We’re back on our grain train! This week, we’re talking about wheat’s trip across the Atlantic, the role that railroads (yet again) play in the rise of a beloved food in the United States, and how a century of revolution in Europe allowed American farmers to feed the world. Finally, we discuss the rise of Chicago.
Wheat Streets 4: London Falling
It was only a matter of time. As we continue our stories on wheat, we return to a very familiar theme: bread and revolution. This time we’re continuing last week’s discussion and finally exploring how the peasants took out their anger on the millers. We discuss the medieval farming practices, the storming of the Tower of London, and the Lutheran Reformation. Finally, we revisit the Canterbury Tales.
Wheat Streets 3: Milling About
This week, we’ve got another addition to our bread series and things are getting personal. We talk about why everyone hated the millers, how peasants avoided eating bread, and how pubs became central to medieval English villages. Finally, we discuss Chaucer.
Wheat Streets 2: Roman around
This week, we continue our bread series, and this time, we go from Egypt to Rome. And with our entrance to Rome, we explore burdensome Roman economics, analyze Jesus’s bread and loaves, and revisit our old discussions of grain and revolution. We conclude our discussion just as Rome did – with the fall of the Roman empire.
Wheat Streets: The Bread Books, pt. 1
We’re starting a new staple series, and this time, we’re turning to Oprah’s favorite carb, bread. In this episode, we start at the very beginning and explore how a hard seed that broke people’s teeth became the central food for some of the oldest civilizations in the world. We discuss the how women probably invented agriculture, where the first sourdough starter was invented, and how a changing climate gave us civilization. Finally, we talk about underwater archaeology.
Veni, Vidi, Edi: A Brief History of the Caesar Salad
This week, we’re taking a respite from 19th century political turmoil in Europe and taking our podcast westward – to America! We discuss prohibition, how an Italian immigrant in San Francisco ended up in Tijuana and created a famous salad, or maybe how he might have stole it. Finally, we analyze the many iterations of fast food caesar salad offerings.
House of the Herrs
Another week, another revolution. This week, we’re moving on from France to Central Europe to talk about the revolutions of 1848. We discuss lost German dialects in Texas, the long-lasting legacy of Central Europe’s revolutions on Hill Country, and why Texas barbecue is so special. Finally, we give reading recommendations.
Of Filo and Honey
This week, we’re leaving behind France and moving east to talk about another land of flaky pastry: the Middle East. We discuss the controversial beginnings of baklava, how the Iranians came up with possibly the best name for a dessert ever, and a diplomatic dust up involving baklava, Barack Obama, and Greece-Turkey relations. Finally, the geography of the Iliad.
The French Breadvolution
This week we’re returning with a very delayed episode on bread. If last time was about the precursor to the French Revolution, this week, we’re in the thick of it as we watch Louis XIV repeat the mistakes he made a decade ago. This week, we revisit our discussions about grain markets, hit up the greatest hits of the first wave of the French Revolution and follow angry French women marching across Paris. Finally, we discuss Marie Antoinette.
Bread: The Song of Angry Men
This week, we start part 1 of our two part series on the French Revolution by talking about the precursor: the Flour War. We discuss the importance of grain prices, the origins of capitalism, and the complete mess that was known as the Ancien Régime. Finally, we discuss how taxes work in Massachusetts.
A special thanks to the Revolutions Podcast and Cynthia Bouton for providing the bulk of today’s source materials.