Do you think fad diets are a relatively recent phenomenon in American culture? Lulu Peters’ wildly popular “Diet and Health with Key to the Calories” was published in 1918. Even before that, William Banting’s 1864 “Letter on Corpulence” was an oft-cited testimonial about the benefits of low carb eating. In fact, most of the diets we see today, from Caveman and Keto to food combining to fasting, can be traced back many years. These two sessions will look at the history of dieting in the U.S., and explore what makes a diet popular, the people behind them, and what they can teach us about our culture and ourselves.

Registration deadline: Oct. 12