The Sporkful

Laurie Woolever is a food writer in New York, but she’s probably best known for two other jobs she’s held: an assistant to Mario Batali, and an assistant to and collaborator with Anthony Bourdain. Laurie was working with Bourdain when he took his own life in 2018. After his death, she published Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography. Now she’s telling her own story in a new memoir called Care and Feeding, in which she details her struggles with addiction, and explores how her desire to emulate her famous bosses fed her destructive behavior. As you’ll hear, in a lot of ways, there was only a thin line between what happened to them, and how Laurie’s life unfolded.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

81-year-old Patsy Grimaldi may be the last person making pizza today who trained under someone who trained at Lombardi's—the first pizzeria in American history. Dan sits down with Patsy and his wife Carol to discuss slice folding technique, the art and science of using a coal oven, what she taught him about pizza, and the scourge of pineapple pizza, along with several other trends Patsy deems "ridiculous." Carol explains that Patsy knows where in the coal oven to place the pizza based on the color of the coals at any moment, a pretty amazing thing to consider. Dan also pitches the Grimaldi's his concept for folding pizza inside out, to put the cheese right on your tongue. Their reaction is worth hearing. Plus, Dan responds to emails and phone calls from listeners.

Read more about the history of New York pizza and the feud between Patsy Grimaldi and the current owner of Grimaldi's in Jane Black's piece in New York Magazine.

This episode originally aired on July 28, 2013 and again on April 22, 2014, and was produced by Dan Pashman. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Giulia Leo, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. 

Every other Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at [email protected], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why is the bird flu outbreak that’s currently driving up egg prices different from past outbreaks? Are new tariffs about to make your groceries more expensive? And, perhaps most importantly, are Capri-Sun pouches about to disappear? We tackle these hard hitting questions, and a lot more, in this edition of the Salad Spinner, our rapid-fire roundtable discussion of the latest food news. We’re joined by two superstar journalists. Yasmin Tayag is a staff writer for The Atlantic and co-host of The Atlantic’s new podcast “How to Age Up” — coming this April. Kenny Malone is a cohost of NPR’s Planet Money. They give their thoughtful analysis on the biggest food stories of the moment, and share some strong opinions on Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mimi Sheraton has seen it all in her 92 years. In this Reheat of our spinoff podcast from 2018, Ask Mimi, the legendary food critic offers advice on food and life to live callers and celebrity guests. The Sporkful's Dan Pashman moderates. In this episode, humorist Mo Rocca joins Mimi and Dan live on stage to ask for help with an issue involving his mom. Mimi died in April 2023 at the age of 97; read her New York Times obituary here.

This episode originally aired on February 12, 2018, and was produced by Dan Pashman and Margaret Kelly and engineered by Jared O'Connell and Eric Jorgensen. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Monday through Saturday, Devin Pickard and his family run Papa KayJoe's BBQ in Centerville, Tennessee. But on Sundays, Devin trades the BBQ pit for the pulpit at Hope Church, the non-denominational congregation where he preaches. In many ways, food is a natural fit for a southern preacher, but there are other, less obvious ways Devin's two professions come together. Later in the episode, cookbook author Tammy Algood talks about Sunday dinner etiquette and competitive church potlucks.

This episode originally aired on October 9, 2017, and June 10, 2019, and was produced by Dan Pashman and Anne Saini. It was edited by Dan Charles. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We're reheating this episode in honor of Chef Charles Phan, owner of The Slanted Door, who recently died. In 2016, he showed us the right way to eat the Vietnamese noodle soup pho. Then we take a deep dive into the science of soup slurping with a researcher who studies the mechanics of eating.

This episode originally aired on February 14, 2016, and was produced by Dan Pashman and Anne Saini. Engineering by Irene Trudel and Ellen Reinhardt. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Giulia Leo, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

Every other Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at [email protected], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Edna Lewis was one of the first Black women to write a successful mainstream cookbook about the South. She talked about seasonality and farm-to-table cooking long before it got trendy, and she tied that approach to the way she grew up in Virginia. So why isn’t Edna Lewis better known? And who exactly was this person who changed the way Americans think about the food of the South? We discuss Edna’s life and legacy with food writer and podcast host Deb Freeman, who recently made the PBS documentary Finding Edna Lewis.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo, with production help this week from Talon Stradley. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the last 15 years, Nashville hot chicken has become a hot trend. But for decades before that, hot chicken was well known among Nashville’s Black community. For generations, you could only get it at the place where it was invented: Prince’s Hot Chicken. Now with attention from the likes of Beyoncé and Guy Fieri, Prince’s has gone from being a neighborhood institution to a Nashville landmark — and many imitators have come along. Dan travels to Nashville and speaks with André Prince Jeffries, who’s been running Prince’s for more than 40 years. She talks about Nashville’s history of segregation, serving members of the KKK, and the complicated racial dynamics behind this food trend. When white chefs and restaurateurs cash in on a dish created by Black people, who benefits?

This episode originally aired on October 4, 2021, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Emma Morgenstern, Andrés O’Hara, Daisy Rosario and Peter Clowney, with editing help from Dan Charles. This episode was mixed by Casey Holford and Jared O’Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

Every other Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at [email protected], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The South is known for fantastic gas station food, and on today’s show, Dan takes a road trip from Birmingham to Memphis to try some out for himself. He travels across Alabama and Mississippi, eating pimento cheese sandwiches, tacos, fried chicken on a stick, sushi, and a very specific regional pasta dish. He also talks with the people behind these eateries to hear how they’re adapting their menus in a changing South, and chats with photojournalist Kate Medley, who spent ten years documenting Southern gas station restaurants, to understand why these places are such an integral part of Southern food culture.    

Check out some of the gas station restaurants Dan visited on your next southern road trip!

• Mac’s One Stop, Birmingham, AL
• Bayou Fresh Seafood, Jasper, AL
• Thomas Street Grocery, Tupelo, MS
• 4 Corners Chevron, Oxford, MS
• Tacos De Soto, Southaven, MS

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo, with help this week from Dan McGee. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dan talks to Matt Reynolds, director and star of the new documentary comedy The Great Chicken Wing Hunt, about the search for perfection in love and Buffalo wings.

This episode originally aired on January 26, 2014, and was produced by Dan Pashman and Anne Saini. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Giulia Leo, Jared O'Connell, and Kameel Stanley. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

Every other Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at [email protected], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.

Transcript, and a recipe for Dan's smoky wings, available at www.sporkful.com.

Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.