Banana Cultures

Guest: John Soluri,  Associate Professor and Director of Global Studies in the History Department at Carnegie Mellon University, and author of "Banana Cultures: Agriculture, Consumption, and Environmental Change in Honduras and the United States" 

The banana is the world’s most popular fruit crop. In the last 100 years, this fruit you’ve seen in every grocery store has been central to big business, the economies of several countries, and civil rights. Mass production of this fruit has led to the genetic homogenization, making crops susceptible to disease. But don't worry, yet, about them disappearing from your grocery aisles. 

 

A History of the Greater United States

Guest: Daniel Immerwahr, Associate Professor of History, Northwestern University, and author of "How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States"

Generally when Americans think of their borders, a familiar shape comes to mind—the one beginning with California and ending with Florida. But what about Guam and Puerto Rico? How about the Philippines during WWII? US influence reaches far beyond the borders of its 50 states. Daniel Immerwahr of Northwestern University explains why we might want to refer to all of this as "the greater United States."