Books
Insatiable City: Eating Food and Consuming People in New Orleans (forthcoming, University of Chicago Press 2024)
Peer-Reviewed Articles
“Craft Beer’s Unlikely Alchemist,” Gastronomica 19, no. 4 (Winter 2019): 78-90.
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- Third Place, Best Historical Writing, 2020 Awards in Beer Journalism, North American Guild of Beer Writers
“Fava Beans and Báhn Mì: Ethnic Revival and the New New Orleans Gumbo,” Quaderni Storici 51 no. 1 (April 2016): 71-102. Special issue: Food, Migration, and Mobility in Historical Perspective: Nineteenth to Twenty-First Century.
Public History and Popular Writing
“Patsy Young—American Brewer, Fugitive from Slavery,” Good Beer Hunting, September 15, 2021 [“Patsy Young — Cervecera Americana, Fugitiva de la Esclavitud,” Good Beer Hunting, October 1, 2021 (Spanish translation)]
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- Winner, James Beard Foundation Broadcast Media Award, “Profile,” 2022
- First Place, Best Historical Writing, 2022 Awards in Beer Journalism, North American Guild of Beer Writers
“Black-Owned Breweries: Collecting an Unfinished History at the Smithsonian,” BrewersAssociation.org, May 11, 2021
“Here’s What’s Brewing in the New Smithsonian Beer Collections,” Smithsonian magazine, September 16, 2019
“Beyond the Girl in the Moon: Brewing History at the Smithsonian,” Hop Culture, July 26, 2018
“Prohibition was Fantastic for American Beer, or, Cheers to Homebrewers,” O Say Can You See?, National Museum of American History blog, April 7, 2018
“Five Myths About Beer.” Washington Post, May 26, 2017
Research essays: “Food in Colonial North America”; “International Encounters in Colonial North America”; “Material Culture in Colonial North America”; “Medicine in Colonial North America”; and “Slavery in Colonial North America.” Website of Colonial North America at Harvard Library Project (2017).
“Mastering the Art of Szechuan Cooking.” American Food Roots, July 2015
“Listening, Tasting, Reading, Touching: Interdisciplinary Histories of American Food.” The Recipes Project, February 2015
“Meat lab on Wisconsin campus offers real hands-on learning.” Huffington Post, September 2014; American Food Roots, July 2014
“Wrecking ball can’t topple memories of the old Italian neighborhood.” American Food Roots, September 2014
Selected Media and Interviews
Kayla Stewart, “Annie Laura Squalls and Her Mile High Pie,” Gravy, podcast, Southern Foodways Alliance, November 16, 2022
Kate Bernot, “One and Only,” Imbibe, September/October 2022
Francis Lam, “Women Brewers,” The Splendid Table, podcast, September 9, 2022
Brian Alberts, “Worth Saving: Brewery Records and the Future,” Source Material, podcast, Good Beer Hunting, May 21, 2022
Bret Kolmann Baker and Mike Morgan, “Dr. Theresa McCulla from the Smithsonian,” Brew Skies Happy Hour, podcast, May 10, 2022
Deb Freeman, “Let’s Talk About Black Brewing & Distilling,” Setting the Table, podcast, March 29, 2022
Greg Benson, “Microbrew Killed the Macrobrew Star,” Back Bar, podcast, February 1, 2022
Lizzie Peabody, “The Fugitive Brewer,” Sidedoor, podcast, January 12, 2022
Stephanie Castellano, “The Brides ‘Imported’ to Colonial America for Their Brewing Skills,” Atlas Obscura, September 30, 2021
Beth Demmon, “Theresa McCulla Helps Reconstruct a Life,” Good Beer Hunting podcast, Episode 87, September 24, 2021
“‘Which Came First: Beer or Wine?’” “Ask Smithsonian” column, Smithsonian magazine, September 2021
“Moonshine,” AirSpace, podcast, National Air and Space Museum, Season 5, Episode 1, September 9, 2021
Courtney Iseman, “Gin Lane vs. Beer Street — How One Artist Captured a Pivotal Century in Our Drinking History,” Good Beer Hunting, July 1, 2021
Kristen Richard, “Xenophobia, Racism and Classism: The Sinister Roots of America’s Prohibition,” Wine Enthusiast, March 8, 2021
David Nilsen, “Tending the Fires — Carillon Brewing Company in Dayton, Ohio,” Good Beer Hunting, March 3, 2021
James Bennett II, “‘We’re Reclaiming Beer Because It’s Ours,’” Eater, February 21, 2021
Kate Bernot, “What’s Going On in There? — How ‘Magic Box’ Machines Can Transform Our Alcoholic Beverages (and Threaten Our Definition of ‘Craft’),” GoodBeerHunting.com, January 6, 2021
Kristen Richard, “A Brief History of Women and Beer, from Sumerian Goddesses to the Pink Boots Society,” Wine Enthusiast, December 22, 2020
Kristen Richard, “‘Beer is What Makes us Human’: How Beer Influenced Humanity Worldwide,” Wine Enthusiast, November 20, 2020
Tara Nurin, “This Virtual Beer Summit Serves Up History That’s Anything But Dry,” Forbes.com, November 12, 2020
Andy Crouch, “Episode 23: Theresa McCulla,” Beer Edge, podcast, September 24, 2020
Bailey Berg, “How Historian Theresa McCulla is Preserving This Year in Beer,” October, August 27, 2020
Kara Newman, “The History of America’s Beer Gardens Includes Urban Expansion and Immigrant Innovation,” Wine Enthusiast, August 25, 2020
Kelly Magyarics, “Theresa McCulla Shares Insight Into The Current State Of The Beer Industry,” Northern Virginia Magazine, August 7, 2020
Courtney Iseman, “How a Beer Historian Is Documenting COVID-19’s Impact on Brewing,” Atlas Obscura, June 5, 2020
Matthew Shaer, “The Schoolteacher Who Sparked America’s Craft Brew Revolution” and Arik Gabbai, “Beer is Not Just a Drink,” Smithsonian Magazine, June 2020
Brian Alberts, “The Nation’s Beer Historian is Taking Stock,” The Reporter’s Notebook, blog, North American Guild of Beer Writers, May 7, 2020
Jimmy Carbone, “Researching Beer History: 1898,” conversation with Clay Risen, Beer Sessions Radio, podcast, Heritage Radio Network, March 5, 2020
Stephanie Williams, “A D.C. Dream Day with Smithsonian Beer Curator Theresa McCulla,” Washington Post, February 2020
Penelope Bass, et al., “The Imbibe 75: People, Places, and Directions That Will Shape the Way You Drink in 2020,” Imbibe, January/February 2020
Agence France Presse Belgique, “La soif quasi-démesurée des Américains pour les bières IPA,” Paris Match, December 30, 2019; “US Drinkers Hopped Up for IPA Beers,” France24.com, December 28, 2019
James Spencer, “A Pint at the Museum,” Basic Brewing Radio, podcast, December 10, 2019
The Brews Brothers, “How Art Helped Convince Post-WWII America That ‘Beer Belongs,’” CraftBeer.com, December 6, 2019
Tara Nurin, “‘Brewing A Revolution’ Brings Craft Beer History to the Smithsonian,” Forbes.com, November 13, 2019
The Brews Brothers, “Superstar Craft Brewing Founders Talk Shared Memories at Smithsonian’s ‘Last Call,’” CraftBeer.com, November 12, 2019
Michael Stein, “Smithsonian Reveals Amazing Homebrewing and Craft Beer History,” DCBeer.com, October 25, 2019
Thomas Pellechia, “A Brewing History Update Comes To the Smithsonian National Museum of American History,” Forbes.com, October 23, 2019
Junto Media, “McCulla Welcomes Brewing Royalty for Last Call,” The DC Beer Show, podcast, October 16, 2019
Joshua Johnson, “The Past, Present, and Future of American Beer,” 1A, WAMU 88.5, October 7, 2019
Sarah Vickery, “Raise a Glass for This History Student’s Smithsonian Beer Internship,” UWM Report, September 26, 2019
Melissa Hendrickson, “How American Brewers Employed Fine Art to Sell Beer,” Smithsonian magazine, August 6, 2019
Smithsonian American Art Museum, “A Whole Lotta Beer,” Re:Frame video web series, August 5, 2019
Lauren Ober, “Schlitz Beer goes bad, then worse,” Spectacular Failures podcast, American Public Media, July 1, 2019
Todd Schulkin, “Meet Theresa McCulla,” Inside Julia’s Kitchen podcast, episode 55, The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, June 27, 2019
Simon Majumdar, “Beer,” Eat My Globe: Things You Didn’t Know About Your Food podcast, May 6, 2019
Rob Ferrett, “Smithsonian Archive Will Tell the Story of Brewing in Wisconsin and Beyond,” Central Time, Wisconsin Public Radio, September 24, 2018
Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, “Extraordinary Women of D.C.: Dr. Theresa McCulla, beer historian,” dcrefined, August 24, 2018
Bill Chappell, “Guinness Opens Its First U.S. Brewery In 64 Years,” All Things Considered, NPR, August 4, 2018
Sarah Jane Curran, “American Beer History with Theresa McCulla,” Beer Me! podcast, episode 26, July 24, 2018
Tina Caputo, “Theresa McCulla: The Smithsonian’s Indiana Jones of Beer History,” October, June 19, 2018
Greg Kitsock, “Out of the Past, A Record for the Future,” The New Brewer, March/April 2018
Bailey Trela, “Brew’s Clues: A Historian Investigates America’s Beer Boom,” Harvard Magazine, March/April 2018
Marty Jones, “A ‘Stirring’ Tale Behind the Father of Homebrewing’s Famous Spoon,” CraftBeer.com, January 24, 2018
Tony Cohn and Justin O’Neill, “Red, White, and Brew,” Sidedoor podcast, Season 2, episode 2, July 2017
Ari Shapiro, “How the Story of Beer is the Story of America,” All Things Considered, NPR, July 3, 2017
Kojo Nnamdi, “The Smithsonian’s New Beer Historian Might Have the Coolest Job in D.C.,” The Kojo Nnamdi Show, WAMU 88.5, June 7, 2017
Courtney Cox, “Historian Theresa McCulla Embarks on the Smithsonian’s American Brewing History Initiative,” Beer Advocate, April 2017
Olivia Waxman, “8 Questions for the Smithsonian’s New Beer Historian,” Time, April 10, 2017
Trent Johnson, “The Smithsonian Taps Theresa McCulla as Beer Historian,” On Tap, March 4, 2017
Kate Oczypok, “The Smithsonian’s Beer Historian Theresa McCulla on Why Her New Job is as Amazing as it Sounds,” Capitol File, March 3, 2017
“For the Smithsonian’s New Beer Historian, It’s All About Passion for the Brew,” NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, February 4, 2017
Jim Vorel, “Meet the Smithsonian’s New ‘Beer Historian,’ Theresa McCulla,” Paste, February 1, 2017
Natasha Geiling, “Raise a Glass to the Smithsonian’s First Beer Scholar,” Smithsonian magazine, January 30, 2017
Greta Weber, “Best Job Ever: The Smithsonian Just Hired a Craft Beer Historian,” Washingtonian, January 30, 2017
Hanna Raskin, “Visiting historians take up issues of women and food,” The Post and Courier, June 9, 2015
“Harvard Portrait: Theresa McCulla,” Harvard Magazine, January-February 2010
Theresa McCulla 