How force-feeding ourselves hot dogs became a 'sacred American ritual'

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/04/ [login to see] /4th-july-nathans-hot-dog-contest-history-explained-america-tradition-coney
On a sunny June weekend on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall, nine contestants sidle up to a table full of paper plates. Each plate is piled high with hot dogs, and in a few moments, these brave people will shovel as many as they can down their throats, for a chance to compete at what may be the Super Bowl, Olympics, and World Cup of competitive eating, all wrapped up in one bun — the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, in New York's Coney Island.

At the D.C. event, the stage sits beside the stately neoclassical facade of the National Gallery of Art, and there's a "splash zone" of plastic set up between the competitive eaters and the crowd, to protect onlookers from any liquids headed their way. (There is no ketchup, mustard or relish on the table, by the way — just cups full of water, in which some contestants will dunk their hot dogs and buns, for easier consumption.)

The clock starts, and a 10-minute countdown begins. The competitors open wide, ramming hot dogs into their mouths to a soundtrack of furious techno music. Some of the contestants look queasy, and as a straw-hatted announcer gives a play-by-play, he observes "this is what makes a patriot, ladies and gentlemen."