Gastropod

Biweekly episodes on the science and history behind food and farming AI summary

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley Visit website › Arts · EN · 299 episodes · latest 2026-11-03

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What it is about

Food with a side of science and history. Every other week, co-hosts Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley serve up a brand new episode exploring the hidden history and surprising science behind a different food- or farming-related topic, from aquaculture to ancient feasts, from cutlery to chile peppers, and from microbes to Malbec. We interview experts, visit labs, fields, and archaeological digs, and generally have lots of fun while discovering new ways to think about and understand the world through food. Find us online at gastropod.com, follow us on Twitter @gastropodcast, and like us on Facebook at facebook.com/gastropodcast.

Publisher’s own description, taken unchanged from the podcast feed.
2021 Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

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Latest episodes

Free Food: The Rise, Fall, and Return of Foraging

2026-11-03 · 48 min

For most of human history, humans have fed ourselves by foraging, with a little bit of hunting when we were lucky—think more gatherer than hunter. Picking edible greens, nuts, fruits, roots, and mushrooms kept us alive…
The Big Apple Episode

2026-10-20 · 58 min

There’s nothing more American than apple pie—or is there? We might prescribe an apple a day and call our largest city the Big Apple, but this legendary fruit originally hails from the mountains of Kazakhstan. This…
Fibermaxxing FTW: Meet the Neglected Nutrient That's the Key to Health

2026-10-06 · 52 min

Move over protein, it's time to fibermaxx! Fiber has always been the neglected stepchild of nutrients: it's never been seen as essential, and some of its earliest enthusiasts were poop-obsessed oddballs. Take the…
Eat Bison to Save Bison

2026-09-22 · 48 min

For tens of thousands of years, North America was bison country. Millions of these giant, shaggy animals—also known as buffalo—roamed from the far north to the Gulf and from the east coast to the west. They defined the…
Plant Milk Proliferation: Oat, Soy, Almond, and More, But Which Is Best?

2026-09-08 · 49 min

Cow milk is out, and plant milk reigns supreme. At least, that's how it feels in the supermarket these days, where the refrigerated section is full of "milk" made from oats, almonds, peanuts, coconuts, soy, macadamia…
So Hot Right Now: Why We Love the Chile Pepper

2026-08-18 · 48 min

Perhaps no other plant is as entwined with pain and pleasure as the chile pepper. But why does it burn—and why on earth do we crave that uncomfortable sensation? How did capsaicin's fungus-fighting, digestion-enhancing,…
Salad Days: A Story of Science, Sexism, and Jell-O

2026-08-04 · 45 min

If leafy greens and a little vinaigrette is salad, and chicken with mayo is salad, and vegetables in Jello-O are ALSO salad… What exactly is salad?! That's the big question we're tackling this episode—and it takes us…
Where There's Smoke, There's...Whiskey, Fish, and Barbecue!

2026-07-21 · 51 min

As anyone who’s spent time by a crackling campfire or a barbecue pit can attest, the scent of smoke is unmistakable—and surprisingly mysterious. Smoke clings to clothing but vanishes in the breeze. You see it, but you…
America's Forbidden Fruit and Forgotten First Soda: Ask Gastropod

2026-07-07 · 50 min

Fan favorite Ask Gastropod is back, and we’re celebrating the season by solving a pair of trans-Atlantic mysteries! First up: if you have a purple candy in Europe, it’s nearly guaranteed to be flavored with a tart…
Bringing Home the Bacon: From Shakespeare to the Baconator

2026-06-23 · 48 min

For many Americans, bacon is an essential element of the perfect breakfast—not to mention a welcome addition to everything from cheeseburgers to doughnuts. But bacon hasn't always been beloved. Ancient Egyptians elites…

Episode details from the publisher’s feed. Playback happens at the publisher.

Publisher details

Oldest episode in feed: 09/2014 · over 12 years
Typical length: 46 min
Format: Episodic Newest first, episodes stand alone

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