STORY PIRATES + GOOD MYTHICAL MORNING: What Do I Eat??

Summary

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Story Pirates + Good Mythical Morning: "What Do I Eat??"

Release Date: June 15, 2026
Episode Theme: Exploring the hilarious and imaginative consequences of the phrase "you are what you eat," inspired by kid-written stories and a special tie-in with Good Mythical Morning's new children's book Spaghetti Head and Chicken Fingers.

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Main Theme and Purpose

This special bonus episode celebrates creativity and storytelling with a kid-powered comedy sketch based on a listener-submitted story. Story Pirates join forces with Good Mythical Morning to inspire young writers to contribute tales about "you are what you eat," culminating in a performance of Laurel's inventive story, What Do I Eat? The episode features a fun, pun-laden sketch, a behind-the-scenes chat with the young author, and shout-outs to both Story Pirates fans and the Good Mythical Morning crew.

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Key Points & Episode Highlights

1. Listener Engagement and Story Challenge (02:34 - 03:34)

• Host Lee introduces the summer story challenge, encouraging kids to submit stories on the "you are what you eat" theme.
• The host highlights a few creative titles received, including:
  • "My Sister, the Picky Dinosaur" (Alexander, Netherlands)
  • "One Bite Too Far" (Audrey, Arkansas)
  • "Nothing Sandwiches" (Gus, Canada)
• Only one story can be selected for this bonus adaptation: Laurel's What Do I Eat?

2. Story Performance: "What Do I Eat?" by Laurel, age 10 (03:34 – 11:36)

• Setup:
  • A young grocery shopper asks for oatmeal, receiving a cryptic warning that the aisle is "haunted."
• Grocery Store Ghost (04:37):
  • The protagonist encounters the ghost of the grocery store, launching a whimsical backstory.
• Absurd Transformations (05:23 – 10:30):
  • The phrase "you are what you eat" is taken literally, triggering a series of playful scenarios:
    • Bacon: Turning into a greasy bacon strip at school.
      • "I'll just wiggle to my seat and try not to slip on my own grease." – Laura (06:39)
    • Ice Cream: Melting at the beach ("I'm melting! I'm melting!" – Laura, 07:23)
    • Salmon: Morphing into a salmon, struggling with underwater lifestyle inconveniences.
    • Pasta & Cupcake: Family members become limp linguine and a frosting-leaking cupcake.
      • "I can't show my face at work if I'm limp linguine." – Laura’s Mom (08:30)
    • Sandwich: Laura becomes a sandwich, only to be carried off by a seagull.
      • "It’s got me, it’s got me!" – Laura (09:06)
• Escalation and Climax (09:37 – 10:46):
  • In a bid to avoid turning into any one thing, Laura tries to eat a bit of everything, transforming into a "grocery store" and then rapidly cycling between forms.
  • "I'm becoming a grocery store!" – Laura (10:01)
  • "Now that I'm a grocery store, I'm going to be rich." – Laura (10:13)
• Resolution:
  • The story humorously ends with the grocery store ghost explaining her endless cycle—turning into a grocery store, becoming wealthy, reverting to human, and repeating the process.

3. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You are what you eat. Cause that boy is a ham." – Laura’s Dad (05:31)
• "Pens don't work on greasy paper, Mom. How are we supposed to learn in an environment like that?" – Laura (06:54)
• "It's just an expression." – Laura's Mom (09:31)
• "Now that I'm a grocery store, I'm going to be rich." – Laura (10:13)

4. Author Interview with Laurel (11:43 – 14:03)

• How Laurel Found the Contest (11:51):
  • "I heard about it from Good Mythical Morning. I like to watch it with my mom." – Laurel (11:53)
• About Good Mythical Morning (12:04):
  • Laurel shares her enjoyment of the show's humor and food-related games.
  • "First of all, it's funny. They have like a million different games that they play…they'll try food and try to guess where it's from, or they'll rank food from different restaurants." – Laurel (12:04)
• Writing Process (12:38):
  • Laurel describes her love of writing and eagerness to respond to the show’s prompt.
  • "I'm going to write. That's how my brain's innings." – Laurel (12:43)
• Favorite Food and Imaginative Twist (13:11):
  • Laurel loves brownies and imagines the logistical difficulty if she were to turn into one, noting, "I pretty much just crumble all over the place."
• Shout-out to Rhett and Link (14:06):
  • “Tell them that me and my mom are their biggest fans.” – Laurel

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Important Timestamps

• 02:34 – Story Pirates announce the story challenge and introduce Laurel’s story
• 03:34 – Performance of "What Do I Eat?" begins
• 06:32 – Bacon transformation at school, with puns and grease jokes
• 07:19 – 07:28 – Melting ice cream at the beach scenario
• 09:02 – 09:06 – Seagull flies off with sandwich-Laura
• 10:01 – 10:13 – Laura becomes a grocery store, plans to become rich
• 11:43 – Host interviews Laurel about her story and GMM fandom
• 13:11 – Laurel describes challenges if turned into a brownie

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Tone and Style

• The episode is lively, imaginative, and packed with puns and comic dialogue.
• Whimsical, lighthearted performances abound, with a focus on childlike logic and escalating absurdity.
• The interview retains a conversational, warm tone between the host and Laurel.

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Summary of Takeaways

• Creativity is encouraged: The show models turning wild "what if?" scenarios into stories filled with wordplay and narrative twists.
• Language and Humor: Children wield familiar expressions (“you are what you eat”) as springboards for inventive storytelling.
• Audience Connection: By including the young author’s perspective and a direct shout-out to Rhett and Link, the episode bridges kid-focused creative communities.

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For listeners who missed the episode:
This bonus Story Pirates episode is a zany exploration of what might happen if "you are what you eat" became reality. A series of food transformations leads to chaos and hilarity, all performed in vivid sketch style, and topped off with a charming conversation with 10-year-old author Laurel, who celebrates her fandom for both Story Pirates and Good Mythical Morning.

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Transcript

[A]

Lemonade.

[B]

Hey, Story Pirates podcast listeners. Lee here. Welcome to Story Pirate Summer. But before we get to today's very special bonus episode, I wanted to let you know, season eight may be over, but that doesn't mean we're done releasing episodes. Nope. We'll have brand new stories for you on Thursdays per usual. And on Mondays, we'll have special bonus episodes for Creator Club members only. And speaking of Creator Club, the summer story Challenge is getting ready to heat up. This Thursday, June 18th, we'll be publishing our very first leaderboard on our website of who has sent us the most stories so far this summer. So start sending in those stories right now. All summer long, the top 10 kids who send us the most stories will show up on the leaderboard on our website. And at the end of the summer, the top 10 will be invited to a very exclusive pizza party, Zoom with me, where we'll talk about the amazing things that you wrote. Bring your own pizza. Of course, I can't just give you pizza over Zoom. Plus, I'll be shouting out kids all summer on the podcast. And all kids who send us stories as part of the challenge will get a certificate at the end of the summer. And of course, story love from us telling you how much we loved your stories. And if you need help writing your stories, grown ups can download our free summer survival kit. Chock full of so many activities and story sparks. You can find the summer survival kit and sign up for the summer story [e-mail] podcast. And now on with the show after a few more words for the grown ups.

[A]

Wow. I love Story Pirates. It just filled me up with joy. My mom loves the jokes. Yo yo, my joke. It made me very proud about my writing. If I turned into a brownie, I'd pretty much just crumble all over the place. I definitely think I can be more creative now. I'm the champion. The Story Pirates.

[B]

It's the Story Pirates podcast. I am so excited for today's bonus episode. You may remember that a little while ago we asked all of our listeners to send us stories around the theme you are what you eat in order to celebrate a brand new children's book we're really excited about called Spaghetti Head and Chicken Fingers. Well, you did not disappoint. We got so many amazing stories from you. Stories like My Sister, the Picky Dinosaur from Alexander in the Netherlands, One Bite Too Far by Audrey in Arkansas, and Nothing Sandwiches by Gus in Canada. And so many more. Thank you so much to everyone that sent in stories we read and Loved all of them. And we're sending all of you some story love to tell you just how much we love them. However, we could only pick one story to adapt for today's bonus episode, and it's also a great one. Here's the author to introduce it.

[A]

Hi, my name is Laurel. I'm 10 and I live in New Jersey. This is my story. What do I eat?

[B]

Um, excuse me, grocery store employee? Yes, how can I help you, young man? Where might I find the oatmeal? Oh, that would be in our cereal section.

[A]

Next aisle over.

[B]

Thanks so much, but I'd be careful. They say that that aisle is haunted. Haunted? Who says that? No one. I've said too much.

[A]

Good luck.

[B]

That was weird. Okay, let's see. Here it is, the cereal aisle. And here's the oatmeal shelf all the way on the bottom. Hmm. Instant oats. One minute oats. Ah. Five minute oats. The best. Minute oats. Looks like there's only one left. It's way in the back. I'll have to crawl back in there to reach it deep into the shelf. Wow, it's cavernous back here. It's like there's more to this grocery store than meets the eye.

[A]

I'll say. Who said that? It's me, the ghost of the grocery store ghost.

[B]

The grocery store is haunted.

[A]

Fine, I will tell you my story.

[B]

Ooh, Actually, I don't really have time to.

[A]

It all started long ago when I was just a girl.

[B]

Oh, we're really doing it. Okay, so, yeah, that was a Fourth of July office party to remember.

[A]

I'll say. What about you, Laura? Do you have any fun dinner table stories for your old mom and dad? Well, today at school, something sort of funny happened.

[B]

A funny school story dish.

[A]

Today at lunch, Teddy punched his ham sandwich and then said, oh, sorry, was that a little ham fisted?

[B]

What a great pun.

[A]

I always loved that Teddy. His dad packs him ham every day, so he's always making jokes about it.

[B]

You know what they say? You are what you eat.

[A]

Cause that boy is a ham. Dad. What did you say?

[B]

Huh? I said, you are what you eat.

[A]

Well, I've lost my appetite. Why do you look so concerned? Why? Because apparently you are what you eat.

[B]

Laura, dear, it's a saying. You've never heard that before?

[A]

No, and I can't believe that you're telling me now.

[B]

I don't understand. What's the problem?

[A]

Oh, I don't know. What if I eat the wrong thing? Laura, I think you're confused. I don't think I am, mom. Just imagine. Imagine if tomorrow morning I have a bite of bacon and then I try to go to school. Honey, I imagine. Okay, fine.

[B]

Lacy?

[A]

Here.

[B]

Lamar? Here. Lance? Here. And Laura. Laura? Where's Laura?

[A]

I'm here. I'm here.

[B]

Laura, you're here. And you're a walking strip of bacon.

[A]

I'm sorry, but as we all know, you are what you eat.

[B]

We do know that.

[A]

I'll just wiggle to my seat and try not to slip on my own grease.

[B]

She's sliding across the room. There's bacon grease everywhere. Everywhere.

[A]

Pens don't work on greasy paper, Mom. How are we supposed to learn in an environment like that?

[B]

Darling, I think you need to take a breath and listen. You see?

[A]

Oh, I see, Dad. I see more than you know. Like what if it's a hot summer day and I decide to eat some ice cream? I think it would be a disaster. Imagine it.

[B]

What a great day to be at the beach.

[A]

The best of place to be on a hot, sunny day. Don't you agree, Laura? I'm melting. I'm melting.

[B]

This is my fault. I'm a Baptist.

[A]

I'm the worst dad in the history of dads, you'll say. Honey, why don't you calm down and have some dinner? What? You want me to eat this salmon now? Imagine, Mom. Okay. Mom. Dad, I'm home from school. From my school of fish, that is. I'm a salmon. Welcome home, dear. Thanks for serving me salmon. I'm finally happy to be what I eat. I'm so glad to hear that. Alright, I'm going to go watch TV now. Oh, sorry, but there are no couches or TVs underwater.

[B]

What?

[A]

No, ma'. Am. This is the worst one. Talk about a nightmare. Okay, I think that's enough. Flora. I've only just begun. Imagine if we all ate different things. Things. Imagine. It's quite a beautiful day. Hey, hon, why don't you come out here on the deck and enjoy the weather?

[B]

I can't.

[A]

Why not?

[B]

I'm pasta. You know what happens when pasta gets too humid? I can't show my face at work if I'm limp. Linguine.

[A]

Nonsense. Here, I'll open the screen door. Oh, sorry. Ever since I ate that cupcake, I've been getting frosting everywhere. Really? Makes it hard to grip things. Mom. Mom. Laura. You're home early from school. Oh, I see you had a sandwich for lunch. Oh, why would you say that? Because I'm a giant sandwich. Yes, that is why I had to run home.

[B]

Because of the humidity.

[A]

Worse. A seagull. What? I know that seagulls like to steal food, but I can't imagine that one could carry away a giant sandwich the size of a huge. Oh, it's got me. It's got me. Laura, this is our fault. We deserve all the blame for our negligence. Okay, that's enough. You aren't literally what you eat. It's just an expression. It's too late, Mom. Cat's out of the bag. The only question left is, now that I know the truth, what do I eat? And if I don't eat anything, will I disappear?

[B]

You have to eat something.

[A]

What if I ate everything so I couldn't turn into anything?

[B]

What?

[A]

What do we have in the fridge? I'm gonna have a tiny bite of everything.

[B]

Wow, she's really eating everything.

[A]

Uh, this.

[B]

Here, Go.

[A]

I mean, what's the worst that could happen? She actually becomes what she eats.

[B]

What's going on?

[A]

What's happening? I'm becoming a grocery store.

[B]

I guess you really are what you eat.

[A]

This is great.

[B]

I know. But wait, what is it?

[A]

Now that I'm a grocery store, I'm going to be rich. Are you? Wow.

[B]

So did you become rich?

[A]

I did. And do you know what I did with that? What?

[B]

Goes to the grocery store.

[A]

I bought all the food there was. I ate it all, and I turned back into a human.

[B]

So then you became a ghost and decided to come back to the grocery store and haunt it.

[A]

No. For the rest of my life, I continued that cycle of turning into a grocery store, getting rich, buying all the food, eating it, turning back into a girl, and then starting again. And I became the president of a successful grocery store chain and one of its stores.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

And then one day, I met a very nice department store, and we had kids who followed in my footsteps of becoming grocery stores. And when any of us died, we turned into grocery stores frozen in place.

[B]

Wait, this was an origin of grocery store story?

[A]

It is the origin of grocery store story.

[B]

So you're literally the ghost of this grocery store?

[A]

Yeah. Huh.

[B]

Well, thanks for the story. I gotta go.

[A]

Okay. Bye.

[B]

Bye.

[A]

I'm the ghost of a grocery store. The end. We'll be right back after a few words for the grown ups.

[B]

And now Lis speaks with the author. Laurel, you wrote the story what do I Eat?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So did you hear about the story contest on the Story Pirates podcast? Or did you hear about it somewhere else?

[A]

I heard about it from Good Mythical Morning. I like to watch it with my mom.

[B]

Oh, that's amazing. So can you tell me like, what do you like about Good Mythical Morning and Rhett and Link?

[A]

First of all, it's funny. They have like a million different games that they play. They've made some of their own games. Like, they'll try food and try to guess where it's from, or they'll rank food from different restaurants.

[B]

Are you excited for their new book, Spaghetti Here and Chicken Fingers?

[A]

Yeah, my mom just told me that we pre ordered it.

[B]

When you heard from Good Mythical Morning about this story contest, did you immediately know that you wanted to sit down and write or did you have to think about it first?

[A]

I do enjoy writing a lot. I like to write short stories and poetry. And so it's like, okay, a show I like to watch gave us a prompt to write. I'm going to write. That's how my brain's innings.

[B]

I'm wondering if you, Laurel, have a favorite food that if one day you turned into that food, it might cause a problem for you.

[A]

Well, I do enjoy brownies a lot. A lot, a lot, a lot, a lot. But if I turn into a brownie, I pretty much just crumble all over the place. Like, you can't really be a baked good without crumbling everywhere.

[B]

Do you then become all the different crumbs and you're like, separated from yourself or do you stay where the most brownie is?

[A]

I would probably stay where the most brownie is and then take it to a place where they could bake a super dough to make the brownie extra strong so it wouldn't fall apart everywhere and then it would just be a super strong brownie that didn't crumble into pieces.

[B]

Incredible. Laurel, thank you so much for sending us your story.

[A]

Thank you for choosing my story.

[B]

Do you want to give a shout out to Rhett and Link before we go?

[A]

Tell them that me and my mom are their biggest fans.

[B]

Okay, I will. Bye, Laurel.

[A]

Bye.

[B]

That's it for today's bonus episode. Thanks to today's author, Laurel, and everyone that sent us stories for our collaboration with Good Mythical Morning. We really wish we could have performed them all. We'll be back Thursday with our first official summer episode. And in the meantime, grown ups remember to get your summer survival kit and join the summer story [e-mail] podcast. And of course, grown ups can pre order Spaghetti head and Chicken fingers by Rhett and link in the show notes for today's episode. Okay, we'll see you soon. Until then, stay creative and stay kind by.