The Hungry Historians
Join Kelly Spring and Matt Phillpott for interviews and conversations with leading writers on the history of food and drink. New episodes fortnightly.
Join Kelly Spring and Matt Phillpott for interviews and conversations with leading writers on the history of food and drink. New episodes fortnightly.
Episodes

Thursday Jul 31, 2025
Leftovers with Eleanor Barnett
Thursday Jul 31, 2025
Thursday Jul 31, 2025
Is food waste a modern creation or does it have a long and interesting history? In this month's episode Matt and Kelly interview Eleanor Barnett about her book "Leftovers: A History of Food Waste and Preservation" which can be found at Bloomsbury Publishers and other book retailers.

Thursday Jun 26, 2025
Menus with Nathalie Cooke
Thursday Jun 26, 2025
Thursday Jun 26, 2025
In this month's Hungry Historians, Kelly A. Spring and Matt Phillpott discuss the history of menus with Nathalie Cooke (McGill University). We were surprised by just how much can be learned from menus and excited to hear about the various tricks used to encourage certain choices and illustrations used to excite interest. We also discuss cryptic menus and who is left out. You can find out more from Nathalie's latest book, Tastes and Traditions: A Journey through Menu History, available from Reaktion Books and all good bookstores.We hope you enjoy the episode!

Monday Jun 02, 2025
Food Labels with Xaq Frohlich
Monday Jun 02, 2025
Monday Jun 02, 2025
What information do food labels provide and what is the history of providing regulatory information to consumers? In this month's episode, Kelly and Matt interview Xaq Frohlich (Auburn University), about his book "From Label to Table: Regulating Food in America in the Information Age. You can learn more about Xaq and his book from his website www.xaqfrohlich.com.

Friday Apr 25, 2025
Ghanaian Foodways with Brandi Simpson Miller
Friday Apr 25, 2025
Friday Apr 25, 2025
What are the foodways in Ghana and how has this changed over the last 200 years? In this episode Kelly Spring and Matt Phillpott interview Brandi Simpson Miller about her book Food and Identity in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Ghana: Food, Fights, and Regionalism (2021).

Thursday Mar 27, 2025
Food packaging with Anne Murcott
Thursday Mar 27, 2025
Thursday Mar 27, 2025
How does food packaging work? What is its purpose? Is it really all just about marketing or is it there for a reason? In this episode Kelly Spring and Matt Phillpott interview Professor Anne Murcott about her book The (Not So) Secret Lives of Food Packaging.

Thursday Jan 30, 2025
An Introduction to The Hungry Historians
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Are you interested in the history of food? In this introduction, Dr Kelly A. Spring and Dr Matthew Phillpott share their ideas and thoughts about what the study of food history is about and what The Hungry Historians podcast is going to focus on over the coming months.








