1: History of Everything: Potatoes

When you think of camels, you probably don’t associate them with the military. But, you might be surprised to learn that up until the end of the Civil War, camels actually played a key role in military strategy. Travel to Thailand with me ⁠here⁠ Check out our sister podcast the ⁠ ... Show More

Three years ago, Ibrahim Traoré was a junior army officer in Burkina Faso’s armed forces. Today, he has emerged as a surprising anti-Western hero preaching self-reliance and resilience with fans across Africa and beyond. But what happened to get us to this point? Learn more about ... Show More

For most of the 20th century, Bell Labs was the beating heart of American innovation. Founded in 1925 as the research arm of AT&T and Western Electric, it was the world’s preeminent industrial research laboratory. If you used a phone, accessed the internet, or wrote code, you wer ... Show More

In the mid-1800s, the poorest people in Ireland ate almost nothing but potatoes. Other crops were for selling. So when a blight cut a swath through the potato crop, the impact was severe, and politics played a significant role in the tragedy. Learn more about your ad-choices at h ... Show More

The second episode in our revisit of the Irish Famine covers the mid-1800s, when the poorest people in Ireland ate almost nothing but potatoes, saving other crops for selling. So a blight, plus politics, led to tragedy. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcas ... Show More

Today, the humble potato can be found in restaurants and dinner tables across the world -- but this wasn't always the case. In today's episode, Ben and Noel dive into the story of one spud-loving, potato-proselytizing man named Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, and his ambitious life' ... Show More

If you enjoy the true stories told in Survival, check out this episode from our series Natural Disasters: In 1845, a fungus destroyed Ireland’s potato crops, leaving the Irish population without its main food source. The first months of the famine morphed into a bureaucratic nigh ... Show More

Jeden Tag essen viele Deutsche Kartoffeln. Egal ob Pommes, Puffer oder Bratkartoffeln: die Knolle aus der Erde ist ein beliebtes Nahrungsmittel in Deutschland. Das war aber nicht immer so! In dieser Folge erzählt euch Jan, wie die Kartoffel nach Deutschland gekommen ist. Das Tran ... Show More

Sir Walter Raleigh's is revered as the man who brought the potato to Ireland from South America. In this documentary John Skehan looks at the importance of the potato in Ireland, as well as the history and sociological impact of the potato in Ireland. (First Broadcast 1984) See o ... Show More

If you enjoy the true stories told in Survival, check out this episode from our series Natural Disasters: By the late 1840s, with no end in sight to the potato famine gripping Ireland and no help coming from the British government, the Irish people were left with few options. For ... Show More

Is it magic? Is it physics? Bethany is looking at the first written instance of kids playing the classic sleepover game, “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board.” (Play it with your colleagues as a team-building exercise!) Then, Kathleen’s Thanksgiving dinner plans are driving stra ... Show More

In our second and final episode on the humble spud, we meet the people who see the global economic future as being potato powered. The potato is the world's most produced staple food after rice, wheat and corn - yet historically, it was seen as the root of filth, misery and obesi ... Show More