Podcast Episodes
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Reinventing the Eel
Aristotle thought they were born out of mud. A young Sigmund Freud dedicated himself to finding their testicles (spoiler alert, he failed). And a leg…
3 years, 10 months ago
Monsanto or MonSatan? How—and Why—a St. Louis Startup Became a Hated Herbicide Giant
A chemical that kills the plants you don’t want—weeds—and keeps the plants you do—food!—seems kind of like magic. After all, weeds are the bane of fa…
3 years, 10 months ago
The Way the Cookie Crumbles
If you’ve baked up a batch of chocolate chip cookies, enjoyed a nice cup of tea and biscuits, or somehow scarfed a sleeve of Oreos, you will know tha…
3 years, 11 months ago
Black Gold: The Future of Food...We Throw Away
For a few weeks in 1987, trash was temporarily headline news: a barge filled with waste that would no longer fit in New York City's overflowing landf…
3 years, 11 months ago
Gum's the Word: A Sticky Story
It’s sticky, it’s breath-freshening, and, according to the FDA, it’s technically food—this episode, we’re chewing on the science and history of gum! …
4 years ago
Déjà-Brew: How Coffee Got Bad, Then Worse, and, Finally, Good Again
If you hopped in a time machine for a cup of coffee from a 17th-century London coffeehouse, you would probably be a bit disappointed by their stale, …
4 years ago
Grounds for Revolution: the Stimulating Story of How Coffee Shaped the World
About 400 years ago, a dark and mysterious stranger arrived in Europe and sent the jitters—really, shock waves—through society. That newcomer was the…
4 years, 1 month ago
The Fortune Cookie Quest
No dish of General Tso's, chow mein, or beef and broccoli is complete without a fortune cookie at the end. In fact, factories churn out an estimated …
4 years, 1 month ago
Guest Episode: Graveyard Cookies and Dollhouse Crimes
Gastropod is excited to present this guest episode—actually, two episodes—from the podcast Atlas Oscura: one all about the Spritz Cookie Gravestone a…
4 years, 1 month ago
Mango Mania: How the American Mango Lost its Flavor—and How it Might Just Get it Back (encore)
Mangoes inspire passion, particularly in India, which is home to hundreds of varieties of the fruit. They are celebrated in Indian music, poetry, and…
4 years, 2 months ago