The Feast
The Feast presents delectable stories from the dining tables of history. Our stories immerse you in the sights, sounds, & tastes of a meal from the past. Make bread with medieval monks; share a martini with Churchill. Find out what wars were won & which kingdoms were lost, all for the sake of a good meal. Email suggestions for episodes to thefeast@thefeastpodcast.org
Episodes
April 28, 2020 • 44 mins
Almost sixty years ago to the day, President John F Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline hosted the largest state dinner of the Kennedy Administration. Invited to the White House for a special "brains dinner" in April 1962 were 49 Nobel laureates, along with Pulitzer Prize winners, noted actors, and Poet Laureates. What happened the night Robert Frost dined with J. Robert Oppenheimer? How did James Baldwin get on with Mary Welsh Hemingw...
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March 3, 2020 • 61 mins
This week, the Feast is heading to Ohio to visit a brewery entirely dedicated to making beer like they did in the mid-19th century. Located in Dayton, Carillon Brewing Company is not your average craft brewery. Instead of wrestling with stainless steel tanks, you’re more likely to find these brewers chopping wood and discussing 19th century recipe books. We spoke with head brewer Kyle Spears and assistant brewer Dan Lauro to learn ...
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February 18, 2020 • 50 mins
In an era of celebrity chefs, fast casual chains, and meal delivery services available at the touch of a button, it may be hard to imagine a state where people drive out of town to go to a pyramid-shaped restaurant to enjoy a nice brandy-based cocktail, a relish tray, fried fish, and prime rib. Where the host lets you linger at a bar for hours before even thinking of being seated for dinner. Where you might know everyone in the res...
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February 4, 2020 • 41 mins
This week, we’re featuring another interview from our trip to the first-ever Beer Culture Summit, held in Chicago in October 2019. This time, we’re heading to the Chicago History Museum to learn about the forgotten women that helped shape America’s beer industry in the 19th century. We speak with Dr. Jennifer Jordan, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, who has spent the last few years researching and writing about...
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January 21, 2020 • 41 mins
This week, we're taking you to the heart of the Windy City itself, Chicago, to chat with the founder and executive director of the one of the only museum's dedicated entirely to the history and culture of beer: the Chicago Brewseum. At its helm is Liz Garibay, who has spearheaded the organization's programming and events for the last several years. In October 2019, the Brewseum hosted the first-ever Beer Culture Summit, dedicated t...
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January 7, 2020 • 50 mins
The Feast is back! Just in time for the month of healthy New Year’s resolutions, our season premiere features a rich discussion on the history of feasting and fasting in Europe. We talk to Dr. Victoria Avery and Dr. Melissa Calaresu, co-curators of the exhibition “Feast & Fast: The Art of Food in Europe 1500–1800” at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, to learn some of the questions early modern Europeans were asking abou...
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December 10, 2019 • 35 mins
On a special holiday bonus episode of the Feast, we talk to Robert Tinnell, the writer and director of the new film, “Feast of the Seven Fishes”, out now. Centered on the Italian-American culinary tradition of seven seafood dishes eaten on Christmas Eve, the romantic-comedy is based loosely on Robert’s childhood growing up in West Virginia.
From stuffed calamari to marinated eel to salt cod, we talked to Robert about the food trad...
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November 26, 2019 • 42 mins
The Feast is back! And we’re bringing you a few special episodes before the launch of Season 4 on January 7, 2020. Longtime Feast listeners may remember our episode that touched on the history of egg nog and the Virginia hardy orange. The hardy orange is often regarded as a pest, with its bitter taste, numerous thorns, and ability to survive the chilliest of frosts. Introduced by botanists hoping for a way to grow frost-resistant c...
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September 11, 2019 • 9 mins
Hungry for more food podcasts while the Feast is on season break?
Try Green Eggs & Dan, a new podcast from The Podglomerate. Taking a new look at “you are what you eat,” comedian Dan Ahdoot brings listeners in on conversations about food, life, and more, with some of his most entertaining friends. Not your typical, holier-than-thou food show, Green Eggs and Dan is the type of food podcast you’d make with your friends around the ta...
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May 21, 2019 • 32 mins
On the Feast’s season finale, we revisit a meal that ended a chapter in one of the most famous hotel’s in history: the Waldorf Astoria. Famous for its invention of the Waldorf Salad and (arguably) Eggs Benedict, the legacy of this world-renown hotel has always been associated with food. But what did the hotel serve on its final meal on May 1st, 1929? True New Yorkers know that underneath a certain famous city skyscraper lies the fo...
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May 14, 2019 • 32 mins
Join us on an artistic feast like no other with American artist, Georgia O’Keeffe. A prolific painter, O’Keeffe was also a devoted foodie, with an enviable cookbook collection and gigantic kitchen at her home in New Mexico. This week, we take at a look at the recipes that shaped and were shaped by pivotal moments in her life: from her upbringing on a dairy farm in Wisconsin to her important friendships with artists like Frida Kahlo...
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May 7, 2019 • 39 mins
This week, we’re heading to the ends of the earth with legendary explorer, Ernest Shackleton. Responsible for many expeditions to Antartica, Shackleton is known for his incredible leadership even through some of the toughest and most extreme conditions on the planet. This week, we focus on his 1907 Nimrod Expedition to reach the South Pole. What do eating rations look like for a trip to the southernmost tip of the world? How do you...
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April 30, 2019 • 37 mins
We’re exploring the great American road trip this week on The Feast. Learn how the call of the open road has inspired millions over the last century to see the country. We follow in the footsteps and exhaust fumes of American writer, John Steinbeck, along the road of two of his most famous books: The Grapes of Wrath and Travels with Charley. Armed with our own trusty canine companion, we head out on the open road to learn what kind...
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April 16, 2019 • 37 mins
This week, The Feast is heading back to ancient Rome to do a little culinary archaeology. We’re rolling up our sleeves to make a first century dessert recipe courtesy of one of the most famous Roman cookbook writers of all time, Apicius. Although this sweet cheese and biscuit recipe, known as hypotrimma with spelt biscuits, may look like your standard cheese dip, this concoction has a few "fishy” ingredients hidden up its sleeve. W...
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April 9, 2019 • 35 mins
This week, we're revisiting one of our favorite episodes in honor of the 107th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. We explore the culinary life onboard the unsinkable ship, looking at everything from those who worked in Titanic’s state of the art kitchens to the epic meals served only a few hours before the ship sank. We talk to Dana McCauley and Rick Archbold, co-authors of the definitive guide to Titanic dining, Last ...
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April 2, 2019 • 45 mins
The Feast is headed to ancient Rome this week with experimental archaeologist, Farrell Monaco of tavolamediterranea.com. Join us as we discover the bakeries and fast food joints of Pompeii, make an ancient Roman cheese ball with an early-rising farmer, and learn the joys of fish sauce with Apicius. We’ll talk with Farrell about the importance of bread and grain to the Romans and how she uses a variety of sources, from frescoes to a...
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March 26, 2019 • 32 mins
This week, The Feast looks at the surprising history of Sweden’s favorite spice: cardamom! From its origins in India and the Middle East, how did this unlikely seed pod make its way to the chilly climes of Scandinavia? We break down how cardamom became the flavor backbone in Swedish favorites such as mulled wine (or glögg), flavored coffee, and Christmas sweet bread. Talking with everyone from culinary archaeologists to Swedish-Can...
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March 19, 2019 • 55 mins
Join us this week as The Feast hits the road with the Manitoba Food History Project Food Truck. We speak to Dr. Janis Thiessen and Kent Davies (University of Winnipeg), two leaders on this research project to discover meaningful dishes and historical recipes in Manitoba, Canada. The truck (and the project) travels the length and breadth of the province, interviewing Manitobans about food and recipes. From chili cheeseburgers to Jol...
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March 12, 2019 • 65 mins
The Feast is back! On our debut episode for Season 3, we dig deep into one of the most beloved sci fi universes of all time: Star Trek. Forget the transporters, phasers, and warp speed, on this episode, we look at the food and drink that kept the Enterprise crew flying through the stars. We talk to Glenn McDorman and Valerie Hoagland, hosts of the Lower Decks podcast, about how the future of food has changed since Star Trek debuted...
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October 29, 2018 • 51 mins
Join us on Maine’s craft brewery trail as we head north to Waldoboro to talk to John and Sarah McNeil, co-owners of Odd Alewives Farm Brewery. From their adorable brewery cat, Rocket, to the latest changes in the American craft beer scene, we’ll discover what makes their fantastic farm brewery tick. Located on 22 acres of an old alpaca farm, John and Sarah are living the good life and serving great beer to both local and internatio...
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