Can you slim down by eating ice cream every day? According to an optimistic 1946 book, probably! Today we’re talking about Ice Cream Diets, a too-good-to-be-true weight loss plan in which author Marion White argues that more ice cream is the key to health and wellness, possibly ice cream as part of every meal. We’ll discuss our favorite local places to find this superfood, other fad diets that have popped up over the years, and the ways that various industries have sought to put their thumbs on the scale of American consumption habits through PR campaigns and sponsored studies on this tempting new #brattlecast.
Brattlecast #202 - The Suffragette Cookbook
In this episode, we’re digging into an unusual collection of recipes: The Woman’s Suffrage Cook Book from 1886. The first of a handful of cookbooks published by American suffragette associations, this volume was designed to raise funds—and to subtly rebuke the idea that involvement in politics would cause women to neglect their domestic duties. We’ll discuss some of its illustrious contributors and the renewed interest in often under-collected feminist history materials on this deliciously democratic new #brattlecast.
Brattlecast #164 - Napkin Folding!
It’s the episode you’ve been waiting for: Napkin Folding! Inspired by a British how-to book on the topic from the late 1800s, we’ll talk about the surprising ways that this fine-dining flourish relates to origami, mathematics, and even NASA’s telescope technologies. Hear how it all unfolds—from tablescapes to outer space—on this deliciously elaborate new #brattlecast.
Brattlecast #155 - Pick Your Poison
Today in the studio we have a first American edition of the catchily titled Directions on the Treatment for Persons who have Taken Poison, and those in a State of Apparent Death, Together with the Means of Detecting Poisons and Adulterations in Wine, also, of Distinguishing Real from Apparent Death by Mathieu Joseph B. Orfila. While we wouldn’t necessarily recommend following its medical advice, the book provides a fascinating look at early toxicology. It describes the effects and (alleged) treatments of various potions, poisons, and scorpion stings—a helpful resource to anyone working on a historical murder mystery. Join us for anecdotes about antidotes on a killer episode of the #brattlecast.
Brattlecast #136 - So Many Subsets
In the second episode in our series on how the shop works, we’re talking about specificity. Before the Brattle can buy a group of books, we have to figure out what they are. Sounds simple, right? But often, the person calling us is not the person who collected the books, and they’re not sure what they have. We’ll ask, ‘What kind of books are they?’ and they’ll reply, ‘Fiction and non-fiction’ or ‘Hardcovers and paperbacks.’ Even if we can narrow it down to, say, books on food, that could mean thousands of different things, from fast food pamphlets to the first cookbook published in America (American Cookery). Learn how we narrow it down, and what makes a library desirable in general, on this laser-focused #brattlecast.