What Exactly Is A Circus Peanut?

Our friends at CandyStore.com have compiled a list of the 10 worst Halloween candies, based on aggregating a bunch of other best and worst candy lists. Topping even the horrors of candy corn and Necco wafers was circus peanuts. Which of course kicked off a Takeout staff conversation, since it has been several years since any of us had had one (although Kate Bernot states her dad is a huge fan): What the hell is a circus peanut? I kind of remember it as a puffy banana marshmallow kind of thing. And I certainly didn't want to taste one to find out.

Fortunately, Eater took on this tough topic a few years ago, describing circus peanuts as a "peanut-shaped marshmallow candy with a soft and spongy texture. The most popular modern variety is orange in color and comes in an artificial banana flavor." They were actually created in the 1800s as one of the original penny candies, right along with Tootsie Rolls. The banana flavoring may be a result of a freak lab accident. And circus peanuts may also be indirectly responsible for the creation of Lucky Charms. All fascinating stuff, so while I now may have a bit of a grudging respect on for the circus peanut, pretty sure I still never need to eat one ever again. [Gwen Ihnat]

As someone who spends the majority of her days, Monday through Friday, in constant, exhausted, and bewildering toggle between her RSS feed, Twitter feed, inbox, phone, podcasts, etc., I read this essay on ethical news consumption with great interest. Leah Finnegan puts her central question thusly: "Is there any way to be an ethical news consumer and still be a mentally functioning person?" I tend to disconnect pretty hard on the weekends—either I'm literally off the grid, or I'm not checking my email and social media as much. But does this make me naive? Irresponsible? Too privileged because I'm able to "escape" to a news-free wilderness? Finnegan spoke to ethicists to navigate the waters. [Kate Bernot]