{"id":2441446,"date":"2019-03-07T12:48:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T19:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/listen-upbe-enlightened-and-inspired-by-food-focused-podcasts\/"},"modified":"2019-03-07T12:48:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T19:48:00","slug":"listen-up-be-enlightened-and-inspired-by-food-focused-podcasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/listen-up-be-enlightened-and-inspired-by-food-focused-podcasts\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen up: Be enlightened \u2014 and inspired \u2014 by food-focused podcasts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While multi-tasking is roundly snubbed by scientists as being harmful to productivity\u2014turns out focusing on just one activity at a time is a sure path to success, sans stress\u2014often a little background noise is necessary. And why not absorb knowledge during a long drive, hands-on project or extended period of tedious chores (such as my recent KonMari kitchen organization adventure, featured in last week\u2019s column, which turned into an apartment-wide purge)?<\/p>\n

Enter: the ubiquitous podcast.<\/p>\n

According to a January poll by CBS News, two thirds of Americans listen to podcasts \u201cat least once in a while.\u201d And 23 percent of respondents indicated that they tune in a few times a week. Compare these figures with last year, when most people in the poll replied that they never listened to podcasts.<\/p>\n

Perhaps because modern society is cresting a golden wave of self-improvement\u2014last year The New Yorker called it \u201cImproving Ourselves to Death\u201d\u2014we always want more: more proficiency and more stuff to talk about in social situations\u2026when we\u2019re not craning our necks inward toward digital devices.<\/p>\n

I gravitate toward food topics and chef interviews\u2014when prepping meals, especially\u2014the quirkier the better. Here are a few favorite foodcasts, available via Apple iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Apple Play, SoundCloud or via RSS feed:<\/p>\n

For Creative Home Cooks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Milk Street Radio<\/p>\n

Since Lucky Peach went RIP in 2017, my favorite food magazine is Milk Street, founded in October 2016 by Christopher Kimball. The former cofounder of PBS\u2019 America\u2019s Test Kitchen and editor of Cook\u2019s Illustrated magazine (still an excellent periodical), Kimball caught heat for ripping off his former employer to launch this new media venture\u2026but I might argue that the brouhaha stems from him being so damn good at what he does. A lifelong teacher, Kimball\u2014plus contributors including chef Sara Moulton and the New Yorker\u2019s Adam Gopnik\u2014\u201cgoes anywhere and everywhere to ask questions and get answers about cooking, food, culture, wine, farming, restaurants, literature and the lives and cultures of the people who grow, produce and create the food we eat.\u201d Plus he invites listeners to call or write in to the show with questions. milkstreetradio.com<\/p>\n

For Suspense-Seekers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Proof: A Podcast from America\u2019s Test Kitchen<\/p>\n

Brand new as of this past Halloween, Proof investigates clues to seek answers to simple, sometimes mind-boggling questions. Hosted by Bridget Lancaster, for years featured in the ATK TV and video series and best described as your cool culinary aunt, each episode begins with a clear, clever goal. Find out how celery fell from status as coveted vegetable of the Victorian era (once fetching more money than caviar today!) to crudit\u00e9 castaway; how Jelly Belly creates stinky sock- and vomit-flavored jelly beans for its oddly popular \u201cBeanboozled\u201d line; and why ketchup is such a polarizing condiment in this country. americastestkitchen.com\/proof<\/p>\n

For Obsessive Eaters<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sporkful<\/p>\n

Top winner at the James Beard Awards, the Webby Awards and the Saveur Awards, this almost 2-year-old series by Dan Pashman, also of the Cooking Channel\u2019s cheeky yet informative web series \u201cYou\u2019re Eating It Wrong,\u201d is packed with nerdy tidbits. \u201cWe obsess about food to learn more about people,\u201d Pashman says in his introduction, which leads to though-provoking discussions of food culture, trends, history and habits. The \u201cAsk Mimi\u201d miniseries brings legendary food critic Mimi Sheraton to the mic to offer advice on the intersection of food and sex, marriage, etiquette and life. sporkful.com<\/p>\n

For Curious Cooks<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Splendid Table<\/p>\n

Bread baked around the world, the history of sauces and the art of the sandwich are all explored in this weekly public radio program hosted by Francis Lam, an award-winning writer, cookbook editor, and former \u201cEat\u201d columnist for The New York Times Magazine. Thoughtful but quick to laugh, Lam steers conversations with chefs, restaurateurs and wine experts that delve into food and restaurant culture and with journalists who journey to faraway lands to discover what makes a meal authentic. (Also worth listening to: archived episodes led by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, who retired in 2017 after 20 years on air.) splendidtable.org<\/p>\n

For Vegans (And Plant-Based Wannabes)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Food for Thought<\/p>\n

Hosted by impassioned blogger and \u201cadvocate for animals\u201d Colleen Patrick-Goudreau since 2006, this popular podcast champions the ethics behind a plant-based, vegan lifestyle. Always up to dispel a myth, the activist tackles issues of food waste, animals in film, and societal perceptions, and shares stories from her travels to explain what it\u2019s like to be vegan in other parts of the world. Recently rebroadcast, \u201cThe Taming of the Cattle\u201d kicks off with Patrick-Goudreau\u2019s no-bull explanation of how beef production is essentially livestock slavery, since \u201ccattle\u201d literally translates to \u201ccapital\u201d and \u201cwealth\u201d in certain languages since the beginning of civilization. colleenpatrickgoudreau.com<\/p>\n

For Nostalgic Types<\/strong><\/p>\n

A few obsolete podcasts worth replaying:<\/p>\n

Burnt Toast by Food52 (2015-18)<\/p>\n

Listen to \u201csnackable dinner-party fodder,\u201d such as an exploration of how food emojis are conceived (\u201cWhy Is There No Pie Emoji?\u201d); the history of food fights (\u201cHow to Throw a Ripe Tomato\u201d); and tips for feeding picky eaters (\u201cPizza for Breakfast: Cooking For (and With) Kids\u201d). food52.com\/p\/burnt-toast<\/p>\n

Eat Your Science: The Alton Browncast (2013-17)<\/p>\n

Geek out with OG food nerd and decade-long host of Food Network\u2019s \u201cGood Eats\u201d Alton Brown, who weaves scientific concepts with guest interviews ranging from celebrity chefs such as Bobby Flay and Hugh Acheson to actor William Shatner. altonbrown.com<\/p>\n

New York Magazine\u2019s Grub Street Podcast (2015-16)<\/p>\n

Straight from the Big Apple, tune in to fascinating material such as \u201cThe Rise of the Power Sushi Restaurant\u201d and \u201cHere\u2019s How Food Critics Actually Lose Weight.\u201d grubstreet.com<\/p>\n

amandaraewashere@gmail.com<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While multi-tasking is roundly snubbed by scientists as being harmful to productivity\u2014turns out focusing on just one activity at a time is a sure path to success, sans stress\u2014often a little background noise is necessary. And why not absorb knowledge during a long drive, hands-on project or extended period of tedious chores (such as my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2441446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 00:11:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2441446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2441446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2441446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2441446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}