What the banana tells us about US history
3/31/202615 min
What do bananas have to do with American history? On this week’s episode, how the sweet fruit became an American staple because of one entrepreneur who took business off US shores, expanding the country’s economic reach and influence.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Rund Abdelfatah· Host0:16
[instrumental music playing] This is America in Pursuit, a limited run series from Throughline and NPR. I'm Rund Abdelfatah. Each week, we bring you stories about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the US that began 250 years ago.
Dan Koeppel· Guest0:34
Right now, bananas are so ubiquitous in our lives that we can't imagine life without them.
Rund Abdelfatah· Host0:38
Yeah, you heard that right, bananas, as in the sweet tropical fruit that's become a mainstay of American breakfasts. Okay, so the reason we're talking about bananas is because they help us understand a key part of American history.
Dan Koeppel· Guest0:53
The Teddy Roosevelt era When at the turn of the 20th century- This was a time when rugged men went out to make their name in the world ...
Rund Abdelfatah· Host1:01
the idea of what constituted America and its sphere of influence started to expand far beyond its borders.
Dan Koeppel· Guest1:09
It's the era of machismo, of doing things. The world belonged to them. It was theirs for the taking.
Rund Abdelfatah· Host1:16
So what's this got to do with bananas? Well, today on the show, we're gonna tell you the story of how one American entrepreneur named Minor Keith helped bring the banana to the American diet by looking beyond the US's