Episode description

How does a fresh tuna get from Japan to Nebraska before it goes bad? And how does its journey show up in the price of your spicy tuna rolls? Zachary Crockett gets schooled.

• SOURCES:
  • Sasha Issenberg, journalist and author.
  • David Utterback, owner of Yoshitomo and Ota sushi restaurants.
  • Nobu Yamanashi, president of Yama Seafood.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Wild or Farmed? Pacific or Atlantic? Here’s What to Know About Bluefin Tuna," by Jean Trinh (Los Angeles Times, 2023).
  • "The Untold Story of Sushi in America," by Daniel Fromson (The New York Times Magazine, 2021).
  • "The Intricacies of Tuna Grading," (Luke's Lobster Blog, 2020).
  • "Sushinomics: How Bluefin Tuna Became a Million-Dollar Fish," by Svati Kirsten Narula (The Atlantic, 2014).
  • The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy, by Sasha Issenberg (2007).
  • Yoshitomo.

• EXTRAS:
  • "Is the Future of Farming in the Ocean?" by Freakonomics Radio (2021).