How a weak yen made Japanese beef the new truffle. Plus the fall and rise of chicken thighs and a food fight between credit card companies that's making it impossible to get dinner reservations. With guest Adam Chandler of the WSJ.

Adam Chandler's WSJ articles are available at https://www.wsj.com/news/author/adam-chandler

"What the Rise of Chicken Thighs Says About America," Adam Chandler, WSJ, March 19, 2026 https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/food-cooking/chicken-thighs-popularity-rise-27b5b355

"Reservation Apps Have Made Getting Into a Restaurant a Nightmare," Adam Chandler and Heather Haddon, WSJ, August 8, 2026 https://www.wsj.com/business/restaurant-reservation-apps-30a29e6b

"How Wagyu, Japan's Prized Beef, Took Over America," Adam Chandler, WSJ, August 22, 2206 https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/food-cooking/how-wagyu-japans-prized-beef-took-over-america-20546680

"Japan's Beef With a Weak Yen: The Best Wagyu Is Just for the Tourists," Miho Inada, WSJ, May 18, 2024 https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/japans-beef-with-a-weak-yen-the-best-wagyu-is-just-for-the-tourists-42be2a7b

"'Wagyu' Used to Guarantee Quality Beef. What Are You Paying for Today?" Tejal Rao, NYT, April 21, 2026 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/dining/wagyu-beef.html

"Caviar 'Bumps' Are All the Rage," Alyson Krueger, NYT, June 7, 2022 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/style/caviar-bump.html

Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through the Heart of America's Fast-Food Kingdom by Adam Chandler https://www.adamchandler.com/drive-thru-dreams

"Mass Psychosis in Food Science: Americans happily ate monosodium glutamate for decades, but one (fake?) letter sparked mass hysteria and the bogus MSG scare was born." Sam Kean, The Disappearing Spoon, November 7, 2023 https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/disappearing-pod/mass-psychosis-in-food-science/

Heather Haddon's WSJ articles https://www.wsj.com/news/author/heather-haddon

Peru gets a lot more tourism from North America and Europe than you might expect for a country so far away. The hidden reason why? Asparagus. And the War on Drugs.

"Going on Vacation to Peru? Thank Asparagus," Jonathan English, June 22, 2206 https://infrastory.substack.com/p/going-on-vacation-to-peru-thank-asparagus

"How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries," Erika Beras and Keith Romer, Planet Money https://www.npr.org/2025/04/04/1242780124/blueberries-asparagus-cocaine-foreign-aid-usaid-war-on-drugs-peru-free-trade

"Airline premium cabins: Profitability at the front of the plane," Jake Hart and Ryan Mann, McKinsey, June 1, 2026 https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/travel/our-insights/Airline-premium-cabins-profitability-at-the-front-of-the-plane?hsid=353d6648-1afa-4fe0-a948-2b566d3637a3

Private equity firms and venture capitalists are investing millions in new bagel shops. Can they bring great bagels to towns and cities across the country? Or are bagels the next investment bubble?

"Grip, Rip, Dip, Repeat. Grip, Rip, Dip, Repeat," Liz Dunn, New York Magazine https://www.grubstreet.com/article/popup-bagels-national-franchising.html

"Inside the Venture-Backed Bagel Boom," Liz Dunn, Consumed https://consumed.substack.com/p/inside-the-venture-backed-bagel-boom

Correction: The Love Island star with a PopUp Bagels schmear was Jen Terry. I don't think she ever cried on Love Island, though.

"The Forgotten History of New York's Bagel Famines," Natasha Frost, Gastro Obscura, February 9, 2018 https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bagel-union-strikes-new-york-city

"Grip, Rip, and Scale," Gad Gallon, Gad's Newsletter, April 20, 2026 https://gadallon.substack.com/p/grip-rip-and-scale

For more on Marriott Hotels and core competencies, see The Fissured Workplace: Why Work Became So Bad for So Many and What Can Be Done to Improve It, David Weil https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674975446

"Bagels Are a Bubble Now," Milena Pagán, Latent Heat, May 13, 2026 https://milenapagan.substack.com/p/they-want-the-same-food-in-every

Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation, Byrne Hobart and Tobias Huber https://www.stripe.press/boom