The Food That Built America

McDonald's Before McDonald's (from HISTORY This Week)

Mon, 12 May 2025 08:35:00 GMT

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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.

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America’s Restaurants Meet the Michelin Man (from HISTORY This Week)

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 09:31:00 GMT

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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

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Nixon Does Whatever It Takes to Win in ’68 (from HISTORY This Week)

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 09:01:34 GMT

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

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HISTORY This Week is returning this Monday, 9/16!

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 09:01:27 GMT

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

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Taco Bell

Wed, 13 Jul 2022 09:01:53 GMT

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.

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Pop Stars

Wed, 06 Jul 2022 09:01:17 GMT

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.

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Let Them Eat Snack Cake

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 09:01:32 GMT

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.

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Cookie Fortunes

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 09:01:46 GMT

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.

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Chain Reaction

Wed, 15 Jun 2022 09:01:07 GMT

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.

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A Dish Best Served Soft

Wed, 08 Jun 2022 09:01:00 GMT

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.

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Do or Donut

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 09:01:13 GMT

Post-World War Two, a food entrepreneur sees promise in a new business. In 1948, William Rosenberg notices two of his offerings selling better than anything else: donuts and coffee. So, he takes a risk, opening a shop with his brother-in-law that will sell just two items. The store, Open Kettle, offers a whopping 52 kinds of hand cut donuts. After a few bumps along the road, Dunkin Donuts is born, and Rosenberg finds a way to dominate the donut business.

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A Cold One

Wed, 25 May 2022 09:01:00 GMT

150 years ago, German immigrants in the Midwest write the history of beer in America. A recently shipwrecked steamboat captain - Captain Frederick Pabst - buys a local brewery, becoming the largest producer in the city. The crisp American lager we know today is born.

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Submarine Warfare

Wed, 18 May 2022 09:01:20 GMT

Sixty years ago, sandwiches were finger food, not a whole meal, and certainly not sold as fast food. But when three high school friends encounter a sub sandwich, they realize it’s the perfect fast-food alternative. As they navigate advertising, business, and menus, they create Blimpie, and reshape the way Americans think about lunch.

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Once You Pop

Wed, 11 May 2022 09:01:53 GMT

In the 1950s, one of the biggest companies in the world - Procter and Gamble - decides to enter the chip business. A chemist for P&G designs a strong, saddle-shaped chip and a revolutionary container to ship them in, and Pringles are born.

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Cookie Wars

Wed, 04 May 2022 09:01:10 GMT

Nabisco, the most popular cookie company, is born when an ill-fated partnership leads Adolphus Green to revolutionize packaging and create one of the most iconic cookie and cracker companies ever. But when his former partners strike back with their own invention, Green retaliates with the help of milk chocolate titan Milton Hershey.

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A Game of Chicken

Wed, 27 Apr 2022 09:01:34 GMT

In the 1970's, Ray Kroc of McDonald’s is far ahead of the competition. But when a burger chain called Burger King poaches his third-highest ranking executive, Don Smith, it's war. Smith re-engineers the emerging rival, and in an unprecedented move, Kroc brings on a world renowned chef to develop the chicken nugget.

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Gum Slingers

Wed, 20 Apr 2022 09:01:58 GMT

William Wrigley, whose name will later adorn sports stadiums and buildings, first stumbles upon a new product that will kickstart a revolution across industries.

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The Big Cheese

Wed, 13 Apr 2022 09:01:17 GMT

At the turn of the 20th century, James Kraft challenges thousands of years of cheese-making tradition and forever alters the dairy industry with his new cheese innovation: processed cheese.

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King of Burgers

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 09:01:56 GMT

In the 1950s, two Florida visionaries start Insta-Burger King, a burger stand that will become Ray Kroc and McDonald’s biggest rival, re-inventing their kitchen's equipment into the pioneering flame broiler. Over the next two decades these two iconic restaurants will duke it out, launching the flame-broiled burger that will shape the world.

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Announcing: The Food That Built America Season 2

Fri, 25 Feb 2022 10:01:55 GMT

The Food That Built America is back, and believe it when we say it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Season two will take you behind the scenes of sandwich squabbles, histories of beer, and origin stories of our favorite snacks. We'll explore the rivalries, runaway successes, and tremendous failures of the biggest names in food and drink and the legacies they left behind. New episodes of The Food That Built America premiere on April 6th wherever you listen to podcasts. And for even more iconic food moments, tune into The HISTORY® Channel for a new season of The Food That Built America TV show, premiering on Sunday, February 27 at 9 PM ET.

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Introducing: Hope, Through History Season 2

Wed, 30 Jun 2021 09:01:00 GMT

Welcome back to a new season of the C13Originals critically acclaimed Hope, Through History documentary limited series. Narrated and written by Pulitzer Prize Winning and Best Selling Historian, Jon Meacham, Season Two explores some of the most historic and trying times in American History, and how this nation dealt with the impact of these moments, and how we came through these moments a more unified nation. Season Two, presented by C13Originals, in association with The HISTORY Channel, will guide you through the Battle of Gettysburg and its impact on the future of the country, the relationship between FDR and Churchill and America’s slow walk to war, the plan for AIDS relief, the sinking of the Lusitania and events impact on the future of America, and Bloody Sunday and the Voting Rights Act. As Winston Churchill once remarked, “The future is unknowable, but the past should give us hope”—the hope that human ingenuity, reason, and character can combine to save us from the abyss and keep us on a path, in another phrase of Churchill’s, to broad, sun-lit uplands. Welcome to Season Two.

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Colonel Sanders’ First Stand

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 09:01:00 GMT

During the Great Depression, a Kentucky businessman named Harlan Sanders started selling fried chicken out of the tiny kitchen inside his gas station. He launched a product that would become an American staple and make him a brand icon: Kentucky Fried Chicken.

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The Great Chocolatiers

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 09:01:00 GMT

With his iconic milk chocolate bar, Milton Hershey transformed an exotic luxury into an affordable indulgence for millions of Americans. Then he went to war with an upstart rival - Frank Mars, creator of legendary bars like the Milky Way, Snickers and Three Musketeers.

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The Chips That Took Over the Snack World

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 09:01:00 GMT

In different corners of the country in the 1930s, ambitious entrepreneurs Charles Elmer Doolin and Herman Lay launched two products — Fritos corn chips and Lay’s potato chips — that would revolutionize the way Americans snack.

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Frozen Flavored Icicles

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 09:01:00 GMT

In 1905, an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson left a stirring stick in a cup of soda out in the cold overnight. The next morning, he discovered the Popsicle, an icy treat enjoyed by millions today.

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The 57 Varieties of Henry Heinz

Thu, 11 Mar 2021 10:01:00 GMT

After suffering through bankruptcy and imprisonment in his early 20s, a young entrepreneur named Henry Heinz made his own version of a popular sauce known as ketchup. His tasty brand would change Americans’ food preferences for generations.

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For the Love of Pizza

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 10:01:00 GMT

In two different Midwestern cities, two pairs of Irish-American brothers turn a little-known Italian dish into the single most popular food in the world. The franchises they start will change their lives, along with the American diet - Pizza Hut and Domino's.

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Underneath the Golden Arches

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 10:01:00 GMT

Dick and Mac McDonald created a ground-breaking innovative restaurant in San Bernardino, California. But it took an ambitious salesman named Ray Kroc to turn McDonald’s into a fast food empire.

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Cereal Part Two: The Poster Boy of Industrial Espionage

Thu, 18 Feb 2021 10:01:00 GMT

As Corn Flakes take over the world, brothers Will and John Harvey Kellogg do battle with a former patient-turned-rival, C.W. Post. Eventually, they go to war with each other. Part two of a two-part series.

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Cereal Part One: The Brothers of Battle Creek

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 10:01:00 GMT

The first part of a two-part exploration of the two great American breakfast cereal dynasties, Kellogg’s and Post, and the eccentric sanitarium where they began.

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America’s Home Brew: The Addict and the Promoter Who Built Coca-Cola

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 10:01:00 GMT

The story of Coca-Cola is the tale of a chemical genius and morphine addict, John Pemberton, and a brilliant pharmacist-turned-promoter, Asa Candler, who transformed an obscure soda tonic into one of the most recognizable brands on the planet.

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INTRODUCING: The Food that Built America

Sun, 31 Jan 2021 17:55:58 GMT

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® Channel, tells the extraordinary true stories of industry titans like Henry Heinz, Milton Hershey, the Kellogg brothers and Ray Kroc, who revolutionized the food industry and transformed American life and culture in the process.

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