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Episode 101 Sweet Temptations: How Sugar Captivated Tastebuds and Global Trade
Aired: Saturday, January 23rd 2021
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HOSTED BY Caity Moseman Wadler Kat Johnson
The desire for sweetness is biologically hardwired in humans, according to Dr. Gary Beauchamp, longtime former director and president of the Monell Chemical Senses Center. It is an evolutionary response that developed way back when sweet things were hard to find in the natural environment. Now, we can find sweets just about
anywhere.
Part of our global trade mini-series, this episode focuses on all things sweet! Ironically, the history of sugar comes with some bitter truths. Stories include the problematic journey of the cocoa bean from West Africa to chocolate products in the U.S., farmers pushing back against “Big Sugar,” cultural appropriation at the National Date Festival, and the intertwined history of Silk Road merchants and the first domesticated apples.