We'll let you in on the secret with Eliot Stein and Custodians of Wonder
Did you know there’s a man saving the secret ingredient in Japan's 700-year-old original soy sauce recipe? Or that the world’s rarest pasta is made in Italy, and only a few women alive still know the recipe? Or that in India, a family makes a mysterious metal mirror believed to reveal your truest self? These are disappearing secrets, the magical element of culture being precariously preserved by the few for the many. Join us for a live chat with author Eliot Stein, who traveled the globe in search of remarkable people who are preserving some of our most extraordinary cultural rites. From shadowing Scandinavia's last night watchman to meeting a 27th-generation West African griot to tracking down Cuba's last official cigar factory “readers” more than a century after they spearheaded the fight for Cuban independence, Stein uncovers an almost lost world. From Inca bridge masters to those who still speak to bees, CUSTODIANS OF WONDER is a treasure trove of peculiar and heart-warming traditions—and those preserving them from brink of disappearance.
Episode was recorded live May 28, 2026.
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