Episodes

August 12, 2016

TSI Weekend: Zika

“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 […]

Listen

August 10, 2016

Cotton: Sven Beckert (Ep. 17)

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, […]

Listen

July 2, 2016

TSI Weekend: Nationalism

“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 […]

Listen

June 27, 2016

Breast Milk: Kimberly Seals Allers (Ep. 16)

“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 […]

Listen

June 10, 2016

Pathogens: Rob Wallace (Ep. 15)

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.

Listen

May 10, 2016

Nationalism: Arjun Appadurai (Ep. 14)

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 […]

Listen

May 5, 2016

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

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 […]

Listen

April 15, 2016

The Peasantry: Blain Snipstal (Ep. 13)

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.

Listen