Salt is found on most dining tables and in most kitchens—but this ubiquitous household item has a long and curious history. It’s a flavor enhancer, an ice melter, has been used as a currency, and has shaped civilization. Mark Kurlansky, author of  Salt: A World History, and Dr. Sonia Angell, Director, Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control, New York City Health Department, explain what salt is, where it comes from, and discusses its influence on history and on our health.

Mark Kurlansky describes what makes the Dominican Republic sugar mill town of San Pedro a source of some of the best Dominican players in the Major Leagues—Manny Alexander, Sammy Sosa, Tony Fernandez. In The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Marcoris, he tells ...

Mark Kurlansky, the author of The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, and Jeffrey Levinton, distinguished professor of ecology and evolution at SUNY Stony Brook, talk about the history of oysters in New York Harbor, and plans to reintroduce them.

The Federal Writers' Project in the 1930’s was part of FDR’s efforts under the New Deal to provide work for authors and artists. Under the program a number of writers were dispatched all across America to chonricle of lifestyles and traditions of local people, including cuisine. Mark Kurlansky looks at ...

During the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt decided that even unemployed writers needed to be put to work. So as part of the New Deal he created the Federal Writers Project and dispatched scribes to all corners of the nation to document, among other topics, food. "What America Eats" became a national compendium of what people were cooking and eating, region by region. Being a "locavore" is a fashionable lifestyle choice now. But in 1940 you ate locally because you had to—the lack of highways and freezers kept diners to a regional and seasonal menu long before it became chic. Notable writers including Eudora Welty who covered Mississippi meals and Zora Neale Hurston who tackled her favorite Floridian foods all weighed in on regional cuisine for the project. In his new book, "Food of a Younger Land," author Mark Kurlansky revives the unfinished America Eats project. He joins The Takeaway for a look back at the diet of a nation.

Click through for an Indiana Persimmon Pudding Recipe

As the Metropolitan Opera revives the Philip Glass opera "Satyagraha." Helen Tworkov, founder of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, is coordinating The Satya Graha Forum, a series of events exploring the on-going influence of Gandhi’s concept of active non-violence to achieve social change. She is ...