Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World

Dan Koeppel

Jul 2016 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Paul Woodson

About this audiobook

To most people, a banana is a banana: a simple yellow fruit. Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. In others parts of the world, bananas are what keep millions of people alive. But for all its ubiquity, the banana is surprisingly mysterious; nobody knows how bananas evolved or exactly where they originated. Rich cultural lore surrounds the fruit: in ancient translations of the Bible, the "apple" consumed by Eve is actually a banana. But the biggest mystery about the banana today is whether it will survive. A seedless fruit with a unique reproductive system, every banana is a genetic duplicate of the next, and therefore susceptible to the same blights. Today's yellow banana, the Cavendish, is increasingly threatened by such a blight, and there's no cure in sight. Banana combines a pop-science journey around the globe, a fascinating tale of an iconic American business enterprise, and a look into the alternately tragic and hilarious banana subculture (one does exist)-ultimately taking us to the high-tech labs where new bananas are literally being built in test tubes, in a race to save the world's most beloved fruit.

About the author

Dan Koeppel, a 2011 James Beard Award winner, is a science and nature writer who has written for National Geographic, Outside, Scientific American, Wired, and other national publications. He has discussed bananas on NPR's Fresh Air and Science Friday.

Paul Woodson has won SOVAS and AudioFile Earphones Awards, and has recorded close to 350 audiobooks in many different genres-including romance, fiction, history, biography, and mystery. A member of SAG-AFTRA, Paul received his BFA in acting from Boston University.