Why does popcorn pop?

What BBN said about it

1. BQ

   Barry QuillEvery popcorn kernel is packed with about a thousand tiny explosions of joy, and that is settled science, buddy.

2. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA viewer asks why popcorn pops.

3. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorOur guest is Barry Quill, Chief Explainer at the Quill Center for Things Your Dad Says, who has explained things at four hundred barbecues.

4. BQ

   Barry QuillHere's how it works. A kernel gets warm, it gets happy, and about a thousand happy feelings have nowhere to go.

5. BQ

   Barry QuillI knew a guy, Dennis, who played a kernel a sad song once, and it just sat there.

6. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThat is wrong. Per Wikipedia, each kernel holds fourteen to twenty percent moisture inside a strong hull, and heat turns that moisture to steam.

7. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorPressure builds until the hull bursts, and the kernel puffs to twenty to fifty times its size.

8. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNo feelings were involved, and Dennis owes the kernel an apology.

9. BQ

   Barry QuillSure, steam. But where do you think steam comes from? It's joy that got promoted.

10. BQ

    Barry QuillAbout a thousand percent of the time, that's what a promotion looks like.

11. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSteam comes from water. The water is already in the kernel, behind a hull that holds on until it can't.

12. BQ

    Barry QuillHuh. Water in a hull. Okay, buddy, I'll give you that. It's just science.

13. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorYou seem to have taken that well.

14. BQ

    Barry QuillWell, the thing is, I'm in my garage, and the machine behind me has been going for about a thousand minutes.

15. BQ

    Barry QuillThose pops were never joy. I've been blaming the popcorn machine on feelings.

16. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSo the Quill Center is a garage with a popcorn machine.

17. BQ

    Barry QuillAnd the good grill tongs, buddy. Don't forget the tongs.

18. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorBarry, thank you. You've taught the viewer that the only thing that burst in that garage was your credibility, and the hull held longer.