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Gastropod

Gastropod

By: Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley
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Summary

 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.2021 Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley Art Cooking Food & Wine Science World
Episodes
  • Feel the Beet: The Most Fascinating Woman You've Never Heard Of

    Feel the Beet: The Most Fascinating Woman You've Never Heard Of
    May 5 2026
    For those who like its earthy flavor, the humble beet can do a lot for a salad or a soup. But could it help end slavery? In the 1800s, one woman believed it could—and she wasn't just any old woman. This episode, meet Lydia Maria Child, who wrote the first children's periodical magazine, the first New England historical novel, and one of America's first successful self-help books—all before she turned thirty, in an era where women were still considered property. This episode, we've got the fascinating story of why she bet big on beets, as well as how, more than a century later, Wolfgang Puck and Martha Stewart paired this much maligned vegetable with goat cheese to spark today's beet renaissance. Meanwhile, for the haters among us: is it possible to de-beet the beet, and get rid of that earthy flavor altogether? Listen in now as we meet the astonishing Lydia Maria Child, in the curious tale of the beet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    45 mins
  • White vs. Wheat: The Food Fight of the Centuries

    White vs. Wheat: The Food Fight of the Centuries
    Apr 21 2026
    White or whole wheat: while today the question is most frequently asked at the sandwich counter, the debate over the correct answer goes back literally thousands of years. This episode, we dive into the world's longest-running, highest-stakes food fight. Along the way: the invention of sliced bread, the science behind Wonder Bread's curious bounce, and a light dusting of eugenics. Will either win the bread war once and for all? (encore) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    53 mins
  • Protein, Pyramids, and Politics: The Forgotten Stories and Controversial Science Behind Government Dietary Advice

    Protein, Pyramids, and Politics: The Forgotten Stories and Controversial Science Behind Government Dietary Advice
    Apr 7 2026
    ICYMI, our old friend the food pyramid has been flipped on its head. The Trump administration recently issued new dietary guidelines that it says will "revolutionize our nation's food culture." It's a bold claim—but since when has the government been in the business of telling us what to eat in the first place? How does it know how much of each nutrient will keep us healthy, and why are all the different forms of this advice—the Recommended Daily Allowances or RDAs, those Daily Values on food packaging nutrition labels, and the ever-shifting food pyramid—so confusing, and even contradictory? This episode, we're going back to the beginning to make sense of it all, with some help from pioneering women scientists, horses in obstacle courses, and, of course, Dick Van Dyke. Grab your climbing gear and join us to scale the food pyramid, wade through the swamp of alphabet soup acronyms, and, finally, figure out what this all has to do with what ends up on your plate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    55 mins
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