The rise of artisan cheese in the U.S. has created a need for knowledge sharing, marketing support and networking opportunities, particularly amongst small producers. Cheese guilds organized at the state level help fill these needs. Tune in to learn about the California, Vermont, and newly formed Pennsylvania cheese guilds and how they promote their cheesemakers and connect them with the community.

Cheese lovers know Culture Magazine - an invaluable print and online publication that reports on and creates stories for the world of cheese. Tune in to hear co-founders and sisters, Thalassa and Stephanie Skinner, talk about how they conceived of and created Culture Magazine and how they generate content for a cheese-obsessed audience.

What can archaeology tell us about cheese? Tune in to hear Kelila Jaffe - Food program coordinator and PhD candidate at NYUs Food Studies program - discuss the origins of domesticating ruminant animals and how our ancestors discovered cheese making.

Ever dream of owning your very own cheese shop? On Episode 120 of Cutting the Curd, Diane Stemple spoke to Beth Lewand - proprietor of Eastern District - about the challenges she faced opening her shop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. On todays episode, Beth returns fresh off her 5-year anniversary of being in business! Tune in to hear Beth and Aaron Foster of Foster Sundry (the coolest new cheese shop in Brooklyn!) discuss what it took to start their cheese shops, and their plans to keep it viable through the years.

Cutting the Curd regular guest, Adam Moskowitz, returns! Tune in to hear Adam and host Greg Blais talk about FDA issues, social media gripes, and the upcoming Cheesemonger Invitational in San Francisco. If you dont know what pairs well and why, how can you help your consumer know that? [28:45] --Adam Moskowitz on Cutting the Curd andnbsp;

Last year, Cutting the Curd producer Emily Acosta brought special coverage of the 2015 Winter Fancy Food Show to the Heritage Radio Network. With this years trade show in San Francisco just weeks away, tune in to revisit these mini-interviews with cheesemakers, mongers, distributors and more as they reveal their thoughts on the most important issues in cheese and make cheese predictions for 2015.

Our holiday special returns: Drunken Cheese Stories! Take a shot or sip some wine, and tune in to hear host Greg Blais talk cheese with superstar friends of the show Max McCalman, Anne Saxelby and Matthew Rubiner. We should not have to go to France to get our choice of cheese. They should be available to us... The bigger concern is that this could drive a lot of cheesemakers out of business in the United States. [21:00] --Max McCalman on Cutting the Curd andnbsp;

Tune in to Diane Stemples review of Land of Milk and Uncle Honey: Memories from the Farm of My Youth. Author Alan Guebert and his daughter/editor, Mary Grace Foxwell, join in studio to talk about the realities of farm life from Alans life at Indian Farm - a dairy operation on 720 acres of rich Illinois bottomland. Every three or four generations it always comes back to the simple, good things. [32:45] --Alan Guebert on Cutting the Curd andnbsp;

Gold Medal, Blue Ribbon, Best in Show… What makes an award-winning cheese? Tune in to hear host Greg Blais discuss the process of judging cheese with two veteran cheese judges – David Grotenstein and Carlos Yescas – who have served as judges in competitions domestically and abroad. Carlos also talks in depth about recent news over raw milk cheese regulation on behalf of the Cheese Coalition.

Great cheese can take a Thanksgiving meal from good to unforgettable. Tune in to hear veteran cheesemongers Sara Adduci of Feast Virginia and Waldemar Albrecht of Olivers Market in Sonoma County give their advice for making the most of your Thanksgiving cheese plate and surviving the busy holiday season at the cheese counter. We always gets some of the same cast of characters that everyone is going to want or need for their general purpose cheese plates but then we bring in so many special things for this time of year that we dont normally get. [13:15] --Sara Adduci on Cutting the Curd andnbsp;