Best Cynthia Graber Podcasts (2025)

1
Feasting With Montezuma: Food and Farming in a Floating City 56:26

9d ago56:26

56:26

Five centuries ago, before Spanish conquistadors arrived, what's now Mexico City was the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan—and it took the European invaders' breath away. It was built on an island threaded with canals; it was one of the largest cities in the world; and the Spanish could hardly believe the sheer volume of food sold in the city's main ma…

1
Bananageddon! Say Goodbye to the Banana, and Hello to the Weird and Wonderful World of Bananas, Plural 54:13

25d ago54:13

54:13

Yes, it's true: the banana we know and love is going the way of the dodo bird. An incurable strain of the fungal Panama disease known as TR4 is currently wiping out tens of thousands of acres of banana plantations, from Malaysia to Australia and Mozambique to El Salvador. But what's bananas is that this has all happened before! Is history doomed to…

1
Going Bananas: How a Tropical Treat Became the World's Favorite Fruit 50:11

1M ago50:11

50:11

In 1870, a strange fruit arrived on the docks in New Jersey, starting an industry that would change the world. That fruit was a banana, and, although it was a staple food in tropical regions, most Americans had never tried one. Today, a century and a half later, even the most depressing gas station, corner store, or hotel breakfast buffet in the la…

1
Do We Really Have Beer to Thank for the First Writing and Cities? 55:58

2M ago55:58

55:58

Humanity's love affair with beer goes *way* back: 5,000 years ago, the civilization that arose in Mesopotamia invented writing, and one of the very first things they wrote about was... beer! But where was beer itself invented? This episode, we've got the story of beer's origins, the debate over whether humanity domesticated grains for brewing or fo…

1
Seed Oil Scare: The Curious Case of Canola 51:46

2M ago51:46

51:46

If you've been hearing that canola is a killer, you're not alone. It's one of the so-called "hateful eight" seed oils: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says it's among the most deadly things you can eat, and Joe Rogan agrees. But is it true? This episode, we get to the bottom of the debate over the plant formerly (and still, in some places) known as rapeseed…

1
Nutrition Advice Decoded: What Foods Are Actually Good For Us, What Should We Avoid, and Why Is It All SO Confusing? 1:00:33

3M ago1:00:33

1:00:33

Are eggs going to give you high cholesterol, or are they the base of a great protein-rich meal? Will coffee give you cancer, or will it help you live longer? If you're confused about what nutrition science has to say about which foods are healthy and which are not, you're not alone. But why is it so hard to figure out what's good for us, and why do…

1
The Rise and Fall of Quinoa: From Incan "Superfood" to Buddha Bowl Basic 51:38

3M ago51:38

51:38

Quinoa is everywhere these days, the base for a million salads and grain bowls. But, until recently, barely anyone outside the nutritious seed's ancient's homeland—the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes—had ever heard of it. This week, we're telling the story of how a gorgeous spinach-like plant traditionally grown in a remote, high-altitude region of Sou…

1
The Shocking True Story of the World's First Seed Bank—And The Scientists Who Sacrificed Their Lives to Save It 50:39

4M ago50:39

50:39

During World War II, the Soviet city of Leningrad was surrounded, cut off from food supplies for nearly two and a half years. People were desperate: they ate boiled leather, machine oil, toothpaste, and wallpaper paste just to stay alive. But, in the center of the city, a group of botanists spent their days surrounded by food that they refused to t…

1
No Buzz Booze: The History and Science of Going Low- or No-Alcohol 55:55

4M ago55:55

55:55

Dry January may be over, but, for many people, drinking less alcohol or none at all is an increasingly common choice year-round. And, unlike in the past, when dealcoholized options were few and far between—and had a well-deserved reputation for tasting bad—there’s now a booming market for non-alcoholic beers, wines, canned cocktails, and even spiri…

1
Moon Rocks Wanted (guest episode) 40:53

5M ago40:53

40:53

(Guest episode) On September 18, 1998, an unusual ad ran in USA Today — a company called John's Estate Sales was looking to buy a moon rock. But the phone number on the ad didn't lead to, say, a store front in a strip mall. Instead, the phone number belonged to Special Agent Joe Gutheinz at NASA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoic…

1
Is My Dentist Scamming Me? (guest episode) 48:25

5M ago48:25

48:25

(Guest episode) Matt wants to know how to tell if he’s being scammed by his dentist. To find the answer, we open up the surprising history of dentistry, ask why it seems so different from internal medicine, and drill down on why dental insurance doesn’t really feel like insurance. Explain It To Me's host Jonquilyn Hill talks with journalist Mary Ot…

1
Why Are Kids Dipping Cookies in Ranch, Are Food Comas Real, and What's Inside the Mummy's Stomach? 55:19

6M ago55:19

55:19

Just in time for the holidays, Ask Gastropod is back with a plate full of listener questions for your listening delight! You came to us with mysteries both large and small, both ancient and eternal, and, honestly, all totally fascinating. Such as: What is up with ranch dressing, and how did a bottled salad dressing invented by a plumber and owned b…

1
Hacking Taste (encore) 45:58

6M ago45:58

45:58

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 that it's intimately connected to obesity, mood, immunity, and more. In this episode, we get into the science of how taste works, why we taste what we…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Cynthia Graber Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

1
Feasting With Montezuma: Food and Farming in a Floating City 56:26

1
Bananageddon! Say Goodbye to the Banana, and Hello to the Weird and Wonderful World of Bananas, Plural 54:13

1
Going Bananas: How a Tropical Treat Became the World's Favorite Fruit 50:11

1
Do We Really Have Beer to Thank for the First Writing and Cities? 55:58

1
Seed Oil Scare: The Curious Case of Canola 51:46

1
Nutrition Advice Decoded: What Foods Are Actually Good For Us, What Should We Avoid, and Why Is It All SO Confusing? 1:00:33

1
The Rise and Fall of Quinoa: From Incan "Superfood" to Buddha Bowl Basic 51:38

1
The Shocking True Story of the World's First Seed Bank—And The Scientists Who Sacrificed Their Lives to Save It 50:39

1
No Buzz Booze: The History and Science of Going Low- or No-Alcohol 55:55

1
Moon Rocks Wanted (guest episode) 40:53

1
Is My Dentist Scamming Me? (guest episode) 48:25

1
Why Are Kids Dipping Cookies in Ranch, Are Food Comas Real, and What's Inside the Mummy's Stomach? 55:19

1
Hacking Taste (encore) 45:58

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