Episodes

  • Sake with Eric C Rath
    Jan 15 2026

    In this episode of The Hungry Historians Matthew Phillpott and Kelly Spring interview Eric C. Rath about his book Kanpai: The History of Sake (Reaktion Books, 2025).

    Eric brings us into the world of sake, both in Japan and its increasing popularity internationally. You can find out more about Eric C. Rath on his profile page. Kanpai is available from Reakton Books and all good bookshops.

    This episode is sponsored by Bloomsbury Food Library, an essential resource for students, researchers, and scholars studying food, offering the widest-ranging existing collection of food studies content.

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    40 mins
  • School Lunches with Marcus Weaver-Hightower
    Dec 18 2025

    Welcome to the second episode of season 2 of The Hungry Historians. In this episode Kelly A. Spring and Matt Phillpott interview educator, scholar and creator Marcus Weaver-Hightower about his book Unpacking School Lunch. In this episode we explore the challenges and politics of school lunches, mainly in the US, but also with a quick excursion into the UK system.


    You can find out more about Marcus Weaver-Hightower at his ⁠website⁠. Unpacking School Lunch is available from Palgrave Macmillan and all good bookshops.

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    42 mins
  • Air and Love with Or Rosenboim
    Dec 4 2025

    Welcome to the first episode of season 2 of The Hungry Historians. In this episode Kelly A. Spring and Matt Phillpott interview historian and writer, Or Rosenboim on her 2024 book Air and Love: A Story of Food, Migration and Belonging. This book is one part history told through the story of food, cooking, and eating, and one part family history. The book follows Or's family as it migrates from Samarkand, Riga, Jerusualem, and Tel Aviv in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

    You can find out more about Or Rosenboim at her website. Air and Love is available from Pan MacMillan and all good bookshops.

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    44 mins
  • Kelly A. Spring - SPAM
    Sep 25 2025

    This month's episode of The Hungry Historians turns our attention to our host Kelly A. Spring, who has just released her new book with Reaktion Books as part of their 'The Edible Series'. This book is a study of Spam, looking particularly at its origins, importance during World War II, and its afterlife, especially in Korea, the USA.

    In this episode, Matt interviews Kelly about her book to learn more about this fasinating food product.

    SPAM: A Global History can be bought from Reaktion Books and other booksellers.

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    33 mins