S2E9 Michaele Weissman on the Meaning of Bread

In her literary memoir The Rye Bread Marriage, author and food writer Michaele Weissman turns her skills with history, psychology and adventure to her own family story. This interview begins with the travel story that led to Michaele's seminal book on specialty coffee. It goes on to describe the Latvian poetry and the loaves of bread that opened up Michaele's understanding in ways that surprised her as a writer and as a human being in love with a theoretical physicist war refugee. Born in Latvia at the dawn of World War II, Michaele's husband John grew up in a tiny village that felt lost in time. He arrived there on a harrowing journey where his mother smuggled the family across Europe on a currency of rye bread crackers and pharmaceutical Everclear. John's devotion to Latvian rye bread and poetry as recounted by Michaele is an extraordinary example of how recipes and proverbs serve as vehicles of cultural memory. The Rye Bread Marriage is an unvarnished relationship tale, an impressive piece of scholarship on language and foodways, and a riveting and reflective example of 20th century war literature. I hope you are moved to purchase the book after listening to this interview. I also recommend the audiobook! Here is Michaele's website: https://michaeleweissmanwrites.com/ If you are listening to this interview just as it's coming out, there is still time to sign up for Michaele's memoir writing class that starts January 14 (online via DC's Politics and Prose bookstore). If you missed it, don't worry, she works regularly as a teacher and coach, and you can stay in touch with her on instagram.

Yes, this is the same rye bread that I was eating with rye grain advocate Avery Robinson in S2E7. You can buy it in select specialty groceries and also order it online in the US by visting https://blackroosterfood.com/

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This episode was produced, recorded and edited by Rose Thomas Bannister. Audio assistance by Steve Silverstein