Yoghurt is the most diverse section of the dairy case: from Icelandic skyr to creamy Australian, and fruity French Yoplait to full-fat Greek. With something to suit every palate, plus a dose of microbes to support healthy digestion, yoghurt is a staple food in the US, hero of a million smoothies, berry bowls, and snack breaks every day. Which is why it's pretty weird that, until about 50 years ago, most Americans had no idea what it was. This episode, we've got the story of the microbial miracle (and ants?) that gave us yoghurt, as well as the secret connection between those heat-loving bacteria and the evolution of lactose tolerance. Plus, for most of history, yoghurt was wildly popular in large parts of the world—the Middle East, the Balkans, Caucasus, much of Asia, and the Indian subcontinent—and totally unknown elsewhere. Even the promise that yoghurt would cure old age, made by a Nobel prize-winning scientist, couldn't persuade Americans to eat it. So how did yoghurt finally break America? Listen in now for the little-known story of our curious relationship with this creamy concoction.

Episode Notes

Priya Krishna

Priya Krishna is a food writer and cookbook author. She wrote about heirloom yoghurt starters among South Asian families for The New York Times, where she also shared her father's coveted starter recipe.

Veronica Sinotte

Veronica Sinotte is a professor at the University of Copenhagen, where she studies the ecology and evolution of the microorganisms that cause fermentation. Her paper on ant-fermented yoghurt is titled "Making yogurt with the ant holobiont uncovers bacteria, acids, and enzymes for food fermentation." (Gastropod's in-house microbiologist, Ben Wolfe, introduced us to Veronica's work: he's been busy working on how a cheese rind lost its color—and how that helps unlock the secrets of evolution.)

Luba Vikhanski

Medical journalist Luba Vikhanski is the author of the book Immunity: How Elie Metchnikoff Changed the Course of Modern Medicine.

June Hersh

Food writer June Hersh is the author of Yoghurt: A Global History, among other books.

Matthew Wolf-Meyer

Matthew Wolf-Meyer is a historian of science and medicine and a professor at RPI, as well as the author of the book American Disgust: Racism, Microbial Medicine, and the Colony Within.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics

This episode of Gastropod was supported by a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics. Check out the other books, movies, shows, podcasts, and more that they support here.

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund

This episode of Gastropod was supported in part by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for our coverage of biomedical research.