Dave and Chris sit down with author and critic Hua Hsu to talk through his new book, 'Stay True'—a searing memoir of friendship disrupted by sudden tragedy, and (for Dave) an almost unsettlingly relatable portrait of 1990s life. Also: vocal aromas, circular breathing, feeling like the stuff you like is better than everything else, defining yourself through arcana, going on the internet for the first time, Berry Gordy’s 'The Last Dragon,' East Coast Asian friction, distributed Chinatowns, raw marinated crab, teaching at a factory for hip young people, being really into quinoa, Dave Chang at 18, the doomsday outlook, Stephen Malkmus and George Clinton, EQ love languages, 'Gilmore Girls,' Gavin Rossdale, Y2K fears, and listening to the 'Pulp Fiction' soundtrack from beginning to end.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Guest: Hua Hsu

Producers: Sasha Ashall, Jordan Bass, and Lala Rasor

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At T-minus ten days, Dave breaks down a few of his favorite Thanksgiving strategies—from turkey prep, to fridge logistics, to the exciting but unfairly neglected world of bonus proteins. With hard lessons drawn from both home kitchens and high-end ones, this is one to listen to as you build out your own battle plan—or as you sit back and feel thankful that you're going out to eat this year instead. Plus: Gus Chang's daily routine, sumo-wrestler stew, Dave's lost Budweiser commercial, styrofoam plates, spicy gravy, the spatchcock moment, basting vs. brining, honey-baked ham, expanding the turducken paradigm, and a Thanksgiving trend-forecast lightning round.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Producers: Sasha Ashall and Jordan Bass

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With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, the latest delirious #AskDave turns toward a bevy of holiday-navigation questions—while also considering Squid Game (Chris Ying Edition), the on-set artist-trailer lifestyle, a stuffing recipe to unite America, fish sauce and palm sugar, picture-book protagonist permanence, Michael Keaton, getting blocked on the Powerball app, the C+ scholarship, choosing between remodeling your kitchen and burning your house down, the Wittgenstein gambit, Thanksgiving in Australia, Japanese KFC, the Prime Directive vs. the Dulles Doctrine, and a 'Dave Chang Show' spice-drawer challenge.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Producers: Sasha Ashall and Jordan Bass

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In our second State of the Studio episode, Dave and Chris sit down with their MDM partner Dave “DOC” O’Connor to size up food TV from both sides of the screen—what it’s like to make it, and what’s missing by the time someone tunes in to watch it. Then, before a lightning-round of Ask Dave (but double-the-Dave), they break down the new kind of programming Dave C. wants to bring to the medium. Plus, stay tuned for: Taxicab Confessions, pitching YouTube with Tony Bourdain, HBO nondisclosure agreements, going to Durham to sit with Coach K, dropping your hairnet into the soup, making a cooking show for someone from the 1600s, auto-tune cooking, learning through failing, BeReal planning, landing in the poseur pile, rating the Spotify office building, a Ralph Wiggum moment, and Dave’s pastry quest.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Guest: Dave O’Connor

Producers: Sasha Ashall, Jordan Bass, and Aleya Zenieris

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The quartet behind 'Black Power Kitchen', the first book from Ghetto Gastro, sit down in the studio with Dave and Chris to discuss the long road from the Bronx, and the power of breaking bread. Also: Dave’s lost cookbook collection, Clive Cussler, Thomas Kinkade, comic-con for food nerds, the pan-African pantry, takoyaki and conch fritters, chili-lime liberation, Chino-Latino cuisine, the corn pancakes at Rosetta, St. Lucia saltfish, Jamaican curry, and Hailey Bieber sea-moss smoothies.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Guests: Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao, Lester Walker, and Osayi Endolyn

Producers: Sasha Ashall, Jordan Bass, and Aleya Zenieris

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He’s been right (and wrong!) many times before, and now Dave’s stepping up to the crystal ball once again. What sort of strategies, service styles, and so-stupid-they’re-smart concepts will restaurants reinvent themselves around in the years to come? Tune in for the blizzard of predictions, and consider stealing an idea or two to make the prophecy come true. Discussed along the way: invite-only restaurants, the end of food photography, Dave’s Korean-BBQ buffet, the point-forward model, convergent evolution, the sushi-bro scourge, eating good food while you’re watching Tiesto, Charlie Chaplin, the dinner at the beginning of 'Goodfellas,' the 'Memento' approach to dating, the zhug moment, beef wellington, Oriental Garden, and throwing down the live-cooking gauntlet.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Producers: Sasha Ashall, Jordan Bass, and Aleya Zenieris

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Dave calls up Will Guidara, the front-of-house half of the partnership that took Eleven Madison Park to the top of the hospitality stratosphere, to talk about Will’s new book (‘Unreasonable Hospitality’), how he reshaped EMP, and what the next generation of cutting-edge restaurants might look like. Also: coffee that tastes like soup, instant-ramen ratios, oomori servings, the fruit-medley gambit, macaroni ephemerality, waiting for grunge in the disco age, Jasper Johns, Danny Meyer, Bill Belichick, going hard in the paint, the Dreamweaver, rolling out the Budweiser cart, exceeding your mentors, Sean Brock, a croissant parable, and changing before you have to change.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Guest: Will Guidara

Producer: Sasha Ashall

Additional Production: Jordan Bass and Lala Rasor

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With the do-or-die plans for MDM’s next phase finally in motion, Dave, Chris, and Noelle sit down for a soul-baring state of the union. They discuss how Dave thinks about big swings in the face of existential risks, in restaurants, and everywhere else. Also: the coming XLB strain, Dave building his ark, restaurant problem-solving vs. real-life problem-solving, Rob Dyrdek, the one-basket strategy, “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” what gives restaurants a pulse, enjoying the moment when you have a deprivation mentality, throwing your phone in the trash can, billionaire indicators, and the crucial importance of an uncompromising vibe.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Guest: Noelle Cornelio

Producer: Sasha Ashall

Additional Production: Jordan Bass and Cory McConnell

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Venturing behind the scenes of the best kitchens of the world and Dave’s own decidedly uneven TikTok feed, Dave and Chris map out the best ways to navigate over-the-top marathon dinners, social media pseudo-experts, and several other perils of modern life—and then debate how and when the Wheel of Constraint might rear its spinning head again. Plus: Nobu water, temperance menus, surviving the French Laundry wine pairing, Kool Moe Dee, brutally hard canapé stations, bailing after the bread course, moonlighting in WWE, steak-prep superstitions, going to war with Gordon Ramsay, caveman artists, Max Verstappen, yam-shaming, onigiri stuffing, and imagining a world history fantasy league.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Producer: Sasha Ashall

Additional Production: Jordan Bass, Cory McConnell, and Aleya Zenieris

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Midway through their eating careers, how do Dave and his fellow food obsessives appraise the dishes they first loved, and how do they find new ones to rank as great? Dave lays out what he looks for now, then he and Chris compare notes on the do’s and don’ts of shopping at Asian grocery stores. Also: recording in the pillow room, Dave’s football career, foie gras dreams, the lost art of sauces, a perfect pluot, Nantua crayfish, Grace’s favorite K-town market, navigating the five chives, 99 Ranch, Chinese burritos, evaporating furniture, Ikea food, nutmeg theft, the Dave Chang Millennium Prize, overnight oats, and shopping like you’re in the 1800s.

Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying

Producer: Sasha Ashall

Additional Production: Jordan Bass and Lala Rasor

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