Hello Well Tempered podcast listeners and readers! If you're catching this on iTunes or my website you know it's been a while since I've broadcasted via this medium. After the start of the pandemic, I found it much more intimate to engage with guests through video conferencing -- the informality and honest connection that ensued, and yet equally as effective at conveying information, not to mention, much less editing on my part -- meant I spoke to more people than ever (more 50 interviews in 2020). So if you've been holding out here for more content, the interviews continue, but the majority a ..read more

Description: An interview as part of the Well Tempered Podcast’s ‘Scholar Series’ (recorded February 2020) Guest: Allison Brown, PhD candidate at Penn State  Area of study: Food Science and International Agriculture and Development Allison Brown is a PhD candidate and USDA NIFA (United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture) predoctoral fellow studying a dual-title degree in Food Science and International Agriculture and Development at The Pennsylvania State University. She studies cocoa and chocolate using chemical and sensory analysis to fingerprint ..read more

Podcast episode description: Dr Sarah E J Arnold is a Senior Lecturer in Insect Behavior and Ecology at The Natural Resources Institute (NRI), University of Greenwich, UK, primarily focusing on pest behavior, chemical ecology, and ecosystem services. After completing her PhD in sensory ecology in the Chittka Lab at Queen Mary, University of London, Dr. Arnold joined the University of Greenwich in 2010. Since joining NRI (a specialist research, development and education organization of the University of Greenwich), she has continued to develop her interest in pollinators, studying different a ..read more

Description: Well Tempered Live; a compilation of #womeninchocolate interviews recorded live during the 2019 edition - and 25th anniversary - of the Salon du Chocolat, at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, France. This special episode of the Well Tempered chocolate podcast features three distinct perspectives, from three very unique countries: Grenada, Honduras, and Russia — all with specialty cacao and bean-to-bar or tree-to-bar concepts at the core of their businesses. Whether through agritourism, direct trade, international export, local distribution, and so on, the leaders of t ..read more

Description: Carla D. Martin, PhD, is the Founder and Executive Director of the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute (FCCI), a Lecturer in the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She leads the course: ‘Chocolate, Culture, and the Politics of Food’, known to many in the chocolate industry as ‘Chocolate Class’. Her work at the FCCI focuses on identifying, developing, and promoting fine cacao and chocolate, primarily by addressing ethics and quality issues in the supply chain. A social anthropologist with interdisciplinary interests that include history, agron ..read more

Description: Dr. Kristy Leissle is a scholar of cocoa and chocolate. Since 2004, her work has investigated the politics, economics, and cultures of these industries, focusing on West African political economy and trade, the US craft market, and the complex meanings produced and consumed through chocolate marketing and advertising. Her recent book, Cocoa (Cambridge: Polity, 2018) explores cocoa geopolitics and personal politics, and was #3 on Food Tank’s 2018 Fall Reading List. Dr. Leissle is Affiliate Faculty in African Studies at the University of Washington; Research Associate for the develo ..read more

Description: Amy Guittard -- Director of Marketing, cookbook author, San Franciscan and hobby surfer, is a 5th generation of the Guittard Chocolate family. The Guittard Chocolate Company was founded in 1868 by Etienne Guittard, Amy's paternal great-great grandfather. Before Quantum mechanics, before Rudolphe Lindt invented the chocolate conch, America's longest family-run and operated chocolate company was making chocolate from the bean. Follow along this episode as we get to know this woman in chocolate, and discuss a different 'theory of relativity' - working alongside her Father and patriar ..read more

Description:  For Rabbi Deborah Prinz, a serendipitous discovery whilst on vacation in France, spawned a new purpose driven career in chocolate. In all her years of studying Judaism, she'd never encountered the link to Jews in chocolate. Her book, On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, Religions, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao. brings to light the stories before overlooked in the history of this prized and beloved ingredient.  She counts almost thirty years in congregational work, almost 20 as Rabbi Emerita of Temple Adat Shalom, in San Diego ..read more

Description: From touring rock singer to speech-language pathologist, to ordained minister, and the many lives thereafter, Rev. Dr. RM Peluso has made a career of combining her passions, mindfully. She cut her chops over a decade ago as a fine chocolate reviewer for the C-Spot, and from there went on to incorporate both a chocolate and meditation practice to her congregations hinging on new school tactics (she says after all, "...there's nothing more New World than chocolate..,"). She is most recently the author of the Deep Tasting Guide™ series; she lives in New York City with her husband and ..read more