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Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit
Botanically, bean pods are indeed fruits, and, honestly, they are also pretty magical. And we’re clearly not the only ones to think that: beans are t…
2 years, 5 months ago
Raised and Glazed: Don’t Doubt the Doughnut
Doughnuts are ubiquitous in the United States: whether you're at party, a coffee shop, or the break room at work, you’re likely to find a box of iced…
2 years, 5 months ago
We'd Like to Teach The World to Slurp: The Weird and Wonderful Story of Ramen's Rise to Glory
Savory, chewy, and, above all, slurp-able, a delicious bowl of ramen is one of the triumphs of Japanese cuisine. That's also a bit odd, because, for …
2 years, 5 months ago
First Foods: Learning to Eat (encore)
How do we learn to eat? It may seem like an obvious question, but it's actually quite a complicated process. Who decided that mushed-up vegetables we…
2 years, 6 months ago
All Aboard the Tuna Rollercoaster! Join the King of Fish for a Wild Ride that Involves Ernest Hemingway and (of course) Jane Fonda
A bluefin tuna can grow to the size of a car, weigh twice as much as a grand piano, swim as fast as a running lion, and keep its muscles at human bod…
2 years, 6 months ago
The Keto Paradox: Fad Diet *and* Life-Saving Medical Treatment
What do some epilepsy patients have in common with tech bros, bodybuilders, and Joe Rogan? The high-fat, carb-shunning diet known as keto, whose hist…
2 years, 7 months ago
Secrets of Sourdough (encore)
Today, you can find a huge variety of breads on supermarket shelves, only a few of which are called "sourdough." For most of human history, though, a…
2 years, 7 months ago
Watch It Wiggle: The Jell-O Story (encore)
It's been described as the ultimate status symbol for the wealthy, as the perfect solution for dieters and the sick, and, confusingly, as a liquid tr…
2 years, 7 months ago
Where's the Beef? Lab-Grown Meat is Finally on the Menu
Can we really have our burger, eat it—and never need to kill a cow? Growing meat outside of animals—in a lab or, these days, in shiny steel bioreacto…
2 years, 8 months ago
The Incredible Egg (encore)
We love eggs scrambled, fried, or poached; we couldn't enjoy a quiche, meringue, or flan without them. But for scientists and archaeologists, these p…
2 years, 8 months ago