Shelf Life

Shane joins Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Moss joins to uncover how cereal sparked the rise of processed foods — and the billion-dollar marketing machine behind it. From sugar-loaded breakfasts to Big Tobacco’s food empire, this segment reveals how modern diets were engineered to override our willpower.

Shane Campbell-Staton investigates how shrimp became America’s #1 seafood — and reveals the exploitation and forced labor that fuel its global supply chain. With journalist Ben Lorr and activist Patima Tungpuchayakul, he exposes how modern slavery hides behind low prices and how grocery stores disconnect us from the people who feed us.

Host Shane Campbell-Staton joins author Ben Lorr to explore the surprising history of the supermarket. From neighborhood butchers to Piggly Wiggly, they trace how small innovations reshaped how we shop — and why convenience and low prices came to rule. What began as a cost-cutting experiment now defines modern life.