The story of sugar in the Western world is sordid and bitter, however this past gets quickly candy coated in our day-to-day lives as consumers. In this special op-ed from the eminent economist, writer and historian James K. Galbraith, we get a peak into the sickly underbelly of the sociopolitical and economic past of sugar.

Explore the past, present and future of food in Austin with local legend Hoover Alexander alongside the hosts of The Secret Ingredient (Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy). Hoover’s long career in cooking tracks incredible changes that have taken place in Austin— from The Night Hawk, to Good Eats, to Hoover’s—and his perspective can...

Explore the past, present and future of food in Austin with local legend Hoover Alexander alongside the hosts of The Secret Ingredient (Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy). Hoover’s long career in cooking tracks incredible changes that have taken place in Austin— from The Night Hawk, to Good Eats, to Hoover’s—and his perspective can...

“The history of slavery in the Caribbean is traumatic. It’s a difficult legacy and I don’t think that it’s been well processed. So the serving of tea becomes this way to sort of address that. To consider, how can we move forward? What does it look like to think about healing in a space like...

From The New Deal until the present moment the architecture of The United States formed around some basic principles of public policy; principles that will no longer apply under a Trump administration. With all the questions that are on the table when it comes to this transition, Dr. James K. Galbraith asks: “Is the study...

The Lorano Long Conference brought many great thinkers and activists to the campus of The University of Texas in February to talk about, “New Perspectives on the Contemporary Food System in Latin America.” The Secret Ingredient Podcast’s Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy took that opportunity to talk with Dr. Alexis Racelis from the...

“The work we do is too important to the nation. We are the people who make it possible for every meal to exist. We feed the nation and we ask, have always asked, for the possibility to feed our own families in a dignified way without having to be in a vulnerable position all the...

In the 1970s Monsanto unveiled a miracle herbicide–Glyphosate. The pitch: it was as safe as table salt for people, but could flatten even the peskiest weeds. Farmers and homeowners alike have used the product ever since. Now, it shows up in detectable levels in many foods, and almost every American has some in their bodies....

Season 3 of The Secret Ingredient will focus on The Green New Deal (GND). Listen this season as Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy discuss the future of agriculture, climate change, economic inequality and what it will take to create The Green New Deal in an effort to save the planet!

The Secret Ingredient with KUT’s Rebecca McInroy, Raj Patel, author of A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, and food and agriculture correspondent for Mother Jones, Tom Philpott to talk about what the Green New Deal is, what it could mean for the future of agriculture, and what it will take to revive...

The Secret Ingredient with KUT’s Rebecca McInroy, Raj Patel, author of A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, and food and agriculture correspondent for Mother Jones, Tom Philpott explore the future of the Green New Deal with  Naomi Klein, author of “On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal.”

Explore the future of the Green New Deal and what it means for Texas with Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez. Tzintzún is challenging John Cornyn for the 2020 US Senate seat for the State of Texas. She is the Co-founder of the Workers Defense Project and Jolt, and she talked with The Secret Ingredient team–Raj Patel, Tom...

“We need to change society so everybody can fit in and everyone can afford to live in a decarbonized society.” – Jim Goodman  In this episode of The Secret Ingredient host Raj Patel plays double-duty — he is not just a host, but joins Jim Goodman as a guest. The two discuss what A Green...

“The climate crisis is an emergency, it is a crisis and so we need to make major, major changes in our agriculture system.” Ben Lilliston is the Director of Climate Change and Rural strategies at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. He spoke with The Secret Ingredient team–Raj Patel, Tom Philpott, and Rebecca McInroy,...

The Secret Ingredient with KUT’s Rebecca McInroy, Raj Patel author of A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, and food and agriculture correspondent for Mother Jones, Tom Philpott welcome back Rob Wallace an evolutionary biologist for his take on the link between global outbreaks of infectious disease and global agriculture. Rob Wallace is...

Manuel Gonzales, author of “The Miniature Wife: and Other Stories,” is interviewed by Owen Egerton in the inaugural episode of “The Write Up.” Plus we’ll hear book reviews with Owen’s lovely parents!

On this edition of The Write Up, host Owen Egerton sits down with novelist Louisa Hall, author of The Carriage House. Plus we’ll hear book reviews of Cats Cradle and Stiff!

Writer Ada Calhoun discusses her new book, “St. Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America’s Hippest Street,” with host Owen Egerton.

On this episode of “This Song,” Elizabeth McQueen sits down with Hal Ketchum to hear how the music of Van Morrison has inspired him since his days as a teenage drummer playing rowdy clubs.  And Pokey LaFarge talks about how Lefty Frizzel’s imperfect yet compelling singing influenced his own music. Subscribe via iTunes or Stitcher to get the new episodes of  “This […]

In this episode of “This Song” Elizabeth McQueen sits down with Kevin Parker of Tame Impala to talk about how a Led Zeppelin song helped him see that rock and dance music weren’t necessarily separate from one another.  And Mark Creaney of Sounds del Mar explains how a live version of a song by the Band opened him […]

Thom Green from Alt-J discusses his musical influences from Nirvana to Yamaneko. And the members of the band Ume each talk about a musical experience that helped them figure out what they wanted to accomplish with their music.

Jose Gonzalez talks about the many ways Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" inspired his musical style as does drummer Trevor Wiggins of Leopold and his Fiction. Then Daniel James, lead singer and guitar player for Leopold and his Fiction, talks about how the Motown sound helped him find his own sound.

What do John Aielli, David Bowie and Caracaras all have in common? Jonathan Meiburg from Shearwater has learned something from all of them. Hear about his many and varied interests in this first ever "This Song" extra!

White Denim's James Petralli explains how the Grateful Dead's "That's It For the Other One" helped him realize how he wanted to approach both the guitar and the recording studio. Then Bayonne explores how The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" showed him how powerful openness and vulnerability in music could be.

M. Ward explores how John Fahey's record "The Yellow Princess" showed him that an artist could say everything he wanted using only one acoustic guitar. Then Dana Falconberry explains how the songs she learned while playing with Redding Hunter in the band "Peter and the Wolf" changed her approach to music.

Hear Alessia Cara explain how she's inspired by the music of Amy Winehouse and Drake and what her current creative life is like. Then lThandiwe and Niambi Sala of the New York based hip hop duo Oshun explain how songs by Outkast and Billie Holiday helped them realize what it was they wanted to do with their own music.

BØRNS talk about Electric Light Orchestra's “Turn To Stone,” Jeff Lynn’s writing style, guilty pleasures and how he approaches the songwriting process. Then Carrie Fussell from Austin’s own Calliope Musicals talks about “Tightrope” and gushes about the entire ELO album “A New World Record. Finally Calliope Musical's co-founder and drummer Josh Bickley explains how the lyrics of a very non drum centric Blind Melon song won over his very drum centric heart.

American rock and roll icon Dion describes how he, one night, heard the soul and rhythm of Hank Williams drifting out of his family radio and was forever changed. Later, Austinite Amanda Cevallos talks country with Elizabeth (who can talk some country) and they bond over their love of Waylon Jennings and Texas dancehalls.

Alex Trimble of the Irish indie rock trio Two Door Cinema Club explains how Beck's “Midnight Vultures” album illustrated the concept of music-making without rules. Then Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek of the Brooklyn-based band Big Thief describe how “The Leanover” from Life Without Buildings and the work of Michael Hurley inspired them and lead them to approach their songwriting and musical performances from completely new directions.

Local Natives Kelcey Ayer and Nik Ewing have been thinking a lot about how to balance darkness and light, art and activism.

Alex Bleeker and Martin Courtney of Real Estate in depth look the quiet beauty of “Look At What The Light Did Now” by Little Wings (aka Kyle Field) and how their love and respect for the song and the artist who wrote it have inspired them both.

Austin Artist Michael Winningham on how Os Mutantes "A Mihna Menina" opened his mind to an expansive sonic world and influenced his latest project, Palo Duro.

Psychedelic garage-rocker Ty Segall tells KUTX host Taylor Wallace how The Band’s “The Weight” influenced his songwriting and inspired the name of his new puppy

This year, Austin's Walker Lukens released his second album Tell It To The Judge, produced by Spoon's Jim Eno. It's a hook-laden mix of pop, rock, electronic, and obtuse lyrics, music that you can emotionally understand without necessarily literally understanding. Listen as Lukens describes how Fleetwood Mac's "Sara" works in a similar way for him, and hear how it's gotten him through some tough times.

Composer and Conductor Benjamin Wallfisch has scored music for over 60 feature films including Hidden Figures and the remake of Steven King’s IT. He also collaborated with Hans Zimmer on the soundtrack for Blade Runner 2049.  Listen as he describes how hearing John William’s score for E.T.  as a young boy set him on the path of making music […]

John Gourley and Eric Howk from the band Portugal. The Man explain how "I'm Only Sleeping" by the Beatles and the Woodstock documentary and soundtrack changed the way they saw music and inspired the making of their latest record Woodstock.

Born Ruffians' Luke Lalonde explores why he loves John Prine's "Far From Me" and describes the deep impact his father has had on his musical journey.

The Breeders guitar player and singer Kelley Deal describes how watching Jimmy Page play guitar in Led Zeppelin's concert film The Song Remains the Same exploded her mind and gave her a template for the kind of sonically adventurous musician she would later become.

Chase Weinach, of the band Austin band Marmalakes, describes how hearing Rilo Kiley's "A Better Son/Daughter" when he was going through a tough time in his mid-twenties helped him realize he was not alone.

On this episode, Austin singer/songwriter Ali Holder tells us how an Arcade Fire song helped her through a challenging medical diagnosis

Kevin Parker of Tame Impala describes how hearing Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times" made him realize that he could meld his love of rock music with his love of dance music.

Nik Ewing, leader of the band Chewing and bass player and vocalist for Local Natives, explains why he chose to cover Dennis Wilson's solo album "Pacific Ocean Blue" in it's entirety. This project is part of Turntable Kitchen's Sounds Delicious series.

Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall tells us how seeing Beck's Loser on MTV as a kid pushed her to pursue her own music and how his willingness to experiment with styles and genres continues to inspire her.

Dana Falconberry talks about the profound impact being in the band "Peter and the Wolf" when she first moved to Austin. It's two Austin musicians, talking how Austin Music changed their lives. Enjoy!

Allison Moorer Moorer describes how "Every Breath You Take"  by the Police gave her a window into an entire other world of music, and helped her define herself apart from her family.

Amanda Palmer explores how seeing Nick Cave's performance of "Magneto" in the documentary "On More Time With Feeling" showed her how powerful inviting an audience into deeply personal experiences could be. "The ability too walk into the dark and carefully take people with you is why we do our jobs."

Warren Hood describes how hearing the song "High Hill" gave him a deep appreciation for the music of Uncle Walt's band while helping him process his grief around the loss of his father.

Jenny Lewis' describes the effect that hearing  "Govinda Jai Jai" by Alice Coltrane while on a road trip across California with Jim James and Gary Burden had on her spirit and on her approach to her new record "On the Line."

Come to Waterloo Records Thursday, November 21st at 4pm for a live taping of the This Song podcast. Singer, songwriter and author Allison Moorer will talk about a song that changed her life, and talk about her new book and companion album, Blood. The event is FREE and open to the public.

This week we have a special treat for you! A full episode of the new Song Confessional Podcast! In  this episode you'll hear a tale of family, weed and secrets, the song it inspired written by Brooklyn based Vlad Holiday, and an interview with Holiday about his boozy creative process.