In the Media
Sarah Wassberg Johnson is an author and frequent interviewee of journalists. Want to interview her? Make a media request.
PUBLICATIONS
- "From the Church Basement: Scandinavian Baking Traditions Fit for a Saint" High Plains Reader
- “Classic 1920s Orange Drop Cookies” TheKitchn.com
- “1930s Vintage Pinwheel Cookies” TheKitchn.com
- “Honey Cookies with Lemon and Nutmeg (1940s)” TheKitchn.com
- “Classic Spritz Cookies (1950s)” TheKitchn.com
- “The Original Peanut Butter Blossoms (1960s)” TheKitchn.com
- “Classic Moravian Christmas Cookies (1970s)” The Kitchn.com
- “Classic 1980s Seven Layer Bars” TheKitchn.com
- “Simple Espresso Shortbread (1990s)” TheKitchn.com
- “The Original Chocolate Brownie Cookies (2000s)” TheKitchn.com
- “Classic Salted Caramel Thumbprints (2010s)” TheKitchn.com
TELEVISION
- "Eat Me, or Try Not To" Curiosity Stream
- "Consumers spending more at the grocery, reversing decades of increased restaurant spending" ABC Denver News Channel 7
- "The Food That Built America" miniseries, The History Channel, seasons 1 & 2
- "The Rise and Fall of Jello" Business Insider
RADIO & PODCASTS
- "Paul Janeway: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese" - Your Last Meal podcast
- "Sarah Wassberg Johnson Interview" - Main Street, Prairie Public Radio
- "Sarah Wassberg Johnson (The Food Historian)" - the Well-Seasoned Librarian podcast
- "The Food That Built America" podcast, OZY & The History Channel
- "Baloney Deserves Respect" - Proof, the America's Test Kitchen Podcast
- "What Makes Midwestern Food Unique?" - Eat Your Heartland Out, Heritage Radio Network
- "Eggs vs. milkshakes - the history of protest foods" - Blueprint for Living, Radio National Australia
- "The Pretty Big Problem of Ugly Food" - Proof, America's Test Kitchen
PRINT & DIGITAL
- February 17, 2022: "How do you follow up an online cookbook with 15 million downloads?" Input Magazine
- February 1, 2022: "I Used To Hate Breakfast—Until I Did This" Yahoo!Life
- November 22, 2021: "Cranberries, stuffing and turkey: Why do some Thanksgiving foods divide the dinner table?" USA Today
- July 28, 2021: "San Francisco chefs are bringing back this much-maligned 1950s dish" SF Gate
- July 2, 2021: "Bake Victory Cake, the Simple, Inspiring Treat of Wartime America" Gastro Obscura
- June 27, 2021: "What we learn from the study of diets of previous wars and pandemics" The Indian Express
- April 1, 2021: "The Untold Truth of Grape-Nuts" Mashed.com
- November 26, 2020: "Why there was no pumpkin pie at the first Thanksgiving - and other Thanksgiving pie myths debunked" Yahoo!Life
- November 25, 2020: "Thanksgiving's most popular side is surprising — and a 50s childhood favorite" Yahoo!Life
- November 23, 2020: "Why Everyone’s Suddenly Hoarding Mason Jars" Medium.com
- August 28, 2020: "Classic American Recipes Through the Decades" Thedailymeal.com
- August 26, 2020: "How did vanilla come to mean boring? Blame colonialism" Mic.com
- August 2, 2020: "Which hot dog are you? The enduring appeal of regional food in the global digital age" Salon.com
- July 22, 2020: "How hot dogs became a pandemic staple as Americans faced the uncertainty of the coronavirus" Yahoo!Life
- June 25, 2020: "22 Things You Didn't Know About Jell-O" Cheapism
- June 12, 2020: "Just Cook From the Back of the Box" Eater
- April 29, 2020: "In 1950, Americans Had Aspic. Now We Have Dalgona Coffee" The Atlantic
- April 16, 2020: "How Banana Bread Became the Unofficial Baked Good of COVID-19" Well + Good
- February 13, 2020: "Looking for Blood" Eater.com
- November 26, 2019: "Why President Coolidge Never Ate His Thanksgiving Raccoon" Atlas Obscura
- November 26, 2019: "After WWII, Mutton Fell Out Of Favor In The U.S. Can It Make A Comeback?" NPR
- November 21, 2019: "American History as Told By 7 Vintage Pies" Matador Network
- November 13, 2019: "Pass Along Traditions With a Family Cookbook" NextAvenue
- October 17, 2019: "The New Definition of American Cuisine" Well+Good
- September 20, 2019: "Why Bear Fat Makes for Better Baking" Atlas Obscura
- August 27, 2019: "I tried vintage recipes from a '50s cookbook and I see why Jell-O salads aren't popular anymore" Insider.com
- August 27, 2019: "Why Lunch Is Even More Important Than Dinner for Healthy Eaters" Well + Good
- August 5, 2019: "How an Accidental Invention Changed What Americans Eat for Breakfast" History.com
- July 26, 2019: "What the 'milkshaking' zeitgeist says about our relationship to politics" Abc.net.au
- July 11, 2019: "It's 7/11 Day" CNN.com
- May 14, 2019: "In Memoriam: The Trashy Mall Food Court Smoothie of the 90s" Vice
- March 8, 2019: "The Scientific Reasons Why Sweet-and-Salty Foods Turn Us Into Snack Monsters" Well+Good
- January 30, 2019: "Fact: the Healthiest Foods Are Now Found in the Freezer Aisle" Well+Good
- October 22, 2018: "Is Alt-Milk Still Milk? Inside the Food Lexicon Debate the FDA has Final Ruling On" Well+Good
- October 9, 2018: "Why We Love Avocado Toast: How a Healthy Food Trend Gets Made" Well+Good
- "An Oral History of Iconic American Fast Food Chains" Fashionbeans.com (sadly this article has been removed!)