Podcasts by Ferment Radio

#39: Yeast upon a time (with Johanna Rotko) from 2023-12-07T13:22:23

It looks like a square, monochromatic, glass slide photo, and not only because of the material it is made of, but also because it could belong to a different time. It feels as if the face that e...

#38: Fermentation is witchcraft (with Paulina Gretkierewicz) from 2023-09-25T14:52:50

She asks the plants for permission before foraging them. She sings to her fermentation jars. She prepares funerals for her kombucha scobies. She gives names to her ferments. She observes the moo...

#37: Slimemoldesque (with Heather Barnett) from 2023-08-02T13:05:32

Have you ever heard of slime mold?

These organisms might not have a nervous system or even a brain, but they have impressive problem-solving abilities. Slime mold can navigate through maz...

#36: Can ferments change the food system? (with David Zilber) from 2023-06-26T09:54:04

A healthy food system encourages the production and consumption of foods that support a balanced gut microbiome. It reduces food waste and gives preference to natural preservation methods. It up...

#35: Creating space for other voices to be heard (with Noora Sandgren) from 2023-05-03T18:56:21

Garden. It invites us to sit down and watch things grow. It makes us work with gazillions of other species to make them flourish. Silent observation or site-specific, mindful labor can be a form...

#34: Unloved unknown (with ARTIS-Micropia) from 2023-03-28T11:19:30

We associate these institutions with petrified displays, and long-gone worlds that are alien to our own experience: museums. Whether we like it or not, they play a crucial role in preserving her...

#33: Trust your gut and follow your microbes (with Riina Hannula) from 2023-02-24T13:25:20

Can we intentionally influence our nervous system through what we do? If so, could we also activate the main nerve of our parasympathetic nervous system known as vagus nerve?  This is the c...

#32: Sensing what most can’t sense (with Pia Lindman) from 2023-01-20T16:51:17

We communicate with the outside world based on the information we receive through our senses. But just like fingerprints, no two people have the same brain anatomy, and therefore, no two people ...

#31: We belong to microbes (with Terike Haapoja) from 2022-12-21T14:52:01

The notion of “animal rights”, meaning that we recognize their universal, intrinsic rights, regardless if some animals are more useful for humans or not, is being talked about more and more these d...

#30: The poetry of antimicrobial resistance (with Iona Walker) from 2022-11-23T12:20:23

Through language, we not only reflect our relationship with the world but also shape it. For example, what does the conviction that we need to “exterminate all superbugs” tell us about humans? C...

#29: Why artists work with bacteria? (a conversation with Laura Beloff) from 2022-10-31T17:03:06

On Ferment Radio, we have often talked about how artists use technology and science in order to tackle the microbial world. Do you remember the episode “Play that fungi music!” with Tosca Terán?...

#28: Macro consequences of micro processes (a conversation with Colleen C. Myles) from 2022-09-21T16:01:37

For centuries, fermention has had an important role in the evolution of agriculture. But the idea that fermentation can be treated as a paradigm for understanding place-based change is one steap ah...

#27: The war on bugs (a conversation with Jessica Maccaro) from 2022-08-30T21:00

We use them all the time. Metaphors allow us to make sense of things we cannot comprehend. What metaphors do we commonly use to understand microbes? Bacteria are bugs, and we certainly are at wa...

#26: Recipe for controversial yogurt (with Cecilia Westbrook) from 2022-07-09T13:00

In 2015, while in grad school, Cecilia Westbrook made yogurt out of her vaginal flora, as an experimental side-project. A journalist friend of hers wrote about it, and the article got published ...

#25: Can we make fermentation less white? (with Miin Chan) from 2022-06-10T13:00

Last year, an article titled "Lost in the Brine!” was published on the Eater. The author, Miin Chan, aka Dr Chan, says what most people don’t want to admit: while the fermented foods indust...

#24: Breaking the taboo around bacteria and vaginas (with Giulia Tomasello) from 2021-09-30T15:00

Vaginal flora consists largely of Lactobacillus. This particular type of bacteria can affect everything, from developing certain diseases to fighting infections, and from getting pregnant to ...