Animal History Podcast

Joshua Specht on the History of American Beef

"We think of the plains as like these abandoned places where you don't see anything. That's a little bit of a myth. For instance, even settler wagons, but also cowboy trails, cattle trails, they were covered with trash. I mean, you would see trash all the time. Empty cans of beans.
You might not see a lot of people. You'd see more than we're probably imagining. But, you would see signs of human life everywhere. You would see trash. It’s not 'take only memories, leave only footprints'. It's 'throw everything out the wagon.'
 
In the very first episode of the Animal History Podcast we're joined by Joshua Specht, a writer and historian who works as an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame. In 2019, he released his first book, “Red Meat Republic, A Hoof to Table History of How Beef Changed America”, which ended up being one of my very favorite books that I read last year.
We cover a fascinating range of subjects, including:
Why bison were replaced by cattle in the great plains, and the effect this had on Native Americans
How railways & refrigeration technology revolutionised beef
The role of cowboys in the development of the beef industry
Conditions inside a 19th century Chicago slaughterhouse
And more!
 
You can find a full transcript of this episode available on our substack page.
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