KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts

KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond

Rebecca McInroy

Sidney Mintz (Extended Interview)

“Most of all I would like more coming to terms with what happened…I think what needs to be done is for all of my fellow citizens in this country to understand what happened and to be able to say, this is what was done and now we must think about how to make the playing field level for all of us in this country, and by some ways for all of us eventually in the world. Because we can’t live by ignoring that past.” –Sidney Mintz

In this bonus edition of The Secret Ingredient, Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy revisit the conversation with anthropologist Sidney Mintz about his seminal work “Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar In Modern History.”

The interview took place in September of 2015 and later that year on December 27th Dr. Mintz passed away.

In this extended interview, Mintz not only takes us through our prehistoric relationship to sweetness–from the bloody history of slavery and sugar production to our current state of the mass production and consumption of sweetness worldwide, but he also talks about his development as an anthropologist and thinker. He discusses his time as a student of anthropology and how he was able to study in Puerto Rico, along with who was influencing his thinking at the time. He also talks about how factories developed on the sugar plantations and the way slavery developed in the New World, as well as the role this brutal past plays in current volatile racial relations in the U.S.

As hurricanes continue to wreak havoc on the Caribbean and our hearts go out to all those who are suffering, we look to Mintz for wisdom and guidance in the days ahead.

Life After Loss: How to Reshape, Move On and Let it Go

A traumatic event in life is like a scratch on a record. Every time the record player, or your mind, runs over the scratch, it skips. This skipping record thought pattern is called rumination. Until we’re able to fill the scratch, it will keep skipping. So how do we fill the scratch, move on and heal? On this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the various ways we live with and explain grief, and they offer some strategies that might help it make sense.

Imposter Syndrome (Rebroadcast)

Most people feel in over their heads when they first enter a challenging situation or even a new job. And, while conventional wisdom suggests those with trepidations about trying new things should “fake it ’til they make it,” it may not always be the best course of action.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Bob Duke and Dr. Art Markman discuss what’s known as “imposter syndrome” — the practice of pretending to be the person you want people to see you as rather than who you truly are — and explain why it may just be better to just start working towards your goals instead of faking it.

Strawberries: Julie Guthman (Ep 27.)

“Strawberries is kind of the quintessence of industrial agriculture in California. It’s the fifth highest value crop in the state. It also got the most heavy pesticide regime, by far, of any other crop in the state. And it kind of captures so much of the dynamics of what’s going on in California.“-Julie Guthman

In this edition of The Secret Ingredient Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy talk with Dr. Julie Guthman about strawberry production, what’s happening with chemicals and fumigants in the strawberry fields today, and where she sees hope in the food movement.

T-Bone Walker (5.28.17)

T-Bone Walker was an American Blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who’s sound and technique influenced generations of blues artists and helped create the foundation for what would become rock and roll.

In this installment of Liner Notes Rabbi and jazz historian, Neil Blumofe talks about how the life and legacy of T-Bone Walker can teach us to value being grounded and dedicated to fully knowing ourselves instead of trying to catch up with the latest trends.

Seed Saving: Janet Maro (Ep. 26)

“Life begins with the seed germinating…we depend on seed and most of the seed is the seed we will produce, have it, save and use in the next planting season. That’s what most of the farmers in Tanzania still do… It was inherited for generations and generations.” –Janet Maro

The seed exchange system that Maro speaks about is currently under threat in Tanzania. Assistance organizations in that country that are seeking to help small farms also supported regulations that banned seed-sharing – a generations-old practice among small-scale farmers. Tanzania passed legislation that made it illegal to share seeds as a condition for receiving development assistance through the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (NAFSN). You can read more about the legislation in this article.

In this episode of The Secret Ingredient, we wanted to find out more about this new law, so Raj Patel, Tom Philpott, and Rebecca McInroy called up Janet Maro, head of Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT).

Since this show was recorded in December of last year, Maro said that SAT had a seed stakeholders platform, in which farmers met with Tanzanian officials to discuss the ramifications of the law. Although the small-scale farmers gained more clarity about the overall effects of seed-sharing, she says, they still want exemption from penalties as a result of seed-sharing.

Nutritionism: Aya Kimura (Ep. 25)

James Baldwin said, “the purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been hidden by the answers.” When considering this sentiment in relationship to “nutritionism” one might look at Aya Kimura‘s book, Hidden Hunger: Gender and the Politics of Smarter Foods, as a work of “art” as she explores the questions that remain after the “experts” answer problems of micronutrient deficiencies with the science of fortification and biofortification.

In the latest edition of The Secret Ingredient, Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy talk with Kimura about food and culture, market forces, and what is lost when the “western savior comes in to rescue the global south.”

V&B – Postcards From the Great Divide

Taking a quote from former US speaker of the house Tip O’Neil, we ask if “all politics is local” why were pollsters, politicians, analysts, pundits, and practically everyone surprised by the election of Donald Trump? What part was not understood? The “politics” or the “local”? Here with me to screen parts of the PBS series “Postcards From The Great Divide” and talk about the role of small town

In this edition of Views and Brews, hosted by Rebecca McInroy, we explore the PBS series “Postcards From The Great Divide” and talk about the role of small town America in politics today with filmmaker and lecturer in Radio, TV, and film at The University of Texas at Austin, Miguel Alvarez; Chair of The Department of Radio-TV and Film at UT and documentarian Paul Stekler; and political analyst, strategist and consultant Matthew Dowd.

Nutrition: Joan Gussow (Ep. 24)

“Once in a while, I thin I’ve had an original thought, then I look and read around and realize Joan said it first.” -Michael Pollan

We take for granted now that part of being healthy is eating a variety of whole foods, but not so long ago talking about food was taboo in the field of nutrition.

In this episode of The Secret Ingredient Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy talk to Dr. Joan Gussow. Gussow is the author of many books including The Feeding Web, The Nutrition Debate and Growing, Older: A Chronicle of Death, Life, and Vegetables. The New York Times has called her, “The matriarch of the eat-locally-think-globally food movement.“

Privacy

Understanding what we want to make public and what we want to keep private might seem like an easy choice, however as Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss in this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, when it comes to life on-line our brains aren’t quite equip to navigate the complexity of this issue.

Coincidence (Rebroadcast)

Have you ever thought of a friend you haven’t seen in a long time only to run into them the same day? Have you ever thought of a historical figure and had that same person be a clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle?

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke explain the psychology behind coincidence and why looking at the world through a more mathematical lens might help people see things differently.

Stuart Hall Live (Ep. 7)

Listen back to our Views and Brews discussion from December 13, 2016 with KUT’s Rebecca McInroy, along with sociologist Ben Carrington, art historian Cherise Smith, and journalist Steven Thrasher of The Guardian.
They talk about the life and legacy of Stuart Hall and take audience questions.
Who was Stuart Hall? What can his ideas teach us about populist politics, the importance of the visual arts, and the role of the media in our current social and political moment?

V&B: Stuart Hall

Listen back to our Views and Brews discussion from December 13, 2016 with KUT’s Rebecca McInroy, along with sociologist Ben Carrington, art historian Cherise Smith, and journalist Steven Thrasher of The Guardian.
They talk about the life and legacy of Stuart Hall and take audience questions.
Who was Stuart Hall? What can his ideas teach us about populist politics, the importance of the visual arts, and the role of the media in our current social and political moment?

(Bush) Tea: Annalee Davis (Ep. 21)

“The history of slavery in the Caribbean is traumatic. It’s a difficult legacy and I don’t think that it’s been well processed. So the serving of tea becomes this way to sort of address that. To consider, how can we move forward? What does it look like to think about healing in a space like that?” -Annalee Davis
Annalee Davis is a Barbadian artist and activist, whose work addresses the complicated legacy of slavery in the Caribbean. On this edition of The Secret Ingredient Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy enjoy her serving of (Bush) Tea at the KUT studios in Austin, Texas where she was preparing to open her show This Ground Beneath My Feet – A Chorus of Bush in Rab Lands at the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her exhibition is on view until December 15, 2016.

Kindness

We might think that human beings are innately kind or innately cruel, as it turns out neither is fully true. Kindness is one of those things that is a learned behavior. The more we practice kindness the more we, and others around us, tend to practice the same behavior.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the psychology of kindness.

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