agriculture

Walk into a grocery store today and there are seemingly endless shelves of product to choose from. But behind all those different options are a handful of agricultural giants that have grown to dominate the food industry. Companies like Walmart and Cargill are well-known at this point, but there are also dominant players in everything from berries to dairy to pig farming. In this episode, we speak with Austin Frerick, an antitrust and agricultural expert. His new book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry, details the behemoths behind American agriculture and how they got so big. He talks about the choices that went into our current agricultural system, the impact of all that concentration, and what can be done to change it.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is for the birds — and one bird in particular. Flaco, an Eurasian eagle-owl, escaped from the Central Park Zoo last year and went on to become a local celebrity, delighting New Yorkers with his feathered adventures across Manhattan. Late last month, however, Flaco died after an apparent collision with a building. Obviously, Flaco's death is a sad event for many reasons, but it got us thinking about the role of birds in the wider world. Not only are they an important part of the natural ecosystem, but they can also contribute to agriculture (or quality of life in the city) by eating bugs, rats and other pests. So can you put an exact dollar amount on the value of a bird and what it does for the world? It turns out that for many decades, some economists were devoted to exactly this question. In this episode, we speak with Robert Francis, the author of the Bird History Substack, about the largely forgotten science of economic ornithology and historic attempts to figure out exactly how much a bird is worth. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland, we've seen a wave of protests recently from angry farmers. So what's driving the activity? On this episode of Lots More, we speak with Lorcan Roche Kelly, a former cattle farmer in Western Ireland who is now the business editor at the Irish Farmers Journal. He explains how a combination of factors from climate obligations, economic conditions, government regulation, and free trade deals have put the squeeze on many farms, causing this public revolt. He explains the unique conditions facing each country, as well as broader political and economic ramifications.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thai Sade is the co-founder and CEO of BloomX, a company that has developed crop-pollinating technology to replicate natural pollinators like bees and other insects. 

So much of what we eat depends on bees, which have been used for centuries to pollinate crops. But today, the world’s growing appetite and other environmental stressors are pushing bee populations to the brink and threatening our food supply.

This week on How I Built This Lab, how Thai’s company is helping farmers ease the burden on bees. Plus, how Thai’s upbringing on a kibbutz inspired him to tackle global challenges in agriculture, and how BloomX is contributing to rainforest conservation in Latin America.

This episode was produced by J.C. Howard with music by Ramtin Arablouei. 

It was edited by John Isabella with research help from Carla Esteves. Our audio engineer was Neal Rauch. 

You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recorded on April 26, 2023. Child labor violations are on the rise, while some states are trying to loosen child labor laws. Host Roy Wood Jr. sits down with investigative reporter for the New York Times, Hannah Dreier, and the Chief Programs Officer for Justice for Migrant Women, Norma Flores López, to discuss why the number of unaccompanied minors entering the United States has climbed since the pandemic, the types of unsafe working conditions these kids face, how the Department of Health and Human Services has failed to place them in safe environments, and what impact this has on children’s education, health, and overall sense of worth. Norma also recounts her time working in the fields as early as 9 years old.

Original air date: May 9, 2023

Beyond the Scenes is a podcast from The Daily Show. Listen to new episodes every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts, or watch at YouTube.com/TheDaily Show

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s episode is with Magi Richani, founder and CEO of Nobell Foods. She is joined by a16z Bio + Health general partner Vijay Pande.

Together, they talk about the details of engineering plants to create the future of food, why Nobell started with soybeans to produce their cheese, and her dream of finding a cheese pizza—with Nobell cheese—at any pizza shop across the country.

As food prices soaring over the last year, Gates has been using his growing influence in the industry to urge Americans to embrace a new form of sustenance: synthetic meat. In this episode, we revisit a Sunday edition of Morning Wire that took a closer look at those behind the anti-meat movement.

Indeed: Start hiring with a $75 sponsored job credit with Indeed at  https://indeed.com/wire

Alora CEO and Co-Founder Luke Young joins Molly to discuss ocean agriculture and the ability to grow crops offshore (1:17). They discuss the progression of engineering that has propelled Alora’s innovations (11:55) and the challenges of growing at sea (21:53).

(0:00) Intro!

(1:17) Alora’s mission and technological advancements

(5:46) Mitigation and adaptation

(7:58) The first taste test

(10:25) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/TWIST

(11:55) Alora’s progression and timeline

(16:26) Designing infrastructure and engineering fertilizer

(20:25) LMNT - Get a free sample pack with any purchase at http://drinklmnt.com/TWIST

(21:53) Challenges of growing on the ocean

(26:14) Alora’s Business Model

(28:56) Fennel - Join the fennel waitlist now and get your first month free at http://fennel.com/twist

(30:10) Salt tolerance

(35:17) Alora’s Customer and cost of development

FOLLOW Luke: https://twitter.com/lukeheatonyoung

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

First up, Molly and Jason cover a bunch of news happening in the world of AI, Getty Images is preparing to sue Stable Diffusion creator Stability AI (8:47), Meta is partnering with Shutterstock to train its AI models, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the company will integrate OpenAI’s software into Azure - it’s cloud computing platform - and ALL it’s other products. (36:07) Then, we cover two new sustainability startups! Mill is a company started by former Nest co-founders making an automated compostability trash can. (55:12) And Sollum is building AI-enabled LED lighting solutions for indoor farming. (1:06:35)

(0:00) M+J kick off the show.

(2:47) Molly and Jason catch up after their long weekend

(7:23) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/TWIST

(8:47) Getty Images prepares a lawsuit against Stability AI

(12:54) Data and data integrity

(17:55) AgeTech Collaborative - Find out more and apply at https://agetechcollaborative.org/twist

(19:30) The similarities between AI and the music industry

(34:31) AgeTech Collaborative - Find out more and apply at https://agetechcollaborative.org/twist

(36:07) Microsoft announces that they will integrate AI into all their products + more on round-tripping

(49:50) Blockchain versus AI

(55:12) SOTD: Mill

(1:06:35) SOTD: Sollum Technologies

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

For weeks, a string of major storms have hit California, causing extreme flooding. While it might seem as if rain should have a silver lining for a state stuck in a historic drought, the reality is far more complicated.

Today, how California’s water management in the past has made today’s flooding worse and why it represents a missed opportunity for the future of the state’s water crisis.

Guest: Christopher Flavelle, a climate reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• In the wake of recent storms, California is facing questions about whether its approach to handling crippling storms is suited to 21st-century climate threats.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.