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Revisionist History · June 25, 2026 · 32m
Frankenfood | The Mistakes Series
Malcolm Gladwell and producer Ben investigate the power of food names, exploring the 1990s 'Frankenfood' debacle that doomed the Flavr Savr tomato and whether the lab-grown meat industry is making the same mistake today.
This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.
Highlights
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The episode illustrates that what we call a food, like 'Frankenfood' for GMO tomatoes, dramatically influences our perception of its flavor and safety, independent of its actual qualities.
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The nascent cultivated meat industry risks the same public backlash that GMOs faced, by allowing negative framing terms like 'lab-grown' or 'synthetic' to define the product.
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