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Unexplainable

Sean tries raw milk

15 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 22.936 Noam Hassenfeld

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23.376 - 51.752 Noam Hassenfeld

Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. That's why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you? Try Odoo for free at odoo.com. That's O-D-O-O dot com. Support for this show comes from Odoo. Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder with a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? Introducing Odoo.

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52.232 - 78.84 Noam Hassenfeld

It's the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all-in-one, fully integrated platform that makes your work easier. CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce, and more. And the best part? Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. That's why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you? Try Odoo for free at odoo.com. That's O-D-O-O dot com.

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83.647 - 110.397 Sean Rameswaram

Sean, hello. Yo, Noam. Hello. Yoam. It's been a while. Yeah, we used to work together on Today Explained. It was a great time. So much that I still listen to every episode of Today Explained. Much love, much love. And I heard this episode that you guys did recently that I loved about raw milk. Oh, thank you. Yeah, I drank some raw milk. And you went to a farm? I hear.

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110.417 - 125.213 Sean Rameswaram

I went to a farm to do it, yeah. How did it go? I'm still alive, look at me. Yeah, okay. What is going on with raw milk right now? Why is everyone talking about raw milk? you know, it's been happening for a while.

125.754 - 144.356 Sean Rameswaram

People probably know that someone who drinks raw milk, whatever it might be, but we thought let's take a look at this because once RFK enters the White House and becomes Secretary of Health and Human Services, all of a sudden you've got him doing like a shot of raw milk at the White House. Yeah. They're not pushing it so hard. They're really getting on like the whole milk train.

144.696 - 161.325 Sean Rameswaram

But there are dozens of pieces of legislation throughout the country currently making their way through state legislatures that seek to make it easier to sell and or drink raw milk. What do you think surprised you the most from hanging out with the farmers and tasting the milk?

161.592 - 186.616 Sean Rameswaram

I think what's most interesting about this is if you talk to some people about raw milk, they want to condemn you for even considering the idea that you would drink non-pasteurized milk, which is essentially what we're talking about. But what's funny about it in this particular moment we're in is that... you can go to like a trendy grocery store in LA and just buy some raw milk.

186.636 - 208.744 Sean Rameswaram

You know, it's like to some people it's tantamount to being anti-vax and yet in California you can go to the grocery store and buy some raw milk. So this is one of those issues, like many issues in this country that is incredibly divisive and yet also that some parts of this country have just kind of moved right past and have accepted it to their lives.

Chapter 2: Why is raw milk gaining popularity?

342.779 - 360.564 Sean Rameswaram

Yes. Does that mean you should never, ever, ever drink raw milk if you're at some beautiful farm in the south of France and a farmer says, here's a milkshake we just made fresh for you because you're from America and you like that kind of thing? Like, no, it's probably fine. It's probably fine. That feels to me like he's trying to poison you somehow. Oh, maybe so. Right, right, right.

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361.205 - 385.135 Sean Rameswaram

Anyway, that doesn't mean we should just, you know, make it easier for the entire country to drink raw milk or just remove all the guardrails. Well, it's a very interesting discussion. Your episode is great. I love the way that you talk to people on all parts of this issue. So we're going to play it for our listeners. Do you want to tee it up? Anything they need to know before you hit play?

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385.896 - 408.969 Sean Rameswaram

Today Explained from Vox, wherever you listen. Hit play. Today, explained from Vox, Sean Ramos from here at the historic Old Town Farmer's Market in Alexandria, Virginia, on a quest to find something that is not totally legal here across these United States, raw milk. Mom, have you ever seen raw milk here at this market?

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409.911 - 410.812 Sean Rameswaram

Have you ever seen it anywhere?

411.533 - 414.517

Yes, in California and in Sri Lanka.

414.717 - 416.099 Sean Rameswaram

You drank raw milk in Sri Lanka?

416.36 - 419.043

Yes, from the day I was born till I left Sri Lanka.

419.224 - 421.146 Sean Rameswaram

So you're not impressed with my search for raw milk?

Chapter 3: What health risks are associated with drinking raw milk?

443.278 - 480.521 Sean Rameswaram

Okay, so my farmer's market thing was a bit of a bust, but we're not giving up. We're moving on to Google, and we're going to find that raw milk on the show today. Okay, Mom, we weren't able to find any raw milk at the farmer's market in Alexandria, Virginia, but I think we might be able to find some out here in Glen Arm, Maryland, about 20 miles northwest of Baltimore. Are you ready?

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481.122 - 482.925

Yes, I'm excited.

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484.067 - 510.626 Sean Rameswaram

All right, that's the spirit. Let me kick this off more formally. So we are standing here in a field in Glenarm, Maryland. And your name, sir? My name is Matt Priggle. And we're here with? Bobby Priggle. Are you guys related? Yes, I'm his youngest son. Very nice. Okay. And we are at the Priggle Creamery. Yep, Priggle Creamery, also Priggle Farm.

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510.866 - 521.522 Sean Rameswaram

My great-great-grandfather got the property we're on now in 1895. Amazing. And has it always been dairy? Back then, historically, farms did a little bit of everything.

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521.722 - 533.439 Ben Fisher

And then over the time and generations, it's consolidated. Now it's a dairy farm. The dairy is our bread and butter. And then we also are registered to sell raw milk in the state of Maryland as a pet food.

533.499 - 535.942 Sean Rameswaram

So we do offer raw milk for cats and dogs.

Chapter 4: How do legislation changes affect raw milk sales?

536.363 - 565.431 Sean Rameswaram

Interesting, but not for humans. It's illegal to sell milk in Maryland for human consumption. Okay. So how big is your raw milk for pet purposes in terms of your business? So the milk for cats and dogs week to week is roughly the same or more in sales at the greenery than the pasteurized milk. Wow. So a lot of people want this milk for their cats and dogs. Sounds like it. Yeah.

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566.035 - 573.465 Sean Rameswaram

Is there like a bit of a winking situation here? Nope, no winking, no nothing. They're not buying it for their cats and dogs and they drink it themselves?

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Chapter 5: What surprising insights did Sean gain from farmers?

573.485 - 583.619 Ben Fisher

They're buying pet food. What they do with it when they leave the store, you know, I can't control that. It's up to them. But it's possible. Yeah, I didn't think it's possible. People were eating Tide Pods not that long ago.

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583.899 - 612.753 Sean Rameswaram

Have you seen an uptick in interest in raw milk here at the creamery? I would say it's been steady for the past couple of years. Oh, wow. There's some cows trying to do. Oh, wow. Wow. That wasn't just an attempt at fornication, but also a bowel movement. They have a couple of party tricks. If you stick around long enough, you'll see some stuff. Sorry, I got distracted. We were at.

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613.354 - 614.976 Sean Rameswaram

Oh, there's been an uptick in interest.

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615.428 - 633.775 Ben Fisher

I think the interest has been kind of the same as far as like what goes on with our store. But as far as, you know, like the nation in general, I think there's been a big movement and big change in interest. You know, our government currently, there's a lot of hype and push about social media. There's a lot of information coming out about it.

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633.755 - 637.621 Ben Fisher

You don't think we sell a lot more now than we did last year? Not right now.

638.062 - 639.484 Bruno Satin

I think we've grown exponentially.

639.765 - 646.496 Sean Rameswaram

Whoa! We've got some father-son disagreement here. Sounds like you're maybe looking at those numbers a little more closely, and what are you seeing?

647.037 - 653.147 Ben Fisher

I think people are more interested. They're reading more about it, hearing more about it, and have interest.

653.313 - 672.962 Sean Rameswaram

You mentioned some political trends that have perhaps, you know, facilitated more interest in raw milk. Are you talking about the federal government? That Maha business and all that? Yeah. I mean, people should just get to choose, right? I mean, you go to the grocery store, you get to pick all you want. If you want to have raw milk, you should be able to go get that. Do you drink raw milk?

Chapter 6: How do public perceptions of raw milk compare to vaccines?

692.895 - 702.49 Sean Rameswaram

I had it in my coffee this morning. Oh, like with your dinner? Oh, yeah. Now, I'm not going to be offended by your answers to this question, but I want you to guess what kind of milk I drink. Oat milk.

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705.153 - 709.74 Ben Fisher

Which isn't milk, by the way. It's oat oil.

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710.341 - 714.868 Sean Rameswaram

Oat oil, oat juice. I'm laughing because you guessed correctly in one guess.

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714.948 - 731.093 Ben Fisher

Well, there's nothing wrong. I don't care. If you want, by all means, drink as much as you want. But it's not milk because milk, by definition, has to come from a mammal's mammary glands. And it doesn't. It's pressed and secreted oils and water that gets diluted and flavored down so you can actually drink it.

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731.377 - 746.466 Sean Rameswaram

I will say, unlike the other soy boys who come to visit you guys, I kind of have some lactose issues. So my drinking of oat milk, it's a nice alternative for those of us who get some stomach issues when we drink milk.

746.446 - 770.547 Sean Rameswaram

Of course, the reason most of us don't drink raw milk in this country is because many, many decades ago, we discovered that through pasteurization, we could avoid a whole host of diseases that were killing kids, including salmonella, listeria, tuberculosis, it turns out, E. coli. There's a lot of questions now about bird flu in the raw milk. Your thoughts?

771.252 - 788.487 Ben Fisher

So historically, the biggest problem, like you said, many, many decades ago, it was 100 years ago. And people had this idea that nothing has changed in the past 100 years with the agricultural practices around. So historically, so what happened was... Grains and distilling became really big in the 1920s, right?

788.567 - 808.414 Ben Fisher

So all the distilleries were in the city and they were bringing in weed in and barley and oats and everything and doing all the distilling process. And they had all these leftover grains and didn't know what to do with them. And they said, well, let's feed it to cows. All the dairy farms are out in the country. Why are we shipping everything in? Why don't we just bring the dairy in?

808.394 - 830.537 Ben Fisher

into the city next to the distillery, and we'll just go from one building to the next and give it to them. Well, the problem was, one, no nutritional value left in the grains that the cows were eating. The cows were kept indoors, which is ripe for sanitation issues. Also in that era, there was no closed systems. There was poor refrigeration as well. And over time, now,

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