#4 The Tasty Rock that Changed the World (Salt: A World History)
What I learned from Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky Join the Nat’s Notes Newsletter to get my top highlights from the book. Get Two Months Free of Readwise Readwise is my favorite reading tool. I use it to automatically extract my highlights from physical books, and I use their Reader to read and highlight everything I find online. Then they automatically organize all of my notes and send them directly to my note-taking tool, so I can immediately look up anything I loved in past books I read. It’s a total game changer for getting the most out of every book you read, and if you love books, you need to be using it. It also has the best-in-class article reader for saving everything I find online. You gotta try it out. Timestamps (02:15) Why a Book About Salt? (04:50) Why Civilization Depended on Salt (07:15) Salt and Fertility (09:18) Ancient China (11:02) Ancient Egypt (13:39) Salt’s Impact on Early Trade Routes (15:25) Ancient Rome (17:43) Venice’s Salt Monopoly (24:00) The Hanseatic League (29:12) Early American Civilizations (32:59) North American Colonies & Revolution (37:15) The French Revolution (39:13) The American Civil War (41:27) Salt’s Impact on Energy (43:46) The Decline of Salt (44:31) Is Salt Healthy? If you enjoyed this show, please let me know on Twitter (@nateliason) or Instagram (@nat_eliason)