Episode 82 – Cheese Caves and Banana Republics

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We’re digging into America’s deepest darkest secrets — when it comes to food, that is.

Elise tells us how one president’s cheese became the next president’s problem, which might lead you to Google “American government 1.4 billion pounds of cheese in caves.” We explore how the cheese caves of yesteryear became the weird milk ads of our present.

Then Olivia gives us a brief history of bananas, which involves quite a lot of railroad tycoons, bare minimum union demands, and good old American capitalism.

Plus, our theory as to why slipping on banana peels was more common a century ago, and our next book club pick.

Story #1: Cheese Caves (Elise)

History of the United States Farm Bill, Library of Congress
US government spending bill extends farm programs, some nutrition aid, Reuters, Nov 2023
Big Government Cheese, NPR, Aug 2018
‘Here’s your check’: Trump’s massive payouts to farmers will be hard to pull back, Politico, July 2020
Cheshire Mammoth Cheese, Wikipedia
HYDRATES BETTER THAN WATER, Got Milk?

The Jackson Cheese episode from The Dollop, for those who want a deeper dive into America’s very weird history with cheese.

Story #2: Banana Republics (Olivia)

Chiquita – The Controversial History, Company Man, 2020
How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas), Johnny Harris, 2023
Banana : the fate of the fruit that changed the world, Dan Koeppel, 2008
Las lecciones de la masacre de las bananeras en Colombia, Nicolás Pernett in New York Times, 2018
Development of the Railroad Monopoly, Stanford class project (not exactly journalistically sound but interesting)
Cavendish banana and 1928 Banana Massacre, Wikipedia
Chiquita Banana Sings Her Famous Song, posted on Youtube by Tvdays
Chiquita website (with a grain of salt)

The Dump

Read One Hundred Years of Solitude with us! We’re also reading Lessons in Chemistry, The Fourth Wing, Bluets, and some good escapist fiction.

We’re listening to books on Libby, and we’re keeping track of our reading on Storygraph.

The World Is Burning bookshop is live! Help us come up with book list titles and bulk up our reading list.

Our World is Burning themed playlist is on Spotify.

You can keep up with us on Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok.

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Thanks for listening!

Ep. 82 – Cheese Caves and Banana Republics – World Is Burning

We’re digging into America’s deepest darkest secrets — when it comes to food, that is. Elise tells us how one president’s cheese became the next president’s problem, which might lead you to Google “American government 1.4 billion pounds of cheese in caves.” We explore how the cheese caves of yesteryear became the weird milk ads of our present. Then Olivia gives us a brief history of bananas, which involves quite a lot of railroad tycoons, bare minimum union demands, and good old American capitalism. Plus, our theory as to why slipping on banana peels was more common a century ago, and our next book club pick. Subscribe/follow/press the button to keep up with new episodes every Wednesday! You can also follow us @worldisburnin on Instagram and Twitter, and check out our website worldisburning.com for extended show notes including sources and photos. World Is Burning is hosted by Olivia Hamilton and Elise Nye. Our theme music is by Kaycie Satterfield, and our logo was made by Sonja Katanic.

1. Ep. 82 – Cheese Caves and Banana Republics 01:10:23
2. Ep. 81 – Navigating Anger & Disinformation in Times of Conflict 01:16:42
3. Ep. 80 – Something in the Water – Hurricane Sandy & Flint Michigan 01:12:13
4. Ep. 79 – Disability & Climate: Greyhound fights the ADA and Lyme Disease 01:26:05
5. Ep. 78 – Labor & Leisure – The First Strike & A Depression-Era Prediction 01:29:24