sits at his fake desk to deliver the fake news. Viewers see it at the opening of each episode of The Daily Show and occasionally after a commercial break or when a guest walks on. Those of you with sharp eyes might have noticed that a ticker on the globe lists a series of place-names: the show's home base, New York, and six other locales. And since this is The Daily Show, the names aren't just random picks. Each week, there's a theme. And this week, the names have a special National Geographic spin.  

Last week, National Geographic made a surprise cameo in the pivotal closing moments of the series finale of Battlestar Galactica , the SciFi Channel series that tracks humanity's search through space for a new home after cyborgs called Cylons destroy their home planet. The episode ended with a 150,000-year flash-forward to modern-day New York City. So what had seemed to be a futuristic show was actually prehistoric. The humans of Battlestar Galactica were our ancestors, not our descendants. 

Viewers saw executive producer Ronald Moore at a newsstand reading a special mockup issue (above), created by our art department and using text provided by the show. Fans may note that the text of the mockup is different from the text on the show. The producers made some additional changes so the magazine explains how an archaeologist discovered the fossilized remains of “Hera,” a half-human, half-Cylon child who landed on planet Earth with the rest of the survivors. The suggestion is that Hera is also "mitochondrial Eve”—the name scientists give to the genetic mother of humanity. Which means that in the world of Battlestar Galactica , we humans are all part robot!

This scene has the fanosphere, and Battlestar fans on our staff, abuzz. We talked with executive producers Ronald Moore and David Eick to get the back story.

—Brad Scriber

The Amazing Race has been having an amazing season … until last night. No, we’re not talking about the unfortunate elimination of the middle-age couple—he’s a recovering addict, she’s as solid as a rock. 

We’re talking about a word.

It popped up in the name of one of the challenges posed to the globe-trotting teams of Americans.

Here’s how CBS sums it up: “In Gypsy Moves, teams had to travel to a gypsy settlement where they needed to load all of a family’s belongings onto a horse-drawn cart. Then, they had to navigate the cart to the family’s new encampment where they had to unload the belongings.”

Ian Hancock told us why he does not use the word gypsy to describe his origins. He is a professor of Romani studies at the University of Texas at Austin and author of We Are the Romani People.

Last week on Top Chef, contestants broke out their filleting knives for a Quickfire challenge judged by guest Eric Ripert, chef and part owner of the world famous French seafood restaurant Le Bernardin in New York City.

First up to fillet were sardines—-hard to debone because of their small size but pretty standard fare. Next came arctic char—-much bigger, still fairly familiar. Then came something rarely seen on dinner menus, much less in home kitchens—-freshwater eel.

We at Pop Omnivore wondered why we knew so little about eel as food. So we decided to investigate.

According to Larousse Gastronomique, eels are “snakelike fish with a smooth slippery skin." The culinary encyclopedia then goes on to say, "Eels are sold alive. They are killed and skinned at the last moment as the flesh deteriorates rapidly, and the raw blood is poisonous if it enters a cut – for example, on one’s finger.” Cooking the eel detoxifies its blood.

On the show, Chef Ripert told contestants that the eels had just been killed and were definitely dead, even though they continued to move. Though the movement is strictly nerve-related and not a sign of life, it can be, well, unnerving. Says Ripert, “They will move for hours. Seriously, for hours.” Indeed, many of the chefs looked squeamish as they dealt with the rather gruesome process of peeling and filleting their challenge.

Last week, The Amazing Race featured a glistening soup made with chunks of sheep rump. Some contestants slurped. One gagged. A vegetarian tried but failed to take it down (thus losing out on a chance for the $1 million prize). And here at Pop Omnivore, we wondered. What is this dish all about? And what's up with using the backside?

First of all, a bit (more than what Borat taught us) about Kazakhstan. It is the ninth-largest country in the world. Its official language is Russian. Its state, or national, language is Kazakh. It is the world's seventh-largest producer of wheat. Its biggest city is Almaty, where the soup slurping took place, and the capital is Astana.

But what about its food?

In October’s cover story, we introduced you to the first life-size, scientifically accurate reconstruction of a Neanderthal woman that's based on fossil anatomy and ancient DNA. She is five feet tall. She is heavily muscled. And you've surely noticed that she’s not wearing any clothes. Anthropologists believe that in summer, Neanderthals probably went naked.

Although the cover headline reads “Neanderthals Revealed,” we thought Wilma, as magazine staffers affectionately call her, might have occasionally craved a cover-up. So we asked some of the Project Runway designers to sketch an outfit for her, featuring materials that would have been available in Neanderthal times: animal skins (aka “leathuh”), fur, bones, and ocher body paint. Two National Geographic magazine designers also took on the challenge of answering the question: "What Would Wilma Wear?" Here are the fashion-forward ensembles they came up with.

On Sunday night, The Simpsons begins its 20th season. The show has won seven Environmental Media Awards for episodes like “The Bonfire of the Manatees” and “On a Clear Day I Can’t See My Sister.” And since National Geographic cares about the environment just as much as the Simpsons do, the time seemed right to interview a spokescharacter. The show runners offered up Lisa. True, she is a cartoon, with yellow skin and improbably spiked hair. But who could resist a chance to pose questions to the tree-huggingest Simpson of them all?

What is your family doing to “go green?”
Well, my Dad said his bald spot is “a solar panel for a love machine.”  I don’t know what that means, but I’m looking into whether we can hook it into the grid and get carbon credits.

What is your favorite (or least favorite) endangered animal?
I love all creatures, great and small... but if one had to go, I’d say mosquitoes.  I mean, they can really ruin an Earth Day.  Oh, now I feel so guilty.

Have you been able to convince your Dad to recycle his Duff beer cans?
Yes.  Though he was upset about having to dismantle his 80-foot “Beer-amid” as well as his “Duff Lite-House of Alexandria” and his “Colossus of Suds.”

Since nuclear power has low carbon emissions, do you now respect Mr. Burns?
You know what has really low carbon emissions and releases no radiation?  Wind power!  Sorry I lost my cool... you know what else is losing its cool?  THE EARTH!

Will the Simpsons ever become eco-tourists?
I don’t know.  My Dad loves to be a tourist, but hates anything eco.  So it could go either way.   

Does Maggie use disposable diapers?
Yes, and so does my Grampa.

Has Springfield been affected by climate change?
Yes, the most powerful greenhouse gases are escaping from me, Lisa Simpson.  Bart!  Get away from my computer!  Sorry about that.

Does your family subscribe to National Geographic?
No, but we’d read it in the library, if we ever went to the library, which we don’t because crazy homeless people hang out there, like my Grampa.

-Marc Silver

Photo: Rocky, courtesy of Great Ape Trust of Iowa

Dunston isn’t checking in; he’s checking out. And Clint Eastwood is going to have to find a new co-star if he ever makes a sequel to Every Which Way But Loose.

Yes, the era of the Hollywood orangutan is coming to an end.

This month, Steve Martin’s Working Wildlife, reportedly the only West Coast source of orangutans for the entertainment industry, announced plans to donate its six orangs to the Great Ape Trust of Iowa, a sanctuary in Des Moines, over the next few months.

Pop Omnivore wanted to find out more, so we spoke to Rob Shumaker, director of orangutan research at the research facility (which offers educational tours, by reservation).

Why did the trainers make this decision?

I didn’t probe to ask all their reasons, but they were partially driven by genuine welfare concerns. It was important for them to find a destination they approved of for their apes. We have some philosophical differences, but I think of them as good people and friends at this point.

Did they treat their apes well?

There are folks who raise welfare concerns about apes in entertainment. There’s a range of how apes are treated. My interactions with the Martins have given me no indication to believe these apes were ever treated badly in any way.

Is it a bad idea for orangutans or other apes to appear on TV or in movies?

It depends how they’re portrayed. I would never suggest a National Geographic documentary about orangutans is a bad thing. But that’s obviously distinct from entertainment or advertisements.

And what’s your view on apes in entertainment programs?

Some folks firmly believe [such programs] can convey a positive message and stimulate interest in apes. Other folks believe [they] diminish concerns about conservation in the wild. I don’t have the answers. It’s certainly fair to say this is an issue people feel strongly about on both sides.

Is there any sort of “apes in entertainment” program you’d be OK with?

It depends what they’re having the ape do. If I saw apes manipulated with special effects to make it look like they’re talking to each other, and they were obviously filmed at a distance in a zoo setting, that doesn’t bother me.

What about Dunston Checks In, the 1996 movie that featured an orangutan?

That’s not the kind of thing I would be supportive of. I have my own kids, and that’s not a movie that I would give them to watch. I guess my general feeling is that I am uncomfortable any time apes are depicted on TV, in greeting cards, in documentaries, or in books in a way intended to be goofy or comic relief, or if they are diminished in any way. Anything that reinforces unfortunate stereotypes about apes makes it harder for people to understand, admire, and respect them.

What if a movie depicted an ape as a hero?

A great example was the most recent King Kong movie. King Kong was very heroic. The movie also depicted ape intelligence. And that ape was totally computer generated. I would prefer movies that depict apes in positive and heroic ways, and I think the best situation is what we saw with King Kong—all done with computer graphics.

So basically you’re against using real apes in entertainment?

I don’t want to condemn anybody who’s ever worked with an ape in entertainment. I cannot deny that my initial exposure to apes—and one of the things that most stimulated my interest—was watching Cheetah in Tarzan movies when I was a kid.

The first orangutans from the Martins are now at the refuge. How are they doing?

All apes are individuals. They are affected by what goes on in their lives just like any person would be. The first two have been here a little less than a week. I’m happy to report they are very, very comfortable. Rocky, the 3-year-old [pictured, above] , settled in very easily and quickly—you’d pretty much expect that from a healthy normal youngster. His mother, Katy, who’s 19, took a day or two to figure out what was going on. But in the last couple days, she’s so relaxed and has been very playful and happy.

How do orangutans compare with other great apes?

They are not nearly as energetic or animated as the African apes—chimps, gorillas, bonobos. I think people interpret that as being sluggish or uninteresting or maybe not so bright, but it’s just a difference in their pace of life.

So are they as smart as chimps?

Everything strongly indicates that orangutans are equally intelligent and as capable as any other great ape. There’s some indication they do better on a lot of measures of intelligence than other great apes.

Any other notable orangutan traits?

They have a wonderful sense of humor. They’re great at capturing a moment and turning it into something playful or funny. I recall one moment when I was working with one of the most wonderful females I ever knew, Indah, who died a few years ago. Apparently whatever task I had given her that day was not very exciting to her. There was one particular answer on the computer screen we were looking for, one of 28 symbols. Indah reached up and touched every single symbol on screen except the right answer, then looked at me and waited for me to respond. On another similar occasion, she looked at the task I presented to her, turned around, and made a silly face by putting her fingers on her eyes, making a goofy mouth, and just fell onto me and wanted to be tickled and to laugh.

- Marc Silver

Two exotic-sounding ingredients have been making repeat performances on Bravo's Top Chef this season.

Ras el hanout has shown up in beet salad with goat cheese and in a foie gras mousse with peaches.

According to Larousse Gastronomique, ras el hanout is "a complex mixture of twenty or more ground spices, used mainly in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The literal meaning is "head" or "top of the shop." Since the mixture was traditionally made from a market's superior spices, the name is fitting.

Memo to badgers: You really need to hire a publicist.

Case in point: an ad for a car that claims to have superduper soundproofing. A dude is locked in the car with a nursing badger mom and her tykes. The badgers are described as “ferocious.” And they’re all asleep. Awww. The car windows are rolled up. An announcer says: “If awakened, the badger will gnaw [the human’s] face off.” A cannon is fired repeatedly. The soundproofing appears to work. Then dude-in-the-car’s cell phone goes off. Mother Badger snarls and lunges.

Not a good moment for the badger image.

It turns out badgers have a history of bad P.R. That’s what I learned from Roger Packham, a senior ecosystems biologist at the British Columbia Ministry of Environment. He’s been studying them since 2003 because of their endangered status in B.C.

Back in the 1940s and ‘50s, British Columbians were trapping 300 to 400 badgers a year. Today, says Packham, “we feel we have fewer than 400 left in B.C.”

“Persecution” was probably the main reason for their decline, Packham says. In other words, people kill them. “There’s a big myth that livestock fall into badger burrows and break their legs. So the only good badger, as far as a lot of farmers are concerned, is a dead badger.” Hence the trapping. Badgers were also pursued for their fur pelts. And nowadays, they often end up as roadkill.

As for the accuracy of the ad, Packham makes two Very Important Points:

1) “I don’t think you want to mess with any nursing mother, badger or human or anything else.”

2) “Let’s just face it: Badgers nursing their babies are not going to end up in a car in the first place.”

But what if a human came into close contact with a badger. Would it gnaw off the human’s face?

Packham says he’s had his nose fewer than 10 inches from a badger’s nose and never been threatened. (Ground squirrels and marmots, staples of the badger diet, would likely say otherwise.)

What’s more, Packham once worked with a vet who was implanting radios in badger body cavities to track the animals in the wild. And the vet made a comment about how easy the badgers were to handle. “His comment was, ‘If this was a house cat, we’d all be bleeding by now.’ ”

Meowr.

You can check our Packham’s badger work at www.badgers.bc.ca.  

-Marc Silver

OK, it’s not like we watch America’s Next Top Model religiously, praying for something to blog about—like, say, the so-called environmental theme (which pretty much went up in smoke when a photo shoot was staged next to a burning car) or the fact that the models’ (and host Tyra Banks’s) modern-day weaves can’t compare to the awesome mummy with a weave. But really, how can we not watch? This show is a cultural touchstone! Don’t take our word for it. This week, the New York Times profiled Heather, the contestant with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Anyway, there we were last night, tuning in for the penultimate episode in this sorry cycle (because really, Tyra, kicking Heather and Lisa off—what are you thinking?), and the models are in China, which is a topic of interest to National Geographic. And the show gave the impression that China's Great Wall can be seen from space.

Now it sure would be amazing if the Great Wall could be seen from the space, or specifically from the moon. That lunar claim has been made at least since 1923—and in National Geographic Magazine!. But according to NASA’s Web site, when astronauts went to the moon in 1969, they couldn’t see the Great Wall at all. Nor does the wall readily pop up in photos from the International Space Station.

A NASA spokesman explains: "In fact, it is very, very difficult to distinguish the Great Wall of China in astronaut photography, because the materials that were used in the wall are similar in color and texture to the materials of the land surrounding the wall.”

But there are exceptions. In radar photography from space, the Great Wall is visible. As Tyra might say, “I have in my electronic hands, a picture of Mongolia, taken from the International Space Station in 2004 (image above). The light was just right, the wall was set off by snow. If you squint, you can make out segments of the Great Wall.” (The arrows help). And if you squint even harder, you can see Tyra’s weave.

— Marc Silver

Photograph courtesy NASA

Some of the poseurs on America’s Next Top Model got weaves last night. It hurt. A lot. “I just felt like my scalp was bleeding,” said Ebony. Girlfriend, women have been crying over weaves for 5,000 years.

That’s the age of the weave (pictured, above) found in an ancient tomb by archaeologist Renee Friedman, director of the Hierakonpolis Expedition. The hair extensions were woven to the mummy’s real hair were … also her real hair. She must have grown it, cut it off, then had it woven back on for a  little hairdo height. (Big hair was really popular in 3600 B.C.) The weave woman also dyed her hair with henna for color that really lasted – we’re talking millennia!

“In ancient Egypt if one lived to be really old, like 70, they made you a local saint, so old age was respected no doubt for the knowledge and memory that person had (in a society where most people were dead by 35-40),” says Friedman. “But clearly looking one's age has never been the in thing in life or death.”

The picture of the weave is courtesy of (and copyright by) the Hierakonpolis Expedition. Any suggestions about which model should get this 5,000-year-old weave? Anybody dare to submit a photo of the weave photoshopped onto a model (or celebrity) head? It's gotta look better than some of the makeovers on this week's show!

-Marc Silver

A family in Wisconsin has a nerdy, friendless teenage son. Sad! Brainstorm: Let’s host an exchange student who’ll be our son’s new buddy. Problem: The exchange organization says the kid is coming from London but he’s really from Pakistan. Wow, a Muslim lad! In school, a teacher tells Raja how angry the U.S. is with his country for 9/11. (Even though they didn’t do it.) Welcome to America, dude!

That’s the premise of Aliens in America, a sitcom that debuts tonight on the CW network. Now we like the idea: a chance to explore different cultures, open eyes, and all that kind of good stuff. Too bad the show gets so many things wrong. That’s what Pop Omnivore learned when we talked to Tamara Jazbec, a program specialist with AFS-USA Intercultural Programs for YES, the Youth Exchange and Study Program, and Kimberly King, project manager for Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation, which promotes better understanding between east and west and works with exchange students.

1.    The $500 monthly payment to the family. Hosting an exchange student is typically a volunteer act  done from the goodness of your heart.
2.    The misunderstanding about where he’s from. Exchange organizations absolutely tell hosts the  student's country of origin.
3.    Raja’s skullcap. Pakistani teenagers who attend a mosque school would wear the headgear, called a kufi, on a daily basis as a sign of respect for God. Other Pakistani boys, not so much.
4.    An uncomfortable scene when Raja drops his towel in the locker room. “I can’t even imagine,” says Kimberly King. More likely, a student from the exceedingly modest Muslim world might ask permission to leave gym class early to shower and change clothes before the other kids come to the locker room. And if a host family dad emerges from the bathroom clad in a towel, ay yi yi!

Now here are some of the real issues that may confront students who are Muslim.

1.    Daily prayer. A devout Muslim prays five times a day, including one prayer shortly after noon. The prayer is short, about five minutes. Still, where do you pray during the school day? Some schools provide a space. King’s group explains to students that, if necessary, it’s okay to postpone the noontime prayer and combine it with the late afternoon prayer.
2.    The Ramadan fast. We’re in the middle of the Muslim holiday right now, which calls for a dawn-to-dusk fast. So school lunch – what a trial! Some schools will allow Muslim exchange student to sit in the library or a classroom during lunch period.
3.    Dogs. Pakistani students aren’t used to house pets. Plus, the Muslim religion has long said if dog saliva gets on clothing, the garb becomes impure and must be washed. Ditto for hands or other body parts. This fear of slobber dates to a fear of rabies 1,400 years ago. Exchange students are told in advance that American dogs are well-groomed and clean, but it’s sometimes hard for them to overcome their canine phobia. Or their astonishment at doggy salons!

Pop Ominovore would love to hear from families who have hosted exchange students (and from the students themselves). Tell us what it was like: misunderstandings, funny anecdotes, moments of cultural bonding. Who knows, maybe it’ll spark some better plot lines for Aliens in America.

-Marc Silver