The Sporkful

Twenty years ago, Morgan Spurlock released his low-budget documentary Super Size Me, and achieved success that most documentary filmmakers can only dream about. The film made millions at the box office, it was nominated for an Academy Award, and it turned Morgan into a star. To this day, the film is still shown in middle school and high school health classes across the country. But in 2017, Morgan made a shocking confession that derailed his career and called into question Super Size Me’s original claims. Earlier this year, Morgan died of cancer. In this week’s show, Sporkful senior producer Andres O’Hara talks with some of the people closest to Morgan to figure out: Who really was Morgan Spurlock? How did Super Size Me become such a huge hit? And after all these years, should we still be showing it to kids?

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo. Editing by Kameel Stanley. Publishing by Shantel Holder and transcription by Emily Nguyen.

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.

Food Network star Jet Tila’s parents opened the first Thai market in the US in 1972. Now he’s trying to introduce people who aren’t Thai to the foods he grew up with. He tells the story of protecting his family’s store during the LA riots and explains why he considers himself more a businessman than a chef.

This episode originally aired on July 15, 2017, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Dan Charles. 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 and transcription by Emily Nguyen.

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.

Comedian Ed Gamble calls himself a “very greedy boy.” That’s because he’s always loved food, from the diary entry he wrote at six years old about his passion for calamari and pastitsio, to the desserts he now critiques as a judge on the BBC show Great British Menu. But his relationship with eating has taken many twists and turns in his life: first when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and then when he decided to lose weight as an adult. Dan and Ed discuss all of that and more, live on stage at the London Podcast Festival. And Ed answers the question that’s become a staple of his own podcast, Off Menu: popadams or bread?

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo, with help this week from Kimmie Gregory. Publishing by Shantel Holder and transcription by Emily Nguyen.

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 eats fresh mozzarella with the former Van Halen frontman and drinks beer out of paper cups with the legendary French chef. It turns out neither of these guys is who you think they are. 

This episode originally aired on November 22, 2015, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini and Jason Isaac. 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 and transcription by Emily Nguyen.

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.

In honor of National Pasta Month, Dan shares the story of how his pasta shape, cascatelli, ended up in a design museum in Germany. When he travels with his family to see the exhibition, al dente: Pasta & Design at the HfG Archiv-Ulm, he finds it’s more incredible, and powerful, than he ever expected. Listen to find out why. Then, later in the episode, Dan talks with the founders of a highly selective club called “The Glutamates”: cookbook author Andrea Nguyen and bread nerd extraordinaire Andrew Janjigian. They each contributed one very special recipe to Dan’s cookbook, Anything’s Pastable — and fundamentally changed the way Dan thinks about pasta in the process. Hear the stories behind these recipes, and how they helped set Dan’s cookbook on a different course.

A few links:

• Sfoglini’s Sporkful Pasta & Anything’s Pastable Gift Set (20% off through Oct. 17, 2024)
• Sichuan Magic Dust Popcorn recipe

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo. Transcription by Emily Nguyen.

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.

Ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, we’re talking with two cookbook authors about how Jewish food around the world has evolved, and where it’s going next. For decades, Jewish home cooks have turned to Joan Nathan for a taste of the familiar, and for a window into what Jews in other parts of the world eat. Dan talks with Joan about why her first cookbook was initially rejected by 16 publishers, and the Arab chicken dish she ate in Israel that changed her life. Then, Dan talks with Jeremy Salamon, part of a new guard of Jewish chefs pushing the cuisine forward. His Hungarian-Jewish restaurant in Brooklyn, Agi’s Counter, has received national acclaim, but he’s also heard from some unhappy Hungarians who came in looking for an old world approach. He tells Dan about his first restaurant job when he was 11, and why his grandmother is his best publicist. 

Joan Nathan’s new book is My Life In Recipes: Family, Food, And Memories. Her upcoming book, A Sweet Year: Jewish Celebrations and Festive Recipes for Kids and Their Families, is available for pre-order. Jeremy Salamon’s book is Second Generation: Hungarian and Jewish Classics Reimagined for the Modern Table. We are giving away a copy of My Life in Recipes and Second Generation! To enter to win a copy, all you have to do is sign up for our newsletter by October 18. If you’re already signed up, then you’re already entered to win. Open to US addresses only. Sign up now at sporkful.com/newsletter.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo. Transcription by Emily Nguyen.

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 explore the history of an iconic American food couple — cereal and milk — with help from New York Times food correspondent Kim Severson and author Mark Kurlansky.

This episode originally aired on December 17, 2018 and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Aviva DeKornfeld, edited by Gianna Palmer, and mixed by Dan Dzula.  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. Transcription by Emily Nguyen.

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.

Today we're bringing you a rare behind-the-scenes look at a collaboration between two giant American food brands: Taco Bell and Cheez-It. (And no, they’re not paying us to do it — we’re just obsessed with how big companies come up with new foods!) This past summer, Taco Bell debuted the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and the Big Cheez-It Tostada. These menu items may sound like they were dreamt up in a dorm room, but getting them to market was actually a yearslong process, involving hundreds of people, and the launch didn’t quite go as planned. Two food product developers — one from Taco Bell and one from Cheez-It — walk us through how it all went down. Then we head to Taco Bell for a taste test of our own.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell. Transcription by Emily Nguyen.

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 2016, Jack Daniel’s announced the company would make changes to its official history. They planned to honor Nathan “Nearest” Green, the formerly enslaved man who taught the real Jack Daniel to make whiskey in the 1860s. They didn’t realize, however, that this announcement would cause an uproar — or that it would inspire a woman named Fawn Weaver to set out on a quest to unearth the full story of Nearest Green. This week, we talk with Fawn about what drew her to this story and what she’s doing to honor Green’s legacy, with help from his great-great-granddaughter Victoria Eady Butler.

This episode originally aired on October 5, 2020, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, and Tomeka Weatherspoon. It was edited by Tracey Samuelson and mixed by Jared O’Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell. Publishing by Shantel Holder and transcription by Emily Nguyen.

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 cooking and eating, sound is the forgotten sense. But you can tell whether you're cutting scallions correctly, or how good your chocolate is, by the sounds they make.

This episode originally aired on January 17, 2016 and April 2, 2018, and was produced by Dan Pashman and Anne Saini with engineering help from Tom Glasser, Chase Culpon and Bill O’Neill. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell. Publishing by Shantel Holder and transcription by Emily Nguyen.

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. The SiriusXM app has all your favorite podcasts, and you can listen to over 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era. Plus, live sports coverage, interviews with A-list stars and more. It’s everything you want in a podcast app and music app all rolled into one. For three months free, go to siriusxm.com/sporkful.

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