
Historians Myke Cole and Anastacia Marx de Salcedo help us track what changed in combat and cuisine.
Ep 14: Mar 9, 2020
It’s called “the deadliest conflict in human history” for a reason — World War II engulfed the lives of soldiers and civilians in a way those in the United States have not experienced in a near capacity since.
In the final episode of our season exploring the experience of service during World War II, authors Myke Cole and Anastacia Marx de Salcedo join to help us make sense of it all: What changed the most when it comes to combat and cuisine? What part did our veterans play in moving the world forward? And where can we most find ourselves in this history?
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Eric Coldwell engineered the interview with Anastacia for this episode. Thank you to all the engineers who have contributed to recordings with veterans this season, and the organizations that have connected us with them. You can find all of the veterans’ episodes here.
Behind The Episode:
- Check out this Washington Post article for fascinating stuff on amped up military foods like Zapplesauce and some good MRE Jokes, and this Wired story for how the military jacks up caffeine cuisine.
- The retort pouch changed the trajectory of military cuisine. Read up about this plastic marvel in Science Direct and this brilliant NY Times article from the 80s.
- We didn’t get to include in this episode all of the weird/cool/harsh stuff we learned about the history of the draft. This Library of Congress blog post compiles some particularly fascinating tidbits.
- Curious about the demographics of the military? Read up at the Council of Foreign Relations, The Washington Post (on how the attack on Pearl Harbor united us more than the fall of the World Trade towers, specifically), and the National World War II Museum.
About Myke Cole

As a security contractor, government civilian and military officer, Myke Cole’s career has run the gamut from Counterterrorism to Cyber Warfare to Federal Law Enforcement. He’s done three tours in Iraq and was recalled to serve during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He recently joined the cast of Hunted on CBS as part of an elite team of fugitive hunters.
All that conflict can wear a guy out. Thank goodness for fantasy novels, comic books, late night games of Dungeons and Dragons and lots of angst fueled writing.
Find more at his website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

“Myke Cole’s novels are like crack: they’re highly addictive.” – Buzzfeed
“Cole leverages his real-life military background to create a believable depiction of conflict in space with an emphasis on authentic characters.” – Kirkus
About Anastacia Marx de Salcedo

Find more at her website, Twitter, and Facebook.

“Combat-Ready Kitchen reveals in abundant detail how military necessity has spawned food-technological invention and many of the processed foods that crowd our supermarket and kitchen shelves.”
—HAROLD MCGEE, author of On Food & Cooking and Keys to Good Cooking
Gallery:
(click on images to enlarge, and click here for all veterans’ episodes)
Pat D’Ambrosio Young Frank DeVita on the USS Samuel Chase John Bistrica Ep 4 – Georgy Hardy, Air Corps William Walker Ep 6 – Harold Bud Long, Air Corps Ep 8 – Lawson Ichiro Sakai, Army Ep 9 – Robert Hanson, Navy Ep 10 – Ray Boutwell, Navy Ep 12 – Norm Rubin, Marines Ep 11 – Sister Melanie Kambic, Army Nurse American soldiers 1944