Proof

Chinese restaurants are an essential part of the American landscape -- even more ubiquitous than McDonald’s. But a century ago, they were almost extinguished by legislation passed around the country that barred young white women from eating at chop suey houses. This is the story of an organized effort to wipe out Chinese eateries altogether and how these restaurants survived in spite of it.We want to get your feedback about Proof. Please take this survey so we know what you like and what we can do better: http://bit.ly/proofpodcast2.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Ugly Food” subscription boxes propose to solve a very big problem: nearly half of all the food produced in the United States is being wasted, even while many struggle to put food on the table each day. But can delivering a box of three-legged carrots and misshapen squash really address the root causes of food waste? Or is the Ugly Foods movement actually doing more harm than good?We want to get your feedback about Proof. Please take this survey so we know what you like and what we can do better: http://bit.ly/proofpodcast2.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Makgeolli is a quintessentially Korean alcohol, but few people outside of the Korean peninsula have ever heard of, much less tasted it. Even within Korea, it’s mostly known as an overly sweet, low quality drink available at every corner convenience store. But the real version of Makgeolli is the product of centuries of traditional Korean brewing techniques -- an elegant, complex, and balanced brew easily made in any home kitchen with only three ingredients: water, rice, and a fermentation starter called nuruk. How did Korean history shape Makgeolli production? And can a new generation of brewers revive the lost art of the “true” Makgeolli? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eliza Tibbets was ahead of her time. She was a suffragist, an abolitionist, held regular seances in her home, and lived in a utopian community. And in Riverside, California, she was also considered the unofficial queen of the orange industry. As local legend has it, every navel orange tree in the Golden state can be traced back to cuttings from the two parent trees in Eliza’s front yard. This is the little known story of how an amateur farmer with utopian dreams launched an entire industry. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Great wine begins with high quality grapes, careful fermentation, deft blending techniques, and, in Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe, a group of puritanical Russian immigrants called the “molokans.” Learn how this region’s earliest settlers escaped from religious persecution in tsarist Russia and how a culture of innovation and experimentation has transformed this humble strip of land near the Pacific coast into one of the most fawned over and exciting wine destinations in the world.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The snakehead has been described as one of the ugliest fish in the world. It has a thick neck and razor-sharp teeth. It's been rumored to bite little kids and walk on land. It’s also an invasive species that’s been plaguing the Potomac river system for nearly two decades. Can turning this monster into a local delicacy save the Potomac? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Probiotics are everywhere, but the science that explains the mechanism of the gut-brain connection still isn't there. Harvard PhD candidate Cary Allen-Blevins is researching everything from breast milk to kombucha to better understand the role of probiotics in gut health. This episode is a collaboration between Proof and Veritalk from Harvard's Graduate School for Arts and Sciences. The original version is part of a series on food that Veritalk produced recently. Check it out at: https://gsas.harvard.edu/veritalk*See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1970s, the Miracle Berry was poised to become the sugar replacement of choice. It was hailed as the solution to the diabetes epidemic, and was preferred to every other sugar alternative in blind taste tests. The fruit contains a taste-altering protein, miraculin, that makes sour foods taste sweet. So why haven't you heard of it? Did "big sugar" engineer its downfall? And can modern food entrepreneurs reposition the miracle berry as the future of sweet?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An FDA conspiracy, an invasive species threatening our waterways, and an emerging wine region that shouldn't work. If you thought Season 1 changed the way you thought about food, stay tuned. Season 2 of Proof starts May 23rd. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A conversation with culinary historian Michael Twitty about the history of American Barbecue. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices