Inventing a Better Apple

The apples you can buy at the grocery store have gotten profoundly better over the past few decades. It’s a kind of everyday, hiding-in-plain sight innovation. Kate Evans is an apple breeder and professor at Washington State University. Kate's problem is this: How do you invent a better apple?

With her team, Kate has in fact invented a new kind of apple called the Sunflare. It’s arriving in stores in a few years. She also helped to invent the Cosmic Crisp, which is out already.

In this episode, Kate explains:

Why grocery-store apples have gotten so much better
Why some of the most delicious apples never make it into stores
Why it takes decades to invent a new kind of apple
How much more we have to learn about apple genetics
How the apple industry is adapting to climate change

Connect with us:

Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram
Email us at problem@pushkin.fm
Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X
Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History
To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(197)

Using Pokémon Go to Map the World

Maps have gotten much better over the past few decades. But they're still mostly two dimensional, and they struggle to keep up with a world that is always changing. Brian McClendon is the Chief Techno...

28 Mai 36min

The Company Where Everyone Has Their Own AI Agent

Dan Shipper is the co-founder and CEO of Every, a company that publishes newsletters about AI, develops AI-related software, and helps other companies use AI. Dan has two problems. One, how do you bui...

21 Mai 40min

Building a Business on the Moon

Rob Meyerson is the co-founder and CEO of Interlune. Rob's problem is this: How do you help build an economy on the moon? Eventually, Rob hopes Interlune will help build a moon base. For now, he is fo...

7 Mai 32min

Building a Robot People Actually Want

Aaron Edsinger left his job as director of robotics at Google to start a company called Hello Robot. Aaron’s problem is this: How do you build an affordable robot that people can use to solve real pro...

30 Apr 40min

Turning Waste Wood Into Buildings

Ben Christensen is the co-founder and CEO of Cambium, the largest seller of salvaged wood in America. Ben's problem is this: How can we turn the trees that are falling to the ground all around us, int...

23 Apr 36min

The Great Fusion Debate: How Far Away Are We Really?

Investors are pouring billions of dollars into nuclear fusion companies. The dream: transform human civilization (and power AI data centers) by providing cheap, abundant energy. But nobody’s figured o...

16 Apr 42min

How SharkNinja Keeps Going Viral

Mark Barrocas is the CEO of SharkNinja, a company that sells everything from vacuums, to blenders, to beauty products. Mark’s problem is this: How do you invent new products that people want to rave a...

9 Apr 35min