Podcast Episodes
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From Hot Houses to High Tech: The Rise of the Greenhouse
Episode 133
What does a Roman emperor’s craving for cucumbers have to do with feeding eight billion people? How did a 15th-century Korean cookbook quietly invent…
4 months ago
Wheels, Plates and Pyramids: Produce & U.S. Dietary Guidelines
Episode 132
What was the United States government’s first move, when it decided that what Americans ate was a matter of national concern? Why, from the depths of…
4 months, 1 week ago
The History of Avocados
Episode 131
What kind of fruit was designed to be swallowed whole by giant sloths? How did a sacred Mesoamerican tree become the green badge of millennial brunch…
4 months, 2 weeks ago
Joseph Banks: The End of the Journey, Not the Influence (Part 7)
Episode 130
What becomes of a man who spent his life moving plants, people, and power across the globe - when his own body finally begins to fail? How did Joseph…
4 months, 3 weeks ago
Joseph Banks: Kew and the Power of Plants (Part 6)
Episode 129
What happens when exploration gives way to administration - and adventure turns into power? How did a royal garden become the beating heart of a glob…
5 months ago
Joseph Banks: The Birth of Australia (Part 5)
Episode 128
How did a gentleman botanist turn a vague imperial idea into a functioning colony on the far side of the world? Why did Joseph Banks’s quiet influenc…
5 months, 1 week ago
Joseph Banks: Fame, Tantrums, and the Seeds of Empire (Part 4)
Episode 127
Fresh from fame and flush with ambition, Joseph Banks sets out to remake the world in his own image. But what happens when celebrity curdles into ent…
5 months, 2 weeks ago
Joseph Banks: Death and Survival (Part 3)
Episode 126
What happens when discovery turns to disaster — and survival hangs on a sliver of luck? How close did Joseph Banks come to losing everything he had c…
5 months, 3 weeks ago
Joseph Banks: The Endeavour Sets Sail (Part 2)
Episode 125
What happened when Joseph Banks finally put to sea - and discovery left the comfort of gardens behind? How would a voyage meant to advance science co…
6 months ago
Joseph Banks: Weeds Over Greek (Part 1)
Episode 124
Who was Joseph Banks before he became the most powerful botanist in the British Empire? How did a wealthy, restless young man turn a childhood fascin…
6 months, 1 week ago