Episode · Stuff You Should Know · 2024-02-13
Books mentioned on What Americans Ate When There Were No Food Laws
There was a brief period in America’s history – after people left the farm to work in the city and before the government started regulating it – when there was a total, lawless free-for-all in the food industry. Things were bad.
Josh Clark discussed The Poison Squad by Deborah Blum, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, and The pilgrim's progress by John Bunyan.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Poison Squad
The Poison Squad by Deborah Blum is a historical account detailing Dr.
Discussed“like like there was an author named um Deborah Blum and she wrote the poison Squad colon one chemist single-minded Crusade for safety at the turn of the 20th century”
Where to get it
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The Jungle
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a 1906 novel that serves as a harsh expose of working conditions in Chicago's meatpacking industry during the Gilded Age.
Discussed“a gentleman named Upton Sinclair like you said a uh hardcore socialist and a writer who wrote the very very uh famous book The Jungle about well most people if they've never read the jungle probably say yeah it's about exposing the the meat packing in Chicago”
Where to get it
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The pilgrim's progress
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan is a famous Christian allegory that follows a character named Christian on his arduous journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, overcoming numerous trials, temptations, and monsters along the way.
Discussed“and he compared them to a character from Pilgrim's Progress who was the the muck rer and muck is poop by the way um who had the chance to to trade in his mck rake for”
Where to get it
