This is non-knitting related, but—
If you shop/eat/cook/try to balance a budget/worry about nutrition and health, you’ll be fascinated by Terry Gross’s interview with Michael Pollan. Pollan, who’s on the faculty at UC Berkeley, has written a number of popular books on eating and the history and politics of food, including The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.
This interview ranges across all kinds of territory: food prices, government subsidies of agriculture, global production and transportation of foods (including the impact of rising oil prices on food costs), the slow food movement, and more. Gross is a warm, engaging interviewer, who nonetheless asks difficult questions. Pollan loves this subject (and is one of the most knowledgeable in the world on it), and his enthusiasm keeps the exchange lively.
If you have a few minutes, give it a listen—you can knit while you do.