Today, I’m joined by food documentary filmmaker Christian Remde. Christian has been making documentaries for years, and since the pandemic he’s been focusing on his new series Reopen. 

Reopen looks at how different restaurants are responding to COVID-19, and the difficulties they’ve come up against since last March.  This is an industry that’s been hit hard by the pandemic, and with minimal government support people have had to innovate constantly to keep their businesses alive. 

We talk about the different routes restaurants have gone down to stay afloat, how this is going to affect the industry in the long term, and how we can help restaurants to stay open...

“Everyone I reached out to was happy to do it, because everybody has a story to tell.” - Christian Remde  

My guests Amanda McBain and Jesse Moss are the co-directors and producers of the new Apple TV Plus documentary ‘Boys State’. The documentary follows the journey of four boys taking part in a programme where they attempt to build a representative government from the ground up.

As you can expect from a group of teenagers, we see a mixture of idealistic youth ingenuity, and a 'Lord of the Flies' type of scenario unfold. What begins as a political programme turns into a beautiful coming of age story as we see the way these boys change as they attempt to gain political power.

It is both a hilarious look at American politics, and a shocking reality of what being involved in politics can do to even the most admirable of people.

Available to watch on Apple TV+ and Netflix, the film is thought-provoking, inspiring, and at times downright terrifying...

“Justice, fairness, and equality is a struggle. As much as we wanted a happy ending, it’s really about living to fight another day.” - Amanda McBaine  

Our guest today is Janice Engel, the director of an amazing documentary film Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins.

Who is Molly Ivins, some of you may ask?

Molly Ivins (1944-2007) was a famous Texan journalist and libertarian, who changed the space of journalism in the US. Using her witty persona and writing, she was challenging corruption and injustice wherever she saw them. But she was also an amazing cook and her recipes even ended up in a book!

Raise Hell premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, won the Audience Award at SXSW and numerous other festival awards. You can watch it on Hulu, stream it through Magnolia Pictures, or Modern Films if you are in the UK.

In this episode Janice Engel and I talk about who the current Molly Ivins might be, why Texas is the blueprint for America, and how our society has become polarized to this extent. Janice is also a passionate foodie herself and I can't wait to taste her famous spicy fig jam!

"We have a shared humanity that we need to start embracing. We have one planet. And if you all want to go to Venus, have fun with it." - Janice Engel

Today, I’m interviewing Ruthie Foster, a blues and folk singer-songwriter legend. 

Ruthie’s best known for mixing a wide palette of American song forms, from gospel and blues to jazz, folk and soul. 

She’s won countless awards, including three Grammy nominations and numerous wins at the Blues Music Awards. 

The journey she’s been on is nothing short of inspiring, and with a character like hers, we can’t help but love her.

We talk about her creative process, how she got into music, what inspires her, and what she loves most about performing live...

”When you get that offer that makes you feel uncomfortable, just say yes.” - Ruthie Foster  

Nothing’s more exciting than being in the stadium at an NFL game. But what’s it like to be playing on the field? With all those eyes watching you and all those players ready to knock you down. 

Today, at the start of Season 3 of The Lone Star Plate Podcast, we find out as I talk to American footballer Sam Acho. 

Sam tells me what it was like to play in the NFL, the diet he follows as an athlete, and why he chose to be on The Players Association Board. 

He also explains why he wrote his new book ‘Let The World See You’, and how he found writing worked as a form of therapy for him…

“Writing for me was therapy. So what you see on those pages is an overflow of my heart.” - Sam Acho  

In the last episode before the end of this strange year 2020, I'm joined by Alan Knitowski, the CEO of Phunware.

Phunware is a company founded in 2009 and based here in Austin, Texas. They provide cloud platform for mobile including location-based and advertising software. They've seen some phenomenal success early on when internet went mobile and won numerous awards for fastest growing companies.

Phunware were recently in the news because of the mobile app they built for Trump's re-election campaign. Alan Knitowski is here to talk about that and why they received negative press attention around the elections.

This conversation touches on so many burning questions for all of us glued to our mobile phones. Although we do strongly disagree over certain political topics, I've enjoyed every minute of this interview and I hope you will too!

"You are the product. As long as you understand it, opt in or opt out." - Alan Knitowski

Cooking shows have been getting more and more popular, and one of the most popular has to be MasterChef. Today I’m meeting Michael Silverstein, a cook and contestant on the show.

He’s completely open with me, telling us how he got recognised because of his Instagram account, what the audition process is like, and how real the show actually is. 

He explains the difference between cooking on the show to cooking in real life and how to best prepare yourself if you think you might ever be a contestant. 

Michael also wrote his own cookbook of Keto meals. We talk about how he created the book, shot all the photos himself, and what the keto diet actually is. 

It’s always a pleasure talking to a someone who loves food as much as I do, and I hope to have Michael on the show again in the future...

“If you want something, keep going, put in the work. It is not going to happen overnight.” - Michael Silverstein  

Today, I’m interviewing American entrepreneur and tech guru, Noah Kagan. 

He worked at Facebook, Mint and Intel, and is currently helping other entrepreneurs improve their businesses with his website OkDork, a blog about marketing, starting business, self-exploration and his love of tacos. 

With his history at Facebook, the talk soon moves to social media, whether it’s beneficial, and the problems that are inherent within it.  What's unique about Noah Kagan is that he never saw Social Network or Social Dilemma, because he said he lived it, so he didn't want to watch that. Noah seems to think Facebook has reached its tipping point and that its usership will start moving to alternatives. He explains to me why he thinks this and what platforms he believes will become the next market dominators. 

We then move on to our personal lives and Noah tells me how he’s been making wine out of coconut water, and his plans to cycle across the US...

‘Take ownership of your time, be intentional of how you spend your time on social media." - Noah Kagan  

My inspiring guest today is Gloria Feldt, who is an expert on women, power and leadership, a New York Times bestselling author and keynote speaker.

She is the co-founder and president of Take The Lead, whose mission and ambition is to prepare, develop, inspire, and propel women to take their share in leadership positions across all sectors by 2025. Previously she served as the president and CEO of the world’s largest reproductive health and advocacy organization, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, where she spent 30 years of her career. 

Gloria was named by Vanity Fair one of “America’s Top 200 Women Leaders, Legends, and Trailblazers,”, Women’s eNews 21 Leaders for the 21st Century, Texas Monthly’s Texas 20, Martin Luther King Living the Dream Award, and Forbes 40 Over 40.

I've had such a great conversation with this powerful woman, as we talked about her career, about the touchy subject of abortion, what men can do to contribute to the conversation about women's leadership, but also about Gloria's passion for baking challah bread. Now matter who you are, you're going to love this interview. 

"Busineses that have more women in leadership, and more diversity in general, make more money." - Gloria Feldt

There’s some actors that have starred in more films than you can possibly count. Today I’m excited to interview one of them. Stephen Tobolowsky is best known for his roles in Groundhog Day, Space Balls, Deadwood and many many others. 

Working alongside the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Christopher Nolan, Jim Beaver, and Powers Boothe, Stephen’s got amazing few stories to tell. 

He gives me a great insight into what it’s like living in the acting world and explains to me what ‘The Bible of a Show’ is. 

He also tells me funny stories about the shoots he’s been on, what it’s like to have amnesia, and the hit podcast he hosts himself...

“Memento, even though it was not a huge part, it was the most difficult role I ever played, to recapture the real feeling of amnesia.” - Stephen Tobolowsky