For those who like its earthy flavor, the humble beet can do a lot for a salad or a soup. But could it help end slavery? In the 1800s, one woman believed it could—and she wasn't just any old woman. This episode, meet Lydia Maria Child, who wrote the first children's periodical magazine, the first New England historical novel, and one of America's first successful self-help books—all before she turned thirty, in an era where women were still considered property. This episode, we've got the fascinating story of why she bet big on beets, as well as how, more than a century later, Wolfgang Puck and Martha Stewart paired this much maligned vegetable with goat cheese to spark today's beet renaissance. Meanwhile, for the haters among us: is it possible to de-beet the beet, and get rid of that earthy flavor altogether? Listen in now as we meet the astonishing Lydia Maria Child, in the curious tale of the beet.

Episode Notes

Lydia Moland

Lydia Moland is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Philosophy at Colby College, and the author of Lydia Maria Child: A Radical American Life.

Irwin Goldman

Horticulturalist Irwin Goldman is a professor and researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He's the breeder of the sweet, geosmin-free Badger Flame beet, which you can buy from Row Seven in seed and tinned form, and also find fresh and ready to eat at Whole Foods, in season.

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.

Transcript

Click here for a transcript of the show. Please note that the transcript is provided as a courtesy and may contain errors.