The Secret Ingredient

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TSI Weekend: Zika Aug 12, 2016

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“If you divorce economy from ecology then you end up crumbling the mechanisms by which the forest has typically been able to keep the worst of the pathogens from emerging beyond merely hitting a village or two.” -Rob Wallace

In this edition of The Secret Ingredient Weekend, Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy summarize our show with evolutionary biologist, Rob Wallace, author of “Big Farms Make Big Flu: Dispatches on Infection Disease, Agribusiness, and the Nature of Science.”

Cotton: Sven Beckert (Ep. 17) Aug 10, 2016

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Cotton. Not quite a food item, but a plant nonetheless with a rather complicated history and an enduring relevance in our lives. Today, a typical day cannot pass without using this pillowy crop that rules our commodified lives.

In this edition of the Secret Ingredient with Raj Patel, Tom Philpott, and Rebecca McInroy: Sven Beckert, Harvard University professor, historian, and author of the 2014 book “Empire of Cotton,” discusses the significance of cotton as the most important commodity of the 19^th century, as well as the violent history cotton production has in the Southern United States, and most importantly the pivotal role cotton plays in the enterprise of capitalism we know today.

We ‘d also like to welcome a very special guest to our show for a new segment called “Letter From a Correspondent,” it’s the world-renowned economist Dr. James K. Galbraith; author of, most recently, “Welcome to the Poisoned Chalice The Destruction of Greece and the Future of Europe.”

TSI Weekend: Nationalism Jul 02, 2016

Show notes

“It is the most artificial thing that humans have ever built,” says Appadurai of nationalism. “That seems the most natural.”

In this edition of The Secret Ingredient Weekend, Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy summarize our show with Dr. Arjun Appadurai about food and nationalism – food trucks, Maggi noodles, cook books and much more.

Breast Milk: Kimberly Seals Allers (Ep. 16) Jun 27, 2016

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“When it comes to breastfeeding the ideal of choice verses the illusion of choice are two very different things,” argues Kimberly Seals Allers when talking about her new book, “The Big Let Down: How Medicine, Big Business and Feminism Undermine Breastfeeding.”

In this edition of The Secret Ingredient Allers makes the distinction between choices and options, and illustrates the confounding paradoxes when it comes to babies, mothers and health.

Pathogens: Rob Wallace (Ep. 15) Jun 11, 2016

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In this episode of The Secret Ingredient we talk with Rob Wallace, author of “Big Farms Make Big Flu: Dispatches on Infectious Disease, Agribusiness, and the Nature of Science,” about pathogens, zika, bird flu, capitalism, and so much more.

Nationalism: Arjun Appadurai (Ep. 14) May 10, 2016

Show notes

People are interesting animals. We look to many things to help us understand our place and identity in this world. We have maps, passports, languages, families, clothes, books and (among so much more) we also have food.

At first thought, we might not consider food as part of our identity. We might have toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, soup for dinner and go to bed not thinking much about how that relationship to food constructs, not only your psychical bodies, but also our national identities.

We might not think much of it, but anthropologist Arjun Appadurai does.

“It is the most artificial thing that humans have ever built,” says Appadurai of nationalism. “That seems the most natural.”

In this edition of The Secret Ingredient, Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy talk with Dr. Arjun Appadurai about food and nationalism – food trucks, Maggi noodles, cook books and much more.

V&B – The Past, Present, and Future of The Greek Economy May 05, 2016

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In this episode of Views & Brews, KUT’s Rebecca McInroy joins the hosts of KUT’s The Secret Ingredient podcast, Tom Philpott and Raj Patel, as they sit down with the eminent economist James K. Galbraith author of the forthcoming “Welcome to the Poisoned Chalice: The Destruction of Greece and the Future of Europe” to talk inequality, the Greek debacle, prospects for social democracy in America, and more.

The Peasantry: Blain Snipstal (Ep. 13) Apr 15, 2016

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Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy talk with peasant farmer Blain Snipstal about the history of agriculture and racism in America, power, food sovereignty, La Via Campesina, land, and much more.

SXSW: Tech & The Future of Food Apr 11, 2016

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In this special SXSW edition of The Secret Ingredient, Tom Philpott, Rebecca McInroy and Raj Patel talk about technologies that will shape the future of food. Technologies, as it turns out, that might surprise you, mainly biodiversity, and gender equality.

Listen back to this discussion, recorded live at the Convention Center in Austin, Texas for SXSW 2016.

Quinoa: Tanya Kerssen (Ep. 12) Apr 06, 2016

Show notes

“While no one would argue that Bolivian farmers shouldn’t get a good price for their crop, these trends cannot be ignored—or left up to global market forces. Perhaps most tragic of all is that this boom (and booms are always followed by a bust) is leading the poorest, most vulnerable farmers to degrade their own environment—i.e. the material basis for their very survival and cultural identity—in the name of short-term food security.” Tanya Kerseen “Quinoa: To Buy or Not to Buy…Is This the Right Question?”

In this edition of TSI, Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy talk qunioa with Tanya Kerssen, author of Grabbing Power: The New Struggles for Land, Food, and Democracy in Northern Honduras.

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