1: History of Everything: Potatoes

In 1975, a French mercenary named Bob Denard landed on the beaches of the Comoros Islands with a handful of men and changed the course of African history. Then he did it again. And again. And one more time for good measure. This is the story of how one man overthrew the same gove ...  Show more

Normally when one describes a dictator they will talk about murder, violence, oppression, coups, but not usually willingly giving up power. The dictator of Seychelles is perhaps one of the most rare examples of exactly that in history. This is his story and how the Seychelles bec ...  Show more

In its time, the potato has been called the root of filth, misery and obesity - but is it fair to call it the 'food of the poor'? In the first episode of a two-part series, The Food Chain goes to the very roots of the world's most popular vegetable, digging up some new perspectiv ...  Show more

Today, the humble potato can be found in restaurants and dinner tables across the world -- but this wasn't always the case. In today's episode, Ben and Noel dive into the story of one spud-loving, potato-proselytizing man named Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, and his ambitious li ...

In our second and final episode on the humble spud, we meet the people who see the global economic future as being potato powered. The potato is the world's most produced staple food after rice, wheat and corn - yet historically, it was seen as the root of filth, misery and obesi ...  Show more

Consider the potato. The typical potato is not all that pretty. They can be beige and lumpy, dusty and speckled, and on top of that, they even sprout alien-like tentacles. Further, no one really knows what to make of the potato. Is it a vegetable, or so starchy that we should rea ...  Show more