Kellogg Brothers: a family feud and the creation of a cereal empire

You're Dead to Me

BBC

Comedy, History

4.7 • 10.9K Ratings

🗓️ 22 August 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Greg Jenner is joined in nineteenth-century America by historian Dr Vanessa Heggie and comedian Ed Byrne to learn all about the feuding Kellogg Brothers. John and Will Kellogg were born into a large family in Battle Creek, Michigan, in the middle of the 1800s. Following a childhood marred by illness and death, John earned a medical degree before returning to run the Sanitorium – a health and wellness centre – in his hometown, where he prescribed a variety of treatments both sensible and surreal, including a vegetarian diet, fresh air and exercise, hydrotherapy, and regular enemas! He was soon joined in his wellness venture by his business-minded brother Will, and together they invented a breakfast cereal we still know and love today: cornflakes. But after years of John’s bullying Will left to launch his own business: the Kellogg company. This episode tells the story of these battling brothers and their food and wellness business ventures, exploring everything from their sibling relationship and the competing stories they tell about the invention of their most famous cereal, to John’s Seventh Day Adventist beliefs and his pioneering wife with her meat-free meal replacements. If you’re a fan of family feuds, wellness fads of the past and the history of food, you’ll love our episode on the Kellogg Brothers. If you want more history of science and health with Dr Vaness Heggie, check out our episodes on Victorian Bodybuilding and Arctic Exploration. And for more American entrepreneurs, listen to our episodes on PT Barnum and Madam CJ Walker. You’re Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past. Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Charlotte Emily Edgeshaw Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Rory Stewart and I grew up wanting to be a hero and I'm still fascinated by the ideas of heroism.
0:09.0	In my new series, I'm taking in the long sweep of history from Achilles to Zelensky and asking, what is a hero?
0:16.0	Simply doing your job, being a decent human being.
0:20.0	A true hero is someone who just kind of shines by
0:23.1	their own light and that light is to be recognised by others. The long history of heroism with me,
0:28.6	Rory Stewart. Listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Hello, Greg here.
0:37.9	Just a reminder, before we get going, that episodes of Your Dead to Me are released on Fridays
0:42.0	wherever you get your podcasts.
0:43.8	But if you're in the UK, you can listen to the latest episodes 28 days earlier than
0:48.9	anywhere else, first on BBC Sounds.
0:53.1	Hello, and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously.
0:58.2	My name is Greg Jenner. I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster. And today we are
1:02.5	grabbing our spoons and tucking into a big old bowl of cereal as we sauntered back to 19th century
1:07.7	America to learn all about the Kellogg Brothers. And to help us, we have two very special breakfast buddies. In History Corner, she's Associate Professor in the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Birmingham's Department of Applied Health Science. You may have read her excellent book, Higher and Colder, on the History of Extreme Exploration, and you'll definitely remember her from our episodes on Victorian Bodybuilding and the Northwest Passage. That's not one episode. It'll be weird if it was. It's Dr Vanessa Heggy. Welcome back, Vanessa. It's great to be back. And in Comedy Corner, he's a comedian, actor and writer. You all know him from loads of television programs, including Mock the Week, QI, have it got news for you and live at the Apollo. Plus, he's a staple of BBC Radio 4 shows like The Unbelievable Truth, the News Quiz and The Infinite Monkey Cage. Maybe you've seen one of his amazing live tour shows, including the award-winning tragedy plus time. That's right. It's Ed Byrne. Welcome to the show, Ed. Thank you very much indeed. I feel like I shouldn't even be here when I had toast for breakfast. It feels like I really left the side down already.
2:18.0	Well, you said you had toast and then you added. With Bon Mammon. With Bon Amon. With Bon Amon. Chocolat's bread on it, yeah. Just for the really healthy kick. There's nuts in there. That's good, right? Ed, your first time on the show. We're delighted to have you in.
2:24.1	First question I have to ask, contractually obligated. Are you a history fan, lover, admire it? Did he like it at school? Do you partake? Yeah, I mean, history at school, it's interesting. Like,
2:29.9	as an Irish person, I have massive gaps in what I'm expected to know living in England.
2:35.0	Like anything to do with the British monarchy that people here just take for granted as knowing.
2:41.0	I'm just absolutely out in the cold on.
2:43.0	And I have no notion of who came where.
2:48.0	I mean, having numbers in the king's names helps.
2:50.8	It helps, yeah. But I would have absolutely no idea beyond that. I know that Edward
	...

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