The Splendid Table

This week we hear about the eating strategies of the world’s healthiest people with Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People. We look at the past, present and future of the most popular fruit, the banana, with Nicole Vitello, president of Equal Exchange Bananas. Chef Rick Bayless gives us a lesson in the Mexican way with vegetables. His latest book is More Mexican Everyday. Nongkran Daks, author of Nong's Thai Kitchen, shares how to make curry paste at home, and research scientist Heidi Appel says plants can hear when they are being eaten.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• June 5, 2015 (originally aired)
• June 3, 2016 (rebroadcast)

Brian Wansink, author of Slim by Design, shares the latest findings on why we eat what we do, beer expert Greg Engert gives us a taste of the delicious world of spontaneous fermentation and Maryann Tebben joins us to talk about her book, Sauces: A Global History. Carla Seidl visits the mill Carolina Ground, and Richard Wrangham, author of Catching Fire, explains the role cooking played in the evolution of humans.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• May 22, 2015 (originally aired)
• May 20, 2016 (rebroadcast)

Journalist Barry Estabrook exposed the dark side of Florida’s tomato crop in his best-selling book Tomatoland. He now takes on the pork industry with his latest book, Pig Tales. We get exuberant and professional help with our picnics from Jen Stevenson, a member of The Portland Picnic Society and co-author of the book The Picnic. Robyn Lea, author of Dinner with Jackson Pollock, shares how she discovered Jackson Pollock's recipes, and Shauna Sever, author of Real Sweet, has alternatives to refined sugar. The Sterns are at Honey from the Rock Café in Augusta, Georgia.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• May 8, 2015 (originally aired)
• May 6, 2016 (rebroadcast)

This week we talk to David Gelb, creator of the Netflix series Chef's Table. We get indoor gardening advice from Elizabeth Millard, author of Indoor Kitchen Gardening. Diana Henry shares ideas for cooking chicken, and Tara Whitsitt explains Fermentation on Wheels, her mobile fermentation project. We also revisit a piece about Nikolai Vavilov, a Russian botanist who collected seeds, with author Gary Nabhan.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• April 24, 2015 (originally aired)
• April 22, 2016 (rebroadcast)

Contributor Melissa Clark digs into the fragrant food of Lebanon with Maureen Abood, author of Rose Water & Orange Blossoms. Jeremy Nolen, author of New German Cooking, says German food is more than sauerkraut and schnitzel. Kimberly Jung co-founded Rumi Spice, a business that buys saffron directly from Afghan farmers. We meet up with a man with synesthesia -- he tastes what he hears -- and learn about his project to map out the tastes of the London Underground. Neil Kelley, a research fellow at the Smithsonian, explains what we can learn about animals' diets from studying their skull and teeth. The Sterns visit The Old Coffee Pot Restaurant in New Orleans.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• April 10, 2015 (originally aired)
• April 8, 2016 (rebroadcast)

We’re talking to journalist Tom Philpott of Mother Jones about the dark side of everyone’s favorite nut, the almond. Sarah Copeland, author of Feast, explains what it means to eat 90 percent vegetarian. The Sioux Chef's Sean Sherman specializes in Native American food with indigenous ingredients. Jane and Michael Stern share a regional treasure from Pennsylvania, the zep.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• March 27, 2015 (originally aired)
• March 25, 2016 (rebroadcast)

This week we hear about a group of renegade Montana farmers and their quest to change the farming industry from Liz Carlisle, author of Lentil Underground: Renegade Farmers and the Future of Food in America. We talk to chef Eric Ripert about his recent travels, and we have an encore performance of the day Lynne taught violinist Joshua Bell how to cook pasta.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• March 13, 2015 (originally aired)
• March 4, 2016 (rebroadcast)

We are looking at the history of the chicken with Andrew Lawler, author of Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?  Lynne blind tastes California olive oils, and Edd Kimber explains the proper way to make scones. In honor of our 20th anniversary we’re revisiting a 2008 interview with David Lett, the groundbreaking American winemaker behind The Eyrie Vineyards.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• February 27, 2015 (originally aired)
• February 26, 2016 (rebroadcast)

Perfumer and chef Mandy Aftel explains the connection between scent and emotion. Her book is Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent. The Sterns have found a first-rate gluten-free bakery at Mama’s Cheese Bread Factory in Brookfield, Connecticut, and Lisa Gross talks about The League of Kitchens, an organization where immigrants teach others to cook. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt debunks five myths about cast iron, while Fuchsia Dunlop cooks Gong Bao Chicken.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• February 13, 2015 (originally aired)
• February 12, 2016 (rebroadcast)

This week we talk to Kat Kinsman, editor in chief of Tasting Table, about the ethics of food journalism. We turn to Michael Ruhlman, author of Ruhlman's How to Roast, about the essentials of that cooking technique, and meet Azalina Eusope, a fifth-generation street vendor from Malaysia who is setting San Francisco’s food scene on fire.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• January 30, 2015 (originally aired)
• January 29, 2016 (rebroadcast)