Legacy· Folge 144

Diets | Three Eggs and a Bottle of Wine | 1

Donnerstag, 7. Mai 2026 · 35 min

MP3

Shownotes

What did Vogue actually recommend women eat in 1977 — and why did it make one food writer cry in the
bathroom? How did the Greeks turn a six-pack into a moral argument? And, has the human obsession with
controlling what we eat ever really been about health at all?
Peter and Afua trace the long, strange history of dieting — from ancient Greek athletics and Roman
feast-and-purge excess, to medieval starvation saints who turned self-denial into a radical act of female agency.

Vogue’s 1977 Wine and Egg Diet — and what happened when someone actually tried it
The diet industry’s dirty secret: it was never about nutrition
Peter on fasting, cranky emails, and what not eating teaches you about your relationship with food
Ancient Greece: when abs were a moral statement, not just an aesthetic one
The manosphere’s Spartan fantasy — and what the Greeks would actually make of it
Rome: the inventors of binge and purge culture
When Christianity enters the chat — and fasting becomes holy
Catherine of Siena: the medieval starvation saint who used hunger as protest
Anorexia mirabilis — holy anorexia, and why Peter is wary of projecting modern diagnoses onto the past
Why medieval peasants weren’t dieting — they were just trying to stay alive

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Stay connected with Legacy:
Instagram: @originallegacypodcast
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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas:
Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com
Join Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.
legacy.supportingcast.fm

Stay connected with Legacy:
Instagram: @originallegacypodcast
TikTok: @legacy_productions

Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com
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