Margaret Cho has been a standup comedian for four decades (since she was 14 years old!) but she also LOVES to cook and collects specialty cookware and gadgets – she has her very own mochi machine!  

Her last meal takes us to Hawaii, where Spam is so popular it’s even served at McDonald’s. But here on the mainland, Spam is often stigmatized. Robert Koo, author of Dubious Gastronomy: The Cultural Politics of Eating Asian in the USA, walks us through the complicated history of the world’s favorite canned ham.  

True food fanatics appreciate the highs and the lows; they can equally enjoy caviar and Cap’n Crunch, and Margaret is no different. Margaret shares her strangest cravings, and listeners call in to talk about theirs.

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Cousins Kim and Tyler Malek opened Salt & Straw Ice Cream over a decade ago in Portland, Oregon, and from the very start they were scooping up unusual flavor combinations like pear & blue cheese and bone marrow with bourbon smoked cherries.

Tyler shares the WORST flavor he's ever made (hint: there was seafood involved) & they talk about Grandma Malek, the matriarch behind both of their last meals. 

Food historian Sarah Lohman joins the show to talk about the history of ice cream (Black Americans played a huge role) and we'll learn about Staten Island's delightful Enoteca Maria, a restaurant staffed by a rotating crew of grandmothers who cook up dishes from their native countries.

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Every home cook worth their can of anchovies can throw together a dish based on the bits and bobs knocking around their cupboards and crisper, and for writer Tucker Shaw, his pantry pasta is last meal worthy.  

Tucker’s debut novel, “When You Call My Name,” follows two, gay teenage boys who are navigating the AIDS crisis in 1990 New York City. But host Rachel Belle became a fan of Tucker’s in 2005, when she was gifted his book “Everything I Ate: A Year In The Life of My Mouth,” a book of photographs documenting every single thing Tucker ate in a year. 

Two archeologists join the show to share the discoveries they’ve made about how early humans ate, including some 70,000 year old burnt bread crumbs that debunk the Paleo diet! 

And Tucker loves cereal, so we explore the stories behind some of the most iconic cereal mascots (Tony the Tiger! Cap’n Crunch!) with Tim Hollis, author of “Part of a Complete Breakfast: Cereal Characters of the Baby Boom Era.” 

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A New York Times best-selling author of several humorous essay collections and novels, including her latest, Cult Classic, it’s no wonder Sloane Crosley’s last meal doubles as a culinary memoir. Sloane’s last meal is a collection of her current favorite foods and their childhood equivalents: the fancy bok choy and watercress salad from a New York City Japanese restaurant contrasted with the Wishbone Italian dressing of her youth.

Host Rachel Belle interviewed a dozen kids to get their take on Kids’ Food VS Grown-Up’s Food. And we meet the coolest lunch lady in America: Chef Emme Collins, Food Network Chopped champion and district chef for Seattle Public Schools.

Plus, Sloane spontaneously opens up her freezer to reveal its shocking contents! So Rachel digs into the oh-so-American phenomenon of households with multiple refrigerators and freezers.

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Glen Phillips recently released his first solo album in 6 years; a collection of love songs to counter his last album, written following a divorce. Glen and host Rachel Belle talk about what foods he’s drawn to when he’s sad and what he tends to eat when he’s happy.  

Glen grew up on his mom’s microwave cooking, so we’ll learn the connection between microwaves and feminism and why acclaimed food writer Barbara Kafka wrote (and was mocked for writing!) The Microwave Gourmet cookbook.  

Glen’s last meal is a food Indians have been eating for thousands of years. Ayurvedic chef/owner of New York City’s Divya’s Kitchen joins the show to tell us more about kitchari. 

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It's Cheech & Chong's 50th anniversary! The epic comedy duo is best known for their cinematic pot smoking antics, but Cheech's palate is far more sophisticated than stoner snacks. The enthusiastic cook first tasted chicken marbella, from the legendary Silver Palate cookbook, at a dinner party and he swore he heard angels singing.

The Silver Palate cookbook "changed the way Americans ate" when it came out in 1982, and host Rachel Belle chats with its editor, Suzanne Rafer about the impact it had. 

And chef, cannabis cookbook author, and founder of Laurie + Mary Jane edibles, Laurie Wolf, joins the show to talk about how far we've come from the ubiquitous potent pot brownie.

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Get tickets to the SF Sketchfest Tribute to Cheech & Chong: 50th Anniversary Celebration on January 31, 2023.

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Duff is famous for baking and building thousands of big, bonkers cakes, like the giant R2-D2 robot cake he baked for Star Wars director George Lucas and a lifelike elephant cake that stood taller than him. So you know the Food Network star, and longtime owner of Baltimore’s Charm City Cakes, baked his own wedding cakes. Cakes! Plural! Including a four-tiered meat cake topped with hot dog bride and groom.  
 
We’ll learn the fascinating history of the wedding cake with Claire Stewart, author of As Long As We Both Shall Eat: A History of Wedding Food and Feasts. 

Duff grew up in a town that shares its name with a very popular food. We’ll explore some of the country's most ridiculous (and tasty!) town names and, of course, reveal the name of Duff’s hometown! 

Pick up Duff’s new cookbook, Super Good Cookies For Kids! 

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My first exposure to Eden Grinshpan was a photo on Instagram: she was extremely pregnant and her bare, bulging belly was wall-papered with huge slices of pizza. I instantly wanted to be her friend. Eden is host of Top Chef Canada and author of the cookbook Eating Out Loud, where she shows off her contemporary middle eastern cooking chops with dishes like tahini Caesar salad and Sesame Schnitzel Sandwich with Harissa Honey and Tarter Slaw.

Eden is tahini obsessed, so I chat with the CEO and co-founder of Soom Foods (makers of delicious tahini) about the history of the ancient condiment and what to do with the half empty jar in your fridge after using it to make hummus.

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Yuna is an internationally acclaimed R&B pop star, born and raised in Malaysia. But after a decade of living in LA, and missing her mother’s homemade nasi lemak and banana leaf rice, she and her husband finally succumbed to learning to cook the Malaysian dishes they miss most!

Award-winning London chef and cookbook author Mandy Yi says it’s common to eat six meals a day in Malaysia, and walks us through a day of meals, snacks, street food and night markets.

Yuna talks about what it was like trying to get a record deal, as a Muslim woman who wears a hijab, and she shares a hilarious story about how a late night snack attack nearly got her into deep trouble with the Canadian government.

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Surprise! It's a Thanksgiving treat: a bonus episode featuring actor Aimee Carrero, who stars in the new culinary thriller (yes, I invented a new film genre, no big whoop) The Menu, in theaters now.

The Menu is about twelve wealthy food snobs who travel to a secluded island for an exclusive dining experience prepared by a revered chef. But the dinner...doesn't go as planned. 

Aimee elaborates on her own, personal dinner party disaster, talks about what it was like waiting on Larry King when she worked at a restaurant, and shares her family's Puerto Rican and Dominican holiday traditions!

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