Episode Notes This week on Decoder Ring we explored the nonfiction genre of “microhistories” or “thing biographies”—books about a single subject with a claim to changing the world, like refrigeration, rope, or beavers. We challenged several authors to defend the grandiose assertions made in their books’ titles, but there are so many more topics to put to the test. In this special bonus episode, we take on one more allegedly world-altering subject: beef. Willa speaks with Joshua Specht ,