Media Appearances
Newspaper & Magazine
- Confectionery News, “You say ‘CACAO’—I say ‘COCOA’: Fine Chocolate Glossary aims to clear up confusion surrounding chocolate nomenclature,” Anthony Myers, February 20, 2023
- Bar Talks, “Chocolate Definitions Point of New FCIA Chocolate Glossary,” FCIA, August 1, 2022
- Sift. Shift. Lift. “Sifting, shifting, and lifting with Dr. Kristy Leissle,” Shelley Marie Motz, October 14, 2021
- The Telegraph, “How to choose ethical chocolate Easter eggs,” Andrew Baker, April 2, 2021
- Slave Free Chocolate, People in Chocolate series, “Interview with Kristy Leissle, Author of Cocoa,” Ayn Riggs, February 17, 2021
- Martha Stewart, “You should drink hot chocolate with your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day–Here’s Why,” Randi Gollin, January 19, 2021
- NBC News, “The war on cocoa: Hershey Co. accused of not upholding sustainability efforts in West Africa,” Christian Peña, December 12, 2020
- SFGate, “Will there be a pandemic Halloween candy surplus?” Dan Gentile, August 14, 2020
- ConfectioneryNews, Glut in cocoa market pushes down price and threatens farmers’ living income guarantee,” Anthony Myers, August 4, 2020
- Capital Press, “A Valentine’s journey: Sweet treats, colorful blooms come from around the world,” Sierra Dawn McClain, February 13, 2020
- The New York Times, “Everything You Don’t Know About Chocolate,” Melissa Clark, February 12, 2020
- Africa Feeds, “African female entrepreneurs take lead in cocoa innovations,” Isaac Kaledzi, October 16, 2019
- Chocolopolis blog, “A Visit to Cocoa Farmers in Asarekwaa, Ghana, Part I,” Lauren Adler, August 1, 2019
- Chocolate Noise, Chocolate and Women, “Part 6: Kristy Leissle, Chocolate Scholar,” Megan Giller, July 18, 2019
- Axios, “The Craft Chocolate Revolution,” Steve LeVine, June 11, 2019
- Grid Magazine, “Sweet N’ Local: These Three Companies DeliverDelicious Treats without the Bitter Aftertaste of Exploitation,” Estelle Tracy, June 2019, Issue 121
- Otago Daily Times, “Telling a Story: The Global Rise of Artisan Craft Chocolate,” April 17, 2019
- Coffee & Cocoa International, “Project Proves Worth of Fine Flavor Cocoa from West Africa,” David Foxwell, Vol. 45, No. 3, June 6, 2018
- Innsikt (Norwegian), “Dyrker luksus, men lever i fattigdom” [Growing luxury, but living in poverty”], John Palm, April 2019
- HBL (Swedish, circulates in Finland), “Kakaons ägare odlar lyx men lever fattigt” [“Cocoa owners grow luxury but live poorly”], John Palm, February 17, 2019
- Arbetet [The Labour] (Swedish), “Chokladarbetarna odlar lyx men lever fattigt” [Chocolate workers grow luxury but live poorly”], John Palm, December 3, 2018
- Geographical, “Cocoa Industry Returns to São Tomé,” Harriet Constable, August 30, 2018
- ChocoClic.com, “Kristy Leissle: Un Chemin pour Changer le Monde du Cacao,” June 2018
- Geographical, I’m a Geographer, “Kristy Leissle: Lecturer and Chocolate Expert,” James Field, March 12, 2018
- ConfectioneryNews, “Sierra Leone cocoamarket enticing craft chocolate buyers,” Oliver Nieburg, March 9, 2018
- The Six Fifty, “Discussing the unsavory politics of sweet things with the one and only Professor of Chocolate,” Emily Olson, March 6, 2018
- The Telegraph, “Cocoa Glut Leaves Bitter Taste for African Farmers,” Sam Dean, May 21, 2017
- Columns: The University of Washington Alumni Magazine, “Traveling the World Like a Cocoa Bean,” Quinn Russell Brown, February 2017
- The Washington Post, “A ‘Wild’ Label Aims to Help Find and Preserve Rare Cacao Sources in the Amazon,” Virginia Gewin, February 16, 2017
- TakePart, “Researchers Say Fairtrade Chocolate Isn’t So Sweet for Women Farmers,” Sarah McColl, April 4, 2016
- The Seattle Times, “Ethical chocolate is particularly sweet,” Sarah Stuteville, February 28, 2013
- Everett Herald, “Dr. Chocolate: UW Bothell professor has a sweet Ph.D.,” Andrea Brown, February 12, 2013
- UW Bothell News, “A Chat with Dr. Chocolate,” July 10, 2012
- UW Daily, “Dr. Chocolate,” Lily Katz, March 5, 2012
- UW Today, “Dr. Chocolate Seeks World’s Best Chocolate,” Molly McElroy, February 10, 2012
- Seattle Times, “Seattle happily obsesses as chocolate workshops and tours thrive,” Tan Vinh, April 16, 2009
Podcast
- Confectionery News, “You say ‘CACAO’—I say ‘COCOA’: Fine Chocolate Glossary aims to clear up confusion surrounding chocolate nomenclature,” Anthony Myers, February 20, 2023
- The Cocoa Pod Cast, “Into the World of Chocolate, with Kristy Leissle,” Emma Rose, 2021
- Seth’s Blog, “The best chocolate in the world,” Seth Godin, 2021
- Heritage Radio Network, Meat + Three, “Sweet Temptations: How Sugar Captured Tastebuds & Global Trade,” Tash Kimmell, 2021
- Intrigue Chocolate, “Tea and Chocolate: Spice Unboxing,” Prekese meets chocolate!
- WKND Chocolate, Scholar Series, “Dr. Kristy Leissle, Author of Cocoa,” Lauren Heineck, 2019
- ConfectioneryNews, “Power & Politics in Cocoa: Are Chocolate’s Colonial Roots Moulding Sustainability?” Oliver Nieburg, 2018
- Bloomberg, Odd Lots Joe Weisenthal & Tracy Alloway, “This is How the Chocolate Market Actually Works,” 2018
- Unwrapped, Episode 21, Sunita de Tourreil & Brian Beyke, 2018
- The Provocateur, “The Cultural Politics of Chocolate,” Gah-Kai Leung, 2017
Radio
- SWR2, Germany Public Radio, “Schokolade ohne Ausbeutung – Ghana will faire Kakaopreise durchsetzen” (“Chocolate without exploitation – Ghana wants to enforce fair cocoa prices”), Benjamin Breitegger, 2023
- KSFR, Sante Fe Public Radio, “An Interview With Author Kristy Leissle About the Dark Side of Chocolate,” MK Mendoza, 2019
- Citi FM 97.3, Accra, Ghana’s cocoa and chocolate, City Business Edition with Kojo Akoto Boateng, 2018
- Top of Mind with Julie Rose, BYU Radio, “Politics and Power in the Global Chocolate Chain,” 2018
- WGBH, Boston, Innovation Hub, “Making a More Versatile Chocolate,” 2017
- KCUR, Kansas City, “For a Missouri ‘Bean To Bar’ Chocolate Maker, It’s Not Just About The Candy,” 2016
- KUOW, Seattle, Local Wonder, “Why does Seattle have such a large local chocolate industry?” 2016
- Heritage Radio Network, Straight from the Source, hosted by Clay Gordon, 2012
- Halli Casser Jayne Show, “Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate!” 2012
- KUOW, Seattle, “Seeding Startups at the UW and Dr. Chocolate,” The Conversation with Ross Reynolds, 2012
TV, Film, Video
- Cacao, documentary by Justus Lowry, Rain Owl Films, forthcoming
- Context, “Can a more ethical chocolate bar be grown in a lab?” Ashley Jiang, February 13, 2023
- Business Insider, “Ghana Grows Our Cocoa, So Why Can’t It Make Chocolate?” produced by Abby Narishkin, 2022
- Bloomberg TV, What’d You Miss? with Joe Weisenthal, “What’s Behind the Surge in Cocoa Prices?” 2018
- PBS NewsHour, anchor Megan Thompson, “The Challenging Lives of the World’s Cocoa Growers,” 2018
- Zagat, “Sex and Chocolate: The Perfect Pairing?” 2016
- Bean to bar film by Bob Ridgeley
