Masters of Social Gastronomy: Cults! (Online)
Taught by Sarah Lohman and Jonathan Soma
Sarah Lohman is a culinary historian and the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed book Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine. She focuses on the history of American food as a way to access stories of women, immigrants, and people of color, and to address issues of racism, sexism, and xenophobia. Her work has been featured inTheWall Street Journal andThe New York Times, as well as onAll Things Considered; and she has presented across the country, from the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC to The Culinary Historians of Southern California. She is also 1/2 of the Masters of Social Gastronomy, a monthly food science and history talk at Caveat NYC, with Brainery co-founder Jonathan Soma.
Soma was born in the South, is what someone from the North would say. He co-founded the Brainery, is the sciencey half of Masters of Social Gastronomy, and plans on getting married to Waffle House. In his more droll moments he is a tragic sellout to higher ed as a professor of data journalism at Columbia University's journalism school.
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This month, the Masters of Social Gastronomy want you to JOIN OUR CULT! We're investigating the often bizarre connections between food and America's cults.
America in the mid-nineteenth century is thought of as a time of repression, but it also birthed a legion of free-thinking, free-lovin', agrarian societies. These utopian societies were often focused on building a better world through food. But as inexperienced farmers, many of these gatherings led to disaster: when the time comes to pick your cult, will you be smithing flatware to make a buck or subscribing to a radical vegetarian diet?
If the past just does't do it for you, you're also welcome to try out a few more recent options. Whether you'd rather throw sugar out the window and body-shame til the End Times or go all-in on the Kool Aid, the twentieth century has plenty of options for you!
Culinary historian Sarah Lohman and resident food scientist Jonathan Soma are the Masters of Social Gastronomy. Each month, they fearlessly take on a curious food topic, breaking down the history and science behind what we eat.
This show is our season finale! We'll be back (online) in September. Attend in May for your chance to submit a show idea for the fall; if we pick your idea, we'll send you an MSG T-Shirt!
