This week, Gastropod tells the story of two countries and their shared obsession with a plant: Camellia sinensis, otherwise known as the tea bush. The Chinese domesticated tea over thousands of years, but they lost their near monopoly on international trade when a Scottish botanist, disguised as a Chinese nobleman, smuggled it out of China in the 1800s, in o ... Show More
Oct 7
Everything You Know About Metabolism Is Wrong
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 rat ... Show More
48 m
Sep 23
Durian Delight and Feijoa Fun: Adventures in Banned, Forgotten, and Unusual Fruit
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 t ... Show More
50m 46s
Feb 2022
#238 | A Short History Of Tea
It's the second most popular drink in the world after water, with 3.7 billion cups drunk every single day.In this episode, we explore tea's fascinating history, how it changed global politics, caused countries to go to war with each other, and literally changed the world.
How m ... Show More
23m 46s
Nov 2023
The invention of bubble tea
In 1987, a tea shop in Taiwan named Chun Shui Tang began selling pearl milk tea, or bubble tea, as it’s often called. It would revolutionise the tea-drinking world. Ben Henderson speaks to Liu Han-Chieh, the shop owner, and Lin Xiuhu, who first added the drink’s signature tapioca ... Show More
10m 4s