Updated
Updated · wnyc.org · Aug 13
WNYC Airs 4 Interview Highlights on Ultra-Processed Food and American Religious Thought
Updated
Updated · wnyc.org · Aug 13

WNYC Airs 4 Interview Highlights on Ultra-Processed Food and American Religious Thought

2 articles · Updated · wnyc.org · Aug 13

Summary

  • WNYC’s latest “Summer Friday” episode packages four recent interviews, led by a health segment on ultra-processed foods and a separate discussion of American religious thought.
  • Three June 16 interviews revisit the health theme: NIH researcher Kevin Hall on metabolic ward trials, Tufts epidemiologist Fang Fang Zhang on cancer and long-term outcomes, and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler on a petition challenging some ingredients’ GRAS status.
  • A fourth interview, first aired July 9, features Amherst professor Ilan Stavans discussing the sweep of U.S. religious ideas in connection with his 2026 book A Nation Wrestles with God.
  • The program also ties back to WNYC’s annual health convening—supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation—which this year focused on how ultra-processed foods affect health reporting and public understanding.

Insights

If ultra-processed foods trick our bodies into eating 500 extra calories daily, what hidden ingredients is the FDA still allowing on our plates?
Could the very foods keeping groceries affordable be silently driving the rise in digestive cancers across the country?