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January 31, 2025 28 mins

We eat apples in the summer and enjoy bananas in the winter. When we do this, we go against the natural order of life which is towards death and decay. What gives? This week, Latif Nasser spoke with Nicola Twilley, the author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves. Twilley spent over a decade reporting about how we keep food alive as it makes its way from the farm to our table. This conversation explores the science of cold, how fruits hold a secret to eternal youth, and how the salad bag, of all things, is our local grocery store’s unsung hero.

Special thanks to Jim Lugg and Jeff Wooster

EPISODE CREDITS: 

Reported by Latif Nasser and Nicola Twilley
with help from Maria Paz Gutierrez
Produced by Maria Paz Gutierrez
Original music from Jeremy Bloom
Sound design contributed by Jeremy Bloom
with mixing help from Arianne Wack
Fact-checking by Emily Krieger 
and Edited by Alex Neason

EPISODE CITATIONS:

Articles  
New Yorker Article - How the Fridge Changed Flavor (https://zpr.io/32TuSmAc2HbQ)by Nicola Twilley
New Yorker Article - Africa’s Cold Rush and the Promise of Refrigeration (https://zpr.io/3g9VdgKMAiHf) by Nicola Twilley

Books 
Frostbite (https://zpr.io/Mg3Q7JCBvcAg) by Nicola Twilley

Podcasts
Gastropod (https://link.chtbl.com/ndCzgCHU)

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