Hello

Many people take the myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone to be just a metaphor for the annual cycle of planting and harvesting. But maybe there is much more to it than that. Maybe the story hides a secret so valuable that it was worth protecting with threats of divine retribution.

Elucidating the Eleusinian Mysteries is one small element in Scott Reynolds Nelson's new book, Oceans of Grain. It looks at the many, many ways in which wheat and human history intertwine, which he's been working on for years. It was finally published on 22 February this year.

Two days later, Russia invaded Ukraine.

Today, what the story of Persephone is really about. And over the next three weeks, Scott Nelson and I will be talking about how wheat has influenced human affairs in the past, as it is still doing today.

All the best

Jeremy