In this episode, we’re exploring the intersection of bread and art, and the idea of bread *as* art. From Renaissance paintings of The Last Supper (complete with pretzels) and still lifes from the Dutch Golden Age to scoring videos on Instagram—the aesthetics of bread, and all that it symbolizes, have long been on display.

It’s a season of celebration, and no matter what you’re celebrating, that usually means baking. Sweet or savory, traditional or cutting-edge, more people fire up their ovens during the holiday season than any other time of the year. In this episode, we're exploring holiday breads and the traditions that bring us back to them, year after year.

We're going down the rabbit hole of breads with holes! From the New York vs Montreal bagel debate—and the power of water and lye—to the twists and turns of pretzel history, focusing on the presence of negative space is a positive thing.

We're hopping in our Winne-bread-go and hitting the road—to explore the state of regional breads in America! We'll travel to New Orleans for a Po'boy, New England for Anadama, and to Appalachia for Salt Rising Bread, all in search of an answer to the question, "Is there a regional bread culture in the United States?"

Flatbreads and quick breads may seem like strange oven-fellows, but hear us out. In the Venn Diagram of bread baking, they both fall in the overlap of “speed” and “differently leavened.” So we're firing up the tonir, the tandoor, the griddle, the bastible, the wok, and even a rock, to travel around the world through bread.

Bread has been paired with other fermentations for millennia—with beer in Russian literature, wine in religious texts, and cheese in sandwiches around the world every day. What is it about bread that makes it a natural ally to these fermented products? Well, bread itself is a fermented product. In this episode, we’ll look at co-fermentations and variations on the process of yeast eating sugar and releasing carbon dioxide.

Industrialization, and the semi-dwarf wheat developed during the Green Revolution, created a disconnect between farming and flour. But now, consumers are rejecting these commodities and rediscovering the foods, flavors, and farmers around us. This episode is about the growing movement to bring back heritage grains and strengthen local and regional food systems. In direct opposition of the Green Revolution, we’re going to hear from the front lines of the “Grain Revolution."

Welcome to Season Two of Modernist BreadCrumbs! It seems only natural—and appropriately poetic—to start this season talking about starters. They’re the inception of the loaf, the first step. You don’t need a starter to make bread, but the story of cultivating yeast from the environment around us—whether you call it “starter,” “culture,” “levain," or “mother"—is what we’re focusing on in this episode, from microbes to miche. We'll hear from Executive Producer Michael Harlan Turkell about his "mother," baker Sarah Owens about her "Beast," microbial ecologists Dr. Erin McKenney and Dr. Rob Dunn of "The Sourdough Project," and, of course, the co-authors of "Modernist Bread," Nathan Myhrvold and Francsico Migoya.

Modernist Cuisine founder Nathan Myhrvold and head chef Francisco Migoya are back with Jordan Werner Barry and Michael Harlan Turkell for season two of Modernist BreadCrumbs, a special series taking a new look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet: bread. This season builds on where we “startered” last year, looking at the discoveries and techniques from Modernist Bread and interviewing the bakers, scientists, chefs, authors, millers, and Bread Heads who are shaping the future of bread. We’ll take deep dives into the microbial world, regional grain projects, flatbreads, and breads with holes, but we’ll also step back and look at how bread intersects with culture, fermentation, immigration, art, and tradition. Fire up your oven and follow the breadcrumbs.

This is Episode Eight of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “Breadbox.” Bread is immeasurable, no longer bound by precepts. The new dictum of baking bread is built on shapes and sizes we haven’t even dreamt of. This episode, the proverbial breadbox of the series, will hold all the bits of bread we haven’t gotten to yet, or have yet to be made. Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think. From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

This is Episode Seven of Modernist BreadCrumbs: "Thermal Mass," on baking and ovens. We’ll discuss “thermal mass," or the ability to absorb and hold heat, in two-parts: within bread itself, and the ovens it's baked in. It’s a complex physicochemical process… that’s more than just hot air. Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think. From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

This is Episode Six of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “Balls & Sticks,” on shapes, scoring, and semiotics. Balls & sticks. You’ll hear this idiom over and over in this episode, as if we’re talking in circles. The two shapes' repetitive figures have been a constant in bread’s identity over time, but why? Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think. From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

This is Episode Five of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “Against the Grain,” on politics. How does bread play a part in politics you ask? Withholding grain has been part of party lines as well as a catalyst of war. Though the fight still continues to bring bread to those impoverished and underfed around the world, we urge you to chew on this: become as active as a sourdough starter, and be part of the bread revolution. Rise up! Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think. From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

This is Episode Four of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “Milling About,” History Part II, Pre-Industrialization. When we look back on how modern baking came to be, it’s the same old story of craft informing art, and how the artisanal approach was replicated through the aid of mechanization. This episode picks up where Episode One left off, telling bread's life story from All Purpose to Zopf. Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think. From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

This is Episode Three of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “On the Rise,” on yeast, leavening, and fermentation. Here, we observe a microscopic single-celled organism from the fungi kingdom, and its full effect on bread: yeast. How can something so small make such a big impact? When it comes to bread, the proof really is in the proofing. Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think. From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

This is Episode Two of Modernist BreadCrumbs: “The Great Civilizations of Grain,” on grains, flour, and milling. In this episode, we look inside with a kernel of knowledge, sprout ancient grains, and take a journey through wheat’s history. We could go on for flours. Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think. From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future.

Nathan Myhrvold and Michael Harlan Turkell kick off Modernist BreadCrumbs, their new podcast series on Heritage Radio Network, with a special conversation about the future of bread. Myhrvold will share insights from his new 5-volume book Modernist Bread (on sale November 7, 2017), the inspiration behind the podcast, as well as what the Modernist Cuisine team learned over four years of nonstop research, photography, experiments, writing and baking. From its surprising history to the complex science behind every loaf, this discussion will reveal why we need to take a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet.

This is Episode One of Modernist BreadCrumbs: "Pre-ferment," on the history of bread. Modernist BreadCrumbs is a special collaborative podcast series with Heritage Radio Network and Modernist Cuisine, that takes a fresh look at one of the oldest staples of the human diet—bread. Although it may seem simple, bread is much more complex than you think. From the microbes that power fermentation to the economics of growing grain, there’s a story behind every loaf. Each episode will reveal those stories and more, beginning with bread’s surprising and often complicated past, from the perspective of people who are passionate about bread, and shaping its future. In this episode, we take a look at ancient drawings on cave walls, dig through the ashes of a volcano eruption, and consider the primal evolution of bread as we know it. We hope you'll loaf it.

trailer for Modernist BreadCrumbs, a new podcast series by Heritage Radio Network