Podcasts about zaraska

On today's podcast, we talk with Jesse Zaraska of MISERY SIGNALS and COMPROMISE. Keep up with what Jesse is up to: https://www.instagram.com/jessezaraska/ http://miserysignalsmusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/compromise780/ Season 3 Podcast Intro Bumper Written, Recorded, and Mixed by Tommy Wood: https://www.instagram.com/intommywerust/ Scoped Exposure Podcast is created by: Spencer: https://www.instagram.com/spicyspence_/ Jordan: https://www.instagram.com/restingboredface_/ Check out the main Scoped Exposure channel: www.youtube.com/scopedexposure

Those who are focused on optimal longevity tend to be obsessed with diet and exercise. But what if something else is as important, if not more important, to living a long and healthy life? That's the argument science journalist and bestselling author Marta Zaraska makes in her book Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism and Kindness Can Help You Live to 100. As it turns out, having a strong, supportive social network is key to our longevity — in fact, Zaraska says it can lower your mortality risk by 65 percent, which is more than both diet and exercise. On this week's episode, Zaraska joins host and Medcan CEO Shaun Francis to discuss her findings. https://www.eatmovethinkpodcast.com/podcast/ep-71-growing-young-with-marta-zaraska LINKS  Marta Zaraska can be found on Twitter and over on her website.  You can buy Growing Young here. You can also check out her previous book Meathooked, about the history and science of our cultural obsession with meat, here.  Read an article Zaraska wrote on kindness for the BBC here, and then watch her discuss the ideas in her book on The Social. Also sit down with this recent New York Times feature, which explores how to navigate your friendships in a post-pandemic world.  INSIGHTS Zaraska knows that when she talks about how friendship and kindness are essential to our long-term health, it can be easy to dismiss it as “New Age-y” fluff, but science and data backs this up. While working on her book, Zaraska read hundreds of research papers and interviewed many scientists and discovered that having a strong social network can reduce your risk of mortality by an impressive 65 percent. Diet and exercise, on the other hand, lowers it by 20 to 30 percent. “You still want to eat healthy and exercise,” says Zaraska. “But if you've completely forgotten about the social and mental side, then you're definitely missing a huge opportunity to become healthier and live longer.” [2:38] So what are some of the actual health benefits we get from our relationships? Holding hands or hugging someone boosts oxytocin — the stress-reducing “love” hormone — and serotonin, which can lower our inflammation levels. Social connection can also give us endorphins, which are not only natural painkillers, but also encourage us to trust people more. There's even evidence that being surrounded by others can decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is tied to inflammation and has been linked to a number of illnesses, like cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. [6:34] If you take away just one thing from Zaraska's book, it should be that romantic love, especially, plays an important role in our health and longevity — a romantic relationship alone can reduce your mortality risk by 45 percent. Typically, they'll lower our stress levels and make us feel safe and cared for. That said, studies show that women need to feel like they're in a high-quality romantic partnership to experience the health benefits, while men can still get them in a lower-quality relationship. [10:54]  The pandemic, and lockdowns, have had a detrimental impact on our relationships and overall health. Not only were we missing out on the hormonal benefits of being around people, many of us have also felt isolated and lonely — something that can be connected to things like increased blood pressure and cancer. “Even if we didn't come down with the virus itself, the whole stress of [the situation] was certainly not beneficial to our health,” Zaraska says. [17:25] It's not just about our relationships either — being kind is also good for our health and longevity. “Evolution rewards us for being good team players in our tribe,” Zaraska explains. Acts of kindness, whether it's helping your friends or mowing your elderly neighbour's lawn, can calm our stress levels. One study even found that a group of people who performed random acts of kindness everyday for six weeks had a different gene expression in their white blood cells, which were more protective against inflammation. Even something like donating money to charity has health benefits. [19:32] You know what they say: Practice makes perfect. Empathy is, in part genetic, but it can be improved upon — just like your fitness levels can improve by exercising more. Studies show that reading or watching emotionally charged books and movies can help our empathy levels grow. Zaraska suggests even doing a simple exercise where you spend a few minutes trying to see the world from another person's point of view. [22:06] Zaraska suggests paying as much attention to how you eat as what you eat. The Mediterranean diet is the gold standard, but we fixate too much on its actual contents. Zaraska currently lives in France, where eating is a leisurely, communal experience, similar to how meals occur in Spain and Italy. Both the type of food, and the social act of eating, provide health benefits. “If you eat a Mediterranean diet, even the best one, alone in your car on the way to work, it's not going to have the same benefits as the way it [will] if you [spend] two hours sitting at a table with your friends and family,” she says. “It's a very different story.” [28:06]

Marta Zaraska: “Just like the way we think about eating veggies and fruits, we should think about relationships as a health priority.” Zaraska, a science journalist and bestselling author, joins mbg co-CEO, Jason Wachob, to discuss the underrated ways social interactions impact your longevity, plus: *Why lonely people tend to get worse sleep* *The health benefits of living with a committed partner* *How your social interactions affect your gut microbiome* *Why we need to make empathy a habit* *The evolutionary reason you don’t want to get out of bed when you’re feeling sick* Enjoy this episode! Whether it's an article or podcast, we want to know what we can do to help here at mindbodygreen. Let us know at: podcast@mindbodygreen.com. And don't forget to check out Zaraska's book, Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism and Kindness Can Help You Live to 100, which you can find at http://www.GrowingYoungTheBook.com. Save $200 on Avocado Latex Mattresses using the code MBG200 (cannot be combined with other offers; offer valid through March 15, 2020).

Today I interview Marta Zaraska about her book Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism, and Kindness Can Help You Live to 100 (Appetite/Random House, 2020). Now you may be thinking to yourself, “100? I'm not sure how appealing that is.” In our interview, Zaraska has a surprising response for you. And it's important to say at the outset that Zaraska's aim isn't really to show us just how to prolong our years, but to help us understand how every one of our days between now and, if we're lucky, 100 might be full and rich and immensely gratifying. And she helps us by taking us into the science of human thriving. What she discovers leads us not only into a better understanding of our own nature, but also to a deep connection with one another. Eric LeMay is on the creative writing faculty at Ohio University. His work ranges from food writing to electronic literature. He is the author of three books, most recently In Praise of Nothing: Essay, Memoir, and Experiments (Emergency Press, 2014). He can be reached at eric@ericlemay.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/medicine

Today I interview Marta Zaraska about her book Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism, and Kindness Can Help You Live to 100 (Appetite/Random House, 2020). Now you may be thinking to yourself, “100? I’m not sure how appealing that is.” In our interview, Zaraska has a surprising response for you. And it’s important to say at the outset that Zaraska’s aim isn’t really to show us just how to prolong our years, but to help us understand how every one of our days between now and, if we’re lucky, 100 might be full and rich and immensely gratifying. And she helps us by taking us into the science of human thriving. What she discovers leads us not only into a better understanding of our own nature, but also to a deep connection with one another. Eric LeMay is on the creative writing faculty at Ohio University. His work ranges from food writing to electronic literature. He is the author of three books, most recently In Praise of Nothing: Essay, Memoir, and Experiments (Emergency Press, 2014). He can be reached at eric@ericlemay.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I interview Marta Zaraska about her book Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism, and Kindness Can Help You Live to 100 (Appetite/Random House, 2020). Now you may be thinking to yourself, “100? I'm not sure how appealing that is.” In our interview, Zaraska has a surprising response for you. And it's important to say at the outset that Zaraska's aim isn't really to show us just how to prolong our years, but to help us understand how every one of our days between now and, if we're lucky, 100 might be full and rich and immensely gratifying. And she helps us by taking us into the science of human thriving. What she discovers leads us not only into a better understanding of our own nature, but also to a deep connection with one another. Eric LeMay is on the creative writing faculty at Ohio University. His work ranges from food writing to electronic literature. He is the author of three books, most recently In Praise of Nothing: Essay, Memoir, and Experiments (Emergency Press, 2014). He can be reached at eric@ericlemay.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/psychology

Today I interview Marta Zaraska about her book Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism, and Kindness Can Help You Live to 100 (Appetite/Random House, 2020). Now you may be thinking to yourself, “100? I’m not sure how appealing that is.” In our interview, Zaraska has a surprising response for you. And it’s important to say at the outset that Zaraska’s aim isn’t really to show us just how to prolong our years, but to help us understand how every one of our days between now and, if we’re lucky, 100 might be full and rich and immensely gratifying. And she helps us by taking us into the science of human thriving. What she discovers leads us not only into a better understanding of our own nature, but also to a deep connection with one another. Eric LeMay is on the creative writing faculty at Ohio University. His work ranges from food writing to electronic literature. He is the author of three books, most recently In Praise of Nothing: Essay, Memoir, and Experiments (Emergency Press, 2014). He can be reached at eric@ericlemay.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the day her daughter was born, science journalist Marta Zaraska fretted about what she and her family were eating. She fasted, considered adopting the keto diet, and ran a half-marathon. She bought goji berries and chia seeds and ate organic food. But then her research brought her to read countless scientific papers and to interview dozens of experts in various fields of study, including molecular biochemistry, epidemiology and neuroscience. What Marta discovered shattered her long-held beliefs about aging and longevity. A strong support network of family and friends, she learned, lowers mortality risk by about 45 percent, while exercise only lowers it by about 23 percent. Volunteering your free time lowers it by 22 percent or so, while certain health fads like turmeric haven’t been shown to help at all. These revelations led Marta Zaraska to a simple conclusion: In addition to healthy nutrition and physical activity, deepening friendships, practicing empathy and contemplating your purpose in life can improve your lifespan. Shermer and Zaraska also discuss: diet, nutrition, and supplements: what works, what doesn’t, and what about meat? exercise: how much, what type, and when? the causal mechanisms behind how relationships and marriage effect health, how friendships and community affect longevity, how religion makes people healthier and longer lived, why we need others and why handshakes and hugs will return after COVID-19, the harmful effects of loneliness and isolation, the deleterious effects of stress, and how leading a purposeful and meaningful life leads to longevity. Marta Zaraska is a Canadian-Polish science journalist. She has written about nutrition and psychology for the Washington Post, Scientific American, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, New Scientist, and several other publications. She is the author of Meathooked: The History and Science of Our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat (Basic Books, 2016), which has been translated into Japanese, Korean, simplified Chinese, Spanish and Polish, and chosen by the journal Nature as one of “the best science picks” in March 2016. Meathookedhas also been praised in The Wall Street Journal, Discover Magazine, Time, The Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, Natural History Magazine, etc. She has also contributed a chapter to the recently published The Reducetarian Solution (TarcherPerigee, 2017) alongside Mark Bittman, Michael Shermer, and Peter Singer.

Jesse Zaraska, vocalist for Misery Signals, is the guest on this episode of the BREWtally Speaking Podcast!! Jesse returns for an in depth look into his time outside of Misery Signals, how he got into teaching, parallels in being a front man of a band and becoming a teacher, as well as how students and parents react when they find out he was in a band. Jesse also shares how he felt about the band while he was out of it, how it was to see someone else sing his words and what lead to the eventual Malice X tour. Jesse also opens up about the documentary that was released showcasing the bands reunion tour, and how he feels about some of the footage contained within, as well as what lead to him rejoining the band and subsequently putting out new music in the way of their latest album, Ultraviolet, and much more. Intro Music: "Introduction To BREWtality" by Tom Smith "Pretty Lights" by Heartsick Show Sponsor: Rockabilia (www.rockabilia.com) USE OUR CODE BREW15 AND GET 15% OFF YOUR TOTAL ORDER!! The Bean Bastard (www.thebeanbastard) On Point Pomade (www.onpointpomade) USE OUR CODE BSP15 AND GET 15% OFF YOUR TOTAL ORDER!! Links: Facebook: www.facebook.com/miserysignals www.facebook.com/rockabiliacom www.facebook.com/onpointpomade www.facebook.com/thebeanbastard www.facebook.com/brewspeakpod Instagram: @Jessezaraska, @miserysignals @rockabiliacom, @onpointpomade, @thebeanbastard, @brewspeakpod, @jbeatty616 Twitter: @miserysignals, @rockabiliacom @onpointpomade, @brewspeakpod, @discussmetaldan, @jbeatty616 Website: www.miserysignalsmusic.com www.brewspeakpod.com Patreon: www.patreon.com/brewspeakpod Email: Brewtallyspeaking@gmail.com RATE/REVIEW/SUBSCRIBE!!!

My guest is Marta Zaraska, a Polish-Canadian science journalist published in the Washington Post, Scientific American, New Scientist, the Atlantic, Discover, and more. She's the author of the book Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism, and Kindness Can Help You Live to 100. This episode is sponsored by Setapp, a subscription for Mac apps. Setapp packs over 180 high-quality apps into one. There’s an app for almost any task, so you can stay in your flow and finish what you started. Setapp has a dedicated curation team that only selects the highest quality apps. New apps are always being added to Setapp, updates are free and all the apps are full-featured pro versions. And you don’t have to spend time on app discovery and testing. Setapp makes it easy to get the best tools when you need them - they’re already in Setapp. Listeners of The Productivityist Podcast can check out Setapp for free for 7 days. Just visit https://setapp.com/?utm_source=sponsorship&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=productivityist (Setapp.com) and give it a try today!Marta reached out to me just before Growing Young's release date and after having a chance to check out what the book was all about I knew I wanted to talk to her about it for this program. And talk about the book we did! We talked about why she wrote the book, how challenging it was to write, some of the surprises she came across during the writing process, and more. I had a wonderful time chatting with Marta and I know you'll get a lot out of listening to our conversation. Talking Points What inspired Marta to write this book? (1:12) Marta explains why she thinks people focus more on their health when trying to live longer (3:46) This is something that Marta tried and noticed it was helping her a lot as she worked towards "growing young" (6:42) What are some things that people can do when they feel like they are stuck in a sense of loneliness? (11:16) Marta talks about how helping others can boost your happiness (14:44) What does Marta think are some benefits of meditating? Why does she think people are so stubborn to try it? (21:31) Did Marta find it challenging to write a book that tries to convince people that there is a science-backed way to live longer and happier? (25:52) Does where one live play a role in "growing younger"? (31:58) Marta suggests one action someone can take to start this journey (34:47) Quote "Spend more time with your friends." - Marta ZaraskaHelpful Links https://www.growingyoungthebook.com/ (Growing Young: The Book) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1426218486?ie=UTF8 (The Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons From the World's Happiest People) https://www.zaraska.com/ (Zaraska.com) The Productivityist Podcast Pick of The Week: https://tim.blog/podcast/ (The Tim Ferriss Show) http://productivityist.com/fivedollars/ (Take my 30 Days of TimeCrafting fundamentals course) Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? https://www.scribd.com/g/9a8d8 (Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice.) Podcast Theme Song: https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/eFDGyraN87 (Nothing at All by Fictions (courtesy of Epidemic Sound)) If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using – or you can do so on a variety of podcast platforms by clicking https://productivityist.transistor.fm/subscribe (here).

Author and journalist Marta Zaraska joins Lynn and John on Cool Science Radio today. Zaraska has written " Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism and Kindness Can Help You Live to 100 ”. This book is based on hundreds of research papers and on interviews with dozens of leading scientists from fields as diverse as molecular biochemistry, cyber psychology, and zoology. Do you want to live longer? Miracle diets, miracle foods, miracle supplements may not be the answer. Friendships. Purpose in life. Empathy. Kindness. Science shows that these 'soft' health drivers are often more powerful than diet and exercise.

Jesse joins the boys to chat about what led to his reunion with Misery Signals, how he feels about the Oilers heading into the playoffs, and what it was like for one of his students to recognize that "Mr. Z" used to be in a hardcore band. Misery Signals-The Tempest Misery Signals-The Year Summer Ended in June I Prevail feat. Joyner Lucas-DOA

On this episode i got a chance to chat with my favorite vocalist of all time, Jesse Zaraska of the powerful MISERY SIGNALS... really excited about this one. We chat about his passion for music and what it is like to come back and record a record after 15 years.

Jesse Zaraska, vocalist of Misery Signals is the guest of this episode of the BREWtally Speaking Podcast. Jesse joins us for the first part in our series with the Misery Signals guys to explore the top 5 albums that influenced each the members of the band. So joins us as we delved deeper into the influences of Misery Signals. Intro Music: "A Victim, A Target" by Misery Signals "Pretty Lights" by Heartsick Show Sponsor: The Bean Bastard (www.thebeanbastard) On Point Pomade (www.onpointpomade) USE OUR CODE BSP15 AND GET 15% OFF YOUR TOTAL ORDER!! Links: Facebook: www.facebook.com/miserysignals www.facebook.com/onpointpomade www.facebook.com/thebeanbastard www.facebook.com/metalnexus www.facebook.com/brewspeakpod Instagram: @miserysignals, @jessearaska, @onpointpomade, @thebeanbastard, @metal.nexus, @brewspeakpod, @jbeatty616 Twitter: @miserysignals @onpointpomade @metal_nexus, @brewspeakpod, @discussmetaldan, @jbeatty616 Website: www.miserysignalsmusic.com www.metalnexus.net Patreon: www.patreon.com/brewspeakpod Email: Brewtallyspeaking@gmail.com RATE/REVIEW/SUBSCRIBE!!!

Welcome to this weeks episode of Heavy Metal History, indeed, it is a very special episode for me personally and I hope my listeners also enjoy this episode. My guests were Ryan Morgan and Jesse Zaraska, Guitarist and Vocalist of Melodic Hardcore band Misery Signals. Ryan and Jesse were grateful enough to give me some of their time to discuss the 15 year anniversary of one of the most prolific albums to be released in the genre, their album “Of Malice and the Magnum Heart”. Ryan and Jesse take me through the early days of the band, a history which most people familiar with Misery Signals already know, but for the sake of the podcast and the history I was after, it seemed apt to start there and work our way into the writing and recording of the record. Jesse talks about “The Year Summer Ended in June” and the story behind that song, which, again, most fans of the band are familiar with. We discuss how the band wrote closely together for this record and how the writing process was relatively quick and very inspired. They also talk to me about recording with Devin Townsend and how it was a dream of Jesse's to work with “Hevy Devy” most of his life up to that point. WE touch on the Malice X tour that coincided with the albums 10 year anniversary along with Mathew Mixon's excellent Documentary about the album and the band called “ Yesterday was Everything” All that and some ever so slight hints about new material thats been in the works for the band. Watch the Documentary “Yesterday was Everything” HERE Follow Misery Signals FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM // TWITTER

Here in the U.S. we've just celebrated the Fourth of July, with its parades, fireworks, and, of course, cook-outs. If you're like me, the smell of a grilling burger can make you salivate from across the yard. I feel like Pavlov's dog whenever it happens, and that includes the seven or so years I was a vegetarian. I'd like to say I react this way only on these idyllic occasions summer holidays, family barbecues, campfire weenie roasts under a star-filled sky. But the truth is I can be walking to my car in July across a 95-degree asphalt parking and smell the exhaust fan from a Burger King a block away: suddenly I need one of those flame-broiled burgers. Every time this happens I ask myself, “Why? Why is this smell such a trigger?” That's exactly the question that drives Marta Zaraska‘s new book, Meathooked: The History and Science of our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat (Basic Books, 2016). As a science writer whose work has been featured in The Washington Post, Scientific America, and Newsweek, Zaraska has come across information thats more or less familiar to us: how bad meat is for our health, for our environment, and certainly for the animals in the massive feeding operations. And yet, as Zaraska points out, we're eating as much meat as ever and, globally, we're eating even more. So why? Why are we so hooked on meat? Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/animal-studies

Here in the U.S. we’ve just celebrated the Fourth of July, with its parades, fireworks, and, of course, cook-outs. If you’re like me, the smell of a grilling burger can make you salivate from across the yard. I feel like Pavlov’s dog whenever it happens, and that includes the seven or so years I was a vegetarian. I’d like to say I react this way only on these idyllic occasions summer holidays, family barbecues, campfire weenie roasts under a star-filled sky. But the truth is I can be walking to my car in July across a 95-degree asphalt parking and smell the exhaust fan from a Burger King a block away: suddenly I need one of those flame-broiled burgers. Every time this happens I ask myself, “Why? Why is this smell such a trigger?” That’s exactly the question that drives Marta Zaraska‘s new book, Meathooked: The History and Science of our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat (Basic Books, 2016). As a science writer whose work has been featured in The Washington Post, Scientific America, and Newsweek, Zaraska has come across information thats more or less familiar to us: how bad meat is for our health, for our environment, and certainly for the animals in the massive feeding operations. And yet, as Zaraska points out, we’re eating as much meat as ever and, globally, we’re eating even more. So why? Why are we so hooked on meat? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here in the U.S. we’ve just celebrated the Fourth of July, with its parades, fireworks, and, of course, cook-outs. If you’re like me, the smell of a grilling burger can make you salivate from across the yard. I feel like Pavlov’s dog whenever it happens, and that includes the seven or so years I was a vegetarian. I’d like to say I react this way only on these idyllic occasions summer holidays, family barbecues, campfire weenie roasts under a star-filled sky. But the truth is I can be walking to my car in July across a 95-degree asphalt parking and smell the exhaust fan from a Burger King a block away: suddenly I need one of those flame-broiled burgers. Every time this happens I ask myself, “Why? Why is this smell such a trigger?” That’s exactly the question that drives Marta Zaraska‘s new book, Meathooked: The History and Science of our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat (Basic Books, 2016). As a science writer whose work has been featured in The Washington Post, Scientific America, and Newsweek, Zaraska has come across information thats more or less familiar to us: how bad meat is for our health, for our environment, and certainly for the animals in the massive feeding operations. And yet, as Zaraska points out, we’re eating as much meat as ever and, globally, we’re eating even more. So why? Why are we so hooked on meat? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here in the U.S. we’ve just celebrated the Fourth of July, with its parades, fireworks, and, of course, cook-outs. If you’re like me, the smell of a grilling burger can make you salivate from across the yard. I feel like Pavlov’s dog whenever it happens, and that includes the seven or so years I was a vegetarian. I’d like to say I react this way only on these idyllic occasions summer holidays, family barbecues, campfire weenie roasts under a star-filled sky. But the truth is I can be walking to my car in July across a 95-degree asphalt parking and smell the exhaust fan from a Burger King a block away: suddenly I need one of those flame-broiled burgers. Every time this happens I ask myself, “Why? Why is this smell such a trigger?” That’s exactly the question that drives Marta Zaraska‘s new book, Meathooked: The History and Science of our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat (Basic Books, 2016). As a science writer whose work has been featured in The Washington Post, Scientific America, and Newsweek, Zaraska has come across information thats more or less familiar to us: how bad meat is for our health, for our environment, and certainly for the animals in the massive feeding operations. And yet, as Zaraska points out, we’re eating as much meat as ever and, globally, we’re eating even more. So why? Why are we so hooked on meat? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here in the U.S. we’ve just celebrated the Fourth of July, with its parades, fireworks, and, of course, cook-outs. If you’re like me, the smell of a grilling burger can make you salivate from across the yard. I feel like Pavlov’s dog whenever it happens, and that includes the seven or so years I was a vegetarian. I’d like to say I react this way only on these idyllic occasions summer holidays, family barbecues, campfire weenie roasts under a star-filled sky. But the truth is I can be walking to my car in July across a 95-degree asphalt parking and smell the exhaust fan from a Burger King a block away: suddenly I need one of those flame-broiled burgers. Every time this happens I ask myself, “Why? Why is this smell such a trigger?” That’s exactly the question that drives Marta Zaraska‘s new book, Meathooked: The History and Science of our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat (Basic Books, 2016). As a science writer whose work has been featured in The Washington Post, Scientific America, and Newsweek, Zaraska has come across information thats more or less familiar to us: how bad meat is for our health, for our environment, and certainly for the animals in the massive feeding operations. And yet, as Zaraska points out, we’re eating as much meat as ever and, globally, we’re eating even more. So why? Why are we so hooked on meat? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than two million years ago, early humans started eating meat. Now considering the harsh climate they inhabited, where every day was a fight for survival, you’d think people turned to eating animals just to stay alive, right? Think again. As journalist and author Marta Zaraska puts it, "man's love affair with meat was as much about politics and sex as it was about nutrition.” Zaraska is the author of the new book Meathooked: The History and Science of our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession With Meat. On today’s episode, we talk to her about the cultural traditions, chemical pull, and masterful advertising that have made meat-eating such a worldwide obsession over the ages. We also get the scoop on why agribusiness is salivating over Cuba and learn some tips on understanding the labels on your egg carton.