Ridiculous History – "The Ridiculous Secret of 'Supreme' Pizza"

iHeartPodcasts | March 24, 2026
Hosts: Ben Bowlin, Noel Brown
Notable Guest: Max “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” Williams
Special Guest: Chef Ben, Chicago pizza insider

Episode Overview

In this playful and irreverent episode, Ben and Noel embark on a deep-dish dive into the history, culture, and ridiculous myths surrounding the "Supreme" pizza. Blending rich historical context with plenty of side-tangents (and turtle references!), the Ridiculous History team untangles fact from fiction about how Supreme Pizza became a symbol of American excess—and finally delivers a jaw-dropping secret from inside pizzeria kitchens.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Pizza as Pop Culture Entry Point

• The episode begins with a nod to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a cultural touchstone linking pizza to Gen X and millennials.
  • Notable Moment [01:57]: Max admits he missed the Turtle craze: “I never was really exposed to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It wasn’t part of my zeitgeist as a child—that, Harry Potter, people talk to me about that kind of stuff, and I’m like, I cannot relate.”
• Pizza’s prominence in pop culture becomes the segway to the larger story.

American Pizza Regionalisms & Weird Styles

• St. Louis-Style Pizza [09:21]:
  • Discussion of Provel cheese (cheddar, Swiss, provolone, liquid smoke) as a defining ingredient; Max calls out a friend for fibbing about what’s in it.
  • Notable Quote [09:46]: “That’s what she told me. And she’s a liar.” – Max Williams
• Pittsburgh Pizza [10:23]:
  • Cold toppings (including cheese) layered atop a hot pie—polarizing and debated among the hosts.
• The U.S. is portrayed as a land of pizza innovation—and sometimes, pizza excess.

The Drive for “Supreme” – Pizza as American Excess

• After WWII, American culture’s “supersize” mentality led to the escalation of pizza’s toppings.
  • Notable Quote [11:38]: “We look at the pizza, we say, more cheese, more stuff. We are the super sized nation.”

Origins of Pizza: From Flatbread to Margherita

• Early history: Flatbreads in the Mediterranean and Africa served as carriers of toppings [12:51].
• The Tomato’s Journey to Italy [14:18]:
  • Tomatoes, native to the Andes, journeyed via conquistadors to Europe.
  • In America, tomatoes were once feared poisonous—legend of Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson eating them publicly in NJ (1820) to dispel the myth [16:56].
• Queen Margherita and the Royal Makeover [21:04]:
  • Pizza’s leap to mainstream acceptability after Queen Margherita of Italy tries a “Margherita” pizza (mozzarella, tomato, basil) during a royal visit, lending pizza panache and respectability.

The American Pizza Boom

• Waves of immigration bring Neapolitan pizza culture to the U.S. in the 1940s [23:27], fueling regional and commercial innovation.
• Franchise Chains Emerge [31:26]:
  • Shakey’s Pizza (1954) – first big chain; followed by Pizza Hut (1958), Little Caesars (1959 - Detroit), and Domino’s (1960).
• Notable Tidbit [34:55]: Mike Illitch, founder of Little Caesars, personally paid Rosa Parks’ rent for over a decade and donated millions to hunger charities.

The Commercialization and Capitalist “Arms Race” of Pizza

• Differentiation in a Saturated Market [38:13]:
  • Chains experiment with wild topping combinations, giving rise to the overloaded, maximalist “Supreme” pizza.
    • Notable Quote [29:36] – Ben: “It is not always the same thing. And I’ll say it. No, it’s a bit of a self-important name, is it not?”
• “Supreme” emerges as a marketing term rather than a culinary standard—no single, agreed-upon list of toppings.

Supreme Pizza: No Rules, Just Right

• Toppings Vary Widely [41:07]:
  • “Supreme” can be anything—a carryover from the culture of “the more, the better.”
  • Discussion compares Supreme Pizza to Bloody Marys—no codified recipe, just a maximalist spirit.
• Notable Quote [42:54] – Noel: “There is no one way to make a Bloody Mary. And there is no one way, apparently, to make a Supreme Pizza.”

The Ridiculous Secret: The “Supreme” Mystery Exposed

[52:10 – 55:03]

• Insider Chef Ben from Chicago breaks pizza lovers’ hearts:
  • In his first pizza job, the “Supreme” pizza wasn’t meticulously crafted—it was a collection of all the discarded toppings (“detritus”) scraped from the prep table after other pizzas were assembled.
    • Notable Quote [53:37] – Chef Ben: “Whenever we got a supreme pizza, those were the toppings for the supreme pizza.”
• The hosts react with amusement and slight horror at the “drip tray” approach.
  • Noel [53:53]: “It is a bit of a tut … a boo, but it’s not inherently non-hygienic. … There’s something about it, though, that makes it feel like that dare of drinking the drip tray from the bar, you know?”

The Great Supreme Pizza Conspiracy Conclusion

• Supreme pizzas, priced as premium, sometimes are “leftover pizza”—not a unique, high-end concoction, but an exercise in waste reduction and margin maximization.
  • Ben [54:38]: “Here’s the gross thing to us…this is being priced as a premium pizza. Right? It’s more expensive than you could sell it if you called it what it is: the leftover pizza.”
• Final philosophical spin: beauty—and “supremeness”—is in the eye of the pizza beholder.

Toppings Gone Wild & Pizza Extremes

• Unusual toppings and wild pizza variations abound:
  • Examples include mayonnaise and seafood pizzas in East Asia; rumored durian pizza in Southeast Asia [57:03].
  • Most expensive pizza in the world: Louis XIII pizza ($12,000)—with caviar, Norwegian lobster, buffalo mozzarella, and in-home chef service [59:54].
• Notable closing joke: If it’s called “Louis XIII,” why not charge $13,000?

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Max Williams on St. Louis Pizza [09:46]: “She’s a liar. According to the Google AI, it is a blend of provolone, Swiss and cheddar.”
• Ben Summing Up American Supreme [11:38]: “We look at the pizza, we say, more cheese, more stuff. We are the super sized nation.”
• Noel on Supreme as Branding [29:36]: “It’s a bit of a self important name, is it not?”
• Chef Ben’s Bombshell [53:37]: “Whenever we got a supreme pizza, those were the toppings for the supreme pizza.”
• Max on Pizza & Sex [55:03]: “Pizza is like sex. When it’s good, it’s great—and when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good. And like sex, it’s also kind of gross sometimes, but still pretty good.”
• Ben, the Final Word [55:55]: “Just like beauty, supreme can mean different things to different people.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [1:04 – 3:08] – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and pizza in American pop culture
• [9:21 – 10:12] – St. Louis and Pittsburgh regional pizza debates
• [11:38 – 12:01] – America’s “supersize” pizza mentality
• [12:51 – 19:34] – Global pizza history, the tomato journey, and Italian acceptance
• [29:36 – 31:26] – Supreme pizza as a concept and American capitalist excess
• [31:35 – 36:51] – Rise of American pizza chains
• [52:10 – 55:03] – The Ridiculous Secret: The “garbage pizza” method and pizza prep realities
• [59:33 – 60:13] – World’s most expensive pizza

Tone & Language

The hosts’ tone throughout is upbeat, irreverent, and packed with pop culture references, wordplay, and personal anecdotes. They approach history and culinary lore with equal parts curiosity, skepticism, and humor, maintaining a pace that feels conversational and spontaneous.

Summary: Why This Episode Matters

This episode of Ridiculous History delivers much more than a slice of pizza trivia. It shows how an iconic food becomes an ever-morphing reflection of societal values, capitalism, regional quirks, and even kitchen realities. The "supreme" pizza, far from a fixed concept, stands as a greasy, delicious monument to American improvisation, the mythology of abundance, and ultimately, the joy (and shenanigans) hidden in the world’s favorite pie.

Bottom Line:
When it comes to “Supreme” pizza, expect the unexpected—because behind the curtain, your premium pie may just be a tasty medley of whatever’s left over. But hey, as the hosts remind us, “When it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.”