James O'Brien meets Eric Schlosser | Full Disclosure
00:00 – Coming up…
00:36 – Welcome Eric Schlosser
04:27 – The legacy of Fast Food Nation
06:54 – A stable and privileged upbringing
08:49 – A golden era for investigative journalism
11:22 – When did the writing bug first appear?
15:11 – An aspiring playwright
18:10 – experiencing 9/11 close up
21:06 – Starting work on Fast Food Nation
28:03 –The truth inside America’s meat packing plants
31:46 – The Industrial Revolution would be illegal now
33:31 – The original seed for Fast Food Nation
36:10 – You have tougher libel laws here, so I’ll be careful how I say this
39:28 – How much do you worry that no one’s listening?
42:56 – How quickly did you realise Fast Food Nation was going to be a success?
44:55 – At what point does the book come together?
49:36 – Are you an activist?
54:38 – Nuclear Weapons, Prison, Fast food – You should try to avoid all three
57:02 – What’s next?
For 25 years, Fast Food Nation has shaped the way we think about what we eat, how it is made, and who pays the price. Its author, Eric Schlosser, did more than expose the hidden realities behind the fast food industry. He revealed a much bigger story about corporate power, political influence and the human cost of profit.
In this episode of Full Disclosure, James O’Brien sits down with the acclaimed investigative writer to mark the anniversary of the book that changed the conversation around food. Schlosser reflects on a childhood shaped by privilege, culture and intellectual curiosity, before explaining how early ambitions as a playwright and screenwriter eventually gave way to a career in long-form journalism.
They discuss the reporting behind Fast Food Nation, from slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants to boardrooms and lobbying operations, and why Schlosser came to see the industry as a lens through which to understand modern America. He explains how the story of fast food became a story about labour, inequality, deregulation and the alliance between government and big business.
The conversation also ranges across his wider body of work, including prisons, nuclear weapons and the enduring appeal of investigative writing that challenges power rather than flatters it. Thoughtful, unsparing and deeply timely, this is a conversation about journalism, capitalism and why the systems shaping our lives deserve much closer scrutiny.
Find out more about the 25th anniversary edition of Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser at
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/54091/fast-food-nation-by-schlosser-eric/9780241766064
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