Mark A. Johnson, "American Bacon: The History of a Food Phenomenon" (U Georgia Press, 2026)

About this episode

Dr. Mark A. Johnson explores the cultural and historical significance of bacon in America.

In American Bacon: The History of a Food Phenomenon (U Georgia Press, 2026), Dr. Mark A. Johnson asks (and answers) a seemingly simple question: How has bacon overcome centuries of religious prohibition, cultural contempt, and dietary advice to become a twenty-first-century culinary and cultural powerhouse? Starting in early modern Britain and tracing the story of bacon through the colonial era, the Civil War, the Progressive Era, modern fad diets, and the emerging craft bacon industry, Johnson provides a new perspective on some familiar American narratives. More than a story of production, marketing, and consumption, Johnson argues, this cultural history connects bacon to race, class, and gender while also illuminating major historical forces, such as migration, warfare, urbanization and suburbanization, reform movements, cultural trends, and globalization. For Dr. Johnson, bacon’s story from “most dangerous food in the supermarket” to pop culture and gastronomic phenomenon reflects the cultural values of a nation. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in…

People in this episode

Host: Miranda Melcher

Guest: Mark A. Johnson

Topics covered

• bacon
• food history
• cultural history
• American narratives

Keywords

• religious prohibition
• cultural contempt
• dietary advice
• craft bacon industry
• race
• class
• gender
• migration
• urbanization
• globalization

Mentioned in this episode

Products: American Bacon: The History of a Food Phenomenon

Books & works: American Bacon: The History of a Food Phenomenon

More episodes of New Books in the American South

• Sarah McNamara, "Ybor City: Crucible of the Latina South" (UNC Press, 2023) · June 11, 2026 · 1h 20m
• Mollie Barnes, "Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902" (U South Carolina Press, 2026) · June 4, 2026 · 50 min
• David Cunningham on Contesting Confederate Monuments (JP) · June 4, 2026 · 51 min
• Annette Gordon-Reed ed., "Jefferson on Race: A Reader" (Princeton UP, 2026) · May 30, 2026
• Ashley Rose Young, "Nourishing Networks: The Public Culture of Food in New Orleans" (Oxford UP, 2025) · May 29, 2026 · 52 min
• Claudia Smith Brinson, "Stories of Struggle: The Clash over Civil Rights in South Carolina" (U South Carolina Press, 2020) · May 25, 2026 · 1h 7m