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Cheese in the age of Brexit

A crumbly cheese, Yorkshire Wensleydale, can teach us something about life in the U.K. after Brexit.

Wensleydale cheese, including a 5.5 pound wheel, at the London cheese shop La Fromagerie. This style of cheese is imported from the town of Bedale in North Yorkshire, England.
Wensleydale cheese, including a 5.5 pound wheel, at the London cheese shop La Fromagerie. This style of cheese is imported from the town of Bedale in North Yorkshire, England.
Janet Nguyen/Marketplace

It’s been almost three years since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, and as the deadline for Brexit – Britain’s exit – from the EU draws near, Kai Ryssdal and the rest of the Marketplace team are in the U.K. to explain why what’s happening over there matters to us over here. Decision-makers and real people share stories of how Brexit has shaped how they live, what they think about their economic future and how they’re making it in this new normal. We’ll consider all of this in a global context and, yes, answer your questions about Brexit. Follow Kai and the team’s reporting on Instagram and read more of our Brexit coverage here.


The United Kingdom could leave the European Union in April…or maybe May. It’s not clear yet.

What is clear is that the last time the U.K. isolated itself from Europe — when Henry VIII kicked off the English Reformation and formally separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1500s — could have marked the end of a rather delicious dairy product made on the island by French monks. Instead, it spawned a uniquely British product: Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese.

Author John Bull launched a Twitter thread about it…and we set it to music. Click the player above to listen. Or scroll through for the whole story:

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