In my initial write-up for the New Liberal Arts, I used bananas as an example.  I was partly inspired by an interview with Dan Koeppel on NPR, who wrote a book about the recent history of banana cultivation and marketing.  I just heard him again today on the radio, so I thought I’d post a link to his book:

Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World

Now I know where the term Banana Republic came from and what it means.  And now I’m really puzzled that someone named their store after it.  Adding this to my must-read list now, and will report back after I get to it.