Imagine a sky that rains cheese, rivers that flow with wine, roasted pigs wandering by with carving knives already in their backs, and grilled geese flying straight into your mouth. This is Cockaigne, the mythical medieval land of gluttony and idleness dreamed up by people who were quite literally starving. In this episode we explore how this bizarre fantasy world reveals the grim realities of peasant life and how it spread through languages, place names, art, and music around the globe.

We look at the 13th-century French poem that describes abbots beaten by their monks and total sexual liberty, and why the myth worked as both wish fulfillment and a safe vessel for class resentment against feudal lords and the church. We trace the word from a sweet cake sold at fairs to the Dutch Luilekkerland, the German Schlaraffenland, English Lubberland ...