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Talk6 min

The dark history of Graham crackers

Stephanie Honchell Smith · TED

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About

In the 1800s, minister Sylvester Graham believed Americans had a big problem— not just with their bodies, but their souls. He argued that overindulgence was fueling their baser desires, making them immoral and oversexed. To curb this corruption, puritanical reformers advocated for foods they thought curbed a variety of appetites. Stephanie Honchell Smith details the invention of Graham crackers. [Directed by Anton Bogaty, narrated by Susan Zimmerman, music by Salil Bhayani, cAMP Studio].

The talk

  1. The dark history of Graham crackers 6 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED-Ed
Speaker
Stephanie Honchell Smith
Year
2025
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
History, Religion, Teaching and learning
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Adult profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed