Bacon, bratwurst, bangers, barbecue: these are just a few of the many ways people around the world enjoy feasting on pigs. Of all the domesticated animals humans consume, Sus scrofa domesticus is the most fascinating, the most divisive, and, arguably, the most delicious.
In this in-depth conversation with author and historian Mark Essig, author of the book ... Show More
May 19
A Dog's Dinner: What Should We Really Be Feeding Our Pets?
In millions of homes, humans aren’t the only creatures sitting down to dinner. So what's on the menu for pets—and what impact does it have on their health, as well as the environment? This episode, we go back thousands of years to figure out what our first furry friends ate, how ... Show More
50m 3s
May 5
Feel the Beet: The Most Fascinating Woman You've Never Heard Of
For those who like its earthy flavor, the humble beet can do a lot for a salad or a soup. But could it help end slavery? In the 1800s, one woman believed it could—and she wasn't just any old woman. This episode, meet Lydia Maria Child, who wrote the first children's periodical ma ... Show More
44m 52s
Apr 21
White vs. Wheat: The Food Fight of the Centuries
White or whole wheat: while today the question is most frequently asked at the sandwich counter, the debate over the correct answer goes back literally thousands of years. This episode, we dive into the world's longest-running, highest-stakes food fight. Along the way: the invent ... Show More
52m 35s
Oct 2020
The meat we eat affects us all
In this special episode of the Future Perfect podcast, neuroscientist Lori Marino helps us understand how arbitrarily we draw the lines between animals as pets and animals as food, and how we might redraw those lines.
Subscribe to Future Perfect on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or you ... Show More
35m 4s
Apr 2021
#59: The Pig Farm Serial Killer (Case - Robert Pickton)
<p>Did you know pigs will eat anything?<br /><br />
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<p>The Pickton Pig Farm - was isolated, private, had its own slaughterhouse equipped with commercial freezers, and hundreds of very hungry pigs. </p>
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The farm was well known by locals for many things - mainly t ... Show More
2h 28m
Mar 2022
Rob Percival, "The Meat Paradox: Eating, Empathy, and the Future of Meat" (Pegasus, 2022)
Our future diet will be shaped by diverse forces. It will be shaped by novel technologies, by geopolitical tensions, and the evolution of cultural preferences, by shocks to the status quo-- pandemics and economic strife, the escalation of the climate and ecological crises--and by ... Show More
47m 23s