Peanuts: Peril and Promise
Despite their diminutive scale, peanuts play an outsized role in American culture. Peanut butter has long been a\xa0mainstay of the\xa0American lunchbox, with its sticky, slightly sweet nuttiness flavoring the memories of generation after generation of kids. And it\u2019s hard to imagine ballgames without, as the song goes, peanuts and Cracker Jacks (which, of course, also contain peanuts).\xa0But today, peanuts are the source of both hope and fear: while there\u2019s been a surprisingly steep\xa0rise of peanut allergies in recent decades that can\u2014though rarely\u2014lead to death, peanut butter is also the basis\xa0of a medical therapy used to save the lives of millions of children around the world. This episode, we discover how the humble peanut got to be such a big deal.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices