Ferment Radio

Super Eclectic

Ferment Radio is a podcast series that takes you deep into the fascinating world of microbes. Through fermentation and transformation, we develop new recipes for living on a broken planet.

  1. 6d ago

    #59: Microbiosphere 2 (with India Mansour)

    What does it take for a living world to sustain itself? In the 1990s, the Biosphere 2 project attempted to explore this question by sealing people, plants, and animals inside a vast glass structure in the Arizona desert, in the US. Designed as a miniature version of Earth’s biosphere, it was intended to be a self-sustaining system in which matter stayed inside while energy entered in the form of sunlight. Something similar can be done on a much smaller scale, with microbes. Microbial biospheres are small, sealed containers holding communities of microorganisms. Within these tiny worlds, microbes interact with one another and transform their environment, while that environment shapes them in return. In this episode, we speak with India Mansour, a biologist, ecologist, and guest professor at the Free University of Berlin. Her research explores why some microbial communities persist in these closed systems while others fail. What does failure mean in a system that can’t simply be opened and repaired? How many species are needed to sustain a living system? And what can we learn from these tiny worlds about life on Earth, itself a biosphere, just a much bigger one?

    #59: Microbiosphere 2 (with India Mansour)

  2. Oct 31

    #58: Microbe Superhero - These bacteria take heavy metals lightly (with Upasana Jhariya)

    In this episode of Microbe Superhero, we meet Upasana Jhariya,  who works at the intersection of microbial ecology, biogeochemical processes, and sustainable wastewater treatment. With her research team at Tohoku University, Japan, they have developed a novel biogenic iron mineral synthesis approach that removes toxic selenate from wastewater. How does it work? Listen to “These bacteria take heavy metals lightly...” an episode of Microbe Superhero, Ferment Radio’s mini-series on innovations involving microbes and the people behind them.

    #58: Microbe Superhero - These bacteria take heavy metals lightly (with Upasana Jhariya)

  3. Oct 31

    #57: Microbe Superhero - Probiotics are great! Even coral reefs say so (with Barbara Ribeiro)

    In this episode of Microbe Superhero, we meet Barbara Ribeiro, a marine biologist working at KAUST’s Marine Microbiomes Lab in Saudi Arabia. Her research has focused on understanding the impacts of climate change on sponges and coral reef restoration. How does it work? Listen to “Probiotics are great! Even coral reefs say so” an episode of Microbe Superhero, Ferment Radio’s mini-series on innovations involving microbes and the people behind them.

    #57: Microbe Superhero - Probiotics are great! Even coral reefs say so (with Barbara Ribeiro)

  4. Oct 31

    #56: Microbe Superhero - Pink bacteria that can mine metals from your phone (with Alexa Zytnick)

    In this episode of Microbe Superhero, we meet Alexa Zytnick, who, during her doctoral studies at UC Berkeley, explored how bacteria could help recover rare earth elements. These metals are essential to technologies from smartphones to wind turbines, but mining them can harm both people and the environment. Alexa has engineered bacteria to take up these valuable metals from discarded electronics. How does it work? Listen to “Pink bacteria that can mine metals from your phone,” an episode of Microbe Superhero, Ferment Radio’s mini-series on innovations involving microbes and the people behind them.

    #56: Microbe Superhero - Pink bacteria that can mine metals from your phone (with Alexa Zytnick)

  5. Sep 18

    #55: No good ferment starts with a sad veggie (with Citizen Sandwich)

    In this episode of Ferment Radio, we enter the world of Citizen Sandwich, a food and cultural heritage project that materialized during the past Audra Festival in Kaunas, Lithuania. Citizen sandwich was part experimental kitchen, part temporary canteen, part art project, part fermentation lab, and built around hyper-local ingredients, rescued food, and foraging. This project was brought together by Jonas Palekas, a chef working across food research and community, and Sean Roy Parker, an artist exploring post-capital food practices. Together with other food professionals, including yours truly, the project took place in a temporary kitchen at Kavinė Kultūra, Culture Café, right in the heart of Kaunas. This is exactly the kind of projects Ferment Radio promotes, and likes to be in: somewhere between a kitchen, a conversation, and critical practice. Welcome to a brand new episode of Ferment Radio. *People involved in the Citizen Sandwich project: curator: Tautvydas Urbelis, Audra architects: Isora x Lozuraityte Studio for Architecture (IXL) artists: Gintarė Ramančionytė (LT), Izabelė Šuikaitė (LT), Koekeittiö (FIN), Kristin Wiking (SWE), Liudvikas Buklys (LT) , Moira Tirtha (AUS/IDN) , Vytas Narbutas (LT), Ferment Radio (Aga Pokrywka) (POL/FIN)

    #55: No good ferment starts with a sad veggie (with Citizen Sandwich)

  6. Jun 28

    #54: Microbial or human, that is the question (with Nathalie Dubois & Adam Zaretsky)

    What are we actually? Are we more microbial than human? This episode brings together two artists whose practices orbit that question from very different angles: Nathalie Dubois, a bioartist and scientist whose work often centers on microbes, and Adam Zaretsky, a bioartist mixing ecology, biotechnology, non-human relations, body performance, and gastronomy. Nathalie explores how human personality intertwines with the microbiome, and Adam pushes the limits of biological matter and its preservation in museum archives. Even though they take different approaches, they often run into the same questions. Are microbes the puppet masters of humans, or do humans control microbes? Who depends on whom, and how much of that dependence do we even recognize? Their answers go into areas many people find unfamiliar, challenging assumptions about agency, ethics, and co-existence across species.

    #54: Microbial or human, that is the question (with Nathalie Dubois & Adam Zaretsky)

  7. May 15

    #53: Walk your desire path of fermentation (with Johnny Drain)

    There’s a moment when it hits you. It happens after some time of gathering bits and pieces of knowledge, experiences, feelings, and observations. It might even come after asking yourself “what am I doing?” multiple times. But suddenly the pieces click and turn into a viewpoint that you want to share with others. Some people find this clarity in the form of a book. One of them is Johnny Drain, who went from making yoghurt in his grandma’s kitchen as a kid to working with high-end restaurants. Johnny is also the author of Adventures in Fermentation, a book that captures his particular take on fermentation, let´s say, somewhere between flavour and sustainability. If you’re wondering why we even need another book on fermentation, tune into Ferment Radio and listen to our latest episode!

    #53: Walk your desire path of fermentation (with Johnny Drain)

  8. Feb 27

    #52: Come on feel the science! (with Kirsty Hendry)

    More than a collection of fixed truths, science can be an ongoing narrative, one that continually reshapes how we understand bodies, identity, and life itself. In this episode, we explore how scientific ideas evolve, transform, and eventually become obsolete. This shifting nature of knowledge is at the core of our conversation with artist Kirsty Hendry. Through texts and moving images, Hendry’s practice examines the body as a social and cultural construct, with a particular focus on the human microbiome, questioning where the boundaries of the self begin and end.

    #52: Come on feel the science! (with Kirsty Hendry)
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5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Ferment Radio is a podcast series that takes you deep into the fascinating world of microbes. Through fermentation and transformation, we develop new recipes for living on a broken planet.

Information

  • Creator
    Super Eclectic
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    60
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Super Eclectic
  • Show Website
    Ferment Radio