logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2020
43m 48s

How the Supermarket Helped America Win t...

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
About this episode
Aisle upon aisle of fresh produce, cheap meat, and sugary cereal — a delicious embodiment of free-market capitalism, right? Not quite. The supermarket was in fact the endpoint of the U.S. government’s battle for agricultural abundance against the U.S.S.R. Our farm policies were built to dominate, not necessarily to nourish — and we are still living with the ... Show More
Up next
Jun 12
677. Can Backgammon Save Us from Ourselves?
It brings strangers together. It teaches probability, strategy, and emotional control. It has even helped N.F.L. teams win the Super Bowl. Stephen Dubner explores why this ancient game is having a renaissance. (Part two of a series, “We Are All Gamers Now.”) SOURCES: Remington Da ... Show More
59m 19s
Jun 10
This Is Your Brain on Pollution (Update)
As the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations, we revisit a 2022 episode that explored the hidden cost of an invisible threat: air pollution. SOURCES: Angela Duckworth, psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Michael Greenstone, economist at the Univers ... Show More
47m 24s
Jun 5
676. Has America Lost the Plot?
Another war in the Middle East. A retreat from the international order. A presidency built on self-dealing and arbitrary power. It’s enough to make you think the U.S. is in a steep decline — but Fareed Zakaria thinks otherwise. SOURCES: Fareed Zakaria, journalist and author. RESO ... Show More
1h 5m
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2019
Why you should shop at your local farmers market | Mohammad Modarres
The average farmer in America makes less than 15 cents of every dollar on a product that you purchase at a store. They feed our communities, but farmers often cannot afford the very foods they grow. In this actionable talk, social entrepreneur Mohammad Modarres shows how to put y ... Show More
6m 7s
Feb 2024
What Americans Ate When There Were No Food Laws
There was a brief period in America’s history – after people left the farm to work in the city and before the government started regulating it – when there was a total, lawless free-for-all in the food industry. Things were bad. Really, really bad.See omnystudio.com/listener for ... Show More
47m 41s
Jul 2021
Capitalism: What Makes Us Free?
What's the role of government in society? What do we mean when we talk about individual responsibility? What makes us free? 'Neoliberalism' might feel like a squishy term that's hard to define and understand. But this ideology, founded by a group of men in the Swiss Alps, is a po ... Show More
52m 27s
Dec 2022
400 Years of Sweetness
In the 1970s, a savvy CEO named Dwayne Andreas hit on an idea: take surplus corn from America's heartland, process it into a sweetener, and start selling it to anyone who would buy, all in the name of patriotism. Within a decade, high fructose corn syrup dominated the U.S. sweete ... Show More
52m 1s
Apr 2022
The Great American Grain Robbery
With fears rising that the war in Ukraine might spark a big rise in global food prices, we're going back 50 years to the story of how a drought in the bread basket of the Soviet Union led to a catastrophic trade deal between Moscow and Washington. The Nixon White House unwittingl ... Show More
9m 3s
Apr 2022
Capitalism: What Makes Us Free? (2021)
What's the role of government in society? What do we mean when we talk about individual responsibility? What makes us free? 'Neoliberalism' might feel like a squishy term that's hard to define and understand. But this ideology, founded by a group of men in the Swiss Alps, is a po ... Show More
50m 11s
Mar 2020
How you can support farmers in the US | Eric Sannerud
Farmers keep us fed and our economies stable, but in the US they're retiring faster than they're being replaced. Take a crash course in agricultural policy with Eric Sannerud to see why this problem can't be solved by simply buying from your local farmer's market -- and learn how ... Show More
8m 40s
Feb 2022
Got millet? How marketing could improve the lives of African farmers | Zoë Karl-Waithaka
From “got milk?” to “avocados from Mexico”, marketing influences what you eat more than you may realize. But despite the known power of food marketing, farmers in Africa are more likely to receive funding for seed and fertilizer than they are for advertising geniuses. Agricultura ... Show More
11m 9s
Feb 2023
How bad weather is causing empty supermarket shelves
From the BBC World Service: Bad weather in North Africa means less fruit and vegetables are finding their way into supermarkets in the U.K. and Ireland. Social media is full of pictures of empty shelves in economies dependent on imports. But we hear how the situation has also bee ... Show More
6m 56s
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami