Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchHacking Taste (encore)
Taste is the oldest of our five senses, and yet perhaps the least understood. It's far more complicated than salty versus sweet: new research is dramatically expanding our knowledge of taste, showing…
Published on 9 months, 3 weeks ago
The Curiously Strong Story of Mint
What’s the coolest flavor of the holiday season? It's peppermint, obviously, and it’s showing up in everything from coffee to chocolate and cookies to ice cream right now. But while standing in line …
Published on 10 months ago
Dishwashing Debates: The Soapy Science Behind Everyone's Favorite Chore
Next week, the US celebrates the dishwashing Olympics—also known as Thanksgiving. But how best to tackle the washing-up after the big meal can cause as much conflict as your uncle’s hot takes at the …
Published on 10 months, 2 weeks ago
V is for Vitamin (encore)
They're added to breakfast cereal, bread, and even Pop-Tarts, giving the sweetest, most processed treats a halo of health. Most people pop an extra dose for good measure, perhaps washing it down with…
Published on 10 months, 3 weeks ago
Bringing Salmon Home: The Story of the World's Largest Dam Removal Project
The Klamath River on the California-Oregon border was once the third largest salmon river in the continental U.S. There were so many fish, indigenous histories claim that you could cross the river wa…
Published on 11 months ago
Potatoes in Space! (encore)
Today, a half century after Neil Armstrong took one small step onto the surface of the Moon, there are still just ten humans living in space—the crew of the International Space Station. But, after de…
Published on 11 months, 1 week ago
Absinthe: The World's Most Dangerous Drink?
To painters and poets in late-1800s France, absinthe was "the green muse" or the "green fairy," an almost magical potion that promised vivid dreams, wild ideas, and artistic inspiration with every si…
Published on 11 months, 3 weeks ago
From Trash to Treasure: Why's It So Hard to Save Restaurant Leftovers From the Dumpster?
Every day, at the end of service, restaurants throw away tons of entirely edible food: heaps of pastries and whole loaves of bread, vegetables chopped but not cooked, noodle dough, fish off-cuts, and…
Published on 1 year ago
Smashing Pumpkin Myths: What's Big, Orange, and Having an Identity Crisis?
It’s already begun: that time of the year now known across the land as Decorative Gourd Season. Squash are everywhere—carved into jack o’lanterns on front porches, adorning our sideboards and porches…
Published on 1 year ago
Meet the Queen of Kiwi: The 96-Year-Old Woman Who Transformed America's Produce Aisle (ENCORE)
The produce section of most American supermarkets in the 1950s was minimal to a fault, with only a few dozen fruits and vegetables to choose from: perhaps one kind of apple, one kind of lettuce, a ye…
Published on 1 year ago