Ferment Radio

There’s a moment when it hits you. It happens after some time of gathering bits and pieces of knowledge, experiences, feelings, and observations. It might even come after asking yourself “what am I doing?” multiple times. But suddenly the pieces click and turn into a viewpoint that you want to share with others. Some people find this clarity in the form of a book. One of them is Johnny Drain, who...

More than a collection of fixed truths, science can be an ongoing narrative, one that continually reshapes how we understand bodies, identity, and life itself. In this episode, we explore how scientific ideas evolve, transform, and eventually become obsolete. This shifting nature of knowledge is at the core of our conversation with artist Kirsty Hendry. Through texts and moving images, Hendry’s pr...

If you send a mixture of soybeans and koji mold to outer space, will it ferment as miso, even so far away from home? How do you bring it back to Earth? How will it taste like? Can we still call it miso? This is the second part of our conversation with Joshua Evans, from the Sustainable Food Innovation at the Danish Technical University’s Center for Biosustainability. We had previously talked about...

There’s a phenomenon experienced by people who have seen the Earth from outer space. It is known as the “Overview Effect”: a new level of compassion and understanding of how fragile and interconnected life is. What could bring us closer to the Overview Effect without leaving Earth? How can we embody what is hard to grasp, relate to, and integrate into a conscious interconnectedness beyond intellec...

When humans go to space, whether they like it or not, microbes tag along. And if microbes can live in microgravity—probably more comfortably than humans—then perhaps fermented food too. There have already been a few experiments to send fermented foods into orbit—like kimchi and wine. But there’s a difference between eating food that was fermented on Earth, and fermenting it in space. This is where...

Did you know your body is never truly sterile—even before you’re born? From semen and placenta to umbilical cord blood, your microbial journey begins early on. And it doesn’t stop there. The type of birth, nurturing, and how you explore the world as a child play a crucial role in shaping your unique microbiome. The introduction of solid foods, interactions with your environment, and social contact...

In this episode of the World in a Pickle, we delve into the world of pulque—a fermented drink made of agave sap, or “aguamiel”, which has been consumed in Mexico for centuries, and is now threatened by urbanization, climate change, and crime. Our guests, César Iván Linares, an ethnobiologist specialized in traditional fermented beverages, and Juan Escalona Meléndez, a chef and scientist behind pro...

The Guarani-Kaiowá are the people of Mato Grosso do Sul, a Central-West region of Brazil. It translates as “Thick Forest of the South", and as the name suggests, nature has protected the Guarani-Kaiowá and their culture from colonization. Particularly, the ancient tradition of chicha making—a sacred white corn drink that can also be fermented. The Guarani-Kaiowá believe that if they stop maki...

When Russia started to claim ownership over the ever popular –and oftentimes fermented– soup known as Borscht, Ukrainian chef Yevhen Klopotenko knew he had to do something. He took up a knife, chopped up some beetroots, added a few more ingredients, and turned them into a soup. Then he traveled across Ukraine to find out where this dish comes from. If he could only confirm its origins, UNESCO coul...

Migrating birds, shipwreck survivors, extraterrestrial bodies, distant seeds washed ashore, outsiders in love, forgotten memories, and rare ingredients that become staple foods. This is Hiiumaa, an island in the Baltic Sea, 22 kilometers from mainland Estonia: a field laboratory to investigate “what is foreign”. In collaboration with plants, flavors, human voices, and insular soundscapes, we ferme...

You enter a restaurant in a historical art nouveau building, right in the center of Helsinki, Finland. You sit down and a person wearing a stylish uniform, made of discarded textiles, pours water into a glass that is made out of a used bottle. You look around and wait for your food. There’s not a single trash bin. Instead, there is a stainless steel, sci-fi-looking piece of furniture, which turns...

Two hundread years ago, the very first illustration of prehistoric times –in a scientific context– was brought to light. It was painted by British geologist and palaeontologist Henry De la Beche, who was inspired by fossils collected by Mary Anning. The artwork, known as “Duria Antiquior, a more ancient Dorset”, cuts through costal waters to depict the epic – and strangely simultaneous– battles be...

Bacteria are often considered ugly and stinky; something dangerous that wants to get on us, and that we need to protect ourselves from. Fermentation is one way to overcome that prejudice and find pleasure and beauty in what many people fear, misunderstand, or even loathe. Another way is art, which can utilize microorganisms as metaphors and aesthetic experiences. But, do things need to be pretty s...

We choose our tools, and in return, our tools shape us. Tools can be an opening to new possibilities, but also a limitation. What makes the workspace of a fermenter? What tools are there available? How do these tools influence the process? In this episode, we sneak peek into the kitchen of David Zilber, chef, fermenter, food scientist, and author of The Noma Guide to Fermentation. Guided by David’...

It looks like a square, monochromatic, glass slide photo, and not only because of the material it is made of, but also because it could belong to a different time. It feels as if the face that emerges from there and gazes at you must have posed for a very long time for the exposure to do its job. Only if you could stare at it uninterruptedly for days, or years, would you be able to notice that the...

She asks the plants for permission before foraging them. She sings to her fermentation jars. She prepares funerals for her kombucha scobies. She gives names to her ferments. She observes the moon cycles. She’s a witch. But what does it mean to be a witch today? I asked this to Paulina Gretkierewicz, a forager, a fermenter, and a witch. She transforms seasons and landscapes around Copenhagen, Denma...

Have you ever heard of slime mold? These organisms might not have a nervous system or even a brain, but they have impressive problem-solving abilities. Slime mold can navigate through mazes and find the most efficient routes to find food. Some researchers have already been inspired by them to design more efficient transportation networks, urban planning, and solving optimizational problems. Howeve...

A healthy food system encourages the production and consumption of foods that support a balanced gut microbiome. It reduces food waste and gives preference to natural preservation methods. It uplifts food, not only for its nutritional value but also as cultural heritage and an expression of diversity. It is also mindful of the energy spent in order to process food. All these characteristics of a h...

Garden. It invites us to sit down and watch things grow. It makes us work with gazillions of other species to make them flourish. Silent observation or site-specific, mindful labor can be a form of wondering: seeing magic in what’s common and perceiving what’s repetitive with new eyes. This is how Noora Sandgren, a visual artist and art educator from Finland, works in her family garden. She collab...

We associate these institutions with petrified displays, and long-gone worlds that are alien to our own experience: museums. Whether we like it or not, they play a crucial role in preserving heritage. Can heritage be something alive and ever changing? It seems that yes. At least ARTIS-Micropia, a one-of-a-kind museum showing the invisible world of micro-organisms, is doing that. ARTIS-Micropia is...

Can we intentionally influence our nervous system through what we do? If so, could we also activate the main nerve of our parasympathetic nervous system known as vagus nerve?  This is the central communication pathway between the gut and the brain, and between microbiota and our nervous system. Could we interact with our gut microbiota and our gut microbiota interact with us? In this episode...

We communicate with the outside world based on the information we receive through our senses. But just like fingerprints, no two people have the same brain anatomy, and therefore, no two people can sense the world identically. We can’t experience how other bodies feel, but we can attempt to describe it. Today, together with Pia Lindman, an artist and researcher working with performance art, healin...

The notion of “animal rights”, meaning that we recognize their universal, intrinsic rights, regardless if some animals are more useful for humans or not, is being talked about more and more these days. However, we can’t fully understand the lives of animals, and as result, we can’t understand our own lives without microbes and our relationship with them. Our lives depend on them. In other words, w...

Through language, we not only reflect our relationship with the world but also shape it. For example, what does the conviction that we need to “exterminate all superbugs” tell us about humans? Could it be that antimicrobial resistance, which causes antibiotics to become ineffective against microbial infections, is in part driven by a human desire to separate human from nature and eradicate what is...

On Ferment Radio, we have often talked about how artists use technology and science in order to tackle the microbial world. Do you remember the episode “Play that fungi music!” with Tosca Terán? Or “Interspecies collaborations” with Mindaugas Gapševičius? Some people refer to this kind of practice as “bioart”: the happy place where experimentation and process are more important than concrete resul...