This Is TASTE

598: Food Writers Talking About Food Writing with Eater's Jaya Saxena & Matt Rodbard


Listen Later

It’s the return of a special video podcast series: Food Writers Talking About Food Writing. It’s available on the TASTE YouTube channel, so make sure to subscribe and check out the video version of this podcast. Every couple of weeks, Matt Rodbard invites a journalist to talk about some favorite recent food writing as well as their thoughts on the industry as a whole.

On today’s episode, we have an amazing conversation with Jaya Saxena. Jaya is a correspondent at Eater, covering many topics including labor, queer food culture, and “why American potato chips are so boring.” She also serves as the series editor for the Best American Food and Travel Writing anthology, which has a new edition edited by Bryant Terry dropping in the fall.

In this great episode, we talk about Jaya’s career writing about the world of food, including her memorable piece for Eater, “The Food That Makes You Gay.” We also go over some recent stories and play the game “What would you pitch 1997 Graydon Carter?” That is, Jaya considers her dream no-budget reporting assignment.

Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. 

Featured on the episode:

  • Thomas Keller asked me to leave the French Laundry [SF Chronicle]
  • We’ve All Been In Thomas Keller’s Courtyard [Substack]
  • The 22 Best Pizza Places in New York Right Now [New York Times]
  • The Food That Makes You Gay [Eater]
  • The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2025
  • TASTE on YouTube

  • Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    This Is TASTEBy Aliza Abarbanel & Matt Rodbard

    • 4.5
    • 4.5
    • 4.5
    • 4.5
    • 4.5

    4.5

    286 ratings


    More shows like This Is TASTE

    View all
    Bon Appétit by Bon Appétit

    Bon Appétit

    2,547 Listeners

    The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters by American Public Media

    The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

    3,085 Listeners

    The Sporkful by Dan Pashman

    The Sporkful

    3,940 Listeners

    Good Food by KCRW

    Good Food

    1,096 Listeners

    Special Sauce with Ed Levine by Ed Levine

    Special Sauce with Ed Levine

    378 Listeners

    Radio Cherry Bombe by The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network

    Radio Cherry Bombe

    578 Listeners

    Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio by Milk Street Radio

    Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio

    2,998 Listeners

    The Dave Chang Show by The Ringer

    The Dave Chang Show

    8,354 Listeners

    Home Cooking by Samin Nosrat & Hrishikesh Hirway

    Home Cooking

    4,857 Listeners

    Recipe Club by The Ringer

    Recipe Club

    3,604 Listeners

    Food with Mark Bittman by Mark Bittman

    Food with Mark Bittman

    973 Listeners

    Food Friends: Home Cooking Made Easy by Food Friends

    Food Friends: Home Cooking Made Easy

    224 Listeners

    The Recipe with Kenji and Deb by Deb Perelman & J. Kenji López-Alt

    The Recipe with Kenji and Deb

    441 Listeners

    The Dinner Plan by Maggie Hoffman

    The Dinner Plan

    50 Listeners

    She's My Cherry Pie by The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network

    She's My Cherry Pie

    215 Listeners