MIT Department of Anthropology

Purity and Danger

MIT Anthropology

Purity and Danger

In an episode of the Milking It podcast, cultural anthropologist Heather Paxson and others discuss the pressures facing cheese makers.

November 25, 2025

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. We visit Bill Oglethorpe, owner of Kappacasein, London's last dairy, speak with historian Deborah Valenze and cultural anthropologist Heather Paxson, and discuss the pressures facing cheese makers with Bronwen and Francis Percival, authors of 'Reinventing the Wheel: milk, microbes and the fights for real cheese'.

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