Yes, We have No Bananas

In 46 BC, after 12 years away, Julius Caesar finally returned home to Rome. A lot had changed since he was last there. The entire Roman system had been upended, and he was now the man on top. To celebrate his homecoming, he did something that had never been done before or since. ...  Show more

For thousands of years, humans have gathered to watch horses run. What began as tests of speed and endurance on ancient plains evolved into chariot races before roaring crowds, royal competitions in medieval courts, and eventually a global sport worth billions. Along the way, it ...  Show more

Bananas, the world’s favourite fruit, were first displayed in London on 10th April, 1633, in the shop window of botanist Thomas Johnson, editor for Gerard’s Herball. Despite societal taboos surrounding the banana's suggestive shape, its journey from obscurity to ubiquity was late ...  Show more

In the Watermelon episode, Chuck and Josh stumbled into a bit of little-known history about why artificial banana flavor doesn’t taste like bananas. Turns out it does; it just tastes like a banana you’ve probably never eaten.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

HARVEY, our omnipresent virtual voice assistant, gets a software update that makes him go bananas for bananas. And if we talk about anything except bananas, he turns the microphones off! We talk to geneticist Dr. Janina Jeff about how much DNA we share with a banana, find out why ...  Show more

On this episode of Our American Stories, if you think of the quintessential American fruit, it would probably have to be the apple. But apples are not our cheapest fruit—bananas are! But why? Here’s the History Guy with the story of the banana. Support the show ( https://www.ouram ...  Show more