The Sporkful

Ben Abbott wants to pair his meals with drinks, but as a Mormon, he doesn't drink alcohol. So Dan journeys to Galco’s Soda Pop Stop, an offbeat soda shop in Los Angeles, to find Ben some beverages. Plus, linguist John McWhorter explains why some people say soda, coke, or pop.

This episode originally aired on January 21, 2015, and again on March 25, 2019. It was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Ngofeen Mputubwele, Gianna Palmer, and Jared O’Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.

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.

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

The most common New Year’s resolution Americans make is to lose weight. For many years, that was Aubrey Gordon’s resolution, too. But one conversation with a friend led Aubrey to rethink the way we talk about fat people and weight loss. Now, as a fat activist, Aubrey writes about anti-fat bias and the physical and emotional realities of being a fat person in the world. This week she tells us why she went from writing anonymously on her blog Your Fat Friend to going public in 2020. Aubrey also pushes back on the idea of an “obesity epidemic” and argues that drugs like Ozempic are worsening anti-fat bias — both topics that she’s covered on her podcast Maintenance Phase.

Please note: This episode contains discussion of body image, weight loss, and eating disorders. If you or someone you know are affected by an eating disorder, get more information from the National Eating Disorders Association online or by calling their helpline: 800-931-2237.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell, with production this week by Grace Rubin.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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

From tortilla chips to tree bark, from fancy cheese to toe cheese, there’s a world of smells all around us that tells us a lot about food, drink, and everything else. So says legendary food scientist Harold McGee in his new book, Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World’s Smells. Harold joins us to explain the connection between wet dog smell and fermented cabbage, and why we should have more “smell empathy” for others. Then we chat with Nik Sharma, whose new cookbook, The Flavor Equation, lays out the six components of flavor: aroma, sight, taste, emotion, sound, and mouthfeel. Why does tomato juice taste better on an airplane? Nik explains. Plus, Dan and Nik bond over their potato chip selection strategy.

This episode originally aired on December 7, 2020, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tomeka Weatherspoon, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.

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.

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

What foods do Sporkful listeners resolve to eat more of in the new year, and why? And what’s Dan’s New Year’s food resolution for 2024? All is revealed in our annual year-end spectacular. Plus we replay one of the Sporkful crew’s favorite episodes of the year, with the comedian Zarna Garg, who found her voice during turbulent times in her life. Zarna spent 16 years as a stay-at-home mom. Now she sells out shows across the country and has her own special on Prime Video. In her stand-up and her social media videos, food is often a main character. But Zarna has mixed feelings when it comes to cooking. As a teenager, she wasn’t always sure where her next meal would come from. And as a parent, she came to resent the burden of feeding her family of five. She talks with Dan about her frustration with American parenting, why her kids eat steamed broccoli for breakfast, and how Indian Americans fought to bring back Taco Bell’s Mexican Pizza.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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

Samin Nosrat, author of the best-selling cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat, joins Dan to talk about feeling like an outsider, sexism and pretentiousness in food, and the finer points of toast.

This episode originally aired on October 8, 2018. It was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Aviva DeKornfeld, with editing by Gianna Palmer, and mixing by Dan Dzula. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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.

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

Since the Michelin Guide was created in 1926, it has awarded about 3,000 stars to select restaurants around the world. And while Michelin has a ton of brand recognition, the system it uses to rate restaurants is also famously secretive. Today on The Sporkful, we pull back the curtain on the guide and speak with a former Michelin inspector about his experience handing out stars. Then we talk with Erika Adams, editor of Eater Boston, about the surprising reason why her city has no restaurants with stars. It’s not because Boston restaurants aren’t up to snuff — and in fact, the answer reveals bigger questions about Michelin’s approach. 

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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

We are back with another Salad Spinner, and this time it’s our year end edition! Remember when Starbucks debuted olive oil coffee? Or when Grimace, the McDonald’s mascot that looks like a purple blob, became a queer icon? This rapid-fire roundtable discussion covers all the biggest, strangest, and most surprising food stories of 2023, with our panelists: Jaya Saxena, correspondent at Eater, and Zach Stafford, co-host of the podcast Vibe Check. 

Have you sent us your New Year's food resolution yet? We want to hear it! Email us at [email protected] with your first name, your location, and tell us the food you resolve to eat more of in the new year and why. 

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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

The native Minnesotan explains why a little internal bleeding can't keep her from a treat, and why the way she eats salad is like the way she deals with depression.

This episode originally aired on April 24, 2016, and again on April 15, 2019. It was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Ngofeen Mputubwele, with editing help from Gianna Palmer and special thanks to Paula Szuchman. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo.

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.

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

Fuchsia Dunlop has written some of the best known English-language books on Chinese cooking, spending years at a time immersing herself in different regions of China in order to learn the area’s dialect and culinary specialties. But as she tells Dan, that wasn’t her original plan. She moved to Chengdu in her 20s because she wanted to live abroad and knew the food there would be great. Still, she says it took years before she stopped eating “like a European.” Her latest book, Invitation to a Banquet, tells a sweeping story of Chinese food through dishes like sweet-and-sour pork balls (an English takeaway standby) and fire-exploded kidney flowers (one of her favorite dishes of Chengdu).

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo, with production this week by Johanna Mayer.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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

When Jody Scaravella lost his grandma, his mom, and his sister within a few years, he opened a restaurant in their honor, as a way of dealing with his grief. But the restaurant, Enoteca Maria on Staten Island, NY, had a twist: the chefs were all Italian grandmas, or nonnas. After a few years, Jody started inviting grandmas from all over the world to cook at his restaurant. In this week's show, we attend Enoteca Maria's annual holiday party, one of the few days when all the nonnas come together. Dan is besieged on all sides by grandmas trying to feed him, and we find out whether the restaurant has done for Jody what he hoped it would.

This episode originally aired on December 9, 2019 and was produced by Dan Pashman and Ngofeen Mputubwele, with editing by Tracey Samuelson. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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