Gastropod

We aren't afraid to ask the big questions here at Gastropod, such as: what exactly is a pancake? If you think you know the answer, prepare to have your mind blown. It turns out the sweet, syrup-covered stack of American breakfast fame are far from the only members of the pancake family—and there are some truly controversial cakes in the wider pan family. Speaking of controversy: if you've made instant pancakes from a certain famous mix, you might not realize the racist history behind it. Join us for the shocking story of Aunt Jemima, stay for the great pancake debate, and don't blame us if you end up craving something flattish, fluffy, and floppy for your next meal! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For many people with disabilities, the kitchen can seem a deeply unfriendly place. From counters that require users to stand and cabinets that are often out of reach, to ovens that can’t be opened in mobility chairs and tools that are hard to grip or difficult to read—cooking can seem like an impossible challenge. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, since the mid-1900s, researchers, designers, and people with disabilities have worked together to reimagine the kitchen in ways that have made it better for all of us. Listen in for this hidden history behind many of your favorite cooking tools, from OXO Good Grips to the Cuisinart food processor, as well as the inspiring stories of how today's blind and disabled cooks have hacked their kitchens to achieve both dinner deliciousness and culinary glory. All that, plus cameos from the household names who turn out to be accessibility legends: Betty Crocker and Julia Child! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re coming up to AvocadoFest 2026, otherwise known as the Super Bowl, when Americans get fully a fifth of their annual avocado allocation. But how did this humble fruit, originally named after testicles, get from its Mexican forest home to a tattoo on Miley Cyrus's upper arm? This episode, we unravel the avocado's amazing journey, a story that involves not only conquistadors and cartel violence, but also a Southern California postman and actress Angie Dickinson lounging in a white leotard. And we discover where the avocado is headed next—a place where it's known as the butter fruit, and often consumed in shake form. Listen in now for all this creamy green goodness and more. (encore) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Canned tomatoes are a perfect winter food. As you'll know from our tomato episode, the beautiful fruits in fresh aisle of the supermarket are mostly flavorless outside of the summer season—but the tomatoes that get packed in a can are cheap, readily available, and, most importantly, delicious year-round. This episode, we have the stories of how turtle poop, full English fry-ups, and an Italian romance helped turn the canned tomato into a pantry hero. Plus, are San Marzanos really the best tasting option out there? We've got the juicy tips you need to score the ultimate tomato fix, no matter the season! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The season for holiday baking is upon us, and before you spice up your cookies and pies, you’ll probably want to know: is most of the cinnamon on grocery store shelves actually fake? That’s one question we’re investigating this week on behalf of you, dear listeners, in the latest installment of our popular Ask Gastropod series! This episode, we've got the scoop on what's real when it comes to cinnamon—because your buns deserve the truth. We're also putting our detective hats on to figure out where in the world kefir comes from, in an epic tale that involves mummies, a prince, and a potential kidnapping. Finally, if you look at almost any label, from jam to ice cream to soda to sausage, you'll find one shared ingredient: citric acid. What on Earth is this additive doing in everything, how is its spread connected to a technology that has saved millions of lives—and is it safe to eat? Listen in for a festive feast of listener curiosity, and keep your awesome questions coming our way! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, 'vanilla' often means boring, and yet the edible seedpod of this Central American orchid is one of the most expensive spices in the world, not to mention one of the most popular flavors globally. So how did this coveted bean get such a ho-hum reputation? Listen in this episode as Gastropod travels to vanilla's homeland in the highlands of Veracruz, Mexico, to investigate. It's a tale of botanical piracy, beaver butts, and ice-cream barges, in which an ingenious enslaved tween and the product of pulp paper waste combine to transform vanilla from a complex and sophisticated elite treat into the single-note synonym for dull. Plus, we meet the thrilling alternative vanillas we're all missing out on, and serve up the recipe for a vanilla tasting party that's guaranteed to make you fall back in love with the world's favorite flavor. You'll never see vanilla as plain again! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yoghurt is the most diverse section of the dairy case: from Icelandic skyr to creamy Australian, and fruity French Yoplait to full-fat Greek. With something to suit every palate, plus a dose of microbes to support healthy digestion, yoghurt is a staple food in the US, hero of a million smoothies, berry bowls, and snack breaks every day. Which is why it's pretty weird that, until about 50 years ago, most Americans had no idea what it was. This episode, we've got the story of the microbial miracle (and ants?) that gave us yoghurt, as well as the secret connection between those heat-loving bacteria and the evolution of lactose tolerance. Plus, for most of history, yoghurt was wildly popular in large parts of the world—the Middle East, the Balkans, Caucasus, much of Asia, and the Indian subcontinent—and totally unknown elsewhere. Even the promise that yoghurt would cure old age, made by a Nobel prize-winning scientist, couldn't persuade Americans to eat it. So how did yoghurt finally capture the hearts of Americans? Listen in now for the little-known story of our curious relationship with this creamy concoction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every second of every day, plants on earth do something miraculous: they take the carbon dioxide from air and turn it into food. With very few exceptions, everything we eat starts out that way. But what if we wanted to cut out the middlemen, re-wild all those fields full of wheat and corn, and manufacture dinner directly from the atmosphere ourselves? Scientists began dreaming of turning air into food back into the 1800s, but it's only recently that dream has become a reality—with results that, depending on where you live, you can already taste for yourself. In this episode, we’re exploring the history and science that made this particular sci-fi future real: from a space-age vodka and military-grade yogurt-like substance to surprisingly delicious gas-based butter and bonbons. Join us this episode as we explore the weird science and fascinating history behind this futuristic food, and discover how it might help us save this planet *and* survive on new ones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At last, an episode on pizza! But that raises a tricky question: what exactly is pizza? As it turns out, the original pizzas from eighteenth-century Naples looked nothing like a standard slice—they were more like a focaccia, topped with oil, herbs, anchovies, or whatever else was on hand. Even after these first pizzas met the tomato, the dish was a local peculiarity—most Italians thought pizza was gross and weird until just a few decades ago. So how did we get from Neapolitan subsistence snack to today's delivery staple? Listen in this episode as we travel with historian Carol Helstosky, author of Pizza: A Global History, and Francisco Migoya, head chef at Modernist Cuisine, from Italy to New York to Brazil and beyond, to tell the story of how pizza conquered the world. All that, plus the tough questions: is Chicago deep dish really pizza? How about bananas on top? What about (gasp) a donut pizza? (encore episode) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you’ve heard of metabolism, you’ve probably heard endless tips and tricks to boost it, from working out to drinking green tea. The idea is that a slow metabolism leads to weight gain, and speeding it up makes it easier to shed pounds. But what if we told you that metabolic rate doesn't really have anything to do with why so many of us in the developed world are heavy? This episode, nutrition scientist Kevin Hall and science journalist Julia Belluz join us to debunk metabolic myths, starting with what actually happened behind the scenes on the reality TV show The Biggest Loser. Can you really mess up your metabolism by gaining and losing weight, or reset it with morning tonics and exercise? Are those of us who weigh more than we want cursed with a slow metabolism, while those of us who seem to be able to eat whatever we want without gaining weight are just lucky to have a speedy one? And what do World War I explosives and Froot Loops have to do with figuring this all out? Listen in this episode, as we debunk some metabolism myths! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Gastropod, a feast of fruits! Specifically, feijoa and durian—and, if you haven’t heard of either, you’re not alone. Unlike the ubiquitous strawberry or banana, durian and feijoa are only popular in a handful of countries and almost unknown in the US, and we wanted to know why—especially because the people who love them really love them. For New Zealanders, like journalist Kate Evans, feijoa is *the* taste of home, even though it's almost forgotten in its original homeland, in Brazil and Uruguay. Meanwhile, the smell of the durian is so intense and distinctive—Julia Child likened it to “dead babies mixed with strawberries and Camembert”—that it's famously banned from public transportation in Singapore. But for durian lovers, like the cancer expert who decoded the fruit's genome, it inspires something close to obsession. Join us this episode for a weird fruit adventure, as we discover why the durian and feijoa inspire such strong feelings, and why they never made it big in the US. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whether or not it's Tuesday, tacos pretty much always hit the spot—and not just in their homeland in Mexico. These days, the taco can be found all over the world, although it's acquired some strange new fillings along the way, from French fries to canned corn. It's hard to imagine something so universal having to be invented—but, in fact, the taco as we know it only emerged in the 1800s. In this episode, Gastropod talks taco with the experts, peering through the salsa-smudged veil of history to answer such questions as: What do Cornish miners and their lunchtime pasties have to do with the taco? Did Glen Bell, of Taco Bell fame, actually invent the hard-shell version? Is a burrito also a taco? And how can a seemingly simple snack harbor so many mysteries? Grab a napkin, because things are going to get messy—and delicious—as we dive deep into the taco-verse to find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The tomato is Gastropod’s favorite flavor of summer, and we’re not alone: today, it’s the most popular vegetable on the planet, despite the fact that it's technically a fruit. But, until a couple of hundred years ago, the tomato wasn't really anyone's favorite. In South America, where the tomato originates, no one even bothered to domesticate it; in Mexico, the Aztecs seem to have preferred tomatillos; Renaissance Europeans thought this member of the nightshade family was practically poisonous; and, until the 1830s, most Americans considered them an “acquired taste.” Even in Italy, where the culinary mainstays of pizza and pasta now depend on red sauce, it took centuries to catch on. So why was the tomato so unloved—and how did it end up converting the haters on its rise to glory? Listen in this episode for the story of how Italian block parties, snake oil pills, and the state of Florida played in a role in the tomato’s journey to global domination—as well as the epic tale of one man’s quest to make the industrial tomato taste great again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the epitome of summertime: there’s nothing like a cold, juicy slice of red watermelon on a swelteringly hot day. But, once upon a time, watermelons were neither red nor sweet—the wild watermelon has white flesh and a bitter taste. This episode, we scour Egyptian tombs, decaying DNA, and ancient literature in search of watermelon's origins. The quest for tasty watermelon continues into modern times, with the rediscovery of a lost (and legendarily sweet) varietal in South Carolina—and the Nigerian musical secret that might help you pick a ripe one. But the fruit's history has often been the opposite of sweet: watermelons have featured in some of the most ubiquitous anti-Black imagery in U.S. history. So how did the watermelon become the most dangerous—and racist—fruit in America? (encore) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This might sound corny, but the relationship between maize and humanity is essential. We rely on corn—globally, more maize is grown than wheat or rice—and, in turn, corn is utterly dependent on us, to the extent that it's lost the ability to reproduce without our help. But corn's wild ancestor is such an unappetizing weed that, for decades, archaeologists couldn't believe today's juicy cobs were all descended from it. From this unpromising beginning, we've got a story that involves empires, vampires, and generations of women chained to the (literal) grindstone. Pass the popcorn and settle in as we explore the past, present, and future of corn—and the many delicious ways Mesoamericans have invented to get their daily dose of vitamin T(ortilla). Plus: do blue and yellow corn chips actually taste different? And what does it mean for your relationship status if you can't get a tortilla to puff? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Probably not. But Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz decided to try it anyway, putting his body — and specifically his butt — on the line to answer a seemingly straightforward question: Is it possible to build up a tolerance to poison oak by eating it? (Guest episode) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What do bubblegum, rooibos tea, and meal kits have in common? They’re all topics that puzzle and fascinate you, dear Gastropod listeners. This episode, we're getting to the bottom of your most pressing culinary questions! Such as: Are meal kits really better for the planet than buying and cooking dinner from scratch? Can all the rooibos tea in the world reallycome from one mountain range in South Africa? And what the heck is bubblegum flavor, anyway? Join us this episode for the scoop on meal kits, a tale of tea-drinking babies, and a peek behind the scenes at the Willy Wonka world of bubblegum flavor development from a real-life bubblegum scientist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 market, let alone the quantity and variety of dishes enjoyed by the Aztec leader, Montezuma. But how did a city built in a lake—and located in a part of the world without cows, sheep, pigs, or chicken—grow enough to feed quarter of a million people? What does it mean to eat like an Aztec, and can you still do it today? This episode, we're time traveling (and real traveling) to find out! Join us on a trip to taste the flavors of Tenochtitlan, and explore the endangered “floating islands” that fed the city—with a menu that included insect eggs, blue-green algae, and some adorable salamanders that just might hold the secret of eternal youth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 repeat itself? Find out in the grand finale of our banana series. It's banana-pocalypse then *and* now, in this story of CIA subterfuge and human parakeets—plus we get to the bottom of the mystery of banana-flavored candy and meet the weird and wonderful candidates auditioning for the role of banana of the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 land has bananas on offer. This week, we’re exploring the story of how humans transformed a tiny berry full of tooth-breaking seeds into the soft, yellow, suggestively-shaped fruits we know and love. Listen in now for the funny but tragic story that involves the invention of the cruise ship vacation, a Brazilian beauty and her iconic tutti-frutti hat, and the creation of the first "banana republic." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices