Czechia: Gregor Mendel's Peas and the Birth of Genetics

Saudi Arabia: The Quay of the World

Why did the Sumerian gods describe a land on the Persian Gulf coast as paradise — and why does the geological reality of that same land, 4,000 years later, still justify the comparison? Who were the Qarmatians, the radical sect who built a proto-communist oasis commune and then stole the Black Stone of Islam from Mecca and kept it hidden in an Eastern Arabian date palm grove for twenty-two years? And how did the water that made Al-Hasa the most fought-over oasis in the ancient world turn out to be sitting directly above the largest conventional oil field on Earth? Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Saudi Arabia and Al-Hasa — the Dilmun paradise, the Khalas date, and six thousand years of civilisation built on artesian springs... ---------- In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business ----------- Join the History of Fresh Produce Club [https://app.theproduceindustrypodcast.com/access/] for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community. Support us! * Share this episode with your friends * Give a 5-star rating * Write a review ----------- Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here [https://historyoffreshproduce.substack.com/] for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more. ----------- Instagram, TikTok, Threads: @historyoffreshproduce Email: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com [historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com]

Türkiye: Social Intercourse and Free Discussion

Why did two Syrian merchants opening a shop in Istanbul in 1554 inadvertently invent the public sphere — and how did a small copper pot of coffee produce Lloyd's of London, the French Revolution, and the Royal Society? Why did Sultan Murad IV personally execute coffeehouse owners in the streets, and why did it make absolutely no difference? And how does a drink from the Ethiopian highlands, brewed first by Sufi monks in Yemen, end up creating the conditions for the Enlightenment? Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Türkiye and the kahvehane — the Ottoman coffeehouse, the meddah, and the most consequential cup in history... ---------- In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh. The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here [https://www.jkfresh.com/]! ----------- Join the History of Fresh Produce Club [https://app.theproduceindustrypodcast.com/access/] for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community. Support us! 1. Share this episode with your friends 2. Give a 5-star rating 3. Write a review ----------- Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here [https://historyoffreshproduce.substack.com/] for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more. ----------- Instagram, TikTok, Threads: @historyoffreshproduce Email: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com [historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com]

New Zealand: Without Harakeke

Why did a Māori chief ask a visiting English botanist how it was possible to live without a plant — and what does his bewilderment reveal about a civilisation built entirely around a single organism? How did European demand for rope fibre trigger the Musket Wars that reshaped the political map of Aotearoa before formal colonisation had even begun? And what does the ethics of harvesting — never cut the rito, never remove the heart — tell us about a way of relating to the natural world that almost disappeared and is now being slowly, carefully restored? Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of New Zealand and harakeke — the sixty varieties, the musket trade, and the plant that is simultaneously a lily, a philosophy, and a family... ---------- In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business ----------- Join the History of Fresh Produce Club [https://app.theproduceindustrypodcast.com/access/] for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community. Support us! * Share this episode with your friends * Give a 5-star rating * Write a review ----------- Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here [https://historyoffreshproduce.substack.com/] for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more. ----------- Instagram, TikTok, Threads: @historyoffreshproduce Email: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com [historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com]

Ghana: Six Pods in a Toolbox

Why did a blacksmith hide six cocoa pods under his tools to smuggle them past Spanish customs — and how did those six pods become the foundation of an industry that today supplies sixty percent of the world's chocolate? Who was Tetteh Quarshie, the man who spent six years watching cocoa grow on a plantation island before bringing the knowledge home to Ghana, and why has the credit for what he did been contested ever since? And what does it mean that the average cocoa farmer in Ghana earns a dollar a day for producing the raw material of a chocolate bar that sells for the same price? Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Ghana and cocoa — the toolbox, the Cocoa Hold-Up of 1937, and the smallholder revolution that made a country from six pods... ---------- In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh. The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here [https://www.jkfresh.com/]! ----------- Join the History of Fresh Produce Club [https://app.theproduceindustrypodcast.com/access/] for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community. Support us! 1. Share this episode with your friends 2. Give a 5-star rating 3. Write a review ----------- Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here [https://historyoffreshproduce.substack.com/] for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more. ----------- Instagram, TikTok, Threads: @historyoffreshproduce Email: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com [historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com]

Germany: The Purity Commandment

Why did 27 words buried in a Bavarian price regulation from 1516 become the most famous food law in history — and why did it take 402 years for anyone to give it the name that made it sound ancient and inevitable? What was in German beer before hops arrived, why did the Church control it, and how did switching ingredients become an act of theological protest during the Reformation? And how did Bavaria hold its entry into the German Empire hostage to the extension of its beer law — and win? Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of Germany and the Reinheitsgebot — the gruit monopoly, the hop revolution, and the purity commandment that forgot to mention yeast... ---------- In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business ----------- Join the History of Fresh Produce Club [https://app.theproduceindustrypodcast.com/access/] for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community. Support us! * Share this episode with your friends * Give a 5-star rating * Write a review ----------- Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here [https://historyoffreshproduce.substack.com/] for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more. ----------- Instagram, TikTok, Threads: @historyoffreshproduce Email: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com [historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com]