Smarty Pants From The American Scholar

This week, we look at how we have irrevocably shaped the planet through consumption: of fossil fuels, exotic foods, cups of tea. Erika Rappaport talks about how the drive for empire was spurred on by lust for a certain caffeinated plant, which fueled countless wars and colonial expansion. And Alexandra Kleeman and Jen Monroe throw a dinner party for the future, imagining what food will taste like in 30 years’ time. • Episode page: https://theamericanscholar.org/once-and-future-food/ • Go beyond the episode:  • Erika Rappaport’s A Thirst for Empire: How Tea Shaped the Modern World  • Bon Appétit explains how to brew the perfect cup of tea  • Check out Bad Taste, Jen Monroe’s experimental food project  • Read “Choking Victim,” a short story by Alexandra Kleeman  • Explore the unusual artistic encounters of The Bellwether, which put on The Next Menu, and Jordan Kisner’s essay on the massive aspen grove threatened by climate change • Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices

What power do words have, and how do their meanings change across centuries—and continents? We talk to Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, about how moving from Britain to Baltimore changed his work; Jennifer Choi unearths the cruel etymology behind an innocuous blue birthmark; and Max Décharné draws a map of the vulgar tongue. • Episode page: https://theamericanscholar.org/rhapsodies-in-blue/ • Go beyond the episode:  • “My Mongolian Spot,” Jennifer Choi’s essay on having a blue behind  • Four poems by Andrew Motion, including “Surveillance,” which he read on the podcast  • Listen to more poets read their work on the Poetry Archive, founded by Andrew Motion during his time as Poet Laureate  • Max Décharné’s Vulgar Tongues: An Alternative History of the English Language  • Our back to school required reading list  • Don’t forget to send us an email at podcast@theamericanscholar.org if you want us to mail you swag! • Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveli

This week is for the ladies: we'll be talking about women's roles in two pretty different fields—science and religion—and how women have worked their way in from the fringes of both. Angela Saini unravels the pervasive idea that science is free from bias, and talks about how prejudice against women comes out in studies as well as in the academy; Adrian Shirk spotlights the American women who have shaped modern religion, both inside and outside the lines. • Episode Page: https://theamericanscholar.org/scientists-and-saints/ • Go beyond the episode: • Angela Saini’s Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story • “Women Are Dying Because Doctors Treat Us Like Men” by Kayla Webley Adler in Marie Claire • Read an excerpt from Cathy O’Neil’s Weapons of Math Destruction about the biases built into Big Data • Adrian Shirk’s And Your Daughters Shall Prophecy: Stories from the Byways of American Women and Religion • Watch the trailer for American Mystic, Alex Mar’s d

We hit the seven seas and the five gyres in our wettest podcast episode yet: Laura Sook Duncombe talks about the female swashbucklers forgotten by history—including a pirate who gave birth in the middle of a sea battle—and Marcus Eriksen talks about sailing the ocean blue in a raft made of plastic bottles. • Go beyond the episode: • Laura Sook Duncombe’s Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas • Read more about Cheng I Sao, the world’s most successful pirate, or catch Anne Bonny and Mary Read on the television show Black Sails • Listen to our podcast segment on the history of eclipse in preparation for the upcoming total solar eclipse—including why the ancient Babylonians always marked the occasion with a king-swapping ritual and human sacrifice • Learn more about Marcus Eriksen’s journey on the Junk Raft • Read more about how much plastic we produce and where it goes, how 100 companies are responsible for 71% of greenhouse gas emissions • And dry off with our

Melanie Kiechle introduces us to the 19th-century world of smell detectives, where the nose reigned supreme and cities mapped their stench patterns;  Sam Kean tells how gases can have a profound effect on us—from knocking us out to making us laugh, and even causing the French Revolution. Plus, top off our exploration into the sensory world of invisible forces with an excerpt from a new book on all the light we cannot see. Go beyond the episode: Melanie Kiechle’s Smell Detectives: An Olfactory History of Nineteenth-Century Urban America Sam Kean’s Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us Check out a modern-day smell map of the City of Light (and Odor), from graphic designer Kate McClean Live in Pittsburgh? Download Smell PGH, the app that tracks pollution odors (read more here) Read more about the volcanic eruption that led to the French Revolution Flip through the scanned pages of Humprhy Davy’s book on his laughing gas experiments, which could use a funnier title: Researches

Psychologist Alexander Todorov tells us how we’ve got it all wrong on the science of first impressions—and warns of physiognomy’s dangerous return—while Elizabeth Wilson gives us a glimpse into the secret, sexy history of tennis, just in time for the Wimbledon finals. Go beyond the episode: Alexander Todorov’s Face Value: The Irresistible Influence of First Impressions  Explore the Social Perception Lab at Princeton, where you can watch videos of how our visual stereotypes map onto faces Watch how bias shapes photographic portraits in this experiment from Canon Australia Elizabeth Wilson’s Love Game: A History of Tennis from Victorian Pastime to Global Phenomenon And, of course: live updates from Wimbledon Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Subscribe: iTunes • Feed

Meet the experimental archaeologist and the master brewer who are resurrecting beverages of the past. Dr. Patrick McGovern, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, and Sam Calagione, the founder of Dogfish Head Brewery, discuss what it takes to turn millennia-old booze samples at the bottom of a jug into mead fit for a king; our editors give us a sneak peek at their favorite fictional food scenes; and we honor Brian Doyle, who died last month. Go beyond the episode: Read “Joyas Voladoras,” Brian Doyle’s ode to the capacity of the heart Explore Dr. Pat’s work on the intoxicating science of alcohol Watch Patrick McGovern and Sam Calagione work on a recipe for a new ancient...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

True tales of horse historians, mad bombers, and infinite jam jars Susanna Forrest takes us down the bridle path of our long relationship with horses; Michael Cannell tells the story of New York’s mad bomber and the invention of criminal profiling; and Eugenia Cheng shares her infinite enthusiasm for the link between mathematics and art. Go beyond the episode: • Susanna Forrest’s The Age of the Horse, and her blog about horse history and news • Michael Cannell’s Incendiary• Track the mad bomber through New York City on this map • Eugenia Cheng’s 

Sarah Williams Goldhagen takes us on a tour of New York’s High Line—and the insides of our brains—and Judith Matloff talks about traveling 72,000 miles, across nearly a dozen mountain ranges, as she investigated why the world’s highlands harbor so much violence. Go beyond the episode: • Sarah Williams Goldhagen’s Welcome to Your World: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives • Judith Matloff’s No Friends But the Mountains: Dispatches from the World’s Violent Highlands • Plan your own trip to New York’s High Line park Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Lee Alan Dugatkin on the world’s cutest science experiment, which transformed wild foxes into cuddlebugs; Ellen Lagemann makes the case for college in prisons; and an underground poetry reading promoting this weekend’s March for Science. Go beyond the episode: • The Science Stanzas curated by Jane Hirshfield for the March for Science • Lee Alan Dugatkin and Lyudmila Trut’s How to Tame a Fox • Ellen Lagemann’s Liberating Minds and the Bard Prison Initiative • Read more about Stalin’s geneticist henchman, Trofim Lysenko, in our review of 

Geoffrey R. Stone tells the epic story of how sex came to be legislated in America; Linda Heywood introduces us to an African queen cooler than Cleopatra; and John Dvorak gives us a lesson in the total eclipse of the heart. Er, sun. Mentioned in this episode: • Geoffrey R. Stone’s Sex and the Constitution • Linda M. Heywood’s Njinga of Angola • The upcoming solar eclipse on August 21st, with an interactive map from NASA Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pankaj Mishra goes back to the Enlightenment to explain our age of anger; Ronald Rael imagines how architecture might dismantle a wall rather than construct it; and our editors offer up their favorite tales from the Emerald Isle. Sláinte! Episode extras: • Our St. Patrick’s Day Reading list • Martha McPhee on Edna O’Brien Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Have suggestions for projects you’d like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast [at] theamericanscholar [dot] org.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

André Aciman gives us a primer on W. G. Sebald, who blurred the line between memory and fiction; Rowan Ricardo Phillips talks about the biomechanics of poetry; and Julian Gewirtz unveils the travel itinerary of the least likely visitor to communist China you’d expect: Milton Friedman. Mentioned in this episode: • André Aciman on W. G. Sebald and “The Life Unlived” • “Halo,” a poem by Rowan Ricardo Phillips and Langdon Hammer’s introduction • Julian Gewirtz’s essay, “Milton Friedman’s Misadventures in China” Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Julia Lichtblau takes us to an elite secondary school in Abidjan that’s changing the lives of African girls; Steve Early shows how Richmond, California, became a progressive beacon; and Phillip Lopate tells us what he thinks about confiding your darkest secrets. Mentioned in this episode: • Julia Lichtblau on the smart girls of Côte d’Ivoire • Phillip Lopate’s collection of essays for us on his blog, Full Disclosure • Emily Fox Gordon’s essay on the central conflict of the memoir, whether to confess or confide Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives;...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Amanda Kolson Hurley gives us a tour of the Trump Hotel; our editorial assistant Noelani Kirschner introduces the Scholar’s newest blog; and a chorus of voices tells us why they went to Washington for the Women’s March. Mentioned in this episode: • Amanda Kolson Hurley on Trump’s influence over public space in Washington, D.C. • Barry Goldstein’s portrait series of March attendees and of protesters • The first post in our new blog, Portrait of the Artist Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Madeleine Thien talks about art and music under totalitarianism, along with her novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize; Scholar managing editor Sudip Bose explains how Neville Marriner, conductor of the now-ubiquitous Academy-of-St.-Martin-in-the-Fields, used to be a rebel; and beloved former Scholar blogger Jessica Love catches us up on the radical changes she’s made to her book on psycholinguistics. Mentioned in this episode: • Listen to the Spotify playlist we curated to accompany Do Not Say We Have Nothing, featuring every recording mentioned in the novel (that’s 23 hours and 40 minutes of music!) • Read Sudip Bose’s ode to the great Neville Marriner in our Winter 2017 issue • Check out the archives of

Keramet Reiter talks about what happens to prisoners who spend decades in solitary confinement; Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilia-Whitaker offer some historical perspective on the crisis at Standing Rock; and Sandra Gilbert reflects on the importance of Adrienne Rich and reads her favorite poem. Mentioned in this episode: • Read an excerpt from Keramet Reiter’s new book, 23/7: Pelican Bay Prison and the Rise of Long-Term Solitary Confinement • Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker’s new book, “All the Real Indians Died Off”: And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans • Sandra Gilbert reviews Adrienne Rich’s Collected Poems, plus:

Harriet Washington discusses how our current Zika crisis fits into the (tragic) pattern of ignoring tropical diseases until they hit our shores; Brian Doyle tries to justify watching 50 John Wayne movies in a row; and Ruth Scurr tells funny stories about John Aubrey, the most curious biographer of the Elizabethan age. Mentioned in this episode: • Harriet Washington’s cover story on neglected tropical diseases and mental health, “The Well Curve” • Brian Doyle on John Wayne • … and on his dog’s crush on Peter O’Toole • “You Remember John Aubrey. Chased by Debt Collectors, Chaser of Whores,” a New York Times review of John Aubrey, My...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Take a crash course in Indie Publishing 101 with the founders of Restless Books; hear Scholar senior editor Bruce Falconer explain how John le Carré burned the bridge between genre and literary fiction; and learn from Witold Rybczynski how an iconic modern chair was inspired by an ant. Mentioned in this episode: • Bruce Falconer’s review of The Pigeon Tunnel • Our list of 13 “Spooktacular” Books and Michael Dirda’s attempt to out-scare us with a list of his own • An excerpt from How to Travel Without Seeing by Andrés Neuman, published by Restless Books, which offers a glimpse inside the surreal operations of Venezuela’s book...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Patrick Phillips recounts the ugly history of a southern county that brutally expelled its African-American residents and remained entirely white for most of the 20th century; Ross King reveals some of Claude Monet’s more unusual painting habits, including his obsession with a certain flower; and Paula Becker introduces the memoir of a beloved American children’s book author. Mentioned in this episode: • Read more about Forsyth in Patrick Phillips’s new book, Blood at the Root • Watch Oprah Winfrey’s televised 1987 visit to Forsyth County, Georgia • Take a virtual tour of the Musée de l’Orangerie’s rooms of the Water Lilies • Read The Seattle Times’s review of Betty MacDonald’s memoirs on the