# Vanilla, an extraordinary bean

An episode of [Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/319622422), 24 Sep 2026, 29 min.

Audio: https://mediacore-live-production.akamaized.net/audio/02/oq/Z/cm.mp3

A new book tracks this exotic 'spice' from the 16th century, and its origins in the world's only edible orchid, found in Central America, to the widespread use of vanilla flavouring today. And it explains how this very expensive resource came to be equated with bland. 'Vanilla' is now a synonym for ho-hum, whiter-than-white. • Guest: Eric Jennings, Professor of History, University of Toronto. Author of ‘Vanilla: the history of an extraordinary bean’ (Yale University Press) • Producer: Ann Arnold

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