Tom's Podcast
Episodes
54 episodes
63: A Conversation with Carl Sagan
June 2, 2026. I was planning on doing the next podcast on developing an assortment of chocolates. Instead, I ran into a conversation on YouTube between Carl Sagan, a liberal and famous astrophysicist, and Dennis Prager, a cons...
61. Fourteen Flashbulb Food Memories
This podcast treats a phenomenon that has always intrigued me: human memory, which is a gift thatt differentiates us from other life forms. The most enduring type of memory is called the “flashbulb memory”, using photography...
60. DISCOVERING CHOCOLATE—A TALK DELIVERED TO THE LOUBERSIANS
April 14, 2026On Sunday, April 12, I gave a talk to 11 Loubersians, people from the village of Loubers. I covered the following:My backgroundThe cocoa tree, fruit, and seedImportance of fermentation to...
59. Do UFOs and Aliens Exist?
Carl Sagan didn’t believe in them. Nor does Elon Musk. Do UFOs and aliens exist? If so, will we ever meet them?In this podcast, I begin by grounding my interest in the questions with a bit of family history concerning t...
58. Voyage to Amsterdam
Tom (I) went to Amsterdam on February 19th to attend the CHOCOA Conference. I spent three days there, sold chocolate bars, speculoos, chocolate-coated crystallized cocoa beans, and other items. I also gave out 200 tasting cards with...
54. Three Determinants to Cocoa Quality
May 3, 2024Cocoa is trading at $9,000 per MT. The price outlook remains bullish (positive price pressure). For farmers to make the best profits, they need to produce the highest quality beans possible. If cocoa is ferme...
53. Business as Usual is Not the Only Way to Do Business
March 25, 2024.The Dividing Line--between country and city, between commodity and product.Principe island--where chocolate started in Africa. Fitzwilliam Owen, the man who established a cocoa producing colony on Fernando Po ...
52. Food Sensations
February 4, 2024Components of Taste:Flavors: perinasal and retronasal. Neural cells in the two olfactory regions. Identification of aromas. The role of the amygdala in the Proustian Effect. Tas...
51. Learn the Bittersweet Truth About Chocolate
December 14, 2023An interview with Dave Congalton on KEBC in San Luis Obispo. Peggie Pappathakis and I talked about the industry, including worst forms of child labor, child slavery and the poverty of the. cocoa farmer.We al...
50. Interviews with Six Chocolate Pioneers
November 5, 2023.The current chocolat revolution is called "The Bean-to-Bar Revolution". Here are six Interviews with pioneers who contributed to it. I interviewed them at the 2023 Salon du Chocolat in Paris.Andal Balu (USA)...
48. How Pezoan Became a Chocolate-Producing Village
October 3, 2023Interview with Evariste Plegnon. 2005-2008: Evariste and I visited 12 villages.Interviews with Anna and Katie Nakayama. She raised about $2,000 from her church to buy four dryness meters. Par...
47. Our Third Chocolate Mini-Factory
August 6, 2023Located in N'Douci--90 minutes from Abidjan.End goal: Development of a new brand--Chocolat des Villages.Immediate goal: to make cocoa-growing economically viable by bringing the cocoa farmer up the...
45. Le Comptoir du Cacao
May 8, 20235 businesses that I have opened during my lifetime.Projet Espoir et Equité, opened in 2020."You cannot start wholesale." Le Comptoir du Cacao--May 1, 2023Description of products: pastries, choc...
43. Three Beautiful Towns on the Salento Peninsula
March 18, 2023Lunch in Tricase Porto--south of LecceVisiting a gluten-free store, a mozzarella store, Basilica di Santa Croce.Visiting Ostuni, Lunch in GallipoliExtolling spumoni: Gallipolian versus Sicilian ve...
42. Three Days in Lecce
March 11, 2023Column donated by Brindici to Lecce--history. Statue of Orontius (Oronzo). Amphitheater (built in 2nd century). Porta Rudiae.Little food stories. The sad olive trees of Sorento. W...
41. A Trip to Lecce
March 2, 2023Train Trips: Cordes to Toulouse, Toulouse to Lyon, Lyon to Chambéry. Lyon to Milan, Milan to Bologna, Bologna to Lecce.Meal Descriptions.Announcements about the new store in Cordes sur Ciel.
40. Dorothy Neuhaus: One Hell of a Woman and Mother. An Interview.
January 6, 2023Dorothy Neuhaus, 99, was an inspiration to me, showing how important it is to become involved in one's local community. She saved the WH Over Dakota Museum and she founded the area's first recycling center.Why...
39. Participating in the Ivorian Booth at the Salon du Chocolat
November 5, 2022Five days in the Ivorian booth, talking to visitors.Description of the buildingThe burgeoning B2B (Bean-to-bar) market. The tools of the B2B trade. Melangeur companies.Pioneers: John...
38. Doors--on the Brink of Profound Change
October 2, 2022Countries of the Global South and the Global NorthTransformation from Commodity AgricultureTwo events important to the future of PH&FTwo certifications--organic and Fair Trade--that had promise but...
36. Chapter 1 of Bien Manger Pour Bien Vivre
July 31, 2022THE ART OF EATING AND COOKINGAUSTERITY BECOMES A VIRTUEGASTRONOMY AS AN ARTA NEW DISH IS GREATER THAN A NEW STARBRILLAT SAVARIN: "Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you who you are."A...
35. Translating "Bien Manger Pour Bien Vivre"
July 17, 2022.Background of the author, Edouard de Pomiane, a pseudonymPreface written by the legendary Ali-Bab and introduction by author.I found his writing and his assumptions dated. They really are based on a Euro...
34. Four Encounters with Julia Child
June 25, 2022FIRST ENCOUNTER: January 1970, cooking meals from Julia Child's "Cooking of Provincial France".SECOND ENCOUNTER: January, 1971, attending the taping of the Omelet Show at WGBH.THIRD ENCOUNTER: ...
33. Project Redwood Grant; Establishment of SCAP and Project Espoir et Equité
May 15, 2022Report on fundraiser in September of 2021. Individual donations. Two Projects Funded by a Project Redwood Grant: 1, Depa will be pressing cocoa liquor to extract cocoa butter and the press cake will b...
32. A Hallelujah Chorus of Truffles
December 22, 202116 members of our truffle chorus: Apple-Black Pepper, Arabie (Date paste), Coco-Banana, Coffee, Cranberry, Curry-Raisin, Chipotle, Ginger, Marzipan, Noisette, Orange-Vanilla, Pine-nut, Vanil...
31. A Loss of Trust--the Assassination of JFK
November 26, 2021Ten Factors that make us who we are: 1, the economy (use of the government); 2, sex and the pill; 3, science (acquired a central focus); 4, war (more of it); 5, climate (burning up the planet); 6, organized religio...