How to make potatoes while dread presses in from every direction

The Vlogbrothers don't even have to mention the main thing that's happening! All the other things happening are quite enough to ignite the dread monads of your ontology.

While we wash the potatoes, it's worth considering that the kinds of food you crave are dictated partly by your cells and partly by the bacterial cells inside of your gut. Studies have shown that people with certain gut microbiomes are more likely to crave refined carbohydrates while people with other microbiomes might crave other foods, so you should remember that when cooking you're not just making food for you you're also making food for the trillions of microorganisms that colonize you and influence your every thought feeling and experience, even though they are not in the narrowest sense you. All right, let's make some potatoes!

Also, a classic Alex Norris strip returns to the fore: