All Of It with Alison Stewart

At 40, Alisha Fernandez Miranda took a break from her corporate career to pursue internships in fields she once dreamed about working in. She details the trials and tribulations of that experience in her new memoir, My What If Year. Alisha joins to talk about the book, and how she "found herself" at age 40. Plus, she takes questions and shares stories with listeners who also may have made mid-career changes.

The new play from Obie-winning playwright Marcus Gardley uses the story of The Odyssey as inspiration for a new tale, following a Black soldier attempting to reunite with his family in modern-day Harlem. Gardley and actor Harriett D. Foy join us to discuss their production, "black odyssey," running at Classic Stage Company through March 26.

Bronx-based culinary collective Ghetto Gastro hopes their new book, "Black Power Kitchen", will be as influential as "The Joy of Cooking." Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao & Lester Walker bring their mix of culinary prowess and social justice to The Greene Space today to share some recipes from the book as well as discuss their brand new Audible Originals podcast, "In the Cut."

Excerpted from Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen by Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao, Lester Walker, with Osayi Endolyn (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2022.

Chopped Stease

 Seems like we’ve been eating chopped cheese our whole lives. Our favorites were from delis like Hajji’s on 110th (also known as Blue Sky Deli). It’s a hood staple, one that until recent years, you’d find only Uptown.

For $4 or $5, any short-­order bodega cook can style it how you like it, but the classic build is ground beef cooked down with onions and American cheese, then topped with tomatoes and shredded lettuce on a hero or roll. It’s a sandwich that’s been extensively rapped and written about, argued over, and widely consumed. Some make comparisons to other sandwiches, but we’re not doin that (this is not the time for Philly cheesesteak debates). Like a lot of foods that emerge from neighborhoods and cultures where many are systemically deprived of wealth, the chopped cheese is a blue-­collar dish. It’s gonna fill you up, get you right. And like many iconic foods, especially those from Black and brown cultures, the chopped cheese is not without its social complexities.

As the class makeup of the BX and Uptown has shifted to attract richer, whiter populations in recent years, the chopped cheese found its way into the hands of folks who didn’t grow up on it like we did but rather often “discovered” the sandwich and, naturally, loved it. It wasn’t long before chopped cheeses appeared downtown and across the bridge in Brooklyn, at restaurants, not delis, and sometimes at more than triple the deli price (and on the wrong bread!).

In the United States, inexpensive food can often mean it’s actually unhealthy. A widespread lack of care for our environment, agricultural policies that subsidize certain commodities over fruits and vegetables, commercial rents that make running a restaurant in practice a real estate business—these all factor into a $4 beef sandwich that’s no long-­term investment in your body. The cost to source antibiotic-­free, sustainably farmed meat, organic produce for the fixins, and bread made from high-­quality non-­GMO wheat would make it unrealistic for most businesses to maintain the low retail tag. But study this: Here’s a class issue exacerbated by racism. Poor people get a sandwich they can afford that’s not nourishing, and wealthy people get offered a healthier, more expensive version that might not even resemble the real thing. Some of us Black folks looked up to see a product of our environment appear in news stories as if it just got invented, a relentless American refrain.

Our take on the sandwich that’s come to symbolize so much in our community is the Chopped Stease. At Ghetto Gastro, we aim to keep pushing the conversation, remixing, repurposing, subverting where we can. Stease is about that layered flavor, that BX energy. We have to big up where we’re from, and that means claiming the parts that helped shape us. No disrespect to the OG chopped cheese, but it’s only right we add our own stease. Respectfully.

Makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients1 tablespoon vegetable oil4 hero rolls or French dinner rolls, sliced in half lengthwise3 tablespoons plant-­based butter1 cup (125 g) cipollini onions, diced 1 pound (455 g) plant-­based ground meat1 tablespoon flaky sea salt, plus more to taste1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper9 ounces (255 g) plant-­based American cheese ½ cup (110 g) Aquafaba Aioli (page 290)1 cup (75 g) finely shredded iceberg lettuce1 heirloom tomato, sliced

PreparationIn a large nonstick pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. When it begins to smoke, add the rolls, cut-­side down, and toast, gently pressing them against the pan, until the insides develop a golden brown hue and crisp up, about 1 minute. You might need to work in a few batches; don’t crowd the pan. As the rolls are toasted, remove them from the heat and set aside.

Add the plant-­based butter to the same pan and increase the heat to medium-­high. Add the onions and sweat them until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the plant-­based ground meat and season with the salt and pepper. Cook, using a spatula to break up the meat as it cooks, until browned, 5 to 6 minutes, then layer the cheese onto the meat. Use the spatula to “chop” the cheese into the meat. Chop it! Stir to combine, then remove from the heat.

Take the bottom half of each sandwich roll and spread a layer of the aioli onto it, then add some lettuce. Load on the meat-­and-­cheese mix, then top with sliced tomato, plus a sprinkle of salt. Finish with the top half of each roll.

To serve it up deli-­style (and for a less messy eating experience), wrap the sandwich in a sheet of parchment paper, then in a sheet of foil. Order up! Serve immediately.

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Yo La Tengo joins our live radio broadcast in The Greene Space for an interview and performance to celebrate the release of their new album, This Stupid World.

Actor, comedian and podcast host Jordan Carlos stops by to chat about his podcast "Adulting" and about the sitcom writing classes he teaches.

Comedian and podcast host Marc Maron's first HBO comedy special, "Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark," premieres on 2/11.

The future of the arts and artificial intelligence is unclear. Already, platforms like ChatGPT have the ability to write poems and novels on command with various styles, and other programs can create paintings or images from scratch. How should we think about creativity and AI? And should a piece of art made by AI be considered on the same level as a human creation? Janelle Shane, researcher and author of the book, You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How AI Works and Why it’s Making the World a Weirder Place, joins to talk about the relationship between the Arts and AI, and takes your calls.

Adult film star Janessa Brazil is the most impersonated person in the world...for catfishing scams. Host Hannah Ajala travels the world in search of the real Janessa, while investigating several incidents of catfish victims who believed they were in relationships with her. She joins to discuss her reporting and the new CBC podcast, Love, Janessa.

Horror writer Stephen Graham Jones tackles indigenous identity through his terrifying novels. In last year's novel, My Heart is a Chainsaw, Jones tells the story of a woman named Jade whose community is being torn up by a new celebrity development... and by a slasher on the loose. This year, Jones publishes the sequel, which has Jade return to her town just as the convicted slasher escapes from prison to finish the job. Jones joins us to discuss his books, My Heart is a Chainsaw and Don't Fear the Reaper.