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Hot Dog Eating Contests: A Distinctly American Tradition : Consider This from NPR There's nothing obviously patriotic about scarfing down as many hot dogs as you can in ten minutes. So how did competitive eating become so synonymous with the holiday celebrating the Fourth of July?

To find out, host Scott Detrow visits a hot dog eating contest in Washington, D.C.

And producer Matt Ozug unpacks the evolution of eating as a sport, from a 17th century farmer to today's televised competitions.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Consider This from NPR

Hot Dog Eating Contests: A Distinctly American Tradition

Hot Dog Eating Contests: A Distinctly American Tradition

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Hot dogs are displayed ahead of the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July 2022 hot dog eating contest at Coney Island. Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images

Hot dogs are displayed ahead of the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July 2022 hot dog eating contest at Coney Island.

Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images

There's nothing obviously patriotic about scarfing down as many hot dogs as you can in ten minutes. So how did competitive eating become so synonymous with the holiday celebrating the Fourth of July?

To find out, host Scott Detrow visits a hot dog eating contest in Washington, D.C.

And producer Matt Ozug unpacks the evolution of eating as a sport, from a 17th century farmer to today's televised competitions.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Alejandra Marquez Janse, Matt Ozug and Connor Donevan. It was edited by Adam Raney and Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.