People often say they'd be too nervous to cook a meal for me, so imagine how I feel interviewing Alastair Campbell, co-host of The Rest Is Politics, one of the UK's top podcasts.  Alistair is a journalist, author, broadcaster, and defining political figure of our time. I've known him since the early days of New Labour, where he was Director of Communications and Strategy at the heart of it all. He's also been a prominent mental health activist and joins me today in The River Cafe to talk about food, family, values, and even busking in the south of France with his bagpipes. How do I really feel about hosting him today? I'm not nervous at all, just honoured and excited.

Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler.

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The Oscars are only a few days away and Ruthie’s Table 4 is excited. Ralph Fiennes, Zoe Saldaña and Elton John - three Ruthie’s Table 4 guests - are nominated for Academy Awards, and we’re revisiting their interviews in this episode.

Ralph is nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his brilliant performance in Conclave. Elton for Best Original Song for ‘Never Too Late’ from the documentary about his life of the same name. Zoe Saldaña is nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her magnetic performance in the musical Emilia Pérez.

Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler.

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Erling Kagge  is one of the world's great explorers - a man whose life embraces solitude. That is, when he‘s not being attacked by a polar bear… thankfully, he lived to tell the tale. He is the first person to reach, by foot, the North Pole, South Pole, and Mount Everest. Erling and my life might be dissimilar, but we share a love for the unknown. For him, it might be a new horizon. For me, a discovery of a little-known Sicilian recipe. Today, we're here on our own adventure, not on the top of a mountain or in the icy North Pole, but safe and warm in the River Cafe.

Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler.

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In Francis Ford Coppola (Part 2), we discuss the origins of pizza, his experience eating lambs’ brain as a child, and how a loophole during America’s prohibition led to Francis buying the Inglenook winery with his earnings from The Godfather. We both bought in bottles of his wine to taste - a lovely way to begin and to continue a conversation.

Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler.

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When Francis Ford Coppola agreed to do a podcast with me, good friends who know us both said “actually Ruthie, the two of you are rather alike”. Did they mean being a Chef is like being a Film Director? Or producing a movie is like running a restaurant? Or is choosing the grapes for your vineyard is like choosing the herbs for your fish? Or most of all, did they mean we both have our family involved in everything we do? I'm happy to take any of the above.

In part one of my conversation with Francis, we talk about the vocabulary gangsters use when cooking, meeting an aspiring young filmmaker called George Lucas, the pain of losing our sons far too young - and everything in between. Also… in a first for the podcast, we even find time for a musical break - and sing a duet of the Howdy Doody theme song.

Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler.

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In this bonus episode of Ruthie's Table 4, Golden Globe-winning actress Zoe Saldaña discusses her love for New York - a melting pot of different foods and cultures.

Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler.

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A couple of months ago I discovered a sign on the door to my office, saying ‘Do not disturb.’ Zoe Saldana was inside, changing into her dress for lunch downstairs to celebrate the release of her new movie, Emilia Pérez. Afterwards I walked her to her car, talking about how to make the perfect rice. A few minutes later, we'd agreed to do a podcast together.

Since then, I've seen her everywhere, on screens and newspapers, magazines and posters. Last month she won a Golden Globe, and in February and March she’s a contender for both a BAFTA and an Oscar. Now, Zoe is back here with me on a Saturday morning in The River Cafe, to talk about food, family, and happiness.

Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler.

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What can a lunch tell you about a colleague, or a job candidate? In this bonus episode, Founder and Editor of Tortoise Media, James Harding, discusses the power of the working lunch.

Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership in Moncler.

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Around the table with friends we were talking about the kind of movies we like best. My vote was for movies about journalism — His Girl Friday, Broadcast News, The Insider, All the President's Men.

I don’t need to watch a movie to see my favourite journalist, I just call James Harding — the youngest ever editor of The Times, Washington editor of the Financial Times, and head of BBC News. In 2018 he founded Tortoise, an online news platform, with the principle of responsible, deep journalism. Slow news in the age of high-speed information.

James and I speak often about what’s happening in the world, our families, what he’s writing, where he’s going and a lot more. Today we’re in The River Cafe to talk about food and memories.

Two friends, a journalist and a cook together. That’s what I call news.

Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler.

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When the great filmmakers Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach wrote to say they were moving to London for a year, we decided to meet for Sunday lunch with their son in The River Cafe. After that first lunch we made a date for the following Sunday, and the next one. Soon they became a tradition.

Today, Noah, Greta and I are here in The River Cafe to talk about food and life, food and friendship, and the beautiful movies they've made for all of us — Barbie, Little Women, The Squid and the Whale, and Marriage Story.

And after our conversation, we will have lunch, together. Now that's tradition.

Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.