In this kickoff episode, Gennette Zimmer and Dr. Darin Detwiler pull back the curtain on what it really means to be a “food safety a-hole”—and why that label, while uncomfortable, might actually be a badge of honor. Darin shares his deeply personal origin story: the 1993 E. coli outbreak that took the life of his young son and catapulted him into a decades-long career advocating for safer food practices. The conversation is equal parts heart-wrenching, candid, and oddly funny, as the duo discusses awkward restaurant confrontations, the fine art of speaking up without shaming, and how grief reshapes the kind of person you're willing to become.

This episode isn’t about cooking temps or properly pronouncing bacteria names. It’s about the human stakes behind food safety, the moral calculus of calling things out, and what it means to keep showing up—even when it makes other people uncomfortable. It’s also about nachos. Kind of.