The Food That Built America

By The HISTORY® Channel

It takes bold visionaries risking everything to create some of the most recognizable brands on the planet. The Food That Built America, based on the hit documentary series from The HISTORY® ... more

4.6

708708 ratings

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about The Food That Built America:

How many episodes does The Food That Built America have?

The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.

The Food That Built America episodes:

May 12, 2025 McDonald's Before McDonald's (from HISTORY This Week)
If you liked this episode, subscribe to HISTORY This Week wherever you listen to podcasts!

May 15, 1940. It’s opening day. San Bernardino, CA is a city on the rise, and to meet this new demand for cheap, good food, two brothers have created a restaurant: McDonald’s Famous Barbecue.

You can order a PB&J sandwich, barbecued pork, baked beans, and yes, a hamburger. It’s a work in progress, but Dick and Mac McDonald never stop innovating.

How did the McDonald brothers engineer a system that would be replicated in thousands of locations across the globe? And why don't they get the credit they deserve?

Special thanks to Adam Chandler, journalist and author of Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through the Heart of America's Fast-Food Kingdom; and Marcia Chatelain, professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America.

Here are two other great books we used in putting this episode together: Ray & Joan: The Man Who Made the McDonald’s Fortune and the Woman Who Gave It All Away by Lisa Napoli; and McDonald’s: Behind the Arches by John F. Love.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
30min
February 17, 2025 America’s Restaurants Meet the Michelin Man (from HISTORY This Week)
Find HISTORY This Week wherever you listen to podcasts!

February 23, 2005. New York City's culinary elite gather at Gotham Hall. Tuxedoed waiters pass around champagne flutes and decadent hors d'oeuvres, as famous chefs like Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain pose for photos and gossip with their peers before the night’s main event: an announcement that could change their lives and the fate of America's dining scene.

Édouard Michelin takes the stage. His company, Michelin, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of tires, but they also produce a restaurant guide that has dictated the fortunes of European restaurants for over 100 years. Now, the Michelin Guide, and its coveted stars, will be coming to America.

When Michelin descends on New York City, which restaurants win? Which lose? And how does the battle itself transform American food culture?

Special thanks to Peter Esmond, the former general manager of Per Se and current sales leader at DoorDash; Eric Ripert, chef of Le Bernardin in New York City; and Kathleen Squires, a food and travel writer whose work appears in the Wall Street Journal, Conde Nast Traveler and more.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
28min
September 16, 2024 Nixon Does Whatever It Takes to Win in ’68 (from HISTORY This Week)
This is a brand-new episode from HISTORY This Week, available wherever you listen to podcasts!

September 16, 1968. Richard Nixon isn't exactly seen as a comedian. But tonight, he's trying to change that by appearing on Laugh-In, a TV show similar to Saturday Night Live. Nixon needs every vote he can get in the 1968 election, facing off against Hubert Humphrey, the vice president who became the Democratic nominee after Lyndon Johnson withdrew from the ticket.

Nixon's Laugh-In appearance is a surprise, but soon, he'll pull off a move that no one would ever expect. How did back-channel dealings, unattended teleprompters, and Oval Office shouting matches turn this election into an all-time drama? And what do recently uncovered conversations reveal about how far Nixon was willing to go to secure victory?

Special thanks to David Farber, professor of history at the University of Kansas and author of Chicago ‘68; Lawrence O’Donnell, host of The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC and author of Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics; and Luke Nichter, professor of history at Chapman University and author of The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
36min
September 12, 2024 HISTORY This Week is returning this Monday, 9/16!
HISTORY This week is about to return! We'll be back with new episodes this Monday, September 16th. In the meantime, listen to our trailer for Season 5, and follow HISTORY This Week wherever you get your podcasts.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1min
July 13, 2022 Taco Bell
In the mid-50s, a San Bernardino man named Glen Bell is fixated on McDonald’s. His own burger stand is in shambles, and he’s trying to bounce back. When he looks around, though, he realizes Mexican food is gaining popularity, but that most Americans are afraid of anything that strays from their bland palettes. That’s when he realizes: A taco is really a burger in a shell. With a few fits and starts, Taco Bell is born.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
27min
July 06, 2022 Pop Stars
Popcorn may very well be the oldest snack food on the planet, but for much of its modern history it was something to be consumed in movie theaters or at fairgrounds - not at home. No truly national brand existed and it was far from the convenient snack it is today. But in the 1950s, Orville Redenbacher believed science could launch popcorn forward, making him a household name. His thousands of hybridizing experiments innovated popcorn down to its genetic code, resulting in a more flavorful pop twice the size of anything the world had seen before.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
22min
June 29, 2022 Let Them Eat Snack Cake
Nowadays, grocery stores and gas stations are filled with Little Debbie products. In the 1950s, though, snack cakes were just gaining popularity, when a Chattanooga couple took a risk, scrapping big pies in favor of debut snack cakes instead. their company, Little Debbie, now dominates 54% of the snack cake industry with over $890 million in sales.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
23min
June 22, 2022 Cookie Fortunes
In the mid 1970s, a woman who wants to be more than just a housewife, is tired of living in her husband’s shadow. Armed with her phenomenal cookies, Debbi Fields seeks out an unlikely spot for her unlikely business - a cookie shop named Mrs. Fields in a shopping mall...run by a woman with no experience. With her husband’s credit on the line, she starts her journey to build a $450 million dollar cookie juggernaut.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
24min
June 15, 2022 Chain Reaction
In the mid-60s, a single perfume salesman finds himself struggling to meet women to date. So, he goes to the bar to complain to the bartender about his predicament. That’s when the salesman has an idea: What if you made your own co-ed bar? What ensues is a quest to make bars coed and fun, and TGI Fridays is born, revolutionizing the idea of sit-down dining and bar culture. Now, the business has 303 locations in the United States.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
37min
June 08, 2022 A Dish Best Served Soft
In Illinois, a father and son working in the wholesale ice cream mixing business have an idea. Convinced that ice cream tastes better fresh before it’s fully-frozen, what if they could create a machine that could dispense it while it’s still only semi-solid? Their names are John and Alex McCullough. By 1940 the McCullough’s open their first store, naming it Dairy Queen.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
22min

FAQs about The Food That Built America:

How many episodes does The Food That Built America have?

The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.

More shows like The Food That Built America

This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

91,139 Listeners

Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff You Should Know

78,418 Listeners

Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,081 Listeners

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters by American Public Media

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

3,080 Listeners

The Sporkful by Dan Pashman

The Sporkful

3,949 Listeners

Gastropod by Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Gastropod

3,643 Listeners

Special Sauce with Ed Levine by Ed Levine

Special Sauce with Ed Levine

380 Listeners

Sidedoor by Smithsonian Institution

Sidedoor

2,183 Listeners

Ridiculous History by iHeartPodcasts

Ridiculous History

4,524 Listeners

American History Tellers by Wondery

American History Tellers

19,235 Listeners

Decoder Ring by Slate Podcasts

Decoder Ring

2,126 Listeners

American Scandal by Wondery

American Scandal

19,018 Listeners

Letters of Love in WW2 by Sky HISTORY

Letters of Love in WW2

117 Listeners

Noble Blood by iHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild

Noble Blood

13,570 Listeners

Not What You Thought You Knew by HISTORY

Not What You Thought You Knew

210 Listeners

HISTORY This Week by The HISTORY® Channel | Back Pocket Studios

HISTORY This Week

4,178 Listeners

The Recipe with Kenji and Deb by Deb Perelman & J. Kenji López-Alt

The Recipe with Kenji and Deb

440 Listeners