the cultural politics of milk
Milk on the Move Podcast
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Canadian lake cows
Our podcast Milk on the Move explores milk’s deep cultural roots, where science meets politics, and the systems that shape its production today.
Together with researchers, dairy producers and consumers, we uncover the fascinating interaction of tradition, knowledge and morality that makes milk so much more than just an everyday drink.
Our 8 part series will be released throughout 2025 and 2026.
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Milk may seem familiar, even innocent. A cool white drink that nourishes as it quenches thirst; wholesome, pure, natural. But scratch under the surface and milk is not just milk. It is an idea, an industry, and an evocative political tool.
Thinking through milk exposes the commercial, political and infrastructural forces that shape our contemporary world. It reveals how moralities mask money, how supremacy shapes science, and how industry fears intimacy.?
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Pieter van Noorden / Unsplash
Landgirl's Day- Everyday Life and Agriculture in West Sussex, England, 1944
29 year old Land Girl Rosalind Cox (left)carries milk pails in the dairy on Mr Tupper's farm at Bignor in Sussex, as her colleague Helen Newmarch sits on a stool to milk 'Cleopatra'. The cattle here are shorthorn cows. Helen is from Worthing and was a shorthand typist before joining the Land Army.
Credit: Imperial War Museums
Milk vendor Grace Wambui in her stall
Milk vendor Grace Wambui in her stall in Waithaka, Nairobi, Kenya
The Magic Milk Machine
In this episode, JC and Johanna explore the idea of milk as nutritional perfection, and the complex cultural, economic and political factors that have shaped it. What does the idea that milk is good for us leave unsaid?
Purity and Danger
In this episode Johanna and JC tackle milk’s complex microbial landscape. Milk is alive. This aliveness has long been harnessed for the preservation of milk through fermentation and cheese making, but it is also a palpable source of danger.
Industrial Milk
Milk is a staple product found in many homes, but what does it take to get onto our doorsteps, into our supermarkets, and into our fridges? In this episode, JC and Johanna explore industrial milk and how logical decisions in the upscaling of the dairy industry have led to some absurd realities that impact consumers and farmers every day.
Milk and Motherhood
Aren't cows mothers too? In this episode we explore milk and motherhood, and the difficult choices people make about the milk they produce and consume.
Dairy’s Deep History
Milk is our first food, but it is also something that many people encounter everyday. Why do people love milk so much, and long have humans been drinking it?