The hidden history of ultra-processed food

When you pop open your medication bottle and take your pills, you assume they are safe. But how do you know? Debbie Cenziper, investigative journalist for ProPublica, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how medicines made in overseas labs don’t always meet U.S. safety standards; why lawmakers, doctors and patients are often unaware of this problem; and why we can’t easily find out where our medication is made. Her article is “Is Your Medication Made in a Contaminated Factory? The FDA Won’t Tell You.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It takes seconds for an A.I. chatbot to give you an answer – but many manhours went into getting you there. Varsha Bansal, tech reporter for The Guardian, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the grueling work of training A.I. to give answers that are fact checked and meet safety guidelines, and why, when it seems our future is digital, humans are still very much needed behind the scenes. Her article is “How thousands of overworked underpaid humans train Google’s AI to seem smart.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 Muscle-bound bodybuilders may line up for testosterone replacement therapy – and increasingly, so do menopausal women. Susan Dominus, staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why middle-aged women are raving about its benefits — despite possible side effects — and why the FDA hasn’t approved any use of the hormone for women. Her article is “‘I’m on Fire’: Testosterone Is Giving Women Back Their Sex Drive — and Then Some.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 From flavored yogurt to a package of Ding Dongs, Americans love ultraprocessed food. Alice Callahan is a New York Times reporter with a Ph.D. in nutrition, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why our diets became so reliant on foods made in a factory, why farm subsidies and advertising are partially to blame, and why we can’t seem to put these foods down. Her article is “How Ultraprocessed Food Took Over America.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For many of us, reading involves mostly scrolling through content on our phones rather than picking up a book. James Marriott writes for The Times of London, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how high literacy rates have ushered in human rights and leaps in scientific understanding – and what happens to a society that stops thinking deeply and focuses on the doomscroll. His essay “The dawn of the post-literate society” was published in his Cultural Capital Substack. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 We adore them when their cherubic faces light up the big screen, but when child actors grow up, they’re yesterday’s news. New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the life cycle of the child star from public adoration to fleeting fame, why we won’t allow them to age, and the demands the industry makes of them at such a tender age. His article is “What Do We Want from Our Child Stars?” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On the eve of our country’s 250th birthday, would the Founding Fathers recognize the America we live in today? Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the seismic legal and moral shifts that have happened since the Declaration of Independence was penned and how they have shaped the political left and right – and we’ll talk about why we might be surprised if we could talk to Washington, Franklin and Jefferson today. His article “What the Founders Would Say Now” was published in The Atlantic. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 Decades before the headlines about Tylenol, moms have always had to worry if they were to blame for their child’s autism. Sara Luterman, Disability and Aging Reporter for The 19th, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the so-called “refrigerator moms” of the 1950s, and what today’s rhetoric from the Health and Human Services Secretary mean for mothers struggling to navigate a difficult diagnosis. Her article “This isn’t the first time moms have been blamed for their kids’ autism.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The way life emerged on Earth is being reconsidered – but not without some disagreement. Journalist Asher Elbein joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how one discovery in Africa is having scientists radically rethinking when life emerged, what it means that this life existed in the harshest of conditions and why it’s dividing the scientific community. His article “Life’s Big Bangs” was published in Scientific American. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Why are we following the lead of tech billionaires when it comes to guiding public policy? Science journalist Adam Becker joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the ways Silicon Valley scions might have A.I. all wrong, the obsession with space colonies and why we aren’t asking more critical questions for their version of the future. His book is, “More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity.“This episode originally aired, May 20th 2024. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices